History Main / RuinsOfTheModernAge

* The ''{{STALKER}}'' games are set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Northern Ukraine, with the ruins of the city of Pripyat. The rest of the world is just fine, though.

* ''BattlefieldEarth'' shows them in ruins. To the point that the humans think that icons of a golf course were gods.

* In the {{Honorverse}}, the city of Chicago is built upon the remains of the old Chicago, destroyed in the Final War that wiped out much of the population still on the homeworld, nearly two millennia prior to the main story setting. The Eric Flint short story "From the Highlands" goes into this a bit, including the protagonists stumbling into the remains of the Art Institute.

* ''Terminator Salvation'' has a group of people hiding out in a 7-11 that has definitely seen better days.

[[caption-width-right:250:Yeah, I think school's definitely out today.]]

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* [[{{DCU}} The DCU's]] ''{{Kamandi}}'' by JackKirby was full of this, including the first issue cover which homaged/ripped off the Statue of Liberty from ''PlanetOfTheApes''.

[[AC:{{Documentary}}]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* ''PlanetOfTheApes'': "You MANIACS! You blew it up! Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
** [[ItWasHisSled Thanks for ruining the ending for us.]]
* ''{{Survivors}}''

* ''[=~Logan's Run~=]''.
* The ending of ''[=~A.I.: Artificial Intelligence~=]'' takes place in a flooded Manhattan where all the skyscrapers are collapsed, in the process of collpasing, or in really bad shape overall.

* {{Battlefield Earth}} shows them in ruins. To the point that the humans think that icons of a golf course were gods.
---> Nostalgia Critic: And over here we see a mouse god named Mickey.
* ''TheBookOfEli''

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

* In the novel ''TheRoad'', a man and a boy survive by scrounging materials from the ruined landscape AfterTheEnd, and pass by several abandoned cities.
* Terry Brooks' ''{{Shannara}}''

* In the {{Honorverse}}, the city of Chicago is built upon the remains of the old Chicago, destroyed in the Final War that wiped out much of the population still on the homeworld, nearly two millennia prior to the main story setting. The Eric Flint short story "From the Highlands" goes into this a bit, including the protagonists stumbling into the remains of the Art Institute.
* HGWells' ''TheTimeMachine'' (the original novel and probably other adaptations as well) has a museum dedicated to the rotting ruins of the past. The museum itself had long been forgotten by the dull and complacent future children of humanity.

* [[TheDarkTower Lud.]] That is all.
* ''EternityRoad'' by Jack [=McDevitt=] has this in its title--we're remembered as the "Roadmakers," because our highways are the only things we left behind.

[[AC: {{Music}}]]
* A half-submerged Statue of Liberty appears in the music video for "Knights of Cydonia" by Muse, along with [[{{Troperiffic}} every other sci-fi and western trope in the universe]].
** The video for "Sing For Absolution", also by Muse, featured a ruined and burnt-out AfterTheEnd future cityscape dominated by the ruins of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* ''{{Fallout}}'', naturally.

* Wolfire Games' upcoming title ''Overgrowth'' (the sequel to their earlier ''{{Lugaru}}'') has some hints towards this trope, but the developers insist on leaving it to the players' interpretations.

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

* Just about every episode of ''ThundarrTheBarbarian''.

[[AC: WebComics]]
* ''LaterComics'' has the [[http://www.latercomics.com/071/ memorable image]] of a flooded False Creek, the instantly-recognisable (to anyone who's spent much time in StargateCity, anyways) Science World geodesic dome protruding from the water.
* [[HomeStuck Years in the future]] (but not many), Wayward Vagabond can see the ruins of an ancient city in the background as he roams across an inhospitable desert.

[[AC: Other]]

<<|{{Settings}}|>>

* The ending of ''[=~A.I.: Artificial Intelligence~=]'' takes place in a flooded Manhattan where all the skyscrapers are collpased, in the process of collpasing, or in really bad shape overall.

* ''{{Half-Life 2}}'' uses this trope in almost every scene.

Want to make something set in the future? What better way then making it look like our current era has passed. Have all the trappings of our modern time fall into disuse and litter the landscape. Used to great effect in many AfterTheEnd pieces. Related to SceneryGorn and RagnarokProofing. See also MonumentalDamageResistance.

* [[Homestuck Years in the future,]] (but not many), Wayward Vagabond can see the ruins of an ancient city in the background as he roams across an inhospitable desert.

* Some truly spectacular (SFW) illustrations of ruined Tokyo can be found [[http://gelbooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=tokyogenso here]].

* ''CowboyBebop'': Every time there's an episode that takes place on Earth. In one episode, Spike trudges through an abandoned shopping mall in search of a rare Beta video tape player
** A ''flooded'' shopping mall, too. Everything inside would have turned to mush long ago.
** It's actually a museum, and the equipment is kept high up out of the water.

* In the novel ''The Road'', a man and a boy survive by scrounging materials from the ruined landscape AfterTheEnd, and pass by several abandoned cities.

* ''Eternity Road'' by Jack [=McDevitt=] has this in its title--we're remembered as the "Roadmakers," because our highways are the only things we left behind.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* Let's not forget ''LifeAfterPeople'' and ''Aftermath: Population Zero''.

* ''TheBookofEli''

Want to make something set in the future? What better way then making it look like our current era has passed. Have all the trappings of our modern time fall into disuse and litter the landscape. Used to great effect in many AfterTheEnd pieces. Related to SceneryGorn and RagnarokProofing. See also MonumentalDamage [[MonumentalDamageResistance Resistance]].

Want to make something set in the future? What better way then making it look like our current era has passed. Have all the trappings of our modern time fall into disuse and litter the landscape. Used to great effect in many AfterTheEnd pieces. Related to SceneryGorn and RagnarokProofing. See also TheConstant.

Want to make something set in the future? What better way then making it look like our current era has passed. Have all the trappings of our modern time fall into disuse and litter the landscape. Used to great effect in many AfterTheEnd pieces. Related to SceneryGorn and RagnarokProofing.