List of stories set in a future now in the past facts for kids

An aerial battle with airships, from a series of postcards made between 1899 and 1910. The first experimental planes flew between 1886 and 1910.

Have you ever wondered what people in the past thought the future would be like? This article explores a fascinating collection of fictional stories – like books, movies, and video games – that imagined what our world would be like in years that have already passed, or are happening right now! These stories were created long ago, but they tried to guess what technology, society, and even daily life would be like. Sometimes they got things right, and sometimes their ideas were very different from our reality. We'll look at some of these amazing predictions and see how close they came!

Imagining Tomorrow: Past Predictions of Our World

This list includes stories that were set in a future that is now our present or past. It does not include stories about different versions of history or time travel adventures.

Life with Amazing Technology

Robots and AI Friends

• Astro Boy (1952): Imagined a world where humans and helpful androids (human-like robots) lived together.
• Mega Man 2 (1988): Showed a future where artificially intelligent robots were common.
• Robbie (1939): Predicted that household robots would be a normal part of life.
• RoboCop (1994): Featured robotic police officers patrolling the streets of Detroit.
• R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (1921): This play introduced the idea of robots and even predicted that artificial intelligence could take over.
• The 6th Day (2000): Explored a future where creating duplicate humans, including their memories, was possible but against the law.
• With Folded Hands (1950): Predicted that household robots, called "Mechanicals," would be very common.
• We Can Build You (1972): Imagined a future where electronic organs and androids were mass-produced.
• The Bots Master (1993): Showed a world where robots were a common part of society.
• Perfect Dark (2010): Predicted the creation of the first truly intelligent artificial intelligence computer.

Super Smart Gadgets

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): Predicted digital newspapers and tablet computers.
• Blade Runner (1982): Showed a future with video calls, voice identification, virtual assistants, smart keys, and even a machine that could zoom in on tiny details in photos.
• Fahrenheit 451 (1953): Predicted the regular use of earbud headphones, interactive television, and robotic bank tellers.
• Future Fear (1997): Imagined AI voice assistants, voice-activated record players, and handheld laser-guns.
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995): Featured mass surveillance, video calls, electronic passports, full body scanners, and brain implants.
• Nineteen Ninety-Four (1985): Predicted that household appliances would have artificial intelligence and that job interviews could be predetermined by computer.
• Runaway (1984): Showed a future with video mail, social media, the Internet, voice-activated computers, facial recognition, camera drones, and tablet PCs.
• Strange Days (1995): Imagined a technology that could record a person's memories onto a disc.
• Tell David... (1971): Predicted homes with one-way security windows, video telephones, and technology similar to today's web mapping services.
• Thrice Upon a Time (1980): Predicted that video telephones would be commonplace.
• Uplink (2001): Correctly predicted that computers would have multiple processing units (CPUs).

Getting Around in Style

• Action Comics #396–397 (1971): Predicted that flying cars would be common.
• Back to the Future Part II (1989): Famously predicted hoverboards and flying cars.
• Blade Runner (1982): Also showed flying cars as a regular part of city life.
• Duke Nukem 3D (1996): Featured jet packs.
• En L'An 2000 (1899–1910): A series of postcards that imagined winged backpacks and personal aircraft.
• Futurama (1939): Predicted automated highway systems.
• Just Imagine (1930): Showed personal airplanes as common in New York City.
• OutRun 2019 (1993): Featured racing with rocket-powered cars.
• Snow Crash (1992): Predicted augmented cyborg guard dogs.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (1991): Featured battles on hoverboards.
• The Tunnel (1935): Imagined the building of a transatlantic tunnel.
• Thrice Upon a Time (1980): Predicted that modern cars would come with automated control systems for hands-free cruising on highways.
• Timecop (1994): Showed voice-activated self-driving cars in general use.
• Undersea Super Train: Marine Express (1979): Predicted an undersea train connecting North America with Japan.
• Vincent Deem 1997 (1958): Imagined moving sidewalks in cities.

Health and Human Abilities

• Absolon (2003): Predicted a virus that wiped out half of Earth's human population.
• Adrenalin: Fear the Rush (1996): Showed Boston quarantined after a deadly virus outbreak.
• Aeon Flux (2005): Predicted a virus that killed 99% of the human population.
• Dalek (2005): Suggested that scientists would find a cure for the common cold.
• Ever 17: The Out of Infinity (2002): Imagined that a cure for aging had been developed.
• F.E.A.R. (2005): Predicted that telepathy would be a scientifically understood concept.
• Hyperpilosity (1938): Imagined a virus that caused everyone to grow fur all over their bodies.
• I Am Legend (1954): Depicted a deadly virus outbreak that transformed most of humanity into vampires or zombie-like creatures.
• Jeremiah (2002): Showed a plague that wiped out almost everyone over the age of thirteen.
• Patient Zero (2001): Predicted a devastating plague that wiped out more than three billion people worldwide.
• Plague 99 (1989): Imagined a plague that wiped out most of London's population in weeks.
• Quarantine (1986): Featured a man put into cold sleep in hopes that his cancer could be cured in the future.
• Rainbows End (2006): Predicted that Alzheimer's disease would be cured.
• The Sentinels of the New Dawn (2011): Correctly predicted a widespread Ebola epidemic.
• Trauma Center: Under the Knife (2005): Predicted that AIDS and cancer would have cures.
• Vincent Deem 1997 (1958): Imagined "health rays" as common technology.

Digital and Virtual Worlds

• 1993 (Song) (1977): Predicted simulated reality.
• A Philosophical Investigation (1992): Predicted virtual reality.
• Cyberpunk (1988): Imagined a world connected by a "Net" (similar to the World Wide Web).
• Fahrenheit 451 (1953): Predicted interactive television and video wall screens.
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995): Featured "mnemonic couriers" who carried sensitive information in their brains.
• Marvel Comics Earth-8410 stories (1984-2013): Showed virtual reality as the main form of entertainment.
• Snow Crash (1992): Predicted virtual worlds and technology similar to Google Earth.
• Sword Art Online (2009): Imagined virtual reality helmets (NerveGear) that could directly connect to a player's brain, allowing them to control avatars with their minds.
• The Thirteenth Floor (1999): Explored the idea of simulated realities, where a simulation could exist within another simulation.
• Virtual Light (1993): Predicted simulated reality through direct brain stimulation.

Transportation of Tomorrow

• Golf in the Year 2000 (1892): Predicted supersonic trains.
• The Roads Must Roll (1940): Imagined mechanized roads.
• Undersea Super Train: Marine Express (1979): Predicted an undersea train connecting North America with Japan.

Communication and Information

• Paris in the Twentieth Century (1863): Predicted fax machines and the record industry.
• A Logic Named Joe (1950): Imagined networked personal computers, called "logics," in almost every home.

Everyday Gadgets

• Looking Backward (1888): Predicted debit/credit cards and shopping malls.
• Your Safety First (1956): Predicted 3D and interactive television.
• The Old Grey Hare (1944): Featured "smellevision" (television with smells).

Sports and Entertainment

• Cyberball (1988): Imagined American football played with robots and an exploding ball.
• Real Steel (2011): Predicted that human boxers would be replaced by robots.
• Rollerball (1975): Showed a future where American football was no longer played, and rollerball was the main sport. Books were replaced by summaries on computers.
• Smash TV (1990): Depicted violent reality TV shows where contestants fought each other.
• Super Baseball 2020 (1991): Predicted that the sport of baseball would be played entirely by robots.
• Steel (1963): Imagined a future where boxing between human fighters was against the law, and robots dominated the sport.
• Super Glove Ball (1990): Predicted motion control technology for console games.

Homes and Cities

• Future-Drama (2005): Showed underwater homes.
• Earth Revisited (1893): Imagined a cleaner, more organized, and peaceful city of Columbia (formerly New York), with widespread prosperity due to electrification and mechanization.
• The World a Department Store (1900): Predicted that a socialist association would eliminate poverty, slums, and litter, and that photo IDs would be used.

Food and Resources

• Sin and Punishment (2000): Predicted severe global famine, leading scientists to build bionic creatures to help grow food.
• Lords of the Deep (1989): Imagined a future where large corporations had used up Earth's resources on land and started exploiting the ocean floor.
• The Winnowing (1976): Predicted acute famine due to a world population of six billion.

Weather and Environment

• The Fire Next Time (1993): Predicted that the greenhouse effect and global warming would cause widespread droughts, floods, hurricanes, and fires.
• Geostorm (2017): Imagined a weather control system built to stop climate change, which was later weaponized.
• Split Second (1992): Predicted that global warming would cause London to become a flooded city.
• Supervolcano (2005): Depicted a supereruption of the Yellowstone volcano.
• Telerop 2009 – Es ist noch was zu retten (1974): Predicted that environmental pollution would largely destroy the natural environment, leading to scarce water and permanent smog.
• Weathering with You (2019): Showed a continuous rain beginning over Tokyo.
• The Year of the Burn Up (1970–1971): Predicted that England would be covered by tropical rainforests.

Crime and Safety

• Escape from New York (1981): Imagined Manhattan Island being turned into a maximum-security prison due to a huge rise in crime.
• The Last Days of American Crime (2020): Predicted an electronic signal that could prevent people from committing crimes.

Society and Government

• Anno Domini 2000, or, Woman's Destiny (1889): Correctly predicted the spread of female voting rights and Ireland becoming an independent country.
• Americathon (1979): Correctly predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• The Blessington Method (1959): Predicted a significant increase in human life expectancy.
• Click (2006): Showed a future where Michael Jackson was still alive and Britney Spears was still married to Kevin Federline (though this later changed in real life).
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972): Imagined a plague that killed all dogs and cats, leading to apes being domesticated and then becoming slaves, which sparked a revolution.
• The Enemy of the World (1967–1968): Predicted widespread famine due to Earth's overpopulation, and a global World Zone Authority.
• Gettysburg (2000): Correctly predicted that the first African-American President of the United States would be in office.
• History of the Future (1829): Predicted women's rights worldwide and Poland regaining independence.
• In 1999 (1912): Predicted a future where traditional gender roles were reversed, with women going to work and men staying at home.
• Islands in the Net (1988): Successfully predicted the end of apartheid in South Africa and the end of the Cold War.
• The Last Man on Earth (2015): Depicted an unnamed virus that swept the world and killed most of the population, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Lisa's Wedding (1995): Showed Big Ben as a digital clock and predicted that the United Kingdom would save the United States in a future world conflict.
• Looking Backward (1888): Imagined the United States as a socialist utopia.
• Millennium (1991): Featured numerous doomsday conspiracy theories about the world ending in 2000.
• Number 12 Looks Just Like You (1964): Set in a world where people could choose their bodies, but everyone picked from a few popular options.
• Psychic Force (1995): Imagined a future where "psychiccers" (people with psychic powers) were avoided by normal humans.
• The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper (1932): Predicted lower birth rates, a world government, and a simplified spelling of English.
• Rollerball (1975): Showed a world run by corporations where people were required to stay home and watch sports.
• Shadowrun (1989): Predicted that ten percent of the world's population would suddenly transform into new racial types, like orks and trolls.
• Spaceflight IC-1 (1965): Depicted an overpopulated world controlled by a powerful computerized government that carefully chose colonists for space travel based on their age, health, and IQ.
• Stand on Zanzibar (1968): Predicted the decline of Detroit, electric cars, overpopulation, the European Union, in-flight entertainment, reality television, and a president named "Obomi."
• Superman No. 128 (1959): Imagined Earth with a world government, Mars colonized, and common space travel.
• Superman No. 300 (1976): Predicted that the New Empire State Building would be the tallest in the world again, and that Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. would merge to form the huge city of Metropolis.
• Surrogates (2009): Showed a future where humans lived at home and interacted with the world through remotely controlled androids.
• The True Meaning of Smekday (2007): Imagined aliens colonizing Earth and forcing humans to relocate to Florida.
• X: Beyond the Frontier (1999): Predicted that a simplified version of Japanese would replace English as the main language of science after Japan experienced an economic boom.
• Years and Years (2019): Showed a British family witnessing economic upheaval, populism, pandemics, and new technologies over 25 years.

Global Events and Conflicts

• 2010 (1984): Correctly predicted that the 2008 Summer Olympics would be held in Beijing.
• Akira (1982–1990): Correctly predicted that the 2020 Summer Olympics would have been held in Tokyo, and even included graffiti saying "Just cancel it," which became relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Back to the Future Part II (1989): Predicted that the Chicago Cubs would win the 2015 World Series (they won in 2016).
• The Light of Other Days (2000): Correctly predicted that the United Kingdom would decide to leave the European Union (Brexit) and the destruction of a Space Shuttle.
• Tom Clancy's EndWar (2008): Predicted the rise of a unified European superstate called the "European Federation" and that the militarization of space would reach its peak.
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2001): Correctly predicted a Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008.
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005): Correctly predicted North Korea becoming a nuclear weapons state.
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010): Predicted a female US president holding office.

Strange and Unusual Predictions

• The Old Grey Hare (1944): Featured "Bing Crosby's horse still hasn't come in yet" in the year 2000.
• Click (2006): Showed a future where Michael Jackson was still alive and Britney Spears was still married to Kevin Federline (though this later changed in real life).

Exploring Space and Other Worlds

Journeys to the Moon and Mars

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): Depicted space travel as routine and the Moon as colonized.
• Blue Comet SPT Layzner (1985–1986): Showed both the United States and the Soviet Union having bases on the Moon and Mars.
• Cosmic Voyage (1936): Predicted the Soviet space program would launch the first crewed mission to the Moon.
• Escape from Mars (1999): Imagined the first crewed mission to Mars launching in 2015.
• Event Horizon (1997): Predicted the first permanent colony on the Moon would be established by 2015.
• Journey into Space (1953–1958): Showed a rocket landing on the Moon in 1965 and the first moonwalk being broadcast.
• Just Imagine (1930): Depicted a crewed mission to Mars.
• Mars Is Heaven! (1948): Imagined the first exploratory spaceship from Earth arriving on Mars.
• Martian Gothic: Unification (2000): Set in the first colony on Mars.
• Mission to Mars (2000): Showed the crewed Mars I mission being launched.
• Moon Zero Two (1969): Set on a moonbase, with flights to Mars and Venus being common.
• Moonbase Alpha (2010): Set on a moonbase on the Moon's south pole.
• Moonbase 3 (1973): Predicted that five world powers would establish colonies on the Moon.
• Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005): Showed Earth sending an expedition to Mars.
• No Contact (1950): Imagined the first man walking on the Moon in 1962, and routine travel to the Moon and other planets by 1972.
• Project Moonbase (1953): Predicted that people could live on the Moon.
• Runaround (1942): Imagined humanity establishing mining stations on Mercury.
• seaQuest DSV (1993–1996): Predicted the first crewed mission to Mars would launch in 2015.
• The Sentinel (1951): Featured an expedition to the Moon unearthing an alien artifact.
• Space Probe Taurus (1965): Imagined humanity investigating the possibility of colonizing other galaxies.
• Super Force (1990): Showed the United States sending a crewed mission to Mars.
• Titan (1979): Featured a scientific expedition to Saturn.
• Titan (1997): Featured a crewed mission to Titan (a moon of Saturn).
• Trends (1939): Predicted the first free-return trajectory around the Moon.
• The Wilderness (1952): Imagined commercial travel to Mars as common.
• The Wizard of Mars (1965): Showed the first crewed probe to orbit Mars arriving in 1975.
• Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965): Predicted the Moon would be colonized.

Alien Encounters

• 2025 Armageddon (2022): Imagined aliens invading Earth using artificial monsters.
• Battle in Outer Space (1959): Depicted a terrestrial counter-attack against invading mind-controlling aliens from the Moon.
• The Black Cloud (1957): Imagined Earth being "invaded" by a giant, sentient black interstellar cloud.
• Corridor 7 (1995): Featured an artifact from Mars opening an interdimensional portal, leading to an alien invasion.
• Dan Dare (1950s): Depicted an interplanetary war between Earth and Venus.
• Earth Defense Force 2017 (2006): Predicted that radio signals from space would indicate extraterrestrial intelligence, followed by an alien invasion.
• Edge of Tomorrow (2014): Showed a global military alliance fighting an alien invasion.
• El Eternauta (1957–1959): Depicted an alien invasion of Argentina.
• Gley Lancer (1992): Featured a war between humans and an unknown alien race.
• Godzilla: Final Wars (2004): Imagined environmental disasters causing giant monsters to appear, which superhumans then fought.
• Manhunter: New York (1988): Showed a world conquered by aliens.
• Mirrorman (1971–1972): Depicted an evil alien race trying to take over Earth using giant monsters.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995): Featured children in giant mechs fighting giant alien monsters.
• Pacific Rim (2013): Imagined a rift to another dimension unleashing gigantic creatures onto Earth, which humans fought with mechs.
• Phoenix Point (2019): Predicted an alien virus that mutated all life on Earth.
• Queen of Blood (1966): Showed a spaceship from Mars crash-landing on Earth.
• Resiklo (2007): Depicted Earth being invaded by insect-like beings.
• Ring Raiders (1989): Featured a future war between time-traveling airmen.
• Saints Row IV (2013): Imagined Earth being invaded and destroyed by aliens.
• The Sentinel (1951): Featured an expedition unearthing an alien artifact.
• Spiral Zone (1987): Imagined a renegade scientist using "Zone Generators" to create a region that transformed millions of people.
• Strike Gunner S.T.G (1991): Depicted aliens invading Earth.
• Terrahawks (1983): Showed an alien force destroying NASA's Mars base and threatening Earth.
• The Tenth Planet (1966): Predicted Earth's former sister planet, Mondas, returning to the solar system.
• The Truth (2002): Set a final date for alien colonization.
• UFO (1970): Depicted a secret alien invasion of Earth.
• UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994): Imagined powerful countries funding a defense organization to fight alien invasions.
• UFO: Extraterrestrials (2007): Showed the colonization of a planet and a subsequent alien invasion.
• Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988): Imagined aliens controlling a phone company to lower the world's intelligence.
• Zebraman (2004): Depicted an alien invasion launching under a Japanese high school.

Space Stations and Colonies

• Moonbase Alpha (2010): Set on a moonbase on the Moon's south pole.
• Moonbase 3 (1973): Predicted that five world powers would establish colonies on the Moon.
• The Long Watch (1949): Imagined an international organization having custody of Earth's nuclear weapons and a moonbase existing.
• Thunderbirds (2004): Featured a family that owned a private space station.

Our Planet and Society

Environmental Changes

• Action Comics #396–397 (1971): Predicted climate control that defrosted the Arctic.
• A Friend of the Earth (2000): Imagined climate change devastating the environment, leading to overpopulation and a widespread pandemic.
• Galactix (1991): Predicted devastating global climate change triggered by the depletion of the Amazon rainforest.
• The Enemy of the World (1967–1968): Showed Earth being ravaged by earthquakes and floods, causing widespread famine.
• The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper (1932): Predicted the extinction of gorillas.
• The Year of the Burn Up (1970–1971): Predicted that England would be covered by tropical rainforests.
• Years and Years (2019): Showed species extinctions as part of future life.

Cities and Daily Life

• En L'An 2000 (1899–1910): A series of postcards predicting what the world might be like in 2000, including radium-powered heaters.
• Paris in the Twentieth Century (1863): Predicted electric street lighting.
• The World a Department Store (1900): Predicted that both men and women would pursue physical fitness and work out in gymnasiums.

How Society Might Change

• Anno Domini 2000, or, Woman's Destiny (1889): Correctly predicted the spread of female voting rights and Ireland becoming an independent country.
• Americathon (1979): Correctly predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• The Blessington Method (1959): Predicted a significant increase in human life expectancy.
• Carnage (2017): Depicted the future transition of the entire world to veganism.
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972): Imagined a plague that killed all dogs and cats, leading to apes being domesticated and then becoming slaves, which sparked a revolution.
• The Enemy of the World (1967–1968): Predicted widespread famine due to Earth's overpopulation, and a global World Zone Authority.
• Gettysburg (2000): Correctly predicted that the first African-American President of the United States would be in office.
• History of the Future (1829): Predicted women's rights worldwide and Poland regaining independence.
• In 1999 (1912): Predicted a future where traditional gender roles were reversed, with women going to work and men staying at home.
• Islands in the Net (1988): Successfully predicted the end of apartheid in South Africa and the end of the Cold War.
• The Last Man on Earth (2015): Depicted an unnamed virus that swept the world and killed most of the population, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Lisa's Wedding (1995): Showed Big Ben as a digital clock and predicted that the United Kingdom would save the United States in a future world conflict.
• Looking Backward (1888): Imagined the United States as a socialist utopia.
• Millennium (1991): Featured numerous doomsday conspiracy theories about the world ending in 2000.
• Number 12 Looks Just Like You (1964): Set in a world where people could choose their bodies, but everyone picked from a few popular options.
• Psychic Force (1995): Imagined a future where "psychiccers" (people with psychic powers) were avoided by normal humans.
• The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper (1932): Predicted lower birth rates, a world government, and a simplified spelling of English.
• Rollerball (1975): Showed a world run by corporations where people were required to stay home and watch sports.
• Shadowrun (1989): Predicted that ten percent of the world's population would suddenly transform into new racial types, like orks and trolls.
• Spaceflight IC-1 (1965): Depicted an overpopulated world controlled by a powerful computerized government that carefully chose colonists for space travel based on their age, health, and IQ.
• Stand on Zanzibar (1968): Predicted the decline of Detroit, electric cars, overpopulation, the European Union, in-flight entertainment, reality television, and a president named "Obomi."
• Superman No. 128 (1959): Imagined Earth with a world government, Mars colonized, and common space travel.
• Superman No. 300 (1976): Predicted that the New Empire State Building would be the tallest in the world again, and that Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. would merge to form the huge city of Metropolis.
• Surrogates (2009): Showed a future where humans lived at home and interacted with the world through remotely controlled androids.
• The True Meaning of Smekday (2007): Imagined aliens colonizing Earth and forcing humans to relocate to Florida.
• X: Beyond the Frontier (1999): Predicted that a simplified version of Japanese would replace English as the main language of science after Japan experienced an economic boom.
• Years and Years (2019): Showed a British family witnessing economic upheaval, populism, pandemics, and new technologies over 25 years.

Sports and Entertainment

• Super Baseball 2020 (1991): Predicted that the sport of baseball would be played entirely by robots.
• Steel (1963): Imagined a future where boxing between human fighters was against the law, and robots dominated the sport.
• Revolution X (1994): Depicted a dystopian future where music, television, and video games were banned.

Facing Big Challenges

Dealing with Disasters

• 12 Monkeys (1995): Imagined a devastating virus spread across the world.
• Akira (1982–1990): Predicted a dystopian Neo-Tokyo facing difficult times and government problems.
• Demolition Man (1993): Predicted a "Great Earthquake" in 2010 that merged parts of Southern California.
• Double Dragon (1994): Imagined an earthquake leveling Los Angeles.
• The Janus Conjunction (1998): Predicted that San Francisco would fall into the sea.
• The Legend of Bishin (1993): Imagined Mount Fuji erupting catastrophically.
• Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (1976): Told the story of New York City being devastated by a disaster.
• Omega Cop (1990): Showed society collapsing after Earth was devastated by solar flares.
• A Quiet Place (2018): Depicted extraterrestrial sightless creatures annihilating most of Earth's human and animal life.
• Reign of Fire (2002): Imagined dragons being found under London, and a post-apocalyptic Earth overrun with dragons.
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012): Predicted an asteroid colliding with Earth.
• SimCity (1989): Predicted a nuclear meltdown in Boston.
• SimCity 2000 (1993): Showed Malibu affected by wildfires, Chicago suffering from high pollution, and a giant monster ravaging Hollywood.
• Thundarr the Barbarian (1980–1982): Imagined a runaway planet causing cosmic destruction and radical changes to Earth's climate and geography.
• Twisted Metal 3 (1998): Predicted that Hollywood would be leveled by a great earthquake.
• Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth (1991): Showed a massive earthquake forcing everyone to look underground.

Global Health Challenges

• 2020 Visions (1997): Accurately predicted New York City would be the center of a pandemic in 2020.
• A Friend of the Earth (2000): Predicted a prevalent pandemic.
• Essence of Life (1999): Showed Earth struggling to rebuild after a devastating plague.
• The Last Man on Earth (2015): Depicted an unnamed virus that swept the world and killed most of the population, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Perfect Dark: Initial Vector (2006): Predicted Canada would be quarantined after a deadly flu epidemic.

Imagined Conflicts

• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949): Set in a future where strict governments were always at war.
• 2010 (1984): Showed the United States about to go to war with a still-existing Soviet Union.
• Battlefield 2 (2005): Depicted a war between the United States and China.
• Battlefield 3 (2011): Took place during a "War of 2014" in the Iran-Iraq area.
• Battlefield 4 (2013): Took place during a fictional "War of 2020" between the United States, China, and Russia.
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012): Featured a "Second Cold War" between the United States and China.
• Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013): Predicted Latin America unifying into a single superstate and launching an invasion of the United States.
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008): Showed a world in perpetual war, where private military companies (PMCs) were commonplace.
• The War in the Air (1907): Predicted a world war before 1920, fought using military aircraft.

Fun and Unusual Ideas

• A Boy and His Dog (1975): Imagined genetic engineering giving dogs sapience and telepathy.
• Beast Wrestler (1991): Featured beasts and dragons fighting one-on-one.
• Click (2006): Was about a man who found a magic remote control that let him 'rewind' and 'fast-forward' through his life.
• Dino Crisis (1999): Imagined a science experiment creating a time rift that unleashed dinosaurs into the modern era.
• Dinosaur War Izenborg (1977): Predicted talking dinosaurs would return to conquer Earth.
• Demon Lord 2099 (2021): Imagined Earth merging with a fantasy world, leading to magical engineering.
• Joe 90 (1968–1981): Followed a young secret agent who could "download" skills into his brain.
• Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962): Featured a UN rocket encountering a strange presence on the way to Uranus.
• Keitai Denjū Telefang (2000): Imagined Pokémon-like creatures that could be found using mobile phone numbers.
• Lifeforce (1985): Depicted an alien invasion timed with Halley's Comet's return.
• The Man Who Sold the Moon (1951): Imagined a "robber baron" trying to purchase the Moon.
• Platinumhugen Ordian (2000): Featured Japanese high school students who could pilot mechs.
• Power Rangers S.P.D. (2005): Showed a future where humans and aliens lived together on Earth.
• Queen of Outer Space (1958): Imagined Venus being inhabited by women.
• Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time (2010): Depicted the modern era as "2012" by a "Time Washing Machine."
• Rocko's Modern Life (1996): Showed a Star Trek-like 2010s where characters were confused by a banana from 1996.
• Robotics;Notes (2012): Was about a boy trying to build a giant mech.
• Senran Kagura (2011): Featured female ninjas who were commonplace and fought evil.
• The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982): Showed giant mechs and time-dilated space travel.
• The Tenth Planet (1966): Predicted Earth's former sister planet, Mondas, would return to the solar system.
• UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994): Imagined powerful countries funding a defense organization to fight alien invasions.
• Venus Wars (1986): Imagined a comet striking Venus, leading to its colonization and a war between its two native populations.
• Wicked City (1987): Depicted the human world secretly coexisting with a demonic "Black World."
• A Wind Named Amnesia (1983): Imagined the world reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland by an inexplicable gust of wind that wiped out even basic memories.
• Zombie Nation (1990): Showed zombies taking over the entire United States.

See also

• Retrofuturism
• List of films set in the future
• List of time travel works of fiction
• List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events