Basic Trope: An item or object that helps regulate the universe.
- Straight: The Cosmic Core is an object that keeps the world stable. Emperor Evulz manages to find the core and destroy it, triggering cataclysmic earthquakes that lead to The End of the World as We Know It.
- Exaggerated:
- The Cosmic Core keeps the entire world together. A random thief steals the core. Cue Earth-Shattering Kaboom.
- The Cosmic Core keeps the universe together. Guess what happens when you take it.
- Downplayed:
- There are four cores, each one controlling one season. Destroy one, and that season never comes again. Take out all of them, and the seasons stop completely.
- The Cosmic Core keeps a single town together.
- Justified: The Cosmic Core was created after a terrible earthquake thousands of years ago that nearly ended civilization in order to keep the world from collapsing.
- Inverted: The Carnage Core causes calamities by merely existing. Destroying it returns the world to normal.
- Subverted: The Cosmic Core is rumoured to keep the world together. When it is destroyed, nothing happens.
- Double Subverted:
- ...except the Earth exploded 24 hours after the Core's destruction
- ...except it makes the Moon begin a collision course with the Earth. Time remaining: 72 hours.
- ...except it destroyed Mars instead of the Earth.
- Parodied: The Clown Core is the source of all joy and laughter. Emperor Evulz destroys it because why not, and everyone loses the ability to be happy or laugh.
- Zigzagged: The Cosmic Core is said to keep the world stable. When someone tries to take it, a random city explodes and the Core moves somewhere else. When it's taken again an entire continent gets destroyed and it moves again. The third time it's taken, the Earth explodes.
- Averted: The Cosmic Core is just an ordinary object with no purpose.
- Lampshaded: Evulz: "All I need to do to end the world is destroy this ball? Easy!"
- Invoked: Duke Darrows informs Evulz about the existence of the Cosmic Core, and that destroying it will get rid of the heroes. Evulz decides to destroy the core himself, and succeeds.
- Defied: Bob buries the Cosmic Core hundreds of miles into the Earth's surface, so that Emperor Evulz cannot destroy it.
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz is a Galactic Conqueror seeking to take over the planet the Cosmic Core is located on. Bob, an alien hero lets Evulz destroy the core, and takes advantage of the resulting chaos to acquire the Infinity +1 Sword, slay Evulz and save the galaxy.
- Implied: After the Cosmic Core is destroyed, plumes of lava start to spew out in the background, and then the screen fades to black.
- Discussed: "We must keep Emperor Evulz from taking the Cosmic Core or else the world will end!"
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Emperor Evulz is looking to Take Over the World, so he destroys the Cosmic Core to accelerate that, but it results in everyone in the world dying, leaving nobody for Emperor Evulz to rule over.
- Reconstructed: However, now that Evulz has killed everyone, he can now rebuild the world in his own image.
- Played For Laughs: Destroying the Cosmic Core summons a giant chicken to destroy humanity.
- Played For Drama: After destroying the Cosmic Core, Emperor Evulz does a thirty-second long Evil Laugh, followed by a three-minute long End of the World montage, ending with the heroes dying one by one.
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