# Is the end of the world scary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906 "2002-09-27T18:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/1 "2002-09-27T18:16:20Z")
One thing which bugs me in books, movies, and suchlike is the tendancy to threaten the world we have seen with utter destruction. The problem with this is that unless you have a very convincing villian (Lord Foul comes to mind), that’s a really dumb plan. Also, with a good chunk of the media left over, it’s a good guess that stuff is gunna happen. So, does this piss anyone else off? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/2 "2002-09-28T04:27:15Z")
I’m not really quite sure what you’re trying to say/ask here but the only two times I remember a character in a movie trying to destroy the world are [indirectly] in **Dr. Strangelove** and [directly] in **Dogma** , and both of these made perfect sense to me. Exactly what books/movies are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![effac3d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@effac3d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/effac3d)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/3 "2002-09-28T05:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*One thing which bugs me in books, movies, and suchlike is the tendancy to threaten the world we have seen with utter destruction. The problem with this is that unless you have a very convincing villian (Lord Foul comes to mind), that’s a really dumb plan. Also, with a good chunk of the media left over, it’s a good guess that stuff is gunna happen. So, does this piss anyone else off? \*\* Damn,that sounds like some good weed! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/4 "2002-09-28T05:46:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*One thing which bugs me in books, movies, and suchlike is the tendancy to threaten the world we have seen with utter destruction. The problem with this is that unless you have a very convincing villian (Lord Foul comes to mind), that’s a really dumb plan. Also, with a good chunk of the media left over, it’s a good guess that stuff is gunna happen. So, does this piss anyone else off? \*\* Short answer: no. I liked the theme in “Goldmember.” Threatening to flood the earth. No weed. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/5 "2002-09-28T06:42:21Z")
Of course, if you count aliens and video game villians, then you get a lot more people trying to destory the world. And by videogames, I’m thinking specifically ExDeath in Final Fantasy 5 and Kefka in Final Fantasy 6, both whom wanted to destory everything. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/6 "2002-09-28T12:44:39Z")
Video games… now there you have the potential to lose. But, when halfway through a season of BtVS, we hear about the Monster of the Week about to Destroy the World, I lose interest. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/7 "2002-09-28T14:48:16Z")
Wasn’t it a mainstay of the golden age Superman villian to destroy or subjucate the world? I know that in the movie of Wing Commander the goals of the Kilrathi had been changed from enslave the humans to destroy the universe. I like Fallout, a game that starts after the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-end-of-the-world-scary/129906/8 "2002-09-29T07:44:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*Wasn’t it a mainstay of the golden age Superman villian to destroy or subjucate the world? > > I know that in the movie of Wing Commander the goals of the Kilrathi had been changed from enslave the humans to destroy the universe. > > I like Fallout, a game that starts after the end of the world. \*\* I thought the Kilrathi were going to destroy earth in the movie as well. Fallout is a great game. I’ve been meaning to play that again. Chrono Trigger has a particulary nice section that takes place after the end of the world. So absoloutly dark and depressing that I can’t help but love it. Of course, the end of the world is: A direct result of the main villian not being destoryed.