History Main / FightToSurvive

* ''Series/{{Yellowjackets}}: In 1996, the titular girls soccer team takes a flight to compete in Nationals, but their plane crashes. It leaves the survivors strandedin the Canadian Wilderness for ''19 months''. The 1996 timeline deals with their struggle to survive until they are rescued. The 2021 timeline is about the survivors dealing with the trauma and keeping the secret of their [[IAmAHumanitarian alleged actions]] while out there.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The two-part TV Movie ''Shackleton'', starring Creator/KennethBranagh as Ernest Shackleton, is about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. After their ship becomes stuck in Antarctic ice, and is eventually crushed, Shackleton and his men must make a difficult journey to windswept Elephant Island. Then Shackleton and a picked crew have to make an even more difficult voyage across the open ocean to South Georgia Island, the nearest human settlement.
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Or the hero might be enjoying a perfectly pleasant flight -- when his plane crashes in the mountains! Suddenly the hero and all the other survivors must struggle to escape, while also struggling with [[Film/{{Alive}} whom to eat first.]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Film/{{Volcano}}''. An earthquake in Los Angeles causes a volcanic eruption to begin. Can Tommy Lee Jones save thousands of people from being incinerated?

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''Film/FlightOfTheEagle'' is a BasedOnATrueStory dramatization of S.A. Andree's attempt to reach the North Pole by hot air balloon in 1897. The balloon crashes on the Arctic ice pack and the three men of the balloon crew are left battling hunger and the elements as they try to make it to safety. Unlike most examples of this trope, all of them die, just as in RealLife.

Many, probably most, [[DisasterMovie Disaster Movies]] will use this trope. SinkingShipScenario is a subtrope. NoAntagonist will often feature in a Fight to Survive work, assuming that the event that put the protagonist's life in peril is something impersonal, although there may be an antagonist who is somehow to blame for the situation or who is seeking to exploit the situation, the most common example being a party member snapping under the pressure and endangering everyone else, or trying to cover up the cause of the disaster. DwindlingParty may appear in a Fight For Life work if the story involves a group of people fighting for life, and the dangerous situation starts picking them off. TheDeterminator may appear and refuse to give up and die, even when others are throwing in the towel. Compare SurvivalHorror, a mainly video game trope about being stuck in some terrible place amidst zombies or monsters.

* ''[[Film/DantesPeak Dante's Peak]]''. More running-away-from-a-volcano action featuring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton

Works such as these are examples of the Fight To Survive, a plot in which the main conflict is the simple struggle for survival. Many different things may cause the protagonist or protagonists to be placed in a perilous situation, but whatever the MacGuffin-disaster may be, the story will be centered around the protagonist's struggle to survive.

Many, probably most, [[DisasterMovie Disaster Movies]] will use this trope. SinkingShipScenario is a subtrope. NoAntagonist will often feature in a Fight To Survive work, assuming that the event that put the protagonist's life in peril is something impersonal, although there may be an antagonist who is somehow to blame for the situation or who is seeking to exploit the situation, the most common example being a party member snapping under the pressure and endangering everyone else, or trying to cover up the cause of the disaster. DwindlingParty may appear in a Fight For Life work if the story involves a group of people fighting for life, and the dangerous situation starts picking them off. TheDeterminator may appear and refuse to give up and die, even when others are throwing in the towel. Compare SurvivalHorror, a mainly video game trope about being stuck in some terrible place amidst zombies or monsters.

* ''Men Against The Sea'', the second novel in the ''Literature/MutinyOnTheBounty'' trilogy, recounts the epic voyage of William Bligh and the loyal members of his crew, who traveled 3000 miles across the Pacific Ocean in an open boat before finally making landfall at the island of Timor.

[[AC:Anime & Manga]]

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Quest}}'' is about a magical sandman creature who is hunting for the water that he needs to remain a sandman, rather than dissolving into individual grains of sand as he dries out.

* ''VideoGame/DisasterReport''. You are some normal journalist dude trapped in a city on an artificial island that is sinking due to horrible earthquakes. The environment itself is your enemy and often the buildings you're in will collapse even as you pass through them. This was particularly impressive as this was made in the era before Havok engine physics.

The hero is going about his business on a perfectly normal day--when an earthquake hits! Suddenly the hero must guide himself and all the other survivors out of the burning building to safety.

Or the hero might be enjoying a perfectly pleasant flight--when his plane crashes in the mountains! Suddenly the hero and all the other survivors must struggle to escape, while also struggling with [[Film/{{Alive}} whom to eat first.]]

Many, probably most, [[DisasterMovie Disaster Movies]] will use this trope. SinkingShipScenario is a subtrope. NoAntagonist will often feature in a Fight To Survive work, assuming that the event that put the protagonist's life in peril is something impersonal, although their may be an antagonist who is somehow to blame for the situation or who is seeking to exploit the situation, the most common example being a party member snapping under the pressure and endangering everyone else, or trying to cover up the cause of the disaster. DwindlingParty may appear in a Fight For Life work if the story involves a group of people fighting for life, and the dangerous situation starts picking them off. TheDeterminator may appear and refuse to give up and die, even when others are throwing in the towel. Compare SurvivalHorror, a mainly video game trope about being stuck in some terrible place amidst zombies or monsters.

If the story involves the protagonist fighting to survive a specific antagonist that is out to kill them--a SerialKiller, [[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds hostile aliens]], or whatever--it is not this trope. Battles for survival against life-threatening illnesses also are not this trope.

* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' is an AfterTheEnd version. With the Earth's ability to sustain human life rapidly declining--there has already been massive population loss, most of the crops have died off and the ones that are left are doomed, and the atmosphere soon won't have enough oxygen--the people that are left must find a refuge somewhere in the universe for humanity.

* Every film about the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic--''Film/ANightToRemember'', ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'', and several others--is about the passengers of the unfortunate ocean liner trying to avoid drowning or freezing to death in the Atlantic Ocean.

* ''Literature/TheMartian'' is about a manned mission to Mars that is aborted due to damage caused by a violent dust storm. One astronaut is left dead on the planet--except unbeknownst to his comrades, he actually isn't dead. Left marooned on the surface, he must figure out [[MacGyvering how to use the tools he has]] to stay alive on Mars until a rescue ship comes.

* ''VideoGame/DisasterReport''. You are some normal journalist dude trapped in a city on an artificial island that is sinking due to horrible earthquakes. The environment itself is your enemy and often the buildings you're in will collapse even as you pass through them. This was particularly impressive as this was made in the era before Havok engine physics.

Many, probably most, [[DisasterMovie Disaster Movies]] will use this trope. SinkingShipScenario is a subtrope. NoAntagonist will often feature in a Fight To Survive work, assuming that the event that put the protagonist's life in peril is something impersonal, although their may be an antagonist who is somehow to blame for the situation or who is seeking to exploit the situation. DwindlingParty may appear in a Fight For Life work if the story involves a group of people fighting for life, and the dangerous situation starts picking them off. TheDeterminator may appear and refuse to give up and die, even when others are throwing in the towel. Compare SurvivalHorror, a mainly video game trope about being stuck in some terrible place amidst zombies or monsters.

* Every film about the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic--''Film/ANightToRemember'', the 1997 ''Film/{{Titanic}}'', and several others--is about the passengers of the unfortunate ocean liner trying to avoid drowning or freezing to death in the Atlantic Ocean.

* ''VideoGame/DisasterDayOfCrisis'': The bulk of the game has the player trying to survive the various disasters that befall Raymond.

* ''VideoGame/DisasterReport''. You are some normal journalist dude trapped in a city on an artificial island that is sinking due to horrible earthquakes. The environment itself is your enemy and often the buildings you're in will collapse even as you pass through them. This was particularly impressive as this was made in the era before Havok engine physics.

Many, probably most, [[DisasterMovie Disaster Movies]] will use this trope. A SinkingShipScenario will often result in this trope. NoAntagonist will often feature in a Fight To Survive work, assuming that the event that put the protagonist's life in peril is something impersonal, although their may be an antagonist who is somehow to blame for the situation or who is seeking to exploit the situation. DwindlingParty may appear in a Fight For Life work if the story involves a group of people fighting for life, and the dangerous situation starts picking them off. TheDeterminator may appear and refuse to give up and die, even when others are throwing in the towel. Compare SurvivalHorror, a mainly video game trope about being stuck in some terrible place amidst zombies or monsters.

Many, probably most, [[DisasterMovie Disaster Movies]] will use this trope. NoAntagonist will often feature in a Fight For Life work, assuming that the event that put the protagonist's life in peril is something impersonal, although their may be an antagonist who is somehow to blame for the situation or who is seeking to exploit the situation. DwindlingParty may appear in a Fight For Life work if the story involves a group of people fighting for life, and the dangerous situation starts picking them off. TheDeterminator may appear and refuse to give up and die, even when others are throwing in the towel. Compare SurvivalHorror, a mainly video game trope about being stuck in some terrible place amidst zombies or monsters.

* The two-part TV Movie ''Shackleton'', starring Creator/KennethBranagh as Ernest Shackleton, is about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. After their ship becomes stuck in Antarctic ice, and is eventually crushed, Shackleton and his men must make a difficult journey to windswept Elephant Island. Then Shackleton and a picked crew have to make an even more difficult voyage across the open ocean to South Georgia Island, the nearest human settlement.

Works such as these are examples of the Fight To Survive, a plot in which the main conflict is the simple struggle for survival. Many different things may cause the protagonist or protagonists to be placed in a perilous situation, but whatever the [[MacGuffin MacGuffin-disaster]] may be, the story will be centered around the protagonist's struggle to survive.