List of dystopian music, TV programs, and games

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This is a list of depictions of dystopian themes in music, TV programmes and games, including computer games and role-playing games.

Contents

[edit] Music

  • "Human Disease" and "Two Minutes Hate" from this album.
  • Fantastic Damage, (2002) and I'll Sleep When You're Dead, (2007) two dystopian concept albums by hip hop artist El-P.
  • Of Natural History by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum has dytopia themes based around the destruction of the natural world and mankings growing addiction to technology
  • "Citizens of Tomorrow" by "Tokyo Police Club" is centered around a society in which computers rule the planet during the year 2009. The protagonist in the song ends up being killed by these computers, and the song ends with the line, "citizens of tomorrow, be forewarned."

[edit] Television

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2005-2008. The city of Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom (one of the four nations of the fictional world), has a very strict class system. Also, even though there is an ongoing war that has lasted for one hundred years, nobody in the city is supposed to talk about the war. If they do, they are captured by special forces known as the Dai Li and are hypnotized until they believe that there is no war. When the heroes of the show meet Long Feng, the true ruler of Ba-Sing-Se (the king is just a figurehead), he claims that Ba-Sing-Se is the last utopia in the world.
  • Blake's 7, BBC, 1978-1981. An Orwellian space opera created by Terry Nation.
  • Charlie Jade, South Africa, 2004. A private investigator from an alternate universe controlled by a global corporate state discovers that the corporation, Vexcor, has opened a link to two alternate universes to exploit their resources, being trapped as a fish out of water in our own universe in the process.
  • "Cold Lazarus", BBC, Channel 4 1996 . A miniseries set in dystopian England.
  • Dark Angel, Fox, 2000-2002. A dystopian world set in Seattle after terrorists have set off an electromagnetic bomb which caused all electronic devices to stop working, disrupting life as we know it. A militaristic police force guards the "zones" which separate rich and poor.
  • Doctor Who, BBC, 1963-1988, 2005-present. In some stories the technical, social or political forces that bind a dystopia on a planet are a central theme - and sometimes is a parody of contemporary situations.
    • The Daleks- On Skaro the inherent pacifism of the Thals leads to their domination.
    • Inferno-The doctor arrives on a parallel earth ruled by a facist regime
    • Genesis of the Daleks- The doctor witnesess the creation of the daleks on the planet Skaro by a scientific and militaristic regime.
    • The Sunmakers- On Pluto in the future humans are exploited by an oppressive tax system.
    • Vengence on Varos- On Varos a plebiscite system kills any Governor proposing necessary but unpopular policies.
    • The Happiness Patrol- On Terra Alpha sadness is punishable by death.
    • The Long Game- On Earth the news is falsified to keep humanity frightened, ignorant and enslaved.
    • Turn Left- Donna sees an image of what if she never met the Doctor as the Hospital only has one survivor, the Titanic crashes on Buckingham Palace meaning London was destroyed, America's population were wiped out by Adipose Industries, Torchwood gave their lives to save the Earth from the Sontarans, and the stars are going out.
  • "Five Years Gone", 2007, an episode in the first season of Heroes. In this possible future, New York City has been destroyed and any evolved human is automatically doomed to execution.
  • Island City, 1994, a made-for-TV movie (possibly a failed series pilot?) produced by Warner Brothers for its PTEN (Prime Time Entertainment Network) syndicated package. Set in a future where a youth drug caused most of humanity to devolve into a violent, caveman-like state, with the few remaining normal humans residing in the title city, a protected megalopolis.
  • Jericho, CBS, 2006-2008. It is a dystopian series set in a fictional small town in Kansas called Jericho after a nuclear war plunged the entire country and the town into mass anarchy.
  • Nowhere Man, UPN, 1995-1996. A photojournalist's identity is stolen from him. One day, his wife and friends no longer recognize him. In the process of getting his life back, he discovers that a shadowy "Organization", more powerful than the government, is responsible for what is happening to him. Dystopian themes such as the erasure of identities, subliminal mind control, genetic testing, and government conspiracies are explored in various episodes.
  • Sliders, Fox, 1995-1997, Sci Fi Channel 1998-2000. Team of three or four people travel ("slide," hence the title) between dimensions, to alternate Earths, where history has taken a slightly different path. Most of these alternate Earths were, in one way or another, dystopian.
  • The Powerpuff Girls, in the episode 'Speed Demon', the girls race each other home, but due to the effects and rules of space and time, they fly so far into the future, that they end up in a future version of Townsville where they abandoned the townsfolk, and due to the girls absence, Him has taken over the entire world and can finally reveal his true self. The buildings are complete wrecks, the townsfolk are close to zombies and the world is coated in darkness.
  • The Prisoner, 1967-1968. A man attempts to escape his idealistic yet confining artificial town, while authorities attempt to hunt and recapture him.
  • Samurai Jack, 2001-2004. In this animated series, a shape-shifting force of evil named Aku sends the protagonist, a Samurai, into the future, where Aku has taken over and turned Earth into a dystopian, high-tech society full of corruption, crime and alien immigrants. Jack's main objective is to get back to his own time period and defeat Aku to prevent this disturbing future from coming to pass.
  • The Sonic series, where either Dr. Robotnik has taken over the planet of Morbius or is planning to.
  • The Tribe, 1999-2003. This New Zealand series is set in a hypothetical near-future in which all adults have been wiped out by a deadly virus, leaving the children of the world to fend for themselves.
  • The Tripods, BBC, 1984-1985. Humans are enslaved by an alien race via mind control devices. Culture and technology have been suppressed, and the alien masters are worshipped with a religious fervor. A small resistance movement must fight both the alien threat and the human society that serves it.
  • The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964. Many episodes are set in futuristic and dystopian settings, as a warning to viewers about the dangers of certain aspects of modern society or culture.
  • V, V: the Final Battle, V: the Series, NBC, 1983-1984, based on Sinclair Lewis' novel It Can't Happen Here.
  • Wild Palms, a mini-series, which first aired in 1993 on the ABC Network in the United States, about the dangers of brainwashing through technology and drugs.

[edit] Games

  • Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer (2006 and 2008) both games take place in a future where the surface of the earth that is all but uninhabitable, rendered as such by pollution from a new defense technology vastly utilized during the corporate war of Armored Core 4. In the sequel, Armored Core: For Answer, the surface of the earth is only suitable for mechanized robots that the player uses and fights against. The majority of mankind now lives in massive airborne habitats called "Cradles", that fly 7 kilometers over the Earth's surface to avoid contamination; ironically, the power source for the Cradles also add to the pollution they were built to avoid. It is mentioned later in the game that it mankind is unable to leave the planet because of orbital weapons from previous wars co-opted by the Corporations; thus, mankind is physically and politically prevented from using this potential salvation. A major plot point in For Answer is the choice between the preservation of the Cradles or their destruction, and also the destruction of the orbital weapons with the use of anti-satellite batteries that themselves may be protected or destroyed.
  • Mirror's Edge (2008) takes place in an unnamed city where a questionable regime monitors its citizens through invasive surveillance, tracking all forms of electronic communication in order to reduce crime and quell any challenge to its power.
  • Armored Core 3 by From Software features a future where the mankind has receded underground from the effects of an intensely destructive global war. A city called Layered was formed that is totally controlled by an artificial intelligence referred to as 'The Controller', a computer that makes the important individual decisions of everyone's life for them.
  • Tom Clancy's EndWar (2008) revolves around the world collapsing into a third world war and the United States and European Union form an alliance against Russia for space domination.
  • BioShock (2007) is set in a failed utopia. The game's creative director, Ken Levine, has stated in an interview that he had been obsessed with dystopic novels for all his life, especially Logan's Run.
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl is a game set in the future, in the area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986. Also its prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is based on a dystopian society.
  • Paranoia (1984) by West End Games, which features every aspect of the above list of things typical of dystopias except for a protagonist who feels something is wrong.
  • A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) by Infocom
  • Warhammer 40,000 (1987) by Games Workshop features intergalactic races which are cruel and heartless. The Imperium of Man, for example, had conquered the galaxy but is currently fighting a defensive battle against mutants, heretics and aliens.
  • Resident Evil series (1996-2009) by Capcom.
  • Wraith: The Oblivion (1994) by White Wolf, Inc., in which the world of the dead is run by the Hierarchy, a government with little compassion which seeks to enslave wraiths rather than help them "move on". Souls who do not agree with the Hierarchy and are caught are literally forged into money and goods.
  • The Sonic series, where either Dr. Robotnik has taken over the planet of Morbius or is planning to.
  • Syndicate (1993) by Bullfrog Productions. In the future, after the collapse of government, the world is harsh and polluted - corporate crime syndicates rule in place of national governments. The population of the world are fitted with "Utopia Chips" to mask the misery and squalor of the world around them. The player controls cybernetically-enhanced agents, out to further the cause of the syndicate. The sequel Syndicate Wars was similar.
  • Beneath a Steel Sky (1994) by Revolution Software
  • Beyond Good & Evil (a title which is a reference to the existentialist Friedrich Nietzsche) by Ubisoft is an action-adventure game conveying the grim world of Hillys, which has become a centre for capitalism and idealism forced onto its inhabitants by means of propaganda, censorship, and limited travel at the hands of its militant group, the Alpha Sections.
  • Chrono Trigger (1995) by Squaresoft, whose theme is time travel. One of the eras that the player can visit is a dystopian future caused by the destruction of Lavos. The main plot of the game resolves around going back to the past to stop Lavos.
  • Final Fantasy VI, AKA Final Fantasy III in the USA; (1995) by Squaresoft is a world where the greedy Gestahlian Empire seeks to rule over the planet through the power of the Espers.
  • Final Fantasy VII (1997) by Squaresoft features a world in which a power company called Shinra controls most of the inhabited world through its "Peace Keeping Forces".
  • Fallout (1997), and Fallout 2 (1998) by Black Isle Studios. Fallout 3 was released in 2008 from Bethesda Softworks. Narrative takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of the near-future, where various groups citizens are sealed into nuclear bunkers called Vaults, which are secretly social experiments.
  • Frontlines: Fuel of War, a first-person shooter by Kaos Studios, is set in a dystopian 2024 where humanity is plagued by dwindling fossil fuels, collapsed economies, global warming, and a war between the Western Coalition and the Red Star Alliance over the last oil on Earth.
  • Deus Ex (2000) by Ion Storm. The game features a world with overpopulation when a virus began to kill people, while only politicians and rich persons were given the antidote. Later it is revelaed that the virus is actually artificial and is produced by the same company that produces the antidote.
  • Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003), in which a religious group fights against the WTO. Later it is revealed both are a branch of the Illuminati who have control over the world.
  • Half-Life 2, which has an alien race known as the Combine ruling over the Earth. They gradually siphon the planet of its natural resources, as well as preventing human reproduction and turning them into workers and extremely loyal cyborgs. Their central base of operations is the Citadel, standing in an unnamed city (City 17) somewhere near the Black Sea; the Citadel itself is a huge tower which exploded at the end of Half-Life 2: Episode One due to the dark fusion reactor at its base gone critical, destroying the city.
  • Oni by Bungie. The plot is quite similar to Syndicate's. The player controls Konoko, a female rogue agent subjected to an extreme experiment: an enhanced twin version of her was implanted in her body so that every time she gets hurt her "chrysalis" grows and makes her stronger. In her world the criminal organization Syndicate opposes the all-powerful government hiding the truth about the world outside the cities. Her mother died outside the areas protected by government, inhabited by deadly mutant creatures created by pollution.
  • Mega Man Zero series (2002-2005 by Capcom). A resistance force against a dystopian society called "Neo Arcadia," resurrects an ancient fighting robot called "Zero" to help them.
  • Jak 2 (2003 by Naughty Dog In this game Jak, a young boy, is sent from his peaceful world (setting for Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy) to the future, where the entire world is covered by wasteland and the only civilisation left is Haven City. Haven City is ruled by the oppressive and murderous Baron Praxis who enforces his crazy and strict rules. He keeps authority with an elite military group under his control, the Krimzon Guard and puts on the show of protecting Haven City's people from their enemies, the Metal Heads, but he is actually selling them the energy source, eco, in return to let them invade his city.
  • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) by Kojima Productions. In 2014, the world's nations are dependent on a war economy which fuels the need for Private Military Contractors. These PMCs are employed by several nations to bring order to the collapsing economic and social infrastructures of the world. Many governments by this time have become totalitarian in their methods of action. The shadow organization known as "The Patriots" are responsible for this dystopian future.
  • Shattered Union (2005) a turn-based strategy game where America collapses into a second civil war in 2014.
  • Oddworld, a quintology by Oddworld Inhabitants (1997-2005).
  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay A futuristic universe where much of the population is plagued by crime, with whole planets being used as prisons.
  • The Worm in Paradise by Level 9 Computing - a text adventure game for the ZX Spectrum and other 8-bit platforms, set in a dystopian future.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Nintendo. Although the game begins as a on good terms, there comes the point where Link, the main character is sealed away for seven years and awakens to a dystopian Hyrule after seven years of war by main antagonist Ganondorf.
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past shows Hyrule split into two "worlds". The Light World, which is a peaceful land but one under siege by Agahnim, and the Dark World, a dystopian version where Ganon's rule is law.
  • The Moment of Silence by House of Tales - an adventure game set in 2044 New York, in a time when private information is becoming illegal.
  • Dystopia (computer game) cyberpunk-themed modification of the 2004 first-person shooter Half-Life 2 it was released after 3 years of development on Saturday February 24, 2007.
  • Crackdown (2007) is a third-person shooter developed by Realtime Worlds where a player plays as a super-cop developed by an idealist police state in order to combat a massive gang problem. The final scene of the game reveals that the government had funded and encouraged the growth of the 3 gangs of Pacific City in order to gain the submission of the citizens and to give them a mandate to form the police state.
  • Simcity Societies is a city building simulator that allows the player to build various societies, including a dystopian authoritarian state.
  • Red Faction and Red Faction II first-person shooters. The first Red Factions talks about miners in Mars being used as guinea pigs for a technological experiment and the sequel talks about a resistance movement fighting against a totalitarian police state.
  • Crusader, a video game series developed by Chris Roberts of Origin Systems, takes place in the 22nd century in which Earth is now ruled by the World Economic Consortium, a global government that united the world's economies and countries after an economic meltdown in the 20th century. The WEC is a corrupt entity that rules the world with an iron fist. In the game, freedom of speech is virtually nonexistent, the people are brutally taxed, and those who resist the will of the WEC are often met with military force. World wealth is concentrated to a mere handful of humans, those governing the WEC. The WEC in turn is forced to fight a war with a small but tenacious group known only as the Resistance, which seeks to end WEC rule.
  • The Sega Saturn video game Robotica features an attempt by human rebels in the 27th century to destroy Daedalus, a massive space station in Earth orbit in order to end the supposedly corrupt and archaic rule of the W.S.S.S., a planetary government fielding a massive robot army across the globe.
  • Gears of War and Gears of War 2 feature a future time on a different planet where humans have been fighting a brutal, 15-year-long war for their very survival against the alien army of the Locust.

[edit] See also

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