History Main / HostileTerraforming

->''"There is a notion called 'terraforming' that has held popular theoretical cachet for some time. It holds that given the correct level of technology, the potential is there to change the environment of another planet into one like our own. This is nothing the human race has yet been able to put into practice. It's '''never''' been considered that someone might do it to '''us'''. These central positions look less and less like someplace a human could survive. They have been '''un-terraformed'''."''x

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' plays this trope every possible way, both in terms of mechanics and actual story. Humanity as a whole is trying to survive on alien planet. Said planet is a sentient being, which treats human activity as symptomes of a disease and reacts accordingly, mobilising immune response. With sufficent technology, it's possible to melt polar caps or cool down the planet, directly influencing sea level. This may lead to drowning of numerous cities, most likely belonging to unprepared enemy factions ''or'' render all ports facitilies useless (which can hit really hard pirate faction). There are also tectonic warheads, perfectly capable of causing local tectonic shift. And last, but not least, are fungal payloads, which cause a massive outburst of native lifeforms where they hit - usually with mind worms ready to attack everything outside their new habitat.

** The Zerg cover the surfaces of planets with [[MeatMoss Creep]] on which they are able to "build structures" and get a bonus to their healing speed. Other races cannot build on Creep until it clears away after the source of the Creep (Hatcheries, Creep Colonies, Creep Tumors, or Overlords) is destroyed.

** The [[spoiler:Prethyon Scourge]] can do this to worlds. The only solution is OrbitalBombardment; if they're caught mid-process, simply wiping out the terraformers from orbit will suffice, but if the world's been completely altered, [[ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure the entire biosphere has to be glassed into oblivion]]. Even worse, the [[spoiler:Extradimensional Invaders]] turn any successfully invaded planet into a Shrouded World that is lost to the galaxy forever, with even the most advanced terraforming tech being unable to make them habitable again.

* In ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' colonies following the path of Purity intend to replace their new planet's ecosystem with that of Earth's, rather than adapting themselves like [[BioAugmentation Harmony]] and [[{{Cyborg}} Supremacy]]. In fact, Harmony-leaning factions will demand that Purity and Supremacy factions stop clearing the miasma (a highly-toxic alien gas) near their lands, showing that they view this act as this trope.

[[caption-width-right:350:"The atmosphere contains high concentrations of methane, carbon monoxide, and fluorine. [...] Population approximately nine billion...all Borg."]]

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Fires of Pompei", Lucius, the herald of [[MagmaMan the Pyrovile]], tells the Doctor they plan to replace Earth as their lost homeplanet. The Doctor points out that the world is 70% water, which is the Pyroviles' [[KillItWithWater weakness]]. As Lucius points out, however, water can easiily ''boil''.
-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything'' ''will'' '''''burn''''', ''Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will '''burn''', Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will '''''burn''''', Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will'' '''''burn''''', ''Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will '''burn''', Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will'' ''''burn''''', ''Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will '''burn''', Doctor!"\\

-->'''Lucius:''' And ''everything will'' '''''burn''''', ''Doctor!"\\

** ''Literature/FormicWars'' (prequels to ''Literature/EndersGame''): The "Scouring of China", first mentioned in the original novel, is shown in the "First Formic War" trilogy to be an example of this - the Formics are defoliating the ground and scooping the dead biomass up, as well as dumping bacteria in the ocean. This conclusion is independently reached by Victor Delgado (a space miner who lost family to the Formics when they first entered the solar system) and Bingwen, a young Chinese boy with genius-level intelligence. Bonus points for never heard of such a concept before but deriving it based on his knowledge of farming. The officer escorting him to a school for children like him (and his future instructor) commends Bingwen not only for reaching this conclusion but also for even asking why the Formics are attacking (not a question that most people ask).

* In Creator/PhilipKDick[='s=] "Oh to Be a Blobel!", humans have terraformed Mars by converting the atmosphere to be bretahable to them, unaware until the terraforming had begun that Mars was already inhabited by Titanians who couldn't breathe an oxygenated atmosphere.

* ''Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy'': In ''That Hideous Strength'', the 'civilized' people of Sulva became disgusted with their flesh, so they razed the surface of their planet to rid it all of the uncleanness of biological life. Now Sulva is a pristine, smooth DeathWorld which orbits the Earth and shows its face in the dead of night.

->''"There is a notion called 'terraforming' that has held popular theoretical cachet for some time. It holds that given the correct level of technology, the potential is there to change the environment of another planet into one like our own. This is nothing the human race has yet been able to put into practice. It's '''never''' been considered that someone might do it to '''us'''. These central positions look less and less like someplace a human could survive. They have been '''un-terraformed'''."''

* In ''The Labyrinth'' from Simon Stålenhag, mysterious black spheres appear on Earth and they appear to defy the laws of physics. At first believed to be some unknown cosmic phenomenon, they eventually begin to take action and begin releasing ammonia and other toxic materials into the air. Over a decade of this release, scours life from the surface of the world forcing the surviving humans to live in underground bunkers.

* In ''The Labyrinth'' from Simon Stalenhag, mysterious black spheres appear on Earth and they appear to defy the laws of physics. At first believed to be some unknown cosmic phenomenon, they eventually begin to take action and begin releasing ammonia and other toxic materials into the air. Over a decade of this release, scours life from the surface of the world forcing the surviving humans to live in underground bunkers.

* Franchise/MonsterVerse: Generally, it's theorized by Monarch that most of the hostile [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] -- the MUTO species, Ghidorah, Camazotz -- respectively seek to alter the local or planetary environment to suit themselves, detrimental effects on other species be damned. Emma Russell notes in the graphic novel ''Godzilla: Aftershock'' that it's essentially the same kind of thing the human race has already been doing to the planet. In ''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters]]'', King Ghidorah commands the other Titans to join him in [[KillAllHumans tearing down humanity's cities]] and causing a global NaturalDisasterCascade, on top of Ghidorah himself [[WeatherManipulation covering the skies in massive storm systems]]: the films' novelizations note that Ghidorah's agenda will most likely strip away all multicellular life down to the Earth's bedrock if Ghidorah sees it through to the end. In the graphic novel ''Kingdom Kong'', Camazotz permanently envelops Skull Island in a [[PerpetualStorm perpetual superstorm]] [[TheNightThatNeverEnds which blocks out all daylight]] (as he finds the sun [[WeakenedByTheLight intolerable]]) so that he can turn the island into his new territory -- although Camazotz is defeated, the changes he made to Skull Island's climate are permanent, and Skull Island's ecosystem and terrain is breaking down due to the lack of sunlight, constant downpours and gales 24/7.

* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', after viewing the description of the Genesis Device, Dr. [=McCoy=] raises the possibility that it could be used to destroy an existing ecosystem while creating a new one. In ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' the Klingons saw the device as a weapon, whether it was used for Hostile Terraforming or simply to increase the wealth and power of the Federation. An interesting twist here is that, due to the relatively human-like physiology of most Star Trek aliens, the terraformed planet would still for the most part be habitable to the original inhabitants... it's just that the ones who are actually on the planet when it is terraformed would be used as raw materials for the terraforming transformation.
* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' (pictured above), the Borg travel back in time and assimilate Earth while it's recovering from World War III. Three centuries later, nine billion Borg are living there, and the planet is poisoned and industrialized almost beyond recognition. The main plot of the movie is about traveling back in time again, to stop this from happening.

* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', after viewing the description of the Genesis Device, Dr. [=McCoy=] raises the possibility that it could be used to destroy an existing ecosystem while creating a new one. In ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' the Klingons saw the device as a weapon, whether it was used for Hostile Terraforming or simply to increase the wealth and power of the Federation. An interesting twist here is that, due to the relatively human-like physiology of most Star Trek aliens, the terraformed planet would still for the most part be habitable to the original inhabitants... it's just that the ones who are actually on the planet when it is terraformed would be used as raw materials for the terraforming transformation.
* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' (pictured above), the Borg travel back in time and assimilate Earth while it's recovering from World War III. Three centuries later, nine billion Borg are living there, and the planet is poisoned and industrialized almost beyond recognition. The main plot of the movie is about traveling back in time again, to stop this from happening.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "For The Uniform", the Maquis use a special chemical concoction to make planets uninhabitable to Caradassians. In retaliation, Benjamin Sisko has a concoction made to make planets uninhabitable to non-Cardassians in order to force Maquis leader Michael Eddington to surrender himself and the chemicals. And, to prove he wasn't bluffing, he launches a torpedo towards a planet where one Maquis cell was living at to force their evacuation.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E13ForTheUniform For the Uniform]]", Sisko uses a specialized warhead to poison the atmosphere in such a manner that it would be uninhabitable for human life, but functional for Cardassian in an attempt to force Eddington to surrender. The Maquis did pretty much the same thing (except rendering it uninhabitable to Cardassian life but safe to human) to multiple Cardassian colonies.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E17HomeSoil Home Soil]]", the Enterprise tries to help terraform a desert planet by pumping water for irrigation. Unfortunately, the planet is occupied by sapient lifeforms who are annoyed enough at the attempt to terraform to sabotage the drill. It takes a while for everyone to figure this out because they're microscopic [[SiliconBasedLife silicon lifeforms]], and thus mistaken for parts of the sandy scenery. However, Federation Terraforming regulations require a planet to be devoid of any trace of life, so that not even possible future species might be [[AlienNonInterferenceClause prevented from evolving naturally]].

* In ''Literature/TheKrakenWakes'' by Creator/JohnWyndham it turns out that the alien invaders are triggering global warming to melt the ice caps, presumably to increase the amount of ocean deep enough for them to live in.

* ''LetsPlay/AfterlifeSMP'': Goolien Lizzie turns half of a [[https://stardustlabs.miraheze.org/wiki/Yellowstone modded Yellowstone biome]] into a blue, gooey land reminiscent of "her home planet" of Zorgensploosh 12. This confuses Lauren as she lives in the other half of the biome that wasn't Zorgensploosh-formed.

* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'': Possibly an UrExample. Martians use areoforming as a weapon, introducing "[[AlienKudzu red weed]]" that chokes out all other plants and sucks up Earth's water. [[spoiler:Fortunately, it's as susceptible to Earth microbes as the other Martians.]]

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'': Happened on occasion due to many early colonists preferring to [[HumanSubspecies adapt]] to new environments rather than terraform, putting them into conflict with later waves who would rather change the planet than themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/StarControlII'', Mycon Deep Children reshape planets they collide with, stimulating their volcanic activity to the point where it's comfortable for Mycons - obviously, since they enjoy temperatures above 600 Kelvins, it's less than comfortable for pretty much everyone else. Mycons don't seem to care.
* In the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' series the Zerg cover the surfaces of planets with [[MeatMoss Creep]] on which they are able to "build structures" and get a bonus to their healing speed. Other races cannot build on Creep until it clears away after the source of the Creep (Hatcheries, Creep Colonies, Creep Tumors, or Overlords) is destroyed.
** In ''VideoGame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid'' Amon starts terraforming Aiur with corrupted Void crystals that suck the life out of the surrounding life forms and summon Void entities.