Line #7 Main/DancinInTheRuins


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/time_enough_7.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Seldom has anyone been so happy to experience the end of the world.]]
3
4	->''Go and get your riot gear,\
5	swing your girlie all around.\
6	We'll be dancing on the cinders\
7	as the town is burning down.''
8	-->-- '''Music/FiveIronFrenzy''', "Get Your Riot Gear"
9
10	It's not hard to spot this guy (or girl) in an AfterTheEnd setting: he's the one dancing merrily on the grave of civilization. What his particular beef was with society may vary, but in all cases he's overjoyed to have seen it bite the dust. He's not typically the [[OmnicidalManiac one responsible for]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom the big boom]], though he might want to shake the hand of whoever is given the opportunity. Could possibly be considered a slightly less insane version of PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery.
11
12	Compare CrazySurvivalist, LonersAreFreaks, PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery, and ConductingTheCarnage. ''Might'' become the TokenEvilTeammate or the SourSupporter if he decides he has reason to join up with a group of other survivors (highly doubtful, though).
13
14	See also WhileRomeBurns, where the survivor may not be ''enjoying'' the carnage, but they certainly don't seem to mind it much.
15
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': [[spoiler:Fami has hundreds of thousands of people turned into violent devils]], turning the area surrounding large areas into a burning hellscape. As the War Devil, Yoru is greatly empowered by this and doesn't contain her joy.
23	-->''The world remembers me at long last!''
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
27	* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip shows a two guys in a boat fishing, with [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons mushroom clouds]] rising in the background. One tells the other: "I'll tell you what this means -- no size restrictions and ''screw'' the limit!"
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
31	* While he's [[TheStoic relatively restrained about it]], the title character of ''Film/DrStrangelove'' seems quite pleased to have the opportunity to put his survival plans into action. General Turgidson also [[AllMenArePerverts sees the bright side]] of having [[AdamAndEvePlot a harem of women with whom to start repopulating the world]].
32	* In ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', as the city is on the verge of complete destruction, a group of young {{upper class twit}}s, emerging from a brothel, are delighted that something is happening.
33	-->"Let's all watch the world go to the devil!"
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Literature]]
37	* Harold Lauder in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheStand''. At least he was in the beginning of the book...
38	* Predicted in ''Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu'' when the Old Ones return and mankind will become as they are: ''free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy.''
39	* Lampshaded in ''Old Virginia'', a Franchise/CthulhuMythos story by Creator/LairdBarron.
40	-->"Humans are the best pawns so far -- the ones with a [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves passion for fire and mystery]]. With subtle guidance they--[[WeCanRuleTogether you]] -- can return this world to the paradise it was when the ice was thick and the sun dim. We need men like [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Adolph]], and Herman, and their sweet sensibilities. Men who would bring the winter darkness so they might caper around bonfires. Men like you, dear Roger. Men like you." Virginia ended on a [[EvilLaugh cackle]].
41	* In TheFifties stories ''Lot'' and ''Lot's Daughter'' by Ward Moore, the protagonist is only too glad when nuclear war breaks out, gloating over how he's prepared and everyone else isn't. Eventually he even starts to regard his own family as 'parasites' and abandons his wife and delinquent sons, taking only his teenage daughter. In the sequel it's revealed that he's hopeless at living off the land especially as he gets older, and his daughter ends up [[LaserGuidedKarma abandoning him in turn]], along with [[ParentalIncest their son]].
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
45	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': Henry Bemis in the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E8TimeEnoughAtLast Time Enough at Last]]". He's a quiet person who would much prefer his books to dealing with live (and annoying) people. After the apocalypse he finally has all the books in the world and nobody to bother him. [[CruelTwistEnding Until...]]
46	* ''Series/Loki2021'': Loki has a great time visiting Pompeii moments before it gets destroyed. Agent Mobius admits it's pretty cool but since he's not such a sociopath, has the grace to not be so gleeful near all the people who are about to die.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Music]]
50	* The cover of the Music/{{KISS}} album ''Music/{{Destroyer\|Album}}'' consists of the band members doing this during a nuclear explosion.
51	* The Music/BlueOysterCult song "Dancin' in the Ruins" is the TropeNamer
52	* Music/TheOffspring has "Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell," obviously alluding to Film/DrStrangelove.
53	* Music/WeirdAl The lyrics of "Christmas at Ground Zero" include "we can trim the tree, while we dodge debris underneath the mushroom cloud."
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Music Videos]]
57	* Everyone who hears the LMFAO song "Party Rock Anthem" ([[InvoluntaryDance unwillingly]]) dances with [[CrapsaccharineWorld apocalyptic abandon]].
58	* The lyrics of Music/MiracleOfSound's FilkSong for ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77X_BzrIL-U Higher Tonight!]] allude to this.
59	--> And when the world is comin' down around me... I'm just gonna keep on dancin'... I'm just gonna keep on dancin'!
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
63	* The ''Doomguard'' faction in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' has this as their ideal. The end of everything can not be prevented, and is therefore desirable. Some members might regret the suffering of the people that have died, but everything that is completely destroyed really makes their day.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Video Games]]
67	* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and [[VideoGame/Left4Dead2 the sequel]], we get Francis, who views the zombie apocalypse as "one big barfight" and holds open disdain for everything except [[spoiler:vests]], and Ellis, who is clearly having a very good time stealing stock cars, running around on roller coasters, and setting off the Midnight Riders pyrotechnics.
68	* The player themselves in the ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' franchise which encourages you to play dress-up and revel in amusing deaths of zombies. Several "psychos" also fit the bill.
69	* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' has Eternal Emilitia, once a member of Hallownest's elite prior to being kicked out for [[NoodleIncident unknown reasons]]. After the kingdom was basically wiped out by a plague, Emilitia spends her time sitting in her room being smug at how her former peers were infected while she remains safe.
70	* In the Chaos ending of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', [[spoiler:Flynn and Lucifer stare at the burning Eastern Kingdom of Mikado; with the Archangels dead and the rest of the Law faction rendered ineffectual, God's attempt to seal Tokyo has failed and demons and survivors will flock out of their cage into the restored world, resulting in a savage world where only the strongest will survive]]. Given Flynn's status as a HeroicMime, it's a bit hard to see whether he considers the situation this trope or WhileRomeBurns.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Webcomics]]
74	* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius:'' Apparently the Heterodyne have a reputation for doing this, as Vole figures the people of Mechanisburg would not accept a fake Heterodyne even if she killed the Castle... unless she then danced naked in the ruins trying to shoot down the moon, before turning all the tourists into monsters and making a "very dangerous" fountain out of sausages.
75	-->'''Gil:''' Well... yes, that goes without saying.
76	* [[http://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/monday-march-8-2010/ This guy]] from a ''Medium Large'' strip.
77	* The [[https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2019/12/08 December 8, 2019]] edition of Webcomic/BreakingCatNews recommends that cat owners should buy Christmas cacti instead of poinsettia, since they have attractive red flowers but are harmless to cats. They are also "virtually indestructible -- when the world ends, this will all be Christmas cacti and [[CockroachesWillRuleTheEarth cockroaches]]." A graphic depicts the familiar mushroom cloud and cockroaches dancing happily among the cacti.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Web Original]]
81	* ''WebVideo/InternetHistorian'': When it appears that ''VideoGame/{{Habbo}}'' will shut down due to Channel 4 News accusing the game of [[PaedoHunt having pedophiles on its servers]], causing multi-million investors to back out, [[Website/FourChan the "Pool's Closed" movement]] decides to raid the game once more and have a laugh as the playerbase drops down.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Western Animation]]
85	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer Simpson during a ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episode, when he happens to be in a bomb shelter when Springfield was destroyed by [[EarthShatteringKaboom nuclear bombs]]. One of the first things he did was go to the church, where he danced in his underwear.
86	[[/folder]]

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