Cataclysm is derived from the Greek (), 'down, against', and (), 'wash over, surge'. It may refer to:
Common meanings
*Generally, any large-scale
disaster
*
Deluge (mythology)
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primae ...
*Doomsday event, see hypothetical
risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth
*A catastrophic natural event:
**
List of geological phenomena
**
earthquake, the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves
**
volcanic eruption
Video games
*''
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm'', an expansion pack of Blizzard Entertainment's ''World of Warcraft''
*''
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead'', an open-source cross-platform roguelike video game
*''
Homeworld: Cataclysm'', a stand-alone expansion, of the ''Homeworld'' space-based RTS franchise
Books and comics
*
Cataclysm (''Dragonlance''), a fictional event in the ''Dragonlance'' novels
*''
Batman: Cataclysm'', a DC Comics crossover story arc featuring Batman
* ''
Cataclysm: The Ultimates' Last Stand'' a 2013-2014 crossover storyline appearing in the Ultimate Marvel line of books
* Godzilla: Cataclysm - see
Godzilla (comics)#IDW Publishing
Other uses
* A special ability used by Cat Noir, a
character in ''Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir''
* "Cataclysmic", a song by Joe Satriani from his album ''
Shockwave Supernova''
See also
*
Cataclysmic variable star
In astronomy, cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) are stars which irregularly increase in brightness by a large factor, then drop back down to a quiescent state. They were initially called novae (), since ones with an outburst brightness visible to ...
, which irregularly increase in brightness by a large factor, then drop back down to a quiescent state (initially called novae)
*
Ekpyrosis
Ekpyrosis (; grc, ἐκπύρωσις ''ekpýrōsis'', "conflagration") is a Stoicism, Stoic belief in the periodic destruction of the cosmos by a great conflagration every Great Year. The cosmos is then recreated (palingenesis) only to be destro ...
, a conflagration
*
Eschatology
{{Disambiguation