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{{trope}}
[[File:
Quick, think of [[Ancient Egypt]]. What's the first thing that comes to mind? With 90% certainty, you're thinking pyramids.<ref>
▲Quick, think of [[Ancient Egypt]]. What's the first thing that comes to mind? With 90% certainty, you're thinking pyramids.<ref> The other 10% of the time you are probably thinking of [[The Sphinx]].</ref> And why shouldn't you? The [[Pyramid Power|Great Pyramid of Giza]] was the tallest artificial structure on Earth for three and a half millennia and is the only extant example of the [[Seven Wonders of the World|Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]].
Ancient Egypt is inherently cool. Plenty of writers, primarily in the [[Fantasy]] genre, like to have pyramids in their works to evoke an Egyptian feel. These will almost always be found in desert areas, and will usually have some sort of curse. [[Shifting Sand Land]] levels in video games will usually feature at least one pyramid on the premises.
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For cases in which the historical pyramids have something unusual associated with them, see [[Pyramid Power]].
For cases where pyramid-shaped buildings show up in science fiction, see [[Futuristic Pyramid]].
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== [[Card Games]] ==▼
* The ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' cards "[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Level_Limit_-_Area_B Level Limit - Area B]" and "[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Level_Limit_-_Area_A Level Limit - Area A]" both have big pyramids in the background.▼
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Star Wars]]'': [[A New Hope|The rebel base on Yavin IV]] is a pyramid. Many of the Yavin IV scenes were shot in the ruins of [
* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], Yavin IV is dotted with pyramids, built by the Massassi under the direction of an exiled Sith thousands of years before the Rebels arrived. Much of the architecture and art used by the Sith ''species'' (not the order!) in Expanded Universe sources are seemingly based on ancient Egyptian as well as Mesoamerican motifs.
* ''[[Stargate (
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[
* [[Michael Moorcock]]'s ''Queen of the Swords''. The City of the Pyramid is an immense ziggurat with houses on each terrace.
* ''[[The Ancestral Trail]]'' has the Great Pyramid of Loktar plonked down in the western part of the continent, with no evidence of anything else Egpytesque.
== [[Live
* ''[[
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': Hooo-boy, have we got pyramids... [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!!!]]
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
=== Board Games ===
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]]''▼
* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' has the Black Pyramid of Nagash, the first necromancer (and later responsible for the existence of vampires).▼
** Adventure I3 ''Pharaoh''. The [[PC|PCs]] explore an ancient pyramid to free a pharaoh's spirit so it can reach the afterlife.▼
* ''[[
▲=== [[Card Games]] ===
▲* The ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
=== Tabletop RPG ===
▲** Adventure I3 ''Pharaoh''. The [[PC
** Adventure WG4 ''The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun''. The Temple is in the shape of a two-stepped pyramid.
* In ''[[Spelljammer]]'' 'verse Ptah is one of widely known powers among the spheres, so of course there are early products of his (and the rest of the pantheon's) worshippers. So you may encounter 80' wide stony Flying Pyramids [[In Space]]
▲* ''[[Warhammer]]'' has the Black Pyramid of Nagash, the first necromancer (and later responsible for the existence of vampires).
▲* ''[[Warhammer 40000|Warhammer 40,000]]'' has the Necron Monolith, which is a floating pyramid [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|of doom]].
▲* In ''[[Spelljammer]]'' 'verse Ptah is one of widely known powers among the spheres, so of course there are early products of his (and the rest of the pantheon's) worshippers. So you may encounter 80' wide stony Flying Pyramids [[In Space]] -- now mostly occupied by mummies and less respectasble [[Undead]].
* Chaosium's ''Stormbringer!/Elric!'' game. Temples to Goldar (one of the Lords of Law) are built in the shape of a pyramid.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The
** ''[[
**
** ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' has various pyramids in World 2, Desert Land - including one that serves as its own stage.
* Sandopolis Zone in ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Video Game)|Sonic 3 & Knuckles]]'' has pyramids in the background of Act 1. Act 2 is set entirely in one. And that goes for almost every single desert level in the Sonic series. Apparently the ancient Echidnas built pyramids...▼
** In ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'', a pyramid is visible in the background of the desert-themed World 2 stages.
** In [[Sonic Adventure 2 (Video Game)|Sonic Adventure 2]] Dr. Eggman uses the interior of a pyramid as his base of operations.▼
** The Slipsand Galaxy from ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'' also has a pyramid which also has sand-slides for good measure.
** And again in the first [[Sonic Adventure (Video Game)|Sonic Adventure]] the ancient echidnas live in a jungle with a Mayan like pyramid which appears in both flashbacks and the present day. A copy of that pyramid later appears on a space station in Sonic Adventure 2.▼
▲* Sandopolis Zone in ''[[
* In ''[[Star Fox (Video Game)|Star Fox]] 64'', the base on Katina is a pyramid.▼
▲** In ''[[
* The second scenario in ''[[Roller Coaster Tycoon]]'' took place in a vaguely Egyptian desert, complete with pyramids (which guests can't enter) and sphinxes.▼
▲** And again in the first ''[[
* The community map "Egypt" in ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]''.▼
▲* The second scenario in ''[[
* The [[City Building Series]] features pyramid construction in both its games set in Egypt.
* The Temple of the Sun in ''[[La-Mulana]]'' is an Egyptian-themed level built around a pyramid.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has Ahn'Qiraj which has a pseudo-Egyptian look and Uldum which has a more traditional Egyptian appearance.
* ''[[Banjo
* Stage 4-1 in ''[[
* The Pyramid of Moore in ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' which contains one of the tablets to unseal the legendary weapons.
* ''[[
* ''[[Aladdin (Capcom
* Collect enough sandstone in ''[[Minecraft]]'', and you can build one too!
* The Shifting Sands track in ''[[
* Sophanem and Menaphos in ''[[
* When playing the Egyptians in [[
* [[Breath of Fire III]] has Angel Tower, which despite its name is a ziggurat (step-type) pyramid. Curiously, it is not located in the game's desert zone.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has the Temple of the Ancients, although its ziggurat shape (and location in a forest/jungle) suggests the Cetra architecture was inspired, like the Yavin pyramids in ''[[Star Wars]]'', by the Mayans.
* The villain of ''[[
* The Taurus Shrine, one of four unearthed dungeons in ''[[Persona 2]]'', has a sandy desert motif.
* Pyramid Scheme, a level in [[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Star Trek:
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Pyramids have in fact been independently invented in many different times and places. (You don't have the technology to do reinforced concrete or steel-framed skyscrapers, but you want to build something Really Big
** A slightly less rational, but still plausible reason is that Pyramids imitate the shape of mountains.
** The ancient Egyptian reasons, at least, were that the pyramids resembled both the Mound of Creation, the first land created by [[Egyptian Mythology|the gods]], and the rays of [[Big Good|Ra]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Spectacle]]
[[Category:Video Game Settings]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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