Big Fancy Castle: Difference between revisions

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[[File:rsz hohenschwangau - schloss neuschwanstein1 7651.jpg|frame|[[wikipedia:Neuschwanstein Castle|Neuschwanstein Castle]] in Bavaria, Germany]]

{{quote|''And if she asks you why,''

''You can tell her that I told you''

''That I'm tired of castles in the air.''~~|Don Mclean, "Castles in the Air"}}~~

''That I'm tired of castles in the air.''

|Don Mclean, "Castles in the Air"}}

It's absolutely fine for a character to own a castle, especially if they have delusions of royalty, but some take it [[Up to Eleven|too far]]. This isn't just a large castle. This thing is absolutely '''ENORMOUS''' and usually sprawls hundreds of acres and is filled with traps, guards, [[Secret Passage]]s, hidden rooms, [[Elite Mooks]] and at least one throne room in the center. Bonus points for a [[Lava Adds Awesome|moat made of lava]], or if it's [[Ominous Floating Castle|floating in the sky]]. Or both.

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', Team Galactic owns a large skyscraper in the middle of a large city. It towers above every other building in that city and probably in the entire nation.

* ''[[The Castle of ~~Cagliostro|The Castleof~~ Cagliostro]]''.

* ''[[The Castle of Cagliostro]]''.

== [[Fairy Tale]] ==

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* ''[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/stories/lark.html The Singing, Springing Lark]''

{{quote|''Then his road lay through a forest, and in the midst of it was a splendid castle, and near the castle stood a tree, but quite on the top of the tree, he saw a singing, soaring lark. ''}}

* [[The Twelve Dancing Princesses]]

* ''[[The Twelve Dancing Princesses]]''

{{quote|''On the opposite side of the lake stood a splendid, brightly-lit castle, from whence resounded the joyous music of trumpets and kettle-drums''}}

* ''[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0425c.html#garden The Summer and Winter Garden]''

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== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In ''[[~~Thundercats~~ 2011]]'' an [[Epic Tracking Shot]] reveals Thundera's sprawling [[Bright Castle]], the grounds of which play host to a giant [[The Sphinx|Sphinx]] and a huge [[The Thunderdome|amphitheatre]], while the castle proper indeed has [[Secret Passage]]s.

* In ''[[ThunderCats (2011 series)|Thundercats]]'' an [[Epic Tracking Shot]] reveals Thundera's sprawling [[Bright Castle]], the grounds of which play host to a giant [[The Sphinx|Sphinx]] and a huge [[The Thunderdome|amphitheatre]], while the castle proper indeed has [[Secret Passage]]s.

* The Sultan's palace in Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' is easily the biggest building in Agrabah by far.

* Canterlot Castle, and the city of Canterlot itself, from [[My Little Pony: ~~Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony~~ Friendship Is Magic]] is built into the side of a mountain, as a [[Shout-Out]] to Minas Tirith from [[Lord of the Rings]].

* Canterlot Castle, and the city of Canterlot itself, from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' is built into the side of a mountain, as a [[Shout-Out]] to Minas Tirith from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.

== [[Real Life]] ==

* The Jade Palace in Beijing is said to be the largest palace on the entire earth. It is said that if a king is shown one room every day from the time he is born, he will be over 21 before he sees every room of the palace.

* [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|Mad King Ludwig's]] castle in Bavaria, Schloss Neuschwanstein. It was built because the King of Bavaria thought fairy tales were [[Serious Business]] and wanted to live them out in [[Real Life]]. Not so mad, actually, considering the [[Young Conqueror|fantasies]] of [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|some kings]].

* [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|Mad King Ludwig's]] castle in Bavaria, Schloss Neuschwanstein. (See the page image. Or ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]''.) It was built because the King of Bavaria thought fairy tales were [[Serious Business]] and wanted to live them out in [[Real Life]]. Not so mad, actually, considering the [[Young Conqueror|fantasies]] of [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|some kings]].

* The Castle of Budapest actually takes up an entire district of the city and contains several buildings and streets, including houses, shops, market squares, restaurants, regular taverns, several parks, museums, a church, and even a hotel that doesn't exactly belong there. The other half is the royal palace.

* [[Moscow|Kremlin]] anyone?

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* The musician [[Enya]] owns one in Killiney, County Dublin, which she has named "Manderley".

* Subversion: most castles are not castles, they are palaces remodeled from castles. When kings got enough power(not least cannon) to knock down castles routinely it was not worth the bother for a money-starved rural noble to make any attempt at maintaining a serious fortress except against bandits or pirates. As a result most put their budget into comfort and appearance. Just look at the castle in the picture. Anyone who seriously intended to stand siege would be insane to put all those windows there.

* During the early modern era it was common for decentralized power structures similar to the Middle Ages to recreate themselves in [[The Western|frontier areas]]. Someone with a lot of capital to invest in one of the stereotypical enterprises of the time (fur in the American northwest, cattle and caravaning in the southwest, shipping for passengers and tea, etc) could amass the wherewithal to make themselves de facto sovereign, and in places without much law it was practically imperative to do so. Thus many businessmen did have what amounted to private military forces including private fortifications. It is no accident that so many places on maps of America are called "Fort X" and "Fort Y". Some were indeed military outposts, but others were simply fortified business concerns and not by coincidence homes for an owner or his deputy. In other words several [[Cattle Baron|cattle barons]] really were barons and had their own castles. These would not be cutting edge fortification unless commissioned by a ~~truely~~ ~~garagantuan~~ concern the way the East India Company was in India. However they were not generally intended to resist an army with an artillery train. They would be stockades or simple mansions with one or two brass cannon parked outside plus enough small arms to put up a fight. They could however stand siege from Indians, or bandits, or disgruntled settlers, or family rivals.

* During the early modern era it was common for decentralized power structures similar to the Middle Ages to recreate themselves in [[The Western|frontier areas]]. Someone with a lot of capital to invest in one of the stereotypical enterprises of the time (fur in the American northwest, cattle and caravaning in the southwest, shipping for passengers and tea, etc) could amass the wherewithal to make themselves ''de facto'' sovereign, and in places without much law it was practically imperative to do so. Thus many businessmen did have what amounted to private military forces including private fortifications. It is no accident that so many places on maps of America are called "Fort X" and "Fort Y". Some were indeed military outposts, but others were simply fortified business concerns and not by coincidence homes for an owner or his deputy. In other words several [[Cattle Baron|cattle barons]] really were barons and had their own castles. These would not be cutting edge fortification unless commissioned by a truly gargantuan concern the way the East India Company was in India. However they were not generally intended to resist an army with an artillery train. They would be stockades or simple mansions with one or two brass cannon parked outside plus enough small arms to put up a fight. They could however stand siege from Indians, or bandits, or disgruntled settlers, or family rivals.