List of dystopian music, TV programs, and games
Encyclopedia
This is a list of depictions of dystopia
n themes in music
, TV programmes
and game
s, including computer games and role-playing game
s.
Dollhouse (TV series)
, 2009-2010. Most of the series is set in the near future, where living dolls are filled with appropriate personalities and skills for the amusement and cathartic well being of the extremely wealthy. The two yearly finales, "Epitaph One" and "Epitaph Two" are set ten years in the future in a dystopian society as the technology runs rampant.
Firefly
, 2002, 2003. In the year 2517, former members of a rebel political group butt heads with the corrupt interplanetary government known as the Alliance
.
"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 Prime Time Entertainment Network
(PTEN) 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 nationwide nuclear disaster plunged the entire country and the town into mass anarchy
.
Luna (TV series)
British Children television sitcom where bureaucracy has gone out of control, but with elements of black comedy
, and absurdist theatre.
Max Headroom
, 1987–1988, cyberpunk
, oriented around an anti-corruption reporter and his artificial intelligence
copy.
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.
Survivors
, BBC
, 1975–77 and 2008-2010. British post-apocalyptic television series concerning the plight of a group of people who have survived an accidentally released plague – a genetically modified form of influenza– that kills nearly the entire population of the planet.
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 and 2009. A secretive ex-spy attempts to escape an idealistic yet controlled artificial town run by unknown inquisitive authorities. Most attempts to escape fail and "successful" escapes happen only when they are allowed.
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.
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
, 1993-1994. The episode "A Bright and Shiny Future" from 2nd season has the SWAT Kats and the Pastmaster tossed during the Enforcer assault over the bridge into the future where the Metallikats have taken over and turned Megakat City into a dystopian, post-apocalyptic concentration camp with the kats serving as slave labor and the technokats serving as the arrogant and brutal law enforcements. As it turns out, the Pastmaster planned every bad thing that happened in Megakat City along with the Metallikats only to be betrayed by them and forcing to ally himself with the SWAT Kats and the other good guys to revenge himself against the Metallikats.
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 fervour. 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.
The 1980s V science fiction franchise, inspired by 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.
The Worm that Turned, BBC
, 1980, comical series within The Two Ronnies
television show, in which women dominate men in England.
In the anime Yu-Gi-Oh 5D, the entire future world is destroyed by a combination of energy reactors that are powered by negative human emotions and huge robots called Machine Emperors that were brought out of trading cards to destroy all humans to, ironically, prevent the negative energy reactor from destroying the planet. The last four humans left alive, Bruno, Paradox, Apriodia, and Z-one, travel back in time to destroy the home city of the main-protagonists, New Domino City, and kill the creator of the card game the Machine Emperors originated from to prevent the apocalyptic future, but are stopped by the main protagonists after they are assured by them that they will prevent the ruinous future from happening in a less murderous and destructive way.
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n themes in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, TV programmes
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
and game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
s, including computer games and role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s.
Music
- Both albums from The BugglesThe BugglesThe Buggles were an English New Wave band consisting of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes . They are remembered chiefly for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star" that was #1 on the singles chart in 16 countries. Its music video was the first to be shown on MTV in the U.S...
, which borrow heavily from the cyberpunkCyberpunkCyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
portrayal of dystopia. One of the most notable dystopic singles was Living in the Plastic AgeLiving in the Plastic Age"Living in the Plastic Age" is a synthpop song by The Buggles recorded in 1979 and released as the second single from their debut album The Age of Plastic on 14 January 1980. Although it is the first track on The Age of Plastic, it was recorded after Video Killed the Radio Star. The single reached...
. - Various songs by pioneer punk band The ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
condemn a dystopian society in the real world, one that actually thrives in the nonfictions life accounts of Joe StrummerJoe StrummerJohn Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
. - 21122112 (album)2112 is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976.The album features an eponymous seven-part suite written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, with lyrics written by Neil Peart telling a dystopian story set in the year 2112. The album is sometimes described as a concept album...
, an album by the CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rock band RushRush (band)Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, released in 19761976 in music-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....
. The title track is about a man living in a dystopian society. - "In the Year 2525In the Year 2525"In the Year 2525 " is a hit song from 1969 by American pop-rock duo Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. The song was written by Rick Evans in 1964 and originally released on a small regional record label in 1968...
", a song by Zager and EvansZager and EvansZager & Evans were a Lincoln, Nebraska rock-pop duo of the late 1960s and early 1970s named after its two members, Denny Zager and Rick Evans, who met at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Fellow Nebraska artists Dave Trupp and Mark Dalton backed up the duo on drums and bass respectively...
. - Operation: MindcrimeOperation: MindcrimeOperation: Mindcrime is a concept album by American progressive metal band Queensrÿche. Released on May 3, 1988, it is the band's third full-length album. A rock opera, its story follows a man who becomes disillusioned with the society of the time and reluctantly becomes involved with a...
, an album by QueensrÿcheQueensrÿchethumb|250px|right|Queensrÿche's classic line-up performing at the [[Sauna Open Air Metal Festival]] 2011 in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. Left to right: bass Eddie Jackson, lead vocals Geoff Tate, drums Scott Rockenfield and guitars Michael Wilton....
. - I Am the Law, recorded by AnthraxAnthrax (band)Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
from the album Among the LivingAmong the LivingAmong the Living is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. The album was released in March 1987 by Megaforce Worldwide/Island and is certified gold by the RIAA. The BBC has described the album as "arguably their big breakthrough", and "often cited by fans as their favourite...
. The song depicts the theme of the 2000AD comics character Judge DreddJudge DreddJudge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
. - Animals, an album by Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. Borrows allegories of livestock from George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Animal FarmAnimal FarmAnimal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
, especially the hierarchy of dogs, pigs and sheep on the farm. - The Wall, an album by Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. Features the main character transforming into a fascist dictator as a metaphor for his growing alienation from the world. - The Final CutThe Final Cut (album)The Final Cut is the twelfth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in March 1983 by Harvest Records in the United Kingdom, and several weeks later by Columbia Records in the United States. A concept album, The Final Cut is the last of the band's releases to...
, an album by Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
with Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. - Radio KAOSRadio KaosRadio Kaos is Mexican Rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1992. The band currently features Claudio Pérez , David Pérez . The release of their first album Botas Negras under EMI Capitol was a success in Mexico...
, an album by Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
. - Amused to DeathAmused to DeathAmused to Death is a concept album, and the third studio album by former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. It was released in 1992.The album title was attached to material that Waters began working on during the Radio KAOS tour...
, an album by Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
. - TimeTime (Electric Light Orchestra album)Time is a concept album by Electric Light Orchestra released in 1981 through Jet Records. The album tells the story, through its songs and lyrics, about a man from the 1980's finding himself in the year 2095 and trying to come to terms with being unable to return and adjusting to his new...
(1981) by ELOElectric Light OrchestraElectric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
features tracks that may be considered dystopian or utopian depending on listener's point of view. - "Kilroy Was HereKilroy Was Here (album)Kilroy Was Here is the eleventh album, a rock opera/concept album by the rock band Styx, released on February 28, 1983. The title comes from a famous World War II graffiti "Kilroy was here".-Background:...
" (1983) by StyxStyx (band)Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
that features the song Mr. RobotoMr. Roboto"Mr. Roboto" is a song written by Dennis DeYoung and performed by the band Styx on their 1983 concept album Kilroy Was Here. In Canada, where they were always more popular than in their native U.S., it went to #1 on the RPM national singles chart, becoming their third single to top the charts in...
which portraits a strong corporate tecnologican dystopian theme. - Thick as a BrickThick as a Brick-Differences between various CD releases:By 2011 the album received three major releases on CD: the first release , the MFSL-release , and the 25th Anniversary Edition . Whereas the first release and the MFSL-release run with identical speed, the 25th Anniversary edition runs 0.5% slower...
, an album by Jethro TullJethro Tull (band)Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
. - Karn Evil 9Karn Evil 9"Karn Evil 9" is an extended work by progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer, appearing on the album Brain Salad Surgery. A futuristic fusion of rock and classical themes, it is regarded by many fans to be their best work...
a song by Emerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
. - Lifehouse, a semi-abandoned album and movie project by Pete TownshendPete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
and The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
which spanned many dystopian-themed songs like Won't Get Fooled AgainWon't Get Fooled Again"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
and Let's See Action. - ReplicasReplicas (album)Replicas is an album by Tubeway Army, released in 1979. It was the second and final Tubeway Army LP, following a self-titled debut the previous year...
(1978) by Gary NumanGary NumanGary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
explores life in a devastated, robot-dominated world, with songs such as Down In The ParkDown in the Park"Down in the Park" is a 1979 single written and recorded by Gary Numan with his band Tubeway Army. The first cut from the album Replicas, it was not a hit when released but has long been a critical and fan favourite and for many years was described by Numan as his best composition.-Style:Like the...
. - Rock band Big BlackBig BlackBig Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
with their stark portrayals of the underside of American culture. - AvengerAvenger (anime)- External links :*...
(1999)? by AskaAskaAska can refer to:*ASKA , an American heavy-metal band*Aska Hundred, or Aska härad, was an hundred of Östergötland, Sweden.*Isuzu Aska, a Japanese car....
, about a world where humanity is crushed under the heel of alien oppression until the Age Of Light (perhaps a nuclear or antimatterAntimatterIn particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
weapons deployment?) reverses fortunes. - Rock band DystopiaDystopia (band)Formed in Orange County, California in 1991, Dystopia was a sludge metal band, popular in both the heavy metal and crust punk scenes, due in large part to their bleak, misanthropic imagery...
- Deltron 3030Deltron 3030Deltron 3030 is an alternative hip hop supergroup composed of producer Dan the Automator, rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and DJ Kid Koala...
(2000) Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and Kid Koala work together on this Hip Hop CD about a future world of battle raps with aliens, government oppression, and space travel. - "Handlebars (song)Handlebars (song)"Handlebars" is a song by Flobots. It was released as the first single from their debut album, Fight with Tools and is the group's largest success, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in just less than three weeks after the single's release....
" (2008) A single from FlobotsFlobotsThe Flobots are a political rock and hip hop musical group from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2000 by Jamie Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut Fight with Tools , featuring the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio in April 2008.-Early...
album Fight with ToolsFight with ToolsFight with Tools is the debut album by Flobots released in October 2007 and re-released on May 20, 2008. It features the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio the following April...
, its music video features a dystopic setting. - "25 or 6 to 425 or 6 to 4"25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the rock/jazz fusion band Chicago. It was recorded for their second album, Chicago , with Peter Cetera on lead vocals. The song was edited and released as a single in June of the year 2009, climbing to...
" by ChicagoChicago (band)Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
, while not dystopian per sé, features a 1984-based music video for their 1986 remake of the song, found on Chicago 18Chicago 18Chicago 18 is the 18th album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1986. As the successor to 1984's multiplatinum smash hit Chicago 17, this album marked a new era for Chicago: their post-Peter Cetera years....
. - Machines Are UsMachines Are UsMachines Are Us is the third feature-length album by Icon of Coil; it was released in 2004. "Android" was released prior to Machines Are Us, and an Ep for "Shelter" was included in the limited edition version of Uploaded And Remixed....
by Norwegian EBMElectronic body musicElectronic body music or industrial dance is a music genre that combines elements of industrial music and electronic dance music...
act Icon of CoilIcon of CoilIcon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the release of Shallow Nation, the band's first single, Komor joined full-time. In 2000, Christian...
dwells on many dystopian and cyberpunkCyberpunkCyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
themes. - Swedish rock band Freak KitchenFreak KitchenFreak Kitchen is a heavy metal/hard rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1992. Because of the high technical level of their compositions people sometimes refer to their style as progressive metal or progressive rock.-History:...
has a song named "Dystopia". - ObsoleteObsolete (album)Obsolete is the third studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on July 28, 1998. Conceptually, it is a sequel to 1995's Demanufacture...
(1998) by the AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
band Fear FactoryFear FactoryFear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
. Each song on the album successively adds to an underlying dystopian storyline. - "Eye in the Sky", a song by the Alan Parsons ProjectThe Alan Parsons ProjectThe Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
has a strong dystopian theme. - Dystopia album released by The InvisibleThe InvisibleThe Invisible may refer to:*The Invisible , a film released in 2007*The Invisible , a British band*The Invisible , their debut album...
1987. - "Dystopia" a song by KreatorKreatorKreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany, formed in 1978, but formalized in 1982 under the name Tormentor. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction and Sodom, the other two big German thrash metal...
about the current world's situation in their album Enemy Of God (2005), a work full of references about our "perfect" world. - Diamond DogsDiamond DogsDiamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
an album by David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
is loosely based on George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Nineteen Eighty-FourNineteen Eighty-FourNineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
especially the songs "Future Legend" "We Are The Dead" "1984" and "Big Brother". - 19841984 (Rick Wakeman album)-Personnel:* Rick Wakeman – keyboards* Steve Barnacle – Fender bass* Tim Stone – Guitar* Gary Barnacle – Selmer saxophone* Frank Ricotti – Ludwig drums* Vocals: Chaka Khan, Kenny Lynch, Steve Harley, Tim Rice, Jon Anderson-Equipment:...
by Rick WakemanRick WakemanRichard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, based on the Orwell book. - 19841984 (Anthony Phillips album)1984 is an album by Anthony Phillips released in 1981. It is an instrumental electronic album with some vocal effects and a variety of percussion....
by Anthony PhillipsAnthony PhillipsAnthony Edwin "Ant" Phillips is an English multi instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of the band Genesis. He played guitar and sang backing vocals until leaving in 1970, following the recording of their second album, Trespass...
, again based on the Orwell book. - "Brother Where You BoundBrother Where You Bound (song)Brother Where You Bound is the epic length title track to Supertramp's 1985 album of the same name. Written and sung by keyboardist Rick Davies, it is the longest song Supertramp ever recorded clocking in at 16 and a half minutes .The introduction to the track featured readings from George...
", a song by SupertrampSupertrampSupertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
, is also loosely based on Orwell's 1984, even featuring some audio narration of the book in the intro. - Joe's GarageJoe's GarageJoe's Garage is a 1979 rock opera by Frank Zappa. Zappa stated that along with Lumpy Gravy, this album was one of his finest achievements. It was originally released as two separate albums, the first comprising Act I, and the second part as a double-album which made up Acts II & III. All three...
, a dystopian concept album by Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, set in a world where music is illegal and crimes are punished preemptively. - "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)"Silent Running " is a pop rock song performed by Mike + The Mechanics. Written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, it was the first track from their 1985 self-titled debut album...
", a song by Mike + The Mechanics. - "Clones (We're All)" by Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
contains dystopian themes - Absolution and Black Holes and RevelationsBlack Holes and RevelationsBlack Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released on 3 July 2006. Recording was split between New York and France, and it was the first time Muse had taken a more active role in the album's production...
, albums by the band MuseMuse (band)Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
have many references to the UK and USA becoming dystopian societies. - The 2009 album The ResistanceThe Resistance (album)The Resistance is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released in Europe on 14 September 2009, and in North America on 15 September 2009....
by MuseMuse (band)Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
has many songs that may be based on George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, such as "Uprising" and "Resistance." - The UnforgivenThe Unforgiven (song)"The Unforgiven" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the second single from their eponymous fifth album Metallica...
by MetallicaMetallicaMetallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
portrays an ultra-conformist dystopian society. - Dystopia is an album by the FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
doom metalDoom metalDoom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
bandRock BandRock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Anthemon. - DystopiaDystopia (band)Formed in Orange County, California in 1991, Dystopia was a sludge metal band, popular in both the heavy metal and crust punk scenes, due in large part to their bleak, misanthropic imagery...
is a misanthropic crust punkCrust punkCrust punk is a form of music influenced by anarcho-punk, hardcore punk and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the mid-1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills...
and sludge metalSludge metalSludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that melds elements of doom metal and hardcore punk, and sometimes incorporates influences from southern rock, stoner rock and grunge. Sludge metal is typically abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting...
band from California, USA. - Pink World by Planet P ProjectPlanet P ProjectPlanet P Project is a science-fiction themed, progressive rock band; it is run as a side venture by frontman Tony Carey, for his more experimental music. It has released five albums: Planet P ; Pink World ; Go Out Dancing, Part I ; Go Out Dancing, Part II ; and, Go Out Dancing, Part III ...
portrays a post-nuclear apocalyptic anti-utopia. - Year ZeroYear Zero (album)Year Zero is the fifth studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released on April 17, 2007, by Interscope Records. Frontman Trent Reznor wrote the album's music and lyrics while touring in support of the group's previous release, With Teeth...
(2007) by Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
is a concept album with a strong dystopian theme and an accompanying story. - Brave New World by Iron MaidenIron MaidenIron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
alludes to Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel after which it is named. - "Perfect System", a song by Oingo BoingoOingo BoingoOingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
, depicts a society ruled by a Big Brother-esque, totalitarianisticTotalitarianismTotalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
government. - Dystopia is the title of Midnight JuggernautsMidnight JuggernautsMidnight Juggernauts are a band from Melbourne, Australia composed of Andrew Szekeres, Vincent Vendetta, and Daniel Stricker. The band has been described as anything from 'prog dance meets cosmic film scores', to 'slasher-flick disco' to 'deadpan landscape',...
debut album. - "Brother" by The OrganThe OrganThe Organ was a Canadian indie pop band formed in 2001 in Vancouver, British Columbia. They officially broke up on December 7, 2006, due to illness and personal conflicts in the band.-Early years:...
alludes to a theocratic dystopia in the lyrics and conveys a sense of urgent unease through the music. - "The Universal" by BlurBlur (band)Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
portrays a future of blanket media saturation, empty days and misplaced hopes. - "Hook in Mouth" by MegadethMegadethMegadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
contains many themes from the book 1984. - The 1989 album Revolution by Little Steven references Orwell's 1984 in the songs, "Love and Forgiveness" and "Newspeak".
- The album Wonderland by Forgive DurdenForgive DurdenForgive Durden is an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington, who got their name from the novel Fight Club. They are signed to Fueled By Ramen...
- OK ComputerOK ComputerOK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...
and Kid AKid AKid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in October 2000 by the Parlophone label. A commercial success worldwide, Kid A went platinum in its first week of release in the United Kingdom. Despite the lack of an official single or music video as publicity, Kid A...
by RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
are both said to be about stories of dystopia. While the story had been denied, Radiohead has said that the concept of dystopia is in fact, true. - "2+2=5" by RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, from Hail to the ThiefHail to the ThiefHail to the Thief is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in June 2003 through Parlophone Records. After two Radiohead albums that featured heavily processed vocals, less guitar, and strong influence from experimental electronica and jazz, Hail to the Thief was seen...
, featuring lyrics about a future akin to George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Nineteen Eighty-FourNineteen Eighty-FourNineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
. - The Body, The Blood, The MachineThe Body, The Blood, The MachineThe Body, the Blood, the Machine is The Thermals' third album. The album was released on August 22, 2006 on Sub Pop Records, and was produced by Fugazi's Brendan Canty...
, an album by The ThermalsThe ThermalsThe Thermals are an American indie punk band based in Portland, Oregon. The group was formed in 2002. With influences heavily rooted in both lo-fi punk, as well as more standard rock, the band's songs are also known for their political and religious imagery.- History :The Thermals came together in...
. - The ThriceThriceThrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school....
album First Impressions features a song called Lockdown about a dystopian society. - Anti-FlagAnti-FlagAnti-Flag is a punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States, formed in 1988. The band is well known for its outspoken political views. Much of the band's lyrics have focused on fervent anti-war activism, criticism of United States foreign policy, corporatism, U.S. wealth...
has a song called "Welcome to 1984" which directly refers to "Mr. Orwell." They also have a song "Anthem For The New Millennium Generation," which refers to 1984 also ("Orwellesque headlines; we have heard it all before. As the 21st century becomes 1984."). - Dystopia, (2006) a dystopian concept album by Betty XBetty XBetty X, is an American musician, artist, and writer known for her controversial stage persona and image as the lead singer of the eponymous band Betty X. Her stage name was formed the combination of 1950's American icons, domestic goddess Betty Crocker, pin-up model Bettie Page with the human...
, based on OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's 1984 "Two Minutes Hate" rallies. - "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 HistoryOf Natural HistoryOf Natural History is the second album by Avant-rock/metal group Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. It was recorded and mixed at Polymorph Recording in Oakland, California during the years 2003 and 2004...
by Sleepytime Gorilla MuseumSleepytime Gorilla MuseumSleepytime Gorilla Museum is an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fuses classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music...
has dystopic themes based around the destruction of the natural world and mankind's growing addiction to technology - "Citizens of Tomorrow" by Tokyo Police ClubTokyo Police ClubTokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks , keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook , and drummer Greg Alsop ....
is centred 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." - "A Smart Kid" by Porcupine TreePorcupine TreePorcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
tells the story of a child in a post-apocalyptic world who is visited by an alien spaceship. The song appears in the 1999 album Stupid DreamStupid DreamStupid Dream is the fifth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in March 1999. It became the band's best selling album up to the time of its release....
. - "Vertical Reality" by Eric ChampionEric ChampionEric Champion is one of the pioneers of mid 90's Christian pop and modern rock. In the beginning of his musical career, he was a pop singer. His music had the flair of many of his Christian pop contemporaries but with more of a Michael Jackson/ Kenny Loggins vocal approach meets futuristic techno...
is a cyberpunk concept album that tells the story of a society living with complete government control of every aspect of their lives and the complete abolishment of religion. - Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous KilljoysDanger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous KilljoysDanger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo and was released by Warner Music and Reprise Records on 19 November 2010...
, the latest album from American rock band My Chemical RomanceMy Chemical RomanceMy Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
is based on the future California in the year 2019. It features the four remaining band members as a gang of rebels known as the Killjoys, fighting against the seemingly brain-washing organization Better Living Industries (BL/ind). - The song Walking City by Japanese artist Miho HatoriMiho Hatoriis a singer, songwriter, and musician. She is primarily known as the vocalist of the New York City group Cibo Matto, and the first person to provide the voice of Gorillaz member Noodle.-Biography:...
on her 2005 Ecdysis (album)Ecdysis (album)Ecdysis is Miho Hatori's first solo album after a series of contributions to diverse bands, including Cibo Matto, Gorillaz, the Beastie Boys, and Smokey & Miho. It was released on October 21, 2005 in Japan under the Speedstar International label...
tells the story of a world overrun by insects. - Many albums and songs by Godspeed You! Black EmperorGodspeed You! Black EmperorGodspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
deal with dystopian themes. - one MicOne Mic"One Mic" is a song by American hip hop rapper Nas, released April 16, 2002 on Columbia Records and distributed through Ill Will Records in the United States. It was issued as the third single from his fifth studio album, Stillmatic . The song samples a portion of Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight"...
by rapper NasNasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time... - WTF?!WTF?!-Band members:* Sascha Konietzko – vocals, synthesizers, programming, drum programming , party balloon solo , bass guitar , guitar , feedback guitar , metal percussion * Lucia Cifarelli – vocals...
, an album by KMFDMKMFDMKMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
features several songs with dystopian themes, including a song entitled Dystopia. - "Parade",by Susumu Hirasawa(平沢進), a Japanese scene music of the parade scene in the movie <
>, describes a dystropian world based on the 20'th century, mentioning a severe form of materialism and illusion of the people. - "Terminal Reality", "Unified Nation" by Curve Zer0, a Russian electronic rock project.
- "Fear Of A Blank PlanetFear of a Blank PlanetFear of a Blank Planet is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree and their best selling . Released by Roadrunner on 16 April 2007 in the UK and Europe, 24 April 2007 in the United States through Atlantic, 25 April 2007 in Japan on WHD and 1 May 2007 in Canada by WEA...
" by English Progressive RockProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Porcupine TreePorcupine TreePorcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
.
Television
- Aeon Flux, 1991-1995. Created by Peter ChungPeter ChungPeter Kunshik Chung Peter Kunshik Chung Peter Kunshik Chung (born April 19, 1961 in Seoul, South Korea, as 정건식 (Chung Geun-sik, or alternative spelling Jeong Geun-Sik) is a Korean American animator...
, this was a graphic cartoon television series seen on MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and also the name of a movie produced in 2005 that foretells of an unknown period of Earth's future human society under the control of a man named Trevor GoodchildTrevor GoodchildTrevor Goodchild is a fictional character featured in the 1990s animated television series, Æon Flux and the 2005 Æon Flux live action film. He is played by voice actor John Rafter Lee in the half-hour series...
. His world, brought under the glaring microscope of the show's heroine, Aeon Flux, is a militaristic scientific socialist paradise, partially of his own making, although it functions as a dystopia. In fact, one episode from the short-lived series was entitled, 'Utopia or Dystopia?' - Avatar: The Last AirbenderAvatar: The Last AirbenderAvatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
, 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 7Blake's 7Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 1978-1981. An Orwellian space operaSpace operaSpace opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
created by Terry NationTerry NationTerry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. - Captain Planet and the PlaneteersCaptain Planet and the PlaneteersCaptain Planet is the title character of the series. In the beginning of the series, Gaia assembles a modern-day team of "Planeteers" from several nations...
, the episode "Utopia" from the third season. Kwame and his fellow Planeteers are fighting for survival in a surreal, gang-dominated world ruled by Verminous Skumm and Dr. Blight. When Dr. Blight turns the other Planeteers into punks, Kwame's only ally is Darian, leader of Utopia, the last unpolluted refuge on the planet. Just when things look hopeless and even Captain Planet can't prevail, Kwame awakens to find it was just a nightmare. - Charlie JadeCharlie JadeCharlie Jade is a science fiction television program filmed mainly in Cape Town, South Africa. It stars Jeffrey Pierce in the title role, as a detective from a parallel universe who finds himself trapped in our universe. This is a Canadian and South African co-production filmed in conjunction with...
, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, 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 LazarusCold LazarusCold Lazarus is a four-part British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying of cancer of the pancreas....
", BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
1996. A miniseries set in dystopian England. - Dark AngelDark Angel (TV series)Dark Angel is an American biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television series created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. The show premiered in the United States on the Fox network on October 3, 2000, and was canceled after two seasons...
, FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, 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. - Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
Island, UKTVUKTVUKTV is a digital cable and satellite television network, formed through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, a commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Scripps Networks Interactive, spun off from The E.W Scripps Company in 2008...
, Two comedy sketches derived from the cult website TVGoHomeTVGoHomeTVGoHome was a website which parodied the television listings style of the British magazine Radio Times. It was produced fortnightly from 1999 to 2001, and sporadically until 2003, by Charlie Brooker. The site now exists only in archive form...
that portray a reality TV show (a parody of Castaway) where people are stranded on a remote island with only the Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, a right wing tabloid newspaper, as a source of information. It takes on a dystopian tone with a teenage girl executed for masturbating. The TVGoHome website credits a Dee Stopian as the producer. - Dark JusticePlayboy's Dark JusticePlayboy's Dark Justice was a half hour computer animated pornographic TV series shown on Playboy TV premiering on September 3, 2000 at 10:00pm Eastern/9:00pm Central and running for 20 episodes until 2001 and was perhaps the first and only show of its kind created...
, Playboy TVPlayboy TVPlayboy TV is a premium monthly subscription television channel. Since its launch in 1982 in partnership with Cablevision which eventually sold their share back to Playboy, Playboy TV has become a leading entertainment channel for adult entertainment...
, 2000-2001. A sexually-themed computer animated sci-fi parody taking place in a dystopian future. - Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 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 DaleksThe Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964...
- On SkaroSkaroSkaro is a fictional planet from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who created by the writer Terry Nation as the home planet of the Daleks and, at times, the centre of the Dalek Empire....
the inherent pacifism of the Thals leads to their domination. - InfernoInferno (Doctor Who)Don Houghton came to Terrence Dicks with an idea for the story based on the real life Project Mohole. A smaller budget for the serial drove the idea of a parallel world, where the studio could use the same actors in multiple roles...
-The doctor arrives on a parallel earth ruled by a fascist regime - Genesis of the DaleksGenesis of the DaleksGenesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...
- The Doctor witnesses the creation of the Daleks on the planet Skaro by a scientific and militaristic regime. - The Sun MakersThe Sun Makers-Cast notes:*Michael Keating also appeared in the audio play The Twilight Kingdom as Major Koth and in Year of the Pig as Inspector Chardalot...
- On PlutoPlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
in the future humans are exploited by an oppressive tax system. - Vengeance on VarosVengeance on VarosVengeance on Varos is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 19–26 January 1985.-Synopsis:...
- On Varos a plebiscite system kills any Governor proposing necessary but unpopular policies. - The Happiness PatrolThe Happiness PatrolThe Happiness Patrol is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 2 November to 16 November 1988.-Plot:...
- On Terra Alpha sadness is punishable by death. - The Long GameThe Long Game"The Long Game" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on May 7, 2005. Along with new companion Adam, the TARDIS deposits the Doctor and Rose on Satellite 5, a space station that broadcasts across the entire human empire...
- On Earth the news is falsified to keep humanity frightened, ignorant and enslaved. - Turn LeftTurn Left (Doctor Who)"Turn Left" is the eleventh episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by showrunner Russell T Davies and broadcast on BBC One on 21 June 2008....
- 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, TorchwoodTorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
gave their lives to save the Earth from the Sontarans, and the stars are going out.
Dollhouse (TV series)
Dollhouse is an American science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on February 13, 2009, on the Fox network and was officially cancelled on November 11, 2009. The final episode aired on January 29, 2010...
, 2009-2010. Most of the series is set in the near future, where living dolls are filled with appropriate personalities and skills for the amusement and cathartic well being of the extremely wealthy. The two yearly finales, "Epitaph One" and "Epitaph Two" are set ten years in the future in a dystopian society as the technology runs rampant.
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
, 2002, 2003. In the year 2517, former members of a rebel political group butt heads with the corrupt interplanetary government known as the Alliance
Alliance (Firefly)
The Alliance is a fictional supra-governmental entity in the Serenity franchise, a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory within the known universe...
.
Five Years Gone
"Five Years Gone" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. It is the last episode before the three-part finale of season one....
", 2007, an episode in the first season of Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
. In this possible future, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
has been destroyed and any evolved human is automatically doomed to execution.
Island City (film)
Island City is a science fiction television pilot movie that was aired by Prime Time Entertainment Network in 1994. The film was produced by Lee Rich Productions in association with Lorimar Television....
, 1994, a made-for-TV movie (possibly a failed series pilot?) produced by Warner Brothers for its Prime Time Entertainment Network
Prime Time Entertainment Network
The Prime Time Entertainment Network was a United States television network launched in 1993 by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Domestic Television and the Chris-Craft group of independent stations...
(PTEN) 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 (TV series)
Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, 2006-2008. It is a dystopian series set in a fictional small town in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
called Jericho after a nationwide nuclear disaster plunged the entire country and the town into mass anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
.
Luna (TV series)
Luna was a children's science fiction TV comedy show produced by Central Television for the ITV Network in the UK and which ran for two series in 1983 and 1984...
British Children television sitcom where bureaucracy has gone out of control, but with elements of black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
, and absurdist theatre.
Max Headroom (TV series)
Max Headroom is a British-produced American science fiction television series by Chrysalis/Lakeside Productions that aired in the United States on ABC from March 1987 to May 1988. The series was based on the Channel 4 British TV pilot Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future...
, 1987–1988, cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
, oriented around an anti-corruption reporter and his artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
copy.
Nowhere Man (TV series)
Nowhere Man is an American television series that aired from 1995 to 1996 starring Bruce Greenwood. Created by Lawrence Hertzog, the series aired Monday nights on UPN. Despite critical acclaim, including TV Guides label of "The season's coolest hit," the show was cancelled after only one...
, UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
, 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
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, 1995–1997, Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
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.
Survivors
Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 1975–77 and 2008-2010. British post-apocalyptic television series concerning the plight of a group of people who have survived an accidentally released plague – a genetically modified form of influenza– that kills nearly the entire population of the planet.
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...
, 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
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
, 1967–1968 and 2009. A secretive ex-spy attempts to escape an idealistic yet controlled artificial town run by unknown inquisitive authorities. Most attempts to escape fail and "successful" escapes happen only when they are allowed.
Samurai Jack
Samurai Jack is an American animated television series created by animator Genndy Tartakovsky that aired on both Cartoon Network and Toonami from 2001 to 2004. It is noted for its highly detailed, outline-free, masking-based animation, as well as for its cinematic style and pacing...
, 2001-2004. In this animated series, a shape-shifting force of evil named Aku sends the protagonist, a Samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
, into the future, where Aku has taken over and turned Earth into a dystopian, high-tech society full of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
and alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
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.
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
series, where either Dr. Robotnik has taken over the planet of Morbius or is planning to.
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron is an animated series for television created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay and produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Program Services. Every episode of the series was directed by Robert Alvarez. The bulk of the series was written by either Glenn Leopold or Lance Falk...
, 1993-1994. The episode "A Bright and Shiny Future" from 2nd season has the SWAT Kats and the Pastmaster tossed during the Enforcer assault over the bridge into the future where the Metallikats have taken over and turned Megakat City into a dystopian, post-apocalyptic concentration camp with the kats serving as slave labor and the technokats serving as the arrogant and brutal law enforcements. As it turns out, the Pastmaster planned every bad thing that happened in Megakat City along with the Metallikats only to be betrayed by them and forcing to ally himself with the SWAT Kats and the other good guys to revenge himself against the Metallikats.
The Tripods
The Tripods is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV-series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s....
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 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 fervour. A small resistance movement must fight both the alien threat and the human society that serves it.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
, 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.
It Can't Happen Here
It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical American political novel by Sinclair Lewis published in 1935 by Doubleday, Doran. It describes the rise of a populist politician who calls his movement "patriotic" and creates his own militia and takes unconstitutional power after winning election —...
.
Wild Palms
Wild Palms is a six-hour mini-series, which first aired in May 1993 on the ABC network in the United States. Written by Bruce Wagner, who was also the executive producer, Wild Palms was a sci-fi drama about the dangers of brainwashing through technology and drugs...
, 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.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 1980, comical series within The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...
television show, in which women dominate men in England.
Games
- A Mind Forever VoyagingA Mind Forever VoyagingA Mind Forever Voyaging is an interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in 1985...
(1985) by InfocomInfocomInfocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
is set in the year 2031 where the economy of the United States of North America (USNA) is failing, great numbers of youths are dying in "Joybooths" and a new arms race involving nuclear weapons no larger than the size of a pack of cigarettes threatens to turn the USNA into a police state.
- American McGee's AliceAmerican McGee's AliceAmerican McGee's Alice is a third-person action game released for PC on October 6, 2000. The game, developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, is set in an alternative universe of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
(2000) features a matured Alice who returns to Wonderland to free it from its twisted state, imparted upon it by the decade-long despotic rule of the Queen of Hearts.
- Armored Core 3Armored Core 3Armored Core 3 is a mecha video game in the Armored Core series.-Storyline:Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Armored Core 3 depicts a world where mankind has begun to live underneath the Earth's surface after a catastrophic global nuclear war broke out on the surface. The human beings who survived...
by From SoftwareFrom Softwareis a Japanese video game company founded in November 1986 known primarily for being the developers of the Armored Core, Demon's Souls, King's Field, Otogi and Tenchu series.-Games:...
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.
- Armored Core 4Armored Core 4Armored Core 4 is a mech combat game, published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. It is the 12th installment of From Software's Armored Core series and a second reboot after Armored Core 3...
and Armored Core: For AnswerArmored Core: for AnswerArmored Core: For Answer is a 2008 3D mecha-based video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by From Software and published by From Software in Japan and Ubisoft internationally. It is the 13th installment of From Software's Armored Core series. Armored Core: For Answer is the sequel...
(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.
- Back to the Future: The GameBack to the Future: The GameBack to the Future: The Game is a graphic adventure video game based on the Back to the Future film franchise. The game was developed by Telltale Games as part of a licensing deal with Universal Pictures. Bob Gale, co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of the film trilogy, assisted Telltale in...
(2011) In episode 3, Hill Valley is controlled by Citizen Emmett Brown and Citizen Edna Brown.
- Beneath a Steel SkyBeneath a Steel SkyBeneath a Steel Sky is a 1994 science-fiction point-and-click adventure game in the cyberpunk genre. Like many point-and-click adventure games, it features comedy elements, and was developed by Revolution Software, a British developer, and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment. It was...
(1994) by Revolution SoftwareRevolution SoftwareRevolution Software Ltd. is a British adventure game company, based in York in northern England.The company was founded in 1990 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes and Noirin Carmody...
takes place at an unknown point in a dystopian future in Australia, where the Earth has been significantly damaged by pollution or nuclear fallout.
- Beyond Good & EvilBeyond Good & Evil (video game)Beyond Good & Evil is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Ubisoft and released in late for the GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox platforms. The story follows the adventures of Jade, an investigative reporter and martial artist, who works with a resistance...
(a title which is a reference to the existentialist Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
) by UbisoftUbisoftUbisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
is an action-adventure gameAction-adventure gameAn action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
conveying the grim world of Hillys, which has become a centre for capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and idealismIdealismIn philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
forced onto its inhabitants by means of propagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
, censorshipCensorshipthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, and limited travel at the hands of its militant group, the Alpha Sections.
- BioShockBioshockBioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...
(2007) is set in a failed utopiaUtopiaUtopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
. 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 RunLogan's RunLogan's Run is a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, it depicts a dystopic ageist future society in which both population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by requiring the death of everyone reaching a particular age...
.
- Blood II: The ChosenBlood II: The ChosenBlood II: The Chosen is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive, which was later purchased by Infogrames. Released on October 31, 1998, it featured Monolith's new fully 3D engine Lithtech, which was previously used in Shogo: Mobile...
is a 19981998 in video gaming-Events:*Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards...
first-person shooterFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
developed by Monolith ProductionsMonolith ProductionsMonolith Productions is a Kirkland, Washington-based computer game developer. Monolith is also known for the development of the graphical game engine Lithtech, which has been used for most of their games...
as the sequel to Blood. It is set in the year 2028 and the dark cult called the CabalCabalA cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
has effective control over the whole world through its front mega-corporation CabalCo, which, following its founder cult, is engaged in murder, brainwashing, the development of deadly weapons, and general evil. The world under CabalCo's dominance is also in a shambles, with widespread disease, over-population, homelessness, and mass violence.
- BorderlandsBorderlands (video game)Borderlands is a science fiction based first-person shooter with RPG elements that was developed by Gearbox Software for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It was first revealed in the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine...
set in a distant future on a once thought to be prosperous, rich in minerals planet, now a wasteland ruled by gangs and the remains of the colonizer megacorporation.
- Chrono TriggerChrono Triggeris a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
(1995) by SquareSquare (company)was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
, 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. Another feature of the plot is the ancient world of 12,000 B.C., where magic users, known as the Enlightened Ones, live in a floating continent in utopian conditions, while non-magic users, known as the Earthbound Ones, live in a frozen wasteland below.
- CrackdownCrackdownCrackdown is an open world, third-person shooter video game for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America on February 20, 2007, and worldwide by February 23, 2007. Crackdown was developed by Realtime Worlds, and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. It was conceived by Realtime Worlds...
(2007) is a third-person shooterThird-person shooterThird-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
developed by Realtime WorldsRealtime WorldsRealtime Worlds Ltd was a video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland from 2002 until its closure in September 2010. Realtime Worlds was the largest independent game developer in Scotland with over 200 employees as well as a small Boulder, Colorado office....
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.
- Crusader, a video game series developed by Chris Roberts of Origin SystemsOrigin SystemsOrigin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
, 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.
- Deus ExDeus ExDeus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
(2000) by Ion StormIon stormIon storm may refer to:* Ion Storm, a defunct games software company.* An interplanetary coronal mass ejection , a disruption of the fast and slow solar winds, often called "ion storm", "solar storm" or "space storm"...
, is a first-person shooterFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
set in a dystopian 2052. Economic collapse, rampant terrorism, an increasing police state, and a global pandemic result in a dark world on the verge of collapse.
- Deus Ex: Invisible WarDeus Ex: Invisible WarDeus Ex: Invisible War is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive. Released simultaneously for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox video game console on December 2, 2003, the game is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex...
(2003). Set after the events of the first Deus Ex in the 2070s, a collapse of the world's electronic infrastructure at the end of the first game's events have forced people into enclaves controlled by organisations with their own social agendas in mind.
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011), The Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus appears in Adam Jensen's dreams as an allegory to this thought, and also—given that both Daedalus and Icarus were the names of artificial intelligences in Deus Ex—an intellectual bridge to the original game.
- DystopiaDystopia (computer game)Dystopia is a team-based, objective-driven, first-person shooter video game, developed as a total conversion modification on the Valve Corporation's proprietary Source engine. It is based on the cyberpunk literary genre; somewhat based on popular role-playing game Shadowrun, created by an amateur...
cyberpunkCyberpunkCyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
-themed modificationMod (computer gaming)Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
of the 2004 first-person shooterFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
Half-Life 2Half-Life 2Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
it was released after 3 years of development on Saturday February 24, 2007.
- Dystopian warsDystopian warsDystopian Wars is a steampunk miniature wargame published by Spartan Games. It is set in an alternate timeline in the year 1870 when a number of technological discoveries have taken place that didn't occur in reality.- Background :...
Tabletop Game A Game made by Spartan Games, it is set in 1870 where the industrial revolution occurred years before it did in the ultimate "Utopia". It features specialist ships that could have been available to them.
- The Fallout games are set in a retro-futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, where various groups citizens are sealed into nuclear bunkers called Vaults, which are secretly social experiments, or fend for themselves in post-apocalyptic wasteland on the surface.
- Final Fantasy VIFinal Fantasy VIis a role-playing video game developed and published by Square , released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Final Fantasy series. Set in a fantasy world with a technology level equivalent to that of the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story focuses on a...
, AKA Final Fantasy III in the USA; (1995) by SquareSquare (company)was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
is a world where the greedy Gestahlian Empire seeks to rule over the planet through the power of the Espers.
- Final Fantasy VIIFinal Fantasy VIIis a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
(1997) by SquareSquare (company)was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
features a world in which a power company called Shinra controls most of the inhabited world through its "Peace Keeping Forces".
- Frontlines: Fuel of WarFrontlines: Fuel of WarFrontlines: Fuel of War is a first-person shooter game for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. It was released February 25, 2008 in North America. It was produced by Kaos Studios...
, a first-person shooter by Kaos StudiosKaos StudiosKaos Studios was an American video game developer based in New York City, New York. Kaos Studios was formed in 2006 when publisher THQ hired the core members of Trauma Studios, the team behind the popular Desert Combat modification, to create a new studio based in New York City to focus on...
, 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.
- Half-Life 2Half-Life 2Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
, which has an alien race known as the CombineCombine (Half-Life 2)The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a multidimensional empire, which serves as the primary antagonistic force in the Half-Life video game series, developed by Valve Corporation. The Combine consist of alien, synthetic, and human elements and dominate Earth...
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.
- HomefrontHomefront (video game)Homefront is a first-person shooter video game developed by now defunct Kaos Studios and published by THQ, in which players play as members of a resistance movement fighting against a near-future Korean military occupation of the United States. The story was written by John Milius, who co-wrote...
: Set in 2027, the game features a world in which the economic downturn of 2008 continued, resulting in a collapse of US and European economies. Meanwhile, North Korea gains power in Eastern Asia which culminates in an invasion of the United States two years before the events of the game.
- Jak IIJak IIJak II, , is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog...
(2003 by Naughty DogNaughty DogNaughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
) In this game Jak, an adolescent who explored the previous vibrant and colorful world of the first game (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor LegacyJak and Daxter: The Precursor LegacyJak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and is the first video game in the Jak and Daxter series. It was released exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 2 on December 3, 2001 for North America, December 7, 2001 for...
), suddenly finds himself through a rift gate and hundreds of years into the future, where once a jungle and beach stood, a dark, dirty dystopia ruled by an evil dictator known as Baron Praxis now stands. The city's inhabitants are forcefully oppressed by the Krimzon Guard, the Baron's protectors, who take part themselves in crimes such as bribery, gamblings, and assaulting civilians.
- OddworldOddworldOddworld is a comprehensive fictional universe presented in video game form, created by game developers Oddworld Inhabitants under the direction of Lorne Lanning. Throughout games set in the Oddworld universe, Oddworld's peaceful nature is in danger of being consumed by the industrial ambition of...
, a quintology by Oddworld InhabitantsOddworld InhabitantsOddworld Inhabitants Inc. is an American video game developer founded in 1994 by special-effects and computer-animation veterans Sherry McKenna and Lorne Lanning. The company is primarily known for the Oddworld Quintology, a series of award-winning video games about the fictional planet of Oddworld...
(1997–2005).
- Oni by BungieBungieBungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
. The plot is quite similar to Syndicates. 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.
- Mass Effect (series)Mass Effect (series)Mass Effect is an award-winning, bestselling series of science fiction RPG third-person shooter video games developed by the Canadian company BioWare and released for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and, from the second installment, for the PlayStation 3...
many planets and locations, such as the Citadel Wards, Illium, the Krogan DMZ, and especially Omega, have dystopian features.
- Mega Man Zero seriesMega Man Zero seriesThe Mega Man Zero series, known as in Japan, is the series succeeding the Mega Man X story-line, and the fifth series in Capcom's Mega Man video game franchise, co-produced by Keiji Inafune, and directed by Mega Man Legends series director Yoshinori Kawano...
(2002-2005 by CapcomCapcomis a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
). A resistance force against a dystopian society called "Neo Arcadia," resurrects an ancient fighting robot called "Zero" to help them.
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriotsis a video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear.Guns of the Patriots...
(2008) by Kojima ProductionsKojima Productionsis a Japanese video game development studio under the guidance of game designer Hideo Kojima. The company is a subsidiary of Konami, and is located in Roppongi Hills in Roppongi, Tokyo. The studio had just under 100 employees in 2005 but has since grown to over 200 people for the development of...
. In 2014, the world's nations are dependent on a war economyWar economyWar economy is the term used to describe the contingencies undertaken by the modern state to mobilise its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilising and allocating resources to sustain the violence".Many states increase the degree of...
which fuels the need for private military contractors. These contractors 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 rule. The shadow organization known as "The Patriots" are responsible for this dystopian future.
- Mirror's EdgeMirror's EdgeMirror's Edge is a single-player first person action-adventure video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game was announced on July 10, 2007, and was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2008. A Microsoft Windows version was released...
(2008) takes place in an unnamed city where a questionable regime monitors its citizens through invasive surveillanceSurveillanceSurveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
, tracking all forms of electronic communication in order to reduce crime and quell any challenge to its power.
- NeocronNeocronNeocron is a 2002 post-apocalyptic cyberpunk massively multiplayer online role playing game developed by Hanover, Germany-based software developer Reakktor Media GmbH and published by cdv Software Entertainment. It is considered the first cyberpunk-genre MMORPG, and is designed to integrate...
(2002) takes place in a post-apocalyptic 28th century. In the mid-22nd century, tensions rose between an expanded Chinese Empire and a joint European/North American Federation. The unexplained apparent destruction of the first Chinese interstellar colony ship results in China launching devastating nuclear strikes with stealth missiles.
- ParanoiaParanoia (role-playing game)Paranoia is a dystopian science-fiction tabletop role-playing game originally designed and written by Greg Costikyan, Dan Gelber, and Eric Goldberg, and first published in 1984 by West End Games. Since 2004 the game has been published under licence by Mongoose Publishing...
(1984) by West End GamesWest End GamesWest End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
, which features every aspect of the above list of things typical of dystopias except for a protagonist who feels something is wrong.
- Portal (2007) and Portal 2Portal 2Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game...
(2011) by ValveValve CorporationValve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
are both set in the same post-apocalyptic world as the Half-Life (series)Half-Life (series)The Half-Life series of video games share a science fiction alternate history. Nearly all of the games are first-person shooters on the GoldSource or Source engines, and most are linear, narrative, single-player titles....
.
- Red FactionRed FactionRed Faction is a first-person shooter video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows and Mac in 2001. A version for the Nokia N-Gage was developed by Monkeystone Games. The game was also re-developed as a top-down shooter for...
and Red Faction IIRed Faction IIRed Faction II is a first-person shooter video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ on October 15, 2002 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox and Microsoft Windows...
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 statePolice stateA police state is one in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population...
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- Resident Evil seriesResident Evil (series)Resident Evil, known as in Japan, is a media franchise owned by the video game company Capcom. It was created by Shinji Mikami as a survival horror game series that was initiated with the eponymous PlayStation title Resident Evil in 1996. Since then, the game series has strayed from its roots to...
(1996–2009) by CapcomCapcomis a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
is a survival horror game set in a world where the characters try to prevent an outbreak of a zombie virus.
- The Sega SaturnSega SaturnThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
video game RoboticaRobotica (video game)Robotica is a first-person shooter for the Sega Saturn in 1995 . It was the first of its genre to be released on the console. When GameSpot gave it the rating "bad" 3.1/10....
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.
- ShadowrunShadowrunShadowrun is a role-playing game set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction.The original game has spawned...
(1989) by FASAFASAFASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001. Originally the name FASA was an acronym for "Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration", a joking allusion to the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup. This tongue-in-cheek attitude was...
, where corporations use magic and technology to create wonders but large swaths of the population have no rights.
- Shattered UnionShattered UnionShattered Union is a turn-based tactics video game developed by PopTop Software and published by 2K Games in 2005.-Story:In an alternate timeline of 2009, following George W...
(2005) a turn-based strategy game where America collapses into a second civil war in 2014.
- Sid Meier's Alpha CentauriSid Meier's Alpha CentauriSid Meier's Alpha Centauri is the critically acclaimed science fiction 4X turn-based strategy video game sequel to the Civilization series. Sid Meier, designer of Civilization, and Brian Reynolds, designer of Civilization II, developed Alpha Centauri after they left MicroProse to join the newly...
deals with many dystopian themes and elements, and even technologies such as the Self-Aware Colony.
- Simcity SocietiesSimCity SocietiesSimCity Societies received mixed reviews. GameZone praised the game's increased accessibility and less "sterile" gameplay compared to previous titles in the SimCity series, and Game Informer concluded that the changes to the gameplay were "inventive"...
is a city building simulator that allows the player to build various societies, including a dystopian authoritarian state.
- The SonicSonic the Hedgehog (character), trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
series, where either Dr. Robotnik or another worthy villain has taken over the planet of Morbius or is planning to.
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter video game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone in the near future and causes...
is a game set in the future, in the area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power PlantChernobyl Nuclear Power PlantThe Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant or Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a decommissioned nuclear power station near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Ukraine–Belarus border, and about north of Kiev. Reactor 4 was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in...
, site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986. Also its prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear SkyS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear SkyS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the prequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter video game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game...
is based on a dystopian society.
- SyndicateSyndicate (computer game series)The Syndicate series is a series of isometric science fiction computer games created by Bullfrog Productions. There are two main titles in the series: Syndicate and Syndicate Wars , with an expansion pack for the former, Syndicate: American Revolt...
(1993) by Bullfrog ProductionsBullfrog ProductionsBullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. The company achieved recognition in 1989 for their third release, Populous....
. 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 WarsSyndicate WarsSyndicate Wars is the third video game title in the Syndicate series created by Bullfrog Productions in 1996. Unlike the first game, Sean Cooper was not involved in development. It was released for MS-DOS and the PlayStation, with a Sega Saturn version also fully developed, but never published...
was similar.
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher BayThe Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher BayThe Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a first-person action/stealth video game developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by Vivendi Games. Released for the Xbox and Windows in 2004, the game is a tie-in prequel to the futuristic science fiction film The Chronicles of Riddick...
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 ComputingLevel 9 ComputingLevel 9 was a British computer text adventure game company which produced some of the most advanced games of the 1980s. Founded in 1981 by Mike Austin, Nicholas Austin and Pete Austin, the company produced about 20 games for BBC Micro, Nascom, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Oric, Atari, Lynx 48k, RML...
- a text adventure game for the ZX SpectrumZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and other 8-bit platforms, set in a dystopian future.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of TimeThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
by NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. 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 GanonGanon, anglicized Gannon in early Japanese materials, and also known as , is a fictional character who is the main antagonist of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. He is the final boss of most games in the series. He was first given a back-story in A Link to the Past...
dorf.
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the PastThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the PastThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known as in Japan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was...
An alternate version of Hyrule, which was once known as the Golden Land, became a dystopian world known as the Dark World after Ganon gained the power of the Triforce.
- The Moment of SilenceThe Moment of SilenceThe Moment of Silence is an investigative thriller adventure game developed in 2004 by German video game developer House of Tales.- Story :The game is set in the year 2044 in downtown New York City, in a future with many Orwellian influences...
by House of Tales - an adventure game set in 2044 New York, in a time when private information is becoming illegal.
- Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
(1987) by Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
features intergalactic races which are cruel and heartless. The Imperium of ManImperium (Warhammer 40,000)The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire of over a million planets that contains the vast majority of humans in the forty-first millennium, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop....
, for example, had conquered the galaxy but is currently fighting a defensive battle against mutants, heretics and aliens.
- Wraith: The OblivionWraith: The OblivionWraith: The Oblivion is a role-playing game set in the afterlife of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness. In the game, players take on characters who are recently dead and are now ghosts...
(1994) by White Wolf, Inc.White Wolf, Inc.White Wolf Publishing is an American gaming and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein·Hagen of the former and Steve and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Since White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with...
, 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.