History Main / DeusExNukina

* In ''[[UFOAfterBlank UFO Aftershock]]'', the only way to kill the Big Bad was by nuking it. Point-blank with a suitcase nuke. Most likely because it was that Big. Thankfully, timed detonation wasn't forgotten, and nobody had to stay behind. Showing these alien bastards the power of Earth technology was very satisfying.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) Project Orion]] was a theoretical plan for a spacecraft that used a series of small nukes as a drive system.

* In ''PathwaysIntoDarkness'', HardLight projections of {{Precursors}} tell BillClinton and his cabinet there's an immortal SealedEvilInACan deep under the Yucatán crater in Mexico that's about to awaken in eight days, but that they won't reach Earth for two years. The solution? Send a commando team with an atomic bomb down to the bottom of the cavernous GeniusLoci generated by the slumbering monster's dreams, and blast it back to somnolence.

* In ''Film/MarsAttacks'': [[GeneralRipper General Decker]] insists using a nuclear missiles to blow the martian's head ship. When the president is at his lowest out of desesperation, he agrees to finally shoot them. [[spoiler: The martians use a bizarre machine that absorbs the explosion into a balloon, brings it back to the ship and the martian emperor ''inhales the nuclear explosion'' which makes his voice [[HeliumSpeak sound funny]].

* In ''DeepImpact'', the nuke is delivered by a spaceship that flies ''into'' the larger of the two comet fragments, saving (most) of the population of Earth in the process.

* The same exact concept is used in ''Solar Crisis''.

* ''BabylonAD'' The [[EvilMatriarch High Priestess]] of the [[CorruptChurch Neolite sect]] is on the phone with [[TheMafiya Russian mob boss]] Gorsky.

* The USA's hurricane forecasting office has had to write an official document explaining [[http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html why setting off nukes inside hurricanes will not make them go away]] (and would in fact make things worse -- you still have a hurricane, but now it's all full of radioactive fallout).

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', various EldritchAbomination-type aliens are coming through some kind of dimensional portal. Fortunately, it turns out there is a way to seal the portal up, if they drop a... well, three guesses.

* CodeGeass: Late in season 2, Suzaku is getting absolutely mangled by Kallen's new Guren SEITEN. Just before the final blow hits him, [[spoiler:Suzaku's [[CursedWithAwesome "Live!" Geass]] kicks in, causing him to deploy the [[FantasticNuke FLEIJA]] that he was until this point unwilling to use, and by extension kills off 30 million civilians.]] Whoops. This incident also brings up either FridgeLogic or FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:had Suzaku hit Kallen, the warhead would have killed him, too. This either means that it was a last-ditch shot, or he deliberately nuked a civilian population ''for a distraction''.]]
* NeonGenesisEvangelion: In the fight against Armisael, [[spoiler:Rei uses Unit 00's experimental N2 device to [[HeroicSacrifice take out the Angel along with herself]]]]. It works, but [[spoiler:it destroys most, if not all of Tokyo-3.]]

* In ''A Crack In The World'', [[ScienceIsBad Bad Science]] causes a giant crack to start propagating through Earth's crust, with dire effects. Scientists use a nuke to [[spoiler:blow a hole in the crust that's big enough to stop it]].

* ''The Day The Earth Caught Fire'' (1966). The largest atomic test yet conducted by the United States at one pole is matched within a few days by the Soviets detonating their own Tsar Bomba at the other. This sets up a wobble in the Earth's rotation which eventually [[SpaceWhaleAesop throws it out of orbit towards the Sun]]. The movie ends with the protagonists waiting the results of another large nuclear detonation in Siberia which scientists hope will reverse, or at least halt, their course. The last scene shows a newspaper print room with two possible next editions -- one headlined WORLD SAVED, the other WORLD DOOMED.

* In PacificRim, various EldritchAbomination-type aliens are coming through some kind of dimensional portal. Fortunately, it turns out there is a way to seal the portal up, if they drop a... well, three guesses.

* Going out through Gate B in VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach invokes this trope. [[spoiler: SCP-682 has breached containment and because they tried everything they could to destroy him, they have no choice but to detonate the on-site nuke. [[OhCrap It didn't kill him.]]]]
* At the beginning of ''Mormonoids from the Deep'', you obtain a suitcase nuke, which you use to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu take out]] an EldritchAbomination at the end. You can also [[ForbiddenChekhovsGun set it off early]], resulting in a Game Over for you.

* ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' Season 1 finale ended with the legion trying to deliver a nuke to a suneater that was guarded by kill bots and a nearly-impenetrable shield. One team went off to beat up the mastermind, another team went off to temporarily disable the shield and everyone else had to buy the bomb squad time and a path to deliver it. Ferro Lad had to set off the detonator manually.

* In Creator/LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle's novel ''Literature/{{Footfall}}'', an [[AlienInvasion alien invader]] is fought off using an OrionDrive spaceship launched from near Tacoma, Washington.

{{Antimatter}} sometimes substitutes for "futuristic" settings.

* At the beginning of ''Mormonoids from the Deep'', you obtain a suitcase nuke, which you use to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu take out]] an EldritchAbomination at the end.

->"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. [[ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure It's the only way to be sure]]."

->"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. {{It's the only way to be sure}}."

->"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure."

* Played straight, more or less, in ''Literature/TheAtrocityArchive'' by Creator/CharlesStross. A warhead is carried through a portal by a special ops team into a parallel universe to take out an EldritchAbomination. Turns out that this was the [[spoiler:endgame of a big GambitRoulette by said abomination to provide it with enough energy to open a big portal to Earth and come through to eat our universe]]. One man has to [[spoiler:stay behind to cause a faulty detonation to stop an actual nuclear reaction, but gets severely irradiated]] in the process by the critical plutonium assembly.

** In "Hot Zone," Sheppard has to detonate a nuclear bomb over the city in order to create an EM field strong enough to kill the nanovirus infecting the entire city. In the season three premier, they attempt to nuke an encampment of Wraiths. [[spoiler:Michael escapes.]] The Genii also use one of their nukes on their own people as part of a coup.[[hottip:*:The coup leader was their top nuclear scientist, apparently he got some enjoyment out of seizing power via a weapon that he'd built with his own hands.]] Honestly? They just like nukes a LOT.

* Featured in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', with Ripley and the surviving {{Space Marine}}s voting to nuke the facility from orbit. (It's the only way to be sure.) They don't, but thanks to accidentally [[NiceJobBreakingItHero shooting up the thermal regulators]], the reactors [[GoingCritical go critical]] and it becomes a conveniently self-nuking facility.

* Played a wee bit more literally than usual in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' and Blasted Tokyo in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' - [[spoiler:''[[GodIsEvil God]]'' was the one to arrange the cluster of nukes to level Tokyo.]]

* AlienSwarm ends the official campaign with this trope. You and your friends fight your way to the heart of the facility and have your Technician prepare the enormous warhead. Moments afterward you're alerted that your dropship pilot is ready to evacuate you, you just need to clear the landing area. A count down timer starts and your uploaded BattleThemeMusic plays as you charge through the facility. If all goes well it results in a huge CrowningMomentOfAwesome.