History Main / WorldWarWhatever

* Some politicians and authors are under the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war#Other_global_conflicts impression]] that World War III was the UsefulNotes/ColdWar (including the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar and UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar) and World War IV was TheWarOnTerror.

-->--Probably [[http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/16/future-weapons/ not]] '''UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein'''.

-->-- [[BeamMeUpScotty Probably]] [[http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/16/future-weapons/ not]] '''UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein'''.

* ''WesternAnimation/LloydInSpace'' takes place shortly after World War Nine.

When WorldWarIII is not far enough into the future, writers tend to make mention of later World Wars. This often used to show how mankind is doomed to repeat its past mistakes. Generally, they will be the explanation for a CrapsackWorld / AfterTheEnd setting, or just a nasty blot in human history.

* In ''Anime/CrossAnge'', thanks to World War VII, the entire civilization of Earth is destroyed, prompting Embryo to attempt to make another world; one with no wars, discrimination, and where everyone can get whatever they want. Unfortunately, he failed at that too.

** In "Singularity", the Doctor mentions that World War V was fought in the 49th century.

** In ''Frostfire'', Vicki Pallister says that St. Paul's Cathedral still stood in the 25th century, having survived four world wars.
** In ''Singularity'', the Doctor mentions that World War V was fought in the 49th century.

* Some politicians and authors are under the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war#Later_world_wars impression]] that World War III was the UsefulNotes/ColdWar (including the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar and UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar) and World War IV was TheWarOnTerror.

** The villain of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang "The Talons of Weng-Chiang"]], Magnus Greel, is a war criminal from World War VI.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead "The Unquiet Dead"]]: The [[TheNthDoctor Ninth]] Doctor mentions having fought in World War V.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

-->'''Johnny''': Uh, no offense Carl, but this place is a dump.\\
'''Future Carl''': After six World Wars and two global plagues, I think we've done quite nicely thank you.

* By the 30th Century of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', there had been a number of world wars. In ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #228, one Legionnaire, Chemical King, died to prevent World War VII in 2977.

* By the 30th Century of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuper-Heroes'', there had been a number of world wars. In ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #228, one Legionnaire, Chemical King, died to prevent World War VII in 2977.

* By the 30th Century of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', there had been a number of world wars. In ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #228, one Legionnaire, Chemical King, died to prevent World War VII in 2977.

* By the 30th Century of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', there had been a number of world wars. In ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #228, one Legionnaire, Chemical King, died to prevent World War VII.

* There's also the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar (the North American theater of which was called the French and Indian War), which shared many similarities to what we now consider UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. For this reason, many historians consider it to be the actual first world war, so if you consider them all together, we've already had five world wars.
** Further European Wars that could be considered 'World' wars[[note]]Not as unreasonable as it might at first sound. Note how in both "official" world wars, the vast majority of the players were either European powers, their colonies, or their ex-colonies, and both events were incited by European politics. In a very real sense, the World Wars were just continuations of the wars and machinations between European nations that had been going on for centuries... but now with machine guns and colonial conscripts[[/note]]: The UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, The Nine Years War, The UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession, and The Wars of the UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution and [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Napoleon]]. So that basically means that we had nine world wars! So we're pretty much worried of getting a World War X.

* In ''Literature/TheKidWhoBecamePresident'', the eponymous 13-year-old chief executive is challenged to a World War IV video game, in which WorldWarIII eliminated all nations except a tiny dictatorship, where the game was made, and its enemy, the USA.

* The backstory of the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series involves not just a third World War, but World War IV and V. It is during World War V that one of two global factions launched a warhead at Antarctica, causing much of the continent to melt, which [[CaptainObvious didn't really help]] with the whole "rising sea levels from global warming" crisis. Cue mass extinction of almost every mammal on Earth, paving the way for various sea-life to evolve and become the new dominant species on the planet. Most of this information comes from [[BonusMaterial the first game's art book]], with the games themselves having the characters attribute the extinction of our race to global warming alone.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter said that the event happening would cause World War V. Lois mentioned that there would have to be World Wars Three and Four first, but Peter quickly dismisses it, claiming that the "beauty of World War Five is that it is so intense that it just skips over Three and Four."

** Further European Wars that could be considered 'World' wars[[note]]Not as unreasonable as it might at first sound. Note how in both "official" world wars, the vast majority of the players were either European powers, their colonies, or their ex-colonies, and both events were incited by European politics. In a very real sense, the World Wars were just continuations of the wars and machinations between European nations that had been going on for centuries... but now with machine guns and colonial conscripts[[/note]]: The UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, The Nine Years War, The UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession, and The Wars of the UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution and [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Napoleon]]. So that basically means that we had nine world wars! So we're pretty much worried of getting a World War X. (World War 10 if you don't understand Roman numerals)

* ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'' and ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' have both a WorldWarIII and a a World War IV in their shared BackStory. WWIV is always said to be "conventional" or "Non-Nuclear" (after WWIII exchanged a number of cities for suspiciously round lakes), and comprised several guerrilla conflicts and minor land wars before the start of either series.
* In ''Anime/CrossAnge'', thanks to World War ''VII'', the entire civilization of Earth is destroyed, prompting Embryo to attempt to make another world; one with no wars, discrimination, and where everyone can get whatever they want. Unfortunately, he failed at that too.

* By the 30th Century of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', there had been a number of World Wars, and one Legionnaire died to prevent "World War VII" (I think, it's been a long time.)

* In ''Literature/TheKidWhoBecamePresident'', the eponymous 13-year-old chief executive is challenged to a World War Four video game, in which World War Three eliminated all nations except a tiny dictatorship, where the game was made, and its enemy, the USA.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter said that the event happening would cause World War Five. Lois mentioned that there would have to be a World Wars Three and Four first, but Peter quickly dismisses it, claiming that the "beauty of World War Five is that it is so intense that it just skips over Three and Four."

** Further European Wars that could be considered 'World' wars: The UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, The Nine Years War, The UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession, and The Wars of the UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution and [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Napoleon]]. So that basically means that we had nine world wars! So we're pretty much worried of getting a World War X. (World War 10 if you don't understand Roman numerals)