Four Unique & Interesting Ways To Bring About The Apocalypse
OK…so one post that wasn’t apocalyptic was about the most you could get this week. Besides, the stock market tanked more today (almost 350 points down as a matter of fact), so why not discuss Armageddon some more? Especially when we’re not talking about a movie with Ben Affleck in it!
So, what are some interesting ways that the apocalypse could come about? I mean, we’ve all seen nuclear war, zombie attacks, and asteroids smacking into the Earth, but why not find something even more different? Well, wait no more because The Geek Emporium has got you covered!
1. Return of the dinosaurs!
Picture it! Jurassic Park, only it’s in Central Park? Or Land of the Lost in the Land of Lincoln? Dinosaurs roam the Earth again, and their immune to nukes and have a fondness for canned food…or as we like to call them: tanks! T-Rexes rampaging throughout downtown New Orleans…only no one really notices in some sections because of Katrina. Think about it, it would be a blast!
2. Electro-Magnetic Pulse
Speaking of blasts, how about a nice round of EMP! There’s actually a story floating around on the Internet called Lights Out about a community dealing with the trials and tribulations after an EMP attack. It’s written mostly as an instructional tale, but it deals with some interesting ideas of what would happen. Of course, there has been some debate as to how accurate the technical details of the EMP are, but for a good story? Who cares?
3. Maximum Overdrive
OK, so the movie was at best a so-so way to waste some time, but the premise was actually pretty cool. Technology turns on us and we’re powerless without it. Come on, this is just begging for a RPG make-over and you know it! Just leave Emilio Estevez out and we’re all good! It would be like a one-sided Car Wars, only humanity gets shafted!
4. Governmental “Don’t give a flip”
What if all the governments of the world said “screw it” and left us to our own devices? While not entirely bad, it would cause some serious issues in short order. The government walks away and vanishes and with it any hope for a way of life recognizable to any of us. Technology is all still there, and plenty of people know how to work it, but the obstacles would be interesting to say the least. In short order, you’d more than likely have a post apocalyptic wasteland without having to actually have an apocalypse!
And with that, we have four unique and interesting ways to bring about the apocalypse, but really the options are endless. Let’s hear what you folks have got? I know you’ve got some, because there’s to much brain power reading this blog for me to have the only ideas on this one! Whatcha got?
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October 2nd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Biological meltdown, circa I Am Legend.
World-ending conspiracy like The Core.
Global warming to the extreme, see The Day After Tomorrow.
Two words: ALIEN INVASION!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Don’t get me wrong, those are cool, but they’ve all been done plenty before…especially the biological causes and the alien invasion
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Ok the apocalyptic theme continues. In my Biology class the other night we were discussing mutations and the fact that the Aids virus could become airborne. Granted this is highly unlikely,but consider an outbreak of airborne Aids, Ebola and the Birdflu all at the same time. Our immune systems would be destroyed and we’d be screwed. They would spread like wildfire leaving few if any survivors. More than likely only rural communities with little outside contact. This goes back to the Biological Meltdown, from Liambic, but I thought it was interesting.
Another possibility is famine. If the climate changed, perhaps due to global warming, causing the crops not to grow, we’d starve to death. Civil unrest would ensue and it would be apocalyptic fun for all.
Severe tectonic activity… what if all the tectonic plates started to move rapidly and at the same time? Earth quakes, climate change, tsunamis, continents ripped in half, volcanoes and countries swallowed by the sea.
The Poles flip…. I don’t know a great deal about it, I’ve only seen the movie The Core so I’m no expert, but I imagine it would not be good. From what I understand a quick flip would cause severe changes and destruction globally. I know that scientist say it will take thousands of years to happen, but we are speculating here. Shorelines disappear, island countries are wiped out, severe climate change, up is down, cats marrying dogs… we’re talking really bad stuff.
That is all I’ve got for now…
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Another really good one is actually happening in the news right now, to an extent. What if the global economies all failed. Just went kaploohy and money had no value. We would probably see civil unrest unlike any seen on earth before. Food and supplies would be near impossible to get. The Superpowers of the world would be reduced to third world countries while the third world countries would degrade into even worse situations with out our support. Religious zealots, conspiracy theorist, and survival nuts would end up “saving” some of us and form smaller, tribal societies. Basically they’d form small dictatorships and reduce the people they “save” to second class citizens or slaves, if your lucky, in their little societies. The rest of us would be stuck trying to make it on our own or dying.
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October 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I’ve studied pole shifting to some extent, and the while there’s plenty of disagreement about what exactly would happen, it seems universally accepted that a pole shift would be bad.
The AIDS/Ebola/Bird Flu pandemic you outlined is one of those scenarios that will probably keep me awake at night. Thanks for that ;). Luckily, we just started a 4-day work week at work and I’ve got Fridays off :D. However, I really think if something that massive hit all at once, there wouldn’t really be anyone left alive.
As for the economic apocalypse, the current situation is the primary catalyst for this theme lately. Argentina suffered an economic collapse a while back, and reading about what happened there still sends shivers down my spine since the author of those accounts felt that Argentina and the US were very similar before the collapse, and felt his lessons learned could benefit us in the US.
As for the people “saving” others, there would still be those who would truly try to save others. There are plenty who’s survival plans involve trying to truly help people. Not all “survival nuts” are the dangerous creatures portrayed in TV and film. Some are, but not all
Of course, those possibilities you laid out are variations on themes that have been used before in TV, movies, and literature which is why I didn’t touch on them in the post. Personally, they’re just far to likely to some extent for me to want to post those.
I’m partial to the dinosaur one
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 am
Lets not forget a political apocolypse. Remember Logan’s Run? The loony Indian kid who learned 16 languages by his 12th birthday, and practically became a messiah.
His voluntary suicide @ 21 years of age started the process that became a societal norm for hundreds of years…Apocolypses don’t have to be ugly and brutal, do they?
How about a nano-phage? People being spontaneously mutated into warmachines or gray goo?
Or Southland Tales, where a new energy source turns out to open a sympathetic hole in the space/time continuum.
Doctor Who has a few decent apocolyptic events too - mostly involving aliens, but the season 3 Paradox event was my favorite so far.
Lastly, the birth of a new species…one that is much better at living than mankind, and breeds prodigiously.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Very interesting premises Donny. I didn’t remember most of the back story for Logan’s Run, so I didn’t even think of that one. The others are good too…though I thought Southland Tales sucked myself. But the premise was good.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
lol! tHE MOVIE HAD AN ASSLOAD OF POTENTIAL…oops, then the director had to get all “I’m smart, so if you don’t get it, you aren’t - het it?”
It could have been great…sigh.
Logan was good. I didn’t see robots taking over the earth either! Ooooh! And Dune, can’t forget Omnious the overmind and his 12 apostles! Back up, I’m getting warmed up!
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Oh yeah, I agree. Southland Tales was eaten up with potential. Unfortunately, the director apparently freebased more crap than Keith Richards has ever ingested before every yelling “Action!” the first time.
As for Dune, while a cool movie, it’s a bit to far towards pure science fiction to make it on my list for post apocalyptic works, but it’s a seriously cool movie with lots that can be easily used in a post apocalyptic game without any real effort.