postapocalyptic
Following global catastrophe
Postapocalyptic describes settings, stories, or scenarios taking place after a catastrophic event has destroyed civilization: a postapocalyptic wasteland, postapocalyptic fiction.
The apocalypse in question is usually nuclear war, pandemic, environmental collapse, or similar global disaster.
The genre explores survival, rebuilding, and human nature under extreme conditions.
Also spelled post-apocalyptic.
Speculative fiction with technological themes
- speculativeBased on conjecture
- cyberpunkDystopian tech-noir fiction
- cli-fiGenre exploring environmental futures
- zombieReanimated dead body
mutant · Armageddon · end times · nuclear · fallout · Mad Max · The Road · Fallout
Gathering discarded or dead material
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- survivorsThose still alive after
prepper · endurance · resourcefulness · self-sufficiency · adaptation · evasion · fortification · hunting
Uninhabitable barren region
- desolateBleak and abandoned
- barrenUnable to produce
- scorchedBurned on surface
- irradiatedExposed to electromagnetic energy
contaminated · blighted · ashen · dust · desert · dead zone · quarantine · crater
Broke into particles
- derelictAbandoned or neglectful
- dilapidatedRuined through neglect
- collapsedFell inward suddenly
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
remnants · rubble · obliterated · shattered · overgrown · reclaimed · abandoned city · skeletal
Making current again
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- resurgenceReturn after dormancy
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- restorationReturning something to condition
revival · regeneration · recovery · rebuilding · replanting · repopulation · rekindling · reinvention
Dictatorial, all-controlling regime
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- authoritarianFavoring absolute control
subjugation · oligarchy · dictatorship · conformity · dehumanization · propaganda · censorship · martial law
science fiction
Speculative fiction with technological themes
- speculativeBased on conjecture
- cyberpunkDystopian tech-noir fiction
- cli-fiGenre exploring environmental futures
zombie · mutant · Armageddon · end times · nuclear · fallout · Mad Max · The Road · Fallout · Walking Dead
scavenging
Gathering discarded or dead material
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
survivors · prepper · endurance · resourcefulness · self-sufficiency · adaptation · evasion · fortification · hunting · trapping
wasteland
Uninhabitable barren region
irradiated · contaminated · blighted · ashen · dust · desert · dead zone · quarantine · crater · flooded
crumbled
Broke into particles
- derelictAbandoned or neglectful
- dilapidatedRuined through neglect
- collapsedFell inward suddenly
relics · remnants · rubble · obliterated · shattered · overgrown · reclaimed · abandoned city · skeletal · wreckage
renewal
Making current again
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- resurgenceReturn after dormancy
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
restoration · revival · regeneration · recovery · rebuilding · replanting · repopulation · rekindling · reinvention · redemption
totalitarian
Dictatorial, all-controlling regime
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
authoritarian · subjugation · oligarchy · dictatorship · conformity · dehumanization · propaganda · censorship · martial law · curfew
postapocalypticutopian
Impractically perfect in conception
idyllic · edenic · paradisiacal · golden age · flourishing