City of Canals: Difference between revisions

[[File:aria canal2.jpg|link=Aria|frame|Even Mars has one. Mars!]]

 

 

 

Perhaps it's for some aesthetic reason, or perhaps it's simply because they're so unusual—for whatever reason, cities with canals instead of streets are a very popular setting, especially in fantasy. In stories set in the real world, or some alternate universe sharing its geography, this city is, of course, [[Olive Garden|Venice]]—there are actually other cities and towns with lots of canals, but none are quite as famous or as glamorous, especially since Venice renewed their efforts to make everything really nice and clean in the 1980s. Meanwhile, other worlds often have cities which are [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|suspiciously similar to Venice]], usually (though not always) within an Italy-like country. [[Scenery Porn|Pretty, old-fashioned European-style architecture]] and gondolas are optional, though common.

 

Besides Venice a number of real cities do actually have canals, though most lack Venice's aesthetics due to their most commonly industrial function.

 

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

* ''[[Aria]]'' is set in the city of Neo-Venezia, a copy of the original, with exact duplicates of some of the more famous landmarks, on a terraformed Mars and the source of a lot [[Scenery Porn|beautiful imagery]]. Neo-Venezia pretty much is Venice, except on the rare occasions when the plot demands it isn't.

* ''[[Pokémon Heroes]]'', the fifth ''[[Pokémon (film)|Pokémon]]'' movie, was set in a City of Canals called Altomare; the director visited Venice beforehand to scout out the city. Within the games, there's Canalave City in ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]''.

* The island Water 7 in ''[[One Piece]]'' is modeled after Venice, down to the canals and festival costumes.

* There was a Venice-y city called Aquroya in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', which was sinking so fast they didn't expect it to be there in five years' time.

* New Venice from at least the early [[Silver Age]] ''[[Aquaman]]'' comics; an American town that had suffered permanent flooding and decided to go the canal route.

 

* The ''[[Discworld]]'' [[Round Robin]] ''Flipside'', published in ''The Wizard's Knob'' magazine in the mid 90s, had the city of Venialli, famed for its open sewers ... er, canals.

* ''[[The Sun Soul]]'' does this with [[Video Game Pokemon Red And Blue|Cerulean City]]. It isn't a huge plot device or anything, but it's obvious the author has some kind of love for [[Scenery Porn]].

* Illian in [[Robert Jordan]]'s ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', although since corpses and human refuse are often dumped in some of the lower city's canals, they stink something awful.

* [[Tanith Lee]]'s ''City of Venus''.

* Braavos in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''.

* The city of Urteau in ''[[Mistborn|The Hero Of Ages]]'' '''had''' canals, but they dried up and they have street slots now. Canals are also used as a sort of highway system in the [[Mistborn]] Trilogy.

 

== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==

** The [[Eberron]] setting has something similar in Zarash'ak, the City of Stilts, built over a swamp.

* Marienburg, in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]'', is based pretty closely on the real-world Amsterdam.

* City on the Water in ''[[Painkiller]]''

* There was one actually called "Canal City" in ''[[Ratchet and Clank Going Commando]]''.

* There's a city like this in ''[[Tales of Destiny]]''.

* Venezia in ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]''. The canals make getting around a little annoying at first.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* The ancient Sumerian city of Uruk was founded before 4000 BC, making it the [[Ur Example]].

 

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[[Category:Settings]]

[[Category:The City]]