List of dystopian music, TV programs, and games

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

Music

* Various songs by pioneer punk band "The Clash" condemn a dystopian society in the real world, one that actually thrives in the nonfictions life accounts of "Joe Strummer".
* "1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)", an album by the British musical duo Eurythmics which was used as the soundtrack for the 1984 film "Nineteen Eighty-Four".
* "2112", an album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976. The title track is about a man living in a dystopian society.
* "In the Year 2525", a song by Zager and Evans.
* "", an album by Queensrÿche.
* "Animals", an album by Pink Floyd.
* "The Final Cut", an album by Roger Waters with Pink Floyd.
* "Radio KAOS", an album by Roger Waters.
* "Amused to Death", an album by Roger Waters.
* "Time" (1981) by ELO features tracks that may be considered dystopian or utopian depending on listener's point of view.
* "Kilroy Was Here" (1983) by Styx that features the song "Mr. Roboto" which portraits a strong corporate tecnologican dystopian theme.
* "Thick as a Brick", an album by Jethro Tull.
* "Karn Evil 9" a song by Emerson Lake & Palmer.
* "Lifehouse", a semi-abandoned album and movie project by Pete Townshend and The Who which spanned many dystopian-themed songs like "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Let's See Action".
* "Replicas" (1978) by Tubeway Army explores life in a devastated, robot-dominated world, with songs such as "Down In The Park".
* Rock band Big Black with their stark portrayals of the underside of American culture
* "Avenger" (1999)? by Aska, about a world where humanity is crushed under the heel of alien oppression until the Age Of Light (perhaps a nuclear or antimatter weapons deployment?) reverses fortunes.
* Rock band Dystopia
*"Deltron 3030" (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.
*"Feel Good Inc." (2005) A single from Gorillaz album "Demon Days", its music video features a dystopic setting.
*"25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago, while not dystopian per sé, features a 1984-based music video for their 1986 remake of the song, found on Chicago 18.
* "Machines Are Us" by Norwegian EBM act Icon of Coil dwells on many dystopian and cyberpunk themes.
* Swedish rock band Freak Kitchen has a song named "Dystopia".
* "Obsolete" (1998) by the American band Fear Factory. Each song on the album successively adds to an underlying dystopian storyline.
*"Eye in the Sky", a song by Alan Parsons Project has a strong dystopian theme.
*"Dystopia" album released by The Invisible 1987.
*"Dystopia" a song by Kreator about the current world's situation in their album Enemy Of God (2005), a work full of references about our "perfect" world.
*"Diamond Dogs" an album by David Bowie is loosely based on George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" especially the songs "Future Legend" "We Are The Dead" "1984" and "Big Brother".
* "1984" by Rick Wakeman, based on the Orwell book.
* "1984" by Anthony Phillips, again based on the Orwell book.
* "Brother Where You Bound", a song by Supertramp, is also loosely based on Orwell's "1984", even featuring some audio narration of the book in the intro.
* "Joe's Garage", a dystopian concept album by Frank Zappa, set in a world where music is illegal and crimes are punished preemptively.
* "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", a song by Mike + The Mechanics.
*"Clones (We're All) by Alice Cooper contains dystopian themes
*"2+2=5" by Radiohead, from Hail to the Thief, featuring lyrics about a future akin to George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four".
*"Absolution" and "Black Holes and Revelations", albums by the band Muse have many references to the UK and USA becoming dystopian societies.
*"The Unforgiven" by "Metallica" portrays an ultra-conformist dystopian society.
*"Dystopia" is an album by the French doom metal band Anthemon.
*"DYSTOPIA is a crust//doom misanthropic band from California, USA. They've been around since 1992 and have 3 full length albums out.
*"Pink World" by Planet P Project portrays a post-nuclear apocalyptic anti-utopia.
*"Year Zero" (2007) by Nine Inch Nails is a concept album with a strong dystopian theme and an accompanying story.
* "Brave New World" by Iron Maiden alludes to Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel after which it is named.
* "Perfect System", a song by Oingo Boingo, depicts a society ruled by a Big Brother-esque, totalitarianistic government.
* "Dystopia", is the title of Midnight Juggernauts debut album.
* "Brother" by The Organ alludes to a theocratic dystopia in the lyrics and conveys a sense of urgent unease through the music.
* "The Universal" by Blur portrays a future of blanket media saturation, empty days and misplaced hopes.
* "Hook in Mouth" by Megadeth 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 Durden
* "OK Computer" the popular and influential album by Radiohead, while denied by the band, is said to have a dystopian story. While the story had been denied, Radiohead has said that the theme of dystipia is in fact, true.
* Anti-Flag 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 referes 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 X, based on Orwell's 1984 "Two Minutes Hate" rallies.:*"Human Disease" and "Two Minutes Hate" from this album.
*Of Natural History by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum has dytopia themes based around the destruction of the natural world and mankings growing addiction to technology

Television

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

Games

*In the upcoming 2008 game "Tom Clancy's EndWar", the world collapses into a third world war and United States and European Union form an alliance against Russia for space domination.
*"BioShock" (2007) is set in a failed utopia. The game's creative director, Ken Levine, has stated in an interview that he had been obsessed with dystopic novels for all his life, especially "Logan's Run".
* "" is a game set in the future, in the area around the "Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant", site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986.
* "Paranoia" (1984) by West End Games, which features every aspect of the above list of things typical of dystopias except for a protagonist who feels something is wrong.
* "A Mind Forever Voyaging" (1985) by Infocom
* "Warhammer 40,000" (1987) by Games Workshop features intergalactic races which are cruel and heartless. The Imperium of Man, for example, had conquered the galaxy but is currently fighting a defensive battle against mutants, heretics and aliens.
* "" (1994) by White Wolf, Inc., in which the world of the dead is run by the Hierarchy, a government with little compassion which seeks to enslave wraiths rather than help them "move on". Souls who do not agree with the Hierarchy and are caught are literally forged into money and goods.
* "Syndicate" (1993) by Bullfrog Productions. In the future, after the collapse of government, the world is harsh and polluted - corporate crime syndicates rule in place of national governments. The population of the world are fitted with "Utopia Chips" to mask the misery and squalor of the world around them. The player controls cybernetically-enhanced agents, out to further the cause of the syndicate. The sequel "Syndicate Wars" was similar.
* "Beneath a Steel Sky" (1994) by Revolution Software
*"Beyond Good & Evil" (a title which is a reference to the existentialist Friedrich Nietzsche) by Ubisoft is an action-adventure game conveying the grim world of Hillys, which has become a centre for capitalism and idealism forced onto its inhabitants by means of propaganda, censorship, and limited travel at the hands of its militant group, the Alpha Sections.
* "Chrono Trigger" (1995) by Squaresoft, whose theme is time travel. One of the eras that the player can visit is a dystopian future caused by the destruction of Lavos. The main plot of the game resolves around going back to the past to stop Lavos.
* "Final Fantasy VI", AKA "Final Fantasy III" in the USA; (1995) by Squaresoft.
* "Final Fantasy VII" (1997) by Squaresoft features a world in which a power company called Shinra controls most of the inhabited world through its "Peace Keeping Forces".
* "Fallout" (1997), and "Fallout 2" (1998) by Black Isle Studios. "Fallout 3 is currently in development by Bethesda Softworks". Narrative takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of the near-future.
* "", a first-person shooter by Kaos Studios, is set in a dystopian 2024 where humanity is plagued by dwindling fossil fuels, collapsed economies, global warming, and a war between the Western Coalition and the Red Star Alliance over the last oil on Earth.
* "Deus Ex" (2000) by Ion Storm. The game features a world with overpopulation when a virus began to kill people, while only politicians and rich persons were given the antidote. Later it is revelaed that the virus is actually artificial and is produced by the same company that produces the antidote.
* "" (2003), in which a religious group fights against the WTO. Later it is revealed both are a branch of the Illuminati who have control over the world.
* "Half-Life 2", which has an alien race known as the Combine ruling over the Earth. They gradually siphon the planet of its natural resources, as well as preventing human reproduction and turning them into workers and extremely loyal cyborgs. Their central base of operations is the Citadel, standing in an unnamed city (City 17) somewhere near the Black Sea; the Citadel itself is a huge tower which exploded at the end of due to the dark fusion reactor at it's base gone critical, destroying the city.
* "Oni" by Bungie. The plot is quite similar to "Syndicate"'s. The player controls Konoko, a female rogue agent subjected to an extreme experiment: an enhanced twin version of her was implanted in her body so that every time she gets hurt her "chrysalis" grows and makes her stronger. In her world the criminal organization Syndicate opposes the all-powerful government hiding the truth about the world outside the cities. Her mother died outside the areas protected by government, inhabited by deadly mutant creatures created by pollution.
* "Mega Man Zero series" (2002-2005 by Capcom). A resistance force against a dystopian society called "Neo Arcadia," resurrects an ancient fighting robot called "Zero" to help them.
* "Jak 2" (2003 by Naughty Dog In this game Jak, a young boy, is sent from his peaceful world (setting for ) to the future, where the entire world is covered by wasteland and the only civilisation left is Haven City. Haven City is ruled by the oppressive and murderous Baron Praxis who enforces his crazy and strict rules. He keeps authority with an elite military group under his control, the Krimzon Guard and puts on the show of protecting Haven City's people from their enemies, the Metal Heads, but he is actually selling them the energy source, eco, in return to let them invade his city.
* "" (2001) by Kojima Productions features a shadow organization known as the Patriots which secretly controls the United States.
* "Shattered Union" (2005) a turn-based strategy game where America collapses into a second civil war in 2014.
* "" (2007) by Kojima Productions features a military being controlled by Outer Heaven, the parent company of the five largest PMC's in the world.
* "Oddworld", a quintology by Oddworld Inhabitants (1997-2005).
* "" A futuristic universe where much of the population is plagued by crime, with whole planets being used as prisons.
* "The Worm in Paradise" by Level 9 Computing - a text adventure game for the ZX Spectrum and other 8-bit platforms, set in a dystopian future.
* "" by Nintendo. Although the game begins as a on good terms, there comes the point where Link, the main character is sealed away for seven years and awakens to a dystopian Hyrule after seven years of war by main antagonist Ganondorf.
* "" shows Hyrule split into two "worlds". The Light World, which is a peaceful land but one under siege by Agahnim, and the Dark World, a dystopian version where Ganon's rule is law.
* "The Moment of Silence" by House of Tales - an adventure game set in 2044 New York, in a time when private information is becoming illegal.
* "Dystopia (computer game)" cyberpunk-themed modification of the 2004 first-person shooter "Half-Life 2" it was released after 3 years of development on Saturday February 24, 2007.
* "Crackdown" (2007) is a third-person shooter developed by Realtime Worlds where a player plays as a super-cop developed by an idealist police state in order to combat a massive gang problem. The final scene of the game reveals that the government had funded and encouraged the growth of the 3 gangs of Pacific City in order to gain the submission of the citizens and to give them a mandate to form the police state.
* Simcity Societies is a city building simulator that allows the player to build various societies, including a dystopian authoritarian state.
*Red Faction and Red Faction II first-person shooters. The first Red Factions talks about miners in Mars being used as guinea pigs for a technological experiment and the sequel talks about a resistance movement fighting against a totalitarian police state.

See also

* List of dystopian literature
* List of dystopian films