Most horrifying fictional apocalypse.
- Thread starter Doclector
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No, the particularly frightening thought is when the harbinger of our destruction won't even notice we were there.Tara Callie said:I'm going to go with...
I mean seriously. It's one thing to have otherwise violent, hostile monsters destroying everything out of disgust or viciousness, but when the harbinger of our destruction actually thinks it's helping us, that's a particularly frightening thought.
That's the real root of cosmic horror, of which the Reapers are just a pale reflection. Ancient, unfathomable, unimaginable powers to which the entirety of human endeavour is of less consequence than the millions of bacteria you kill when you wash your hands.
The most horrible thing way the world can end. Nuclear War.
If you've ever seen Threads all the way though - you will know that the ones who get roasted alive / crushed by their own houses outside the blast zone are the really lucky ones.
Even after the nuclear winter, children will either be born sterile, cancerous, deformed or all of the above. In essence, humanity will end not with a roaring blast, but fade away crying and wimpering.
Nukes are very, very bad things.
If you've ever seen Threads all the way though - you will know that the ones who get roasted alive / crushed by their own houses outside the blast zone are the really lucky ones.
Even after the nuclear winter, children will either be born sterile, cancerous, deformed or all of the above. In essence, humanity will end not with a roaring blast, but fade away crying and wimpering.
Nukes are very, very bad things.
That was my first thought too. It's got all the worst qualities of the zombie apocalypse (everywhere is unsafe, it gathers where you are, resource depletion) with the inability to fight back or escape in any reasonable way and knowledge that one tiny mistake will absolutely kill you instantly and leave almost no trace of you behind.ascorbius said:
Or, as other people have mentioned, the various W40K apocalypses. From the Tyranids devouring everything for biomass to Chaos plunging the universe into screaming eternal nightmares, it seems like there is no way to win, only your choice of horrible options when you lose.
I would hate to think of an apocalypse that wouldn't be recorded in anybody's memories. An apocalypse which, in an instant, wipes out all life on earth. One such as the sun reaching critical mass and wiping itself out, the Earth along with it.
It's scary to think that millenia of cultural and societal growth can be wiped out of existence without so much as a glace from anybody else.
But this is to think of "the end of a culture," rather than "the end of the world." If mankind, or some other culture affiliated with mankind, were to survive after this "apocalypse," it wouldn't be as bad, considering that Man had made its mark somewhere else, and wouldn't simply disappear from existence.
It's scary to think that millenia of cultural and societal growth can be wiped out of existence without so much as a glace from anybody else.
But this is to think of "the end of a culture," rather than "the end of the world." If mankind, or some other culture affiliated with mankind, were to survive after this "apocalypse," it wouldn't be as bad, considering that Man had made its mark somewhere else, and wouldn't simply disappear from existence.
I had to think for a few minutes, but I'm definitely, certainly going with 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream', by Harlan Ellison.
In the recent past, the Westerners created a computer to run the war against the East. The Easterners did the same. The two computers merged into a single AI called AM (as in, 'I think, therefore I AM').
The AI does not want to wipe out humanity. Built for hate, hate is all that defines and drives it, so AM kills all but five of the humans on earth. The remaining five live deep within the earth, their cave-like environment artificially generated by the computer. They live forever, they cannot kill themselves, they life to suffer-- They are the sole outlet for AM's loathing, both of itself and of humanity.
The AI does not want to wipe out humanity. Built for hate, hate is all that defines and drives it, so AM kills all but five of the humans on earth. The remaining five live deep within the earth, their cave-like environment artificially generated by the computer. They live forever, they cannot kill themselves, they life to suffer-- They are the sole outlet for AM's loathing, both of itself and of humanity.
Most horrifying apocalypse? Zombie, virus and so forth are simply too common nowdays to warrant any reaction from me beyond: here we go again.
How about an apocalyptic threat? One so powerful and pervasive that it upsets the status quo. Here is an example:
How about an apocalyptic threat? One so powerful and pervasive that it upsets the status quo. Here is an example:
Yeah, about the immortality one...rhizhim said:i call dips on the soda machine ( SCP-294) that can give you everything thats liquid (GOLD, Immortality portion etc.)Doclector said:
ITS MINE NOW!
go, see return of the living dead and shit your pants when it comes true
It doesn't always listen, more complex ones are only handed out (such as one request for medical knowledge to save a downed guard) when it is the machine is actively threatened or material for it are plentiful. So, yeah, immortality is out.
If it does give it to you, you may end up like these guys instead: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-910
Probably whatever the hell is waiting for us in the writings of HP Lovecraft.
Otherwise, I would say Warhammer 40k, but that manages to be so balls-to-the-wall crazy awesome at the same time that the terrifying aspect is kind of negated.
Otherwise, I would say Warhammer 40k, but that manages to be so balls-to-the-wall crazy awesome at the same time that the terrifying aspect is kind of negated.
Do I dare say urotsukidoji? (Don't asked me more about it, it's really awful.) Eventhought I'm a guy (just that the females in that apocalypse suffer the worse fate unless there are monsters that swing the other way) but I'm sure as hell I never want to lived in that nightmare hell hole.
I'd say it's a toss up between the Flood from Halo and the Tyrannids from 40k. They both fall under the same category of all-consuming lifeforms whose only purpose is to consume and reproduce, although the Flood I find are much more unsettling as the spores basically hijack the victim's body and horribly disfigure it, leaving a shambling corpse basically, while the Tyrannids just kill everything off and then eat it.
The writers were more concerned with addressing their particular fetish/issues than actual logic. Lets face it, in order to have their scenario work, we have men being greatly outnumbered by women, but the women just going along with the oppressors plans like the cattle their being treated as.Asita said:
At the risk of making sweeping statements, the general impression I got was the authors didn't get on too well with the opposite gender.
You beat me to it. Bar none the freakiest apocalyptic vision I've ever read or seen.Silvanus said:
Makes sense to me. Men are required for breeding and only a few are left. They can still produce young well into old age. Women have a reproductive shelf life. It varies to a degree but usually odds of reproduction tend to drop sharply after 40. Between killing off and cannibalizing the women as they pass their reproductive life, and having a newborn to eat every 9 months(a year more realistically) per woman, It may be enough to stave off total species starvation for a time, though during that time its likely that populations would shrink.Asita said:
Still not enough food on its own to feed everyone. Basically its a long term Donner party strategy. If the species can survive long enough to find another food source, it may still survive. If humans cannot find another food source, we will cannibalize ourselves into extinction. This method of mass cannibalization simply buys us time.
Because I enjoy being trendy and up-to-date(!) I will give bumps to Attack on Titan.
It's all sort of a horrifying reversal of the food chain. We get to feel like rabbits hunted down by hunters who devour us with absolutely no qualms. The fact that they look like grinning humans makes it all the more depraved.
Actually, yeah, that's hella worse than mine. You win this round.
Captcha: Win hands down. They all do, in the end. They all do.
Points to you. Being at the mercy of a deranged god forever is pretty fucking hideous. Especially whenSilvanus said:
you manage to "free" your fellow inmates by killing them all, but you live. And then lose all ability to move or speak as punishment. Forever. While before you had at least the tenuous hope of death's release, now you are forced to spend eternity unable to sense anything but your own limitations.
Captcha: Win hands down. They all do, in the end. They all do.
Yeah, I was surprised by how many moments are genuinely tense and even scary. Especially the way that the jam seems to just, JUST give you long enough to experience incredible pain, and not a millisecond more.ascorbius said:
Hell, if a load of people were in a line, it could easily get a killing spree.
