Electromagnetic pulse in fiction and popular culture
Encyclopedia
In the early 1980s, a number of articles on nuclear electromagnetic pulse
(EMP) in the popular press
spread knowledge of the EMP phenomenon into the popular culture
. EMP has been subsequently used in a wide variety of fiction and other aspects of popular culture. Typically in motion picture or electronic entertainment, the effects of an EMP are incorrectly shown as temporary. Another recurring misconception is the idea that EMP only affects active electronics — i.e. that one can "weather" an expected EMP by simply turning off all electronic devices and systems before the pulse happens. There is no assurance that this would help in the real world.
, the fictional Soviet
nuclear attack on civilian targets begins with a nuclear EMP attack in order to disable as much of the United States retaliatory capability as possible. This scenario accurately conforms to the Cold War
nuclear attack scenarios as understood by military officials and nuclear weapons designers (although post Cold War scenarios are generally much different).
In the 1987 science fiction animated series Spiral Zone
episode "Back to the Stone Age", Overlord and his Black Widows used an EMP device to disable the Zone Riders' advanced weapons. However, the Zone Riders are taught by Australian Aborigines how to fight using "primitive" weapons and soon defeat the Black Widows.
The setting of the Fox
television series Dark Angel
, produced by James Cameron
and Charles H. Eglee
, was in the United States after it has been devastated by a terrorist nuclear EMP attack on 1 June 2009. The setting of the Dark Angel series is in the period of 2019 to 2021, although the United States is still suffering from a deep economic depression caused by the EMP attack a decade earlier. Time periods in the television series are commonly referred to as either pre-pulse or post-pulse.
Another Fox show, 24
, has had EMP weapons featured or mentioned in numerous episodes.
In episode number 4 of the 2006 CBS
series, Jericho
, a missile launched by unknown agents from within the United States causes a nuclear electromagnetic pulse.
In Series 9 Episode 1 of the BBC
television spy drama Spooks
, an EMP device hidden beneath the Houses of Parliament in London
is used to disable two explosive-laden submersible
s racing down the River Thames
.
In the re-imagined miniseries of Battlestar Galactica an EMP device is used to fake the destruction of the passenger-liner Colonial One.
Falling Skies
is a DreamWorks Television
series that premiered on Turner Network Television
on 19 June 2011. The series was created by Robert Rodat
and Steven Spielberg
. In the science fiction
series, alien invaders arrive and begin silently orbiting the Earth and hovering over major cities, refusing to respond to all attempts at communication. After the invading ships are in place, the aliens suddenly release a large electromagnetic pulse
from their orbiting ships, which incapacitates all of the electrical and electronic technology of the advanced countries on the Earth, leaving the inhabitants of the Earth at the mercy of the invaders.
In the Stargate SG-1
universe several instances of EMP were used in both the original series and the spinoff Stargate Atlantis
. For example in the original series episode Urgo, it is used in an attempt to neutralize an alien artificial intelligence. In another SG-1 episode, an EMP generator is used, unsuccessfully, in an attempt to destroy an ancient superweapon. In the Stargate Atlantis series, a nuclear EMP was used to destroy an artificial nano-machine virus infecting the city.
, published in 1984. Warday is about a limited, but nevertheless devastating, nuclear war that occurs on a single day in October 1988. Warday contains a fictional government report, several pages long, about the fictional Soviet nuclear EMP attack of 28 October 1988 against the United States. The fictional government EMP report is titled, "Summary of Effects Induced by Electromagnetic Pulse in the October 1988 Attack by the Soviet Union, and their Implications for Recovery." The war begins with six high-altitude nuclear EMP detonations over the United States, each with energy yields of 8 to 10 megatons
. The six nuclear EMP weapons are detonated in two triangular patterns in order to cover both the eastern and western halves of the continental United States with fairly evenly spaced EMP detonations.
The 2009 novel One Second After
by William R. Forstchen
is about a nuclear EMP attack against the United States told from the perspective of a small community in North Carolina. The community is cut off from nearly all outside information by the EMP attack. Large numbers of people die from starvation, lack of medicines and the lack of medical care. In addition, there are deadly fights for scarce resources such as food and water. Unlike most EMP fiction, One Second After was written specifically as a warning about the dangers of an EMP attack on modern society in hopes of causing readers to take action to prevent such a disaster. The EMP attacks in One Second After are launched from missiles in container ship
s. After the book was released, a Russian company started advertising missile launchers hidden inside shipping containers made for launching from such ships.
On 10 December 2010, the novel Lights Out by David Crawford was published in a paperback edition after being available on the Internet for many years. According to the description on the back cover of the book, it was downloaded more than three million times on the Internet before finally being published in print. Lights Out is a novel about ordinary people surviving after an unexpected EMP attack.
The 2011 book "Preppers Road March" was the first installment of the "Prepper Trilogy", which was acclaimed as one of the first books to seriously address surviving after a solar storm causing an electromagnetic pulse event. Ron Foster the author of this series has gone on to undertake by popular demand a series of novelettes that address what happened to some of his readers favorite characters.
The novel High Intensity Death Wave by John Kuslich describes the mayhem that occurs when a deranged engineer builds an EMP weapon, which he uses to destroy flying commercial airliners.
Novels based on the video game Halo describe the use of nuclear EMPs to remove energy shielding on Covenant starships in extreme situations, as the EMP damages human vessels also. EMPs can also be produced by Covenant infantry overcharging plasma pistols.
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
(EMP) in the popular press
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
spread knowledge of the EMP phenomenon into the popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. EMP has been subsequently used in a wide variety of fiction and other aspects of popular culture. Typically in motion picture or electronic entertainment, the effects of an EMP are incorrectly shown as temporary. Another recurring misconception is the idea that EMP only affects active electronics — i.e. that one can "weather" an expected EMP by simply turning off all electronic devices and systems before the pulse happens. There is no assurance that this would help in the real world.
Television
In the 1983 made for television motion picture, The Day AfterThe Day After
The Day After is a 1983 American television movie which aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. It was seen by more than 100 million people during its initial broadcast....
, the fictional Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
nuclear attack on civilian targets begins with a nuclear EMP attack in order to disable as much of the United States retaliatory capability as possible. This scenario accurately conforms to the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
nuclear attack scenarios as understood by military officials and nuclear weapons designers (although post Cold War scenarios are generally much different).
In the 1987 science fiction animated series Spiral Zone
Spiral Zone
Spiral Zone was a 1987 American science-fiction animated series produced by Atlantic-Kushner-Locke. Based in part from a toy line made by Japanese company Bandai, the series focus on an international group of soldiers fighting to free the world from a scientist who controls much of the Earth's...
episode "Back to the Stone Age", Overlord and his Black Widows used an EMP device to disable the Zone Riders' advanced weapons. However, the Zone Riders are taught by Australian Aborigines how to fight using "primitive" weapons and soon defeat the Black Widows.
The setting of the 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...
television series Dark Angel
Dark 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...
, produced by James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
and Charles H. Eglee
Charles H. Eglee
Charles H. Eglee is an Emmy Award winning American film and television writer and producer. He worked extensively for Steven Bochco productions throughout the 1990s. For Bochco productions he co-created Byrds of Paradise with frequent collaborator Channing Gibson and co-created Murder One with...
, was in the United States after it has been devastated by a terrorist nuclear EMP attack on 1 June 2009. The setting of the Dark Angel series is in the period of 2019 to 2021, although the United States is still suffering from a deep economic depression caused by the EMP attack a decade earlier. Time periods in the television series are commonly referred to as either pre-pulse or post-pulse.
Another Fox show, 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, has had EMP weapons featured or mentioned in numerous episodes.
In episode number 4 of the 2006 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...
series, Jericho
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...
, a missile launched by unknown agents from within the United States causes a nuclear electromagnetic pulse.
In Series 9 Episode 1 of the 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...
television spy drama Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
, an EMP device hidden beneath the Houses of Parliament in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
is used to disable two explosive-laden submersible
Submersible
A submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...
s racing down the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
.
In the re-imagined miniseries of Battlestar Galactica an EMP device is used to fake the destruction of the passenger-liner Colonial One.
Falling Skies
Falling Skies
Falling Skies is an American science fiction dramatic television series created by Robert Rodat and produced by Steven Spielberg. The series picks up six months into a world devastated by an alien invasion...
is a DreamWorks Television
DreamWorks Television
DreamWorks Television is a television distribution and production company that is a division of DreamWorks SKG, a former subsidiary of Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures. The syndication rights to DreamWorks' live-action TV series were held by CBS Television Distribution until fall 2008, the successor...
series that premiered on Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
on 19 June 2011. The series was created by Robert Rodat
Robert Rodat
Robert Rodat Robert Rodat Robert Rodat (born Keene, New Hampshire, 1953 is an American screenwriter. Best known for Saving Private Ryan (1998), Rodat also wrote The Comrades of Summer (1992), Tall Tale (1995), Fly Away Home with Vince McKewin (1996), and The Patriot (2000). He recently worked on...
and Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
. In the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series, alien invaders arrive and begin silently orbiting the Earth and hovering over major cities, refusing to respond to all attempts at communication. After the invading ships are in place, the aliens suddenly release a large electromagnetic pulse
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
from their orbiting ships, which incapacitates all of the electrical and electronic technology of the advanced countries on the Earth, leaving the inhabitants of the Earth at the mercy of the invaders.
In the Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
universe several instances of EMP were used in both the original series and the spinoff Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
. For example in the original series episode Urgo, it is used in an attempt to neutralize an alien artificial intelligence. In another SG-1 episode, an EMP generator is used, unsuccessfully, in an attempt to destroy an ancient superweapon. In the Stargate Atlantis series, a nuclear EMP was used to destroy an artificial nano-machine virus infecting the city.
Motion Pictures
- In 1995's GoldenEyeGoldenEyeGoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
, the main plot involves the Soviet Union developing a satellite called GoldenEye which is then stolen by the Janus crime syndicate and used against the satellite's original tracking station. Because of the EMP blast, 3 MiGs (which were called in to check a distress signal sent by one of the tracking station's workers) suffer severe damage to their electronic systems. One of them crashes into the station, severely damaging it, and igniting major fires inside. This also disabled British satellites surveillance of the tracking station.
- In the 1999 movie The MatrixThe MatrixThe Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
, one of the surviving humans' few effective weapons against the machines is an EMP which emanates from a hovercraft. In the process, the hovercraft's electronics are also temporarily disabled. The EMP is shown disabling machine sentinels near the end of the movie. In the 2003 second sequel Matrix Revolutions, an EMP is discharged in the dock of the only remaining human city, Zion, disabling many machine sentinels, but also the entire defense system of the city.
- In the 2001 version of Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven (2001 film)Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...
, a explosively pumped flux compression generatorExplosively pumped flux compression generatorAn explosively pumped flux compression generator is a device used to generate a high-power electromagnetic pulse by compressing magnetic flux using high explosive....
(non-nuclear EMP device) in a van is used to shut down the electrical power to Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan areaThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
. It is not explained how such a small non-nuclear device can shut down the power to an entire large city. It is also not explained how the power could be predictably brought back on line in only 30 seconds after such a disastrous event which should have permanently destroyed all electronics in the area.
- In Broken ArrowBroken ArrowBroken Arrow may refer to:*Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, United States*Broken Arrow Public Schools- Film and television :*Broken Arrow , a Golden Globe-winning western film...
(1996), the EMP generated by the blast of the nuke deep in an abandoned copper mine knocks out an USAF helicopter which was sent to detect the missing weapons. John Travolta's character in the film accurately predicted the EMP and stopped the jeep in which he was travelling.
- In the 2003 film Battle Royale II: RequiemBattle Royale II: Requiem, abbreviated as BRII , is a 2003 Japanese, dystopian, action-thriller film. It is a sequel to the 2000 film, Battle Royale, which in turn was based upon a controversial 1999 novel of the same title by Koushun Takami...
, a EMP was used to deactivate the collars on the students.
- In Cars 2Cars 2Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...
, the EMP causes the cars with alternative fuel called "Allinol" to explode when it is in contact with EMP.
- The plot of John CarpenterJohn CarpenterJohn Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's 1996 film Escape from L.A.Escape from L.A.Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...
revolves around EMP.
Books
Electromagnetic pulse is a very prominent concept in the novel WardayWarday
Warday is a novel by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, first published in 1984. It is a fictionalized account of the authors traveling across America five years after a limited nuclear attack in order to assess how the nation had changed after the war. The novel takes the form of a research...
, published in 1984. Warday is about a limited, but nevertheless devastating, nuclear war that occurs on a single day in October 1988. Warday contains a fictional government report, several pages long, about the fictional Soviet nuclear EMP attack of 28 October 1988 against the United States. The fictional government EMP report is titled, "Summary of Effects Induced by Electromagnetic Pulse in the October 1988 Attack by the Soviet Union, and their Implications for Recovery." The war begins with six high-altitude nuclear EMP detonations over the United States, each with energy yields of 8 to 10 megatons
Nuclear weapon yield
The explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy discharged when a nuclear weapon is detonated, expressed usually in the equivalent mass of trinitrotoluene , either in kilotons or megatons , but sometimes also in terajoules...
. The six nuclear EMP weapons are detonated in two triangular patterns in order to cover both the eastern and western halves of the continental United States with fairly evenly spaced EMP detonations.
The 2009 novel One Second After
One Second After
One Second After is a 2009 novel by American writer William R. Forstchen. The novel deals with an unexpected electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States as it affects the people living in and around the town of Black Mountain, North Carolina....
by William R. Forstchen
William R. Forstchen
William R. Forstchen is an American author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina...
is about a nuclear EMP attack against the United States told from the perspective of a small community in North Carolina. The community is cut off from nearly all outside information by the EMP attack. Large numbers of people die from starvation, lack of medicines and the lack of medical care. In addition, there are deadly fights for scarce resources such as food and water. Unlike most EMP fiction, One Second After was written specifically as a warning about the dangers of an EMP attack on modern society in hopes of causing readers to take action to prevent such a disaster. The EMP attacks in One Second After are launched from missiles in container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
s. After the book was released, a Russian company started advertising missile launchers hidden inside shipping containers made for launching from such ships.
On 10 December 2010, the novel Lights Out by David Crawford was published in a paperback edition after being available on the Internet for many years. According to the description on the back cover of the book, it was downloaded more than three million times on the Internet before finally being published in print. Lights Out is a novel about ordinary people surviving after an unexpected EMP attack.
The 2011 book "Preppers Road March" was the first installment of the "Prepper Trilogy", which was acclaimed as one of the first books to seriously address surviving after a solar storm causing an electromagnetic pulse event. Ron Foster the author of this series has gone on to undertake by popular demand a series of novelettes that address what happened to some of his readers favorite characters.
The novel High Intensity Death Wave by John Kuslich describes the mayhem that occurs when a deranged engineer builds an EMP weapon, which he uses to destroy flying commercial airliners.
Novels based on the video game Halo describe the use of nuclear EMPs to remove energy shielding on Covenant starships in extreme situations, as the EMP damages human vessels also. EMPs can also be produced by Covenant infantry overcharging plasma pistols.
Video games
- In CrysisCrysisCrysis is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek , published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, and released in November 2007. It is the first game of a trilogy. A separate game entitled Crysis Warhead was released on September 12, 2008, and follows similar...
, the robotRobotA robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
ic alienExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
enemies have the ability to emanate EMPs that disrupt the player's Nanosuit. In Crysis WarheadCrysis WarheadCrysis Warhead is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game developed by the studio Crytek Budapest, Hungary, and published by Electronic Arts. Crysis Warhead is a stand-alone expansion game and does not require Crysis installed to play...
, a downed alien robot generates an EMP that shuts down the player's Nanosuit completely. The game also features "nano-disruptor" EMP grenades, purpose-built to be used against Nanosuit-equipped soldiers, though they are very effective against the alien robots as well, disabling them completely.
- In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
, an EMP missile was seen in the campaign missions "Contingency" and "Second Sun". In "Contingency", Captain Price, aware of the Rangers' struggle against the Russians in Washington D.C., uses a submarine to release a ICBM into the higher atmosphere that disables all electronic devices in range, effectively destroying the Russian and American forces' vehicles and equipment there. However, the International Space StationInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
is inconveniently unaware of the war on Earth and identifies the missile as an aircraft. As the EMP is released, the shock wave from the nuclear explosion destroys the ISS. Players can obtain an EMP bomb in a multiplayer game (if unlocked and selected for their killstreak reward) after obtaining a 15 kill streak. When used, all enemy killstreak rewards are disabled, holographic sight, red dot sight, thermal scope and ACOGAdvanced Combat Optical GunsightAdvanced Combat Optical Gunsights are a series of telescopic sights manufactured by Trijicon. The ACOG is designed to be used on the M16 rifle and M4 carbine, but Trijicon has developed ACOG accessories for certain other firearms...
scope attachments lose their electronic features (such as their targeting reticle) and all aircraft in the airspace are disabled and fall from the sky (including AC-130s and UAVs).
- In Command & Conquer: GeneralsCommand & Conquer: GeneralsCommand & Conquer: Generals is a real-time strategy game in the Command & Conquer series. Generals utilizes SAGE...
and the expansion pack Zero Hour, the Chinese 5-star General Power is an EMP bomb.
- In Command & Conquer: Tiberian SunCommand & Conquer: Tiberian SunCommand & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is a real-time strategy video game developed by Westwood Studios and released in . The main storyline follows the second major war between the Global Defense Initiative of the United Nations, and the global terrorist organization known as the Brotherhood of Nod who...
, both factions, Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and Brotherhood of NOD (NOD) use EMP buildings to temporarily disable machine units. In the expansion, "Command & Conquer: Firestorm", there is a mobile unit with similar capabilities.
- In Star Wars: Battlefront IIStar Wars: Battlefront IIStar Wars: Battlefront II is a first/third-person shooter video game developed by Pandemic Studios, and published by LucasArts. The game is the sequel to the successful Star Wars: Battlefront and features new vehicles, characters, game mechanics, maps, and missions...
, the player, while in the character of a cloneClone trooperThe clone troopers of the Army of the Republic are soldiers in the fictional Star Wars universe, cloned from Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter. They first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and returned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where they were played...
jet trooper, may use a weapon called an "EMP launcher" that is ideal for neutralizing droid enemies.
- In Battlefield 2142Battlefield 2142Battlefield 2142 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Digital Illusions CE and produced by Electronic Arts . It is the fourth game in the Battlefield series...
, some weapons used by players utilize EMP that can be used to disable vehicles and equipment, as well as scramble infantry's helmet displays. The support class can use an EMP grenade that can temporarily disable vehicles whereas the engineer class has an EMP mineLand mineA land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
that works to a greater degree, and the commander can utilize an EMP strike, which is the most powerful EMP weaponry in the game. Anti-air gunsAnti-aircraft warfareNATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
have homing EMP missiles which can temporarily disable aircraft.
- In Enemy Territory: Quake WarsEnemy Territory: Quake WarsEnemy Territory: Quake Wars is a first-person shooter video game, and is the follow-up to the 2005 title Quake 4. It is also the first game in the series to be rated T by the ESRB...
the GDF can use EMP grenades to disable vehicles and deployables for a short time. The Strogg have scrambler grenades, which work to a similar degree. Both grenades also slightly damage infantry.
- In Splinter Cell: Conviction the game follows Sam FisherSam FisherSamuel "Sam" Fisher is the protagonist of the Splinter Cell series of video games and novels . His full name is first seen in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, the first game of the series, when he was using the computer in the V-22 Osprey to encrypt his call home...
trying to stop a mass EMP detonation in Washington DC.
- The 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...
modMod (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...
Dystopia has an EMP grenade that disables enemy equipment and implants.
- In 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...
player can use EMP grenades for disabling security systems and robots.
- In Homefront'sHomefront (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...
backstory, the Greater Korean Republic, a fictional empire formed from North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, launches a satellite that creates a EMP blast over the U.S., crippling its entire electronic grid.
- In Need for Speed: Hot PursuitNeed for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010 video game)Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a BAFTA Award–winning 2010 racing video game in the Need for Speed series developed by British games developer Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. The Wii version was developed by Exient...
the cops and the racers have an EMP system that fires a directed EMP blast at a targeted vehicle.
- In Halo 3Halo 3Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
and Halo 3: ODST, one can create an EMP by briefly charging a plasma pistol, or deploying a power drainer. In Halo: ReachHalo: ReachHalo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, both actions above can be performed, but an EMP can also be created by remotely detonating a grenade launcher's grenade, or ending the "armor lock" armor ability effect. An EMP can disable all nearby vehicles, and also shut down any energy shielding.
- In Just Cause 2Just Cause 2Just Cause 2 is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Avalanche Studios, published by Eidos Interactive, and distributed by Square Enix. It is the sequel to the 2006 video game Just Cause....
there is an EMP tower over an island. The effects of the EMP are thunder and lightning. It can also destroy the player's vehicle.
- InFamousInFamousInfamous, stylized as inFAMOUS or inFamous, is an open world video game for the PlayStation 3 video game console. It was developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment...
begins with a large terrorist EMP attack on a major American city, plunging it in chaos. As the game has a super-hero theme, the player character is shown to have been standing at ground zero when the pulse went off, thus receiving radiations that made him develop electricity-based superpowers.
- In Fallout 3Fallout 3Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
the post apocalyptic world mentions multiple times how the great nuclear war of 2077 caused wide spread EMP damage to the world's electrical tecnology.
- In Battlefield Bad Company 2 the story focuses on a Russian plot to weaken the United States for invasion by detonating an EMP weapon above the U.S.
See also
- Electromagnetic pulseElectromagnetic pulseAn electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
- List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
- List of nuclear holocaust fiction
- Nuclear holocaustNuclear holocaustNuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
- Nuclear optimism
- SurvivalismSurvivalismSurvivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
- Popular culturePopular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...