Apocalyptic fiction is asubgenre ofscience fiction that is concerned with theend of civilization due to a potentiallyexistential catastrophe such asnuclear warfare,pandemicdiseases,extraterrestrial attack,impact event,cybernetic revolt,technological singularity,dysgenics,supernatural phenomena,divine judgment,climate change,resource depletion, or some othergeneral disaster.Post-apocalyptic fiction is set in a world or civilization after such a disaster. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized).

Apocalypse is a Greek word referring to the end of the world.^[1]Apocalypticism is thereligious belief that there will be an apocalypse, a term which originally referred to a revelation ofGod's will, but now usually refers to the belief that theend of the world is imminent, even within one's own lifetime.^[6] Apocalypticism is one aspect ofeschatology in certain religions,^[8] the part oftheology concerned with the final events ofhuman history,^[9] or the ultimate destiny of humanity (societal collapse,human extinction, and so on).^[11] It often involves themes likeGod's judgment,salvation of the faithful, and the eventual establishment of arenewed world.^[12]

Apocalyptic fiction does not portray catastrophes, or disasters, or near-disasters that do not result in apocalypse. A threat of an apocalypse does not make a piece of fiction apocalyptic. For example,Armageddon andDeep Impact are considereddisaster films and not apocalyptic fiction because, although Earth or humankind are terribly threatened, in the end they manage to avoid destruction. Apocalyptic fiction is not the same as fiction that provides visions of adystopian future. George Orwell'sNineteen Eighty-Four, for example, isdystopian fiction, not apocalyptic fiction.