Basic Trope: A character wakes up to find out (s)he are in a post-apocalyptic world, having literally slept through it the previous night.
- Straight: Joe wakes up in a room. Everyone is dead, and Joe wanders outside to discover that the Zombie Apocalypse has arrived.
- Exaggerated: Joe wakes up to the discovery that he's the only human left alive.
- Joe sleeps past the Zombie Apocalypse as well, and ends up in a time so far in the future when the earth is healing and the survivors of humanity have evolved into divergent species.
- Downplayed:
- Joe wakes up, finds out that everyone is dead in the state of Idaho, which is under quarantine to prevent a world-wide apocalypse.
- Late to the Tragedy - Joe wakes up to find out that everyone else who sought shelter in the creepy mansion is missing and there are ominous messages written in blood all over the place.
- Joe is woken up by the apocalypse.
- Justified:
- Joe was in a coma during the outbreak of The Virus.
- Joe was in cryogenic sleep.
- The apocalypse happened so quickly and suddenly that it easily caused significant destruction before Joe could wake up.
- Inverted:
- The only way to survive the Zombie Apocalypse is to enter cryogenic sleep.
- The Virus merely causes everyone to wake up, whether they turn into a zombie or not.
- Subverted:
- Joe thinks he's woken up to a Zombie Apocalypse, but it turns out to be a prank.
- Alternately, it was All Just a Dream
- Double Subverted: Joe thinks he's woken up to a Zombie Apocalypse, but it turns out to be All Just a Dream...and then the Zombie Apocalypse really does happen!
- Parodied:
- Joe finds out he's slept through the apocalypse but is killed off quickly.
- Joe finds out that he slept through the end of the world, and... nonchalantly goes right back to sleep.
- Joe wakes up and doesn't even notice the apocalypse happened, and just goes through his usual morning routine like nothing's wrong.
- Joe finds out that he slept through the end of the world... only to discover that whatever disaster was occurring has already been dealt with and things are already going back to normal, leaving him very confused about what he missed
- Zig Zagged: Joe finds out he's slept through the Zombie Apocalypse, then that turns out to be a dream...and then he actually does sleep through the apocalypse, but that turns out to be a Dream Within a Dream...and then the NEXT night...
- Averted:
- All of the characters have been wide awake since the apocalypse began.
- Joe wakes up from his coma and is soon greeted by his loving family. Nothing apocalyptic has happened during the time he was sleep.
- Enforced: "What better way to have a character surprised by the apocalypse?"
- Lampshaded: "Woah. I guess I really am a Heavy Sleeper."
- Invoked: Mad Scientist Joe unleashes The Virus and then promptly puts himself in cryogenic stasis so that he'll literally sleep through the apocalypse.
- Exploited: "I'll bet Joe survived. He is a heavy sleeper, after all.
- Defied:
- The Crazy-Prepared protagonist refuses to sleep for fear that he'll sleep through the apocalypse.
- Alternately, Mad Scientist Joe specifically modifies the virus so that everyone who's asleep dies in their sleep.
- Discussed: "Remember in 28 Days Later when that guy woke up in the hospital bed after the outbreak? I think that's exactly what happened!
- Conversed: "I swear to God, Joe, you're gonna sleep through a Zombie Apocalypse!"
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