Death World: Difference between revisions

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A '''Death World''' is a highly dangerous place, where simply ''going'' there is considered taking your life into your own hands. It could be from hazardous environmental conditions, such as an acidic swamp or poisonous fog, or from powerful native predators (Here there be Dragons, or worse, [[Always a Bigger Fish|something]] that ''eats'' them), dangerous flora, or even all of the above. It's like the entire place is deliberately hostile to human life. (Of course, if it's also a [[Genius Loci]], it just might be!)
 
Very few people would ever choose to live there, but since anyone who ''does'' is almost always a [[Badass]], expect any populated Death World to be a [[World of Badass]] by default. Sometimes, [[The Obi-Wan]] may hide out here. Alternately, it may ''be'' [[Mordor]], and/or home for an exceptionally tough and ferocious race. Some actually take advantage of this as a way of [[The Spartan Way|training]] their [[Super Soldier]]s on a planetary scale. Sure, half of the population might not survive through adolescence, but thosethe whoother dohalf should make good soldiers. Sometimes they are genetically engineered. Those who live on such a world may be an example of [[HAD to Be Sharp]].
 
In real life, every planet outside Earth is dangerous, because we have yet to find a single planet that can support human life. The difference is that fictional DeathworldsDeath Worlds are more ''interesting.'' Generally this means they have a relatively breathable atmosphere, have a compelling reason for characters to get out and walk around, and have a variety of dangerous flora and fauna to menace them. A planet that cannot host human life for any amount of time is justsimply "uninhabitable" and not actually a DeathworldDeath World.
 
For more details, the various [[Video Game Settings]] actually do a decent job of describing the various kinds of dangers you might find in different ecosystems, since videogames almost universally have [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]. The [[Dark World]] is often a magical variant.
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* The Megastructure in ''[[Blame]]'' consists of thousands upon thousands of post-apocalyptic wastelands stacked on top of one another and compartmentalized.
* The planet Chimera in ''[[Jyu-Oh-Sei]]''.
* Apparently the Gourmet World of [[Toriko]], as evidenced in Chapter 112. Seems to be a more hyper exaggerated form of the New World in One Piece, from the little we know about it so far. Rapidly changing climate and weather coupled with ungodly behemoths of destruction? Well, maybe just one night...
** And parts of the Human World qualify, too. To put it in retrospect, any animal with a capture level over 5 can't be harmed by conventional weaponry.
* Every Earthlike planet, save one, in [[2001 Nights]] is a Death World that eventually overwhelms the efforts of humans to colonize them: mind-altering spores, periodically being engulfed in firestorms, wasting diseases, and run-of-the-mill hazardous planets and animals. As a few characters occasionally point out, and as humanity learns to great ruin, a few decades is not enough time to fully understand the biosphere of an alien planet. And the one basically Earthlike exception to the mix {{spoiler|was actually terraformed at hideous expense, and even then said terraforming will degrade and collapse in a few centuries, rendering the planet uninhabitable}}. Oh, and even it has a few giant man-killing monsters.
* Earth becomes a death world in ''[[Blue Gender]]''. The only safety and civilization is in orbiting colonies, and only remains safe for those willing to train to die on the planet.
* Pretty much theThe entire world of [[Toriko]], as it is filled to the brim with animals that are strong enough to level cities. (creaturesCreatures are givenranked captureon levels,a andscale monsterof with1 ato capture100 levelbased 5on orhow highereasy canthey toppleare tanksto singlehanded),capture; thethese worstrankings placeare beingcalled the"Capture GourmetLevels". world,Monsters with a regionCapture whichLevel basicallyof encompasses5 2/3or ofhigher thecan planet,singlehandedly andtopple wastanks originallyand though tocan't be ataken paradiseout sincewith noconventional one who went there ever returned, until someone actually did returnmethods, and revealedGOD thatforbid ityou was in realityencounter a nightmarishcreature hell that would killwith a normalCapture personLevel almostsomehow instantly and even trained professionals who are considered superhuman can't survive without'exceeding'' considerableLevel training100...
** The worst part of the world of Toriko is the Gourmet World, a region which encompasses 70% of the planet. It was originally thought to be a paradise since no one who went there ever returned... until someone actually ''did'' return, and revealed that it was a nightmarish hell that would kill a normal person almost instantly. Hell, even Gourmet Hunters, trained professionals who are considered superhuman, are unlikely to survive for long. The only reason anyone would have anything to do with Gourmet World is because the humans of Toriko are obsessed with gourmet foods, and the best ingredients happen to come from the most dangerous creatures, many of which are ''exclusive'' to the Gourmet World.
** ApparentlyPut the Gourmet World of [[Toriko]]simply, as evidenced in Chapter 112. Seems to beit's a more hyper exaggerated form of the New World in One Piece, from the little we know about it so far. Rapidly changing climate and weather coupled with ungodly behemoths of destruction? Well, maybe just one night...
* The titular planet in ''[[Hellstar Remina]]''. In addition to being a living planet that consumes other worlds, the surface of the planet is filled with horrible hostile flora, and the atmosphere is not only poisonous, but nightmarishly corrosive as well.
* Mercury in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury]]'' is established as one in [https://en.gundam.info/about-gundam/series-pages/witch/music/novel/ a short fiction on the official website] and alluded to being one in the series proper. True to reality Mercury is either ''extremely'' cold or ''extremely'' hot, and it's vulnerable to solar flares due to its proximity to the sun. Despite its hostility to life, humans have "colonized" it by putting space colonies in its orbit so they can use mobile suits to mine its resources. Suletta (the protagonist) and her widowed mother have managed to eek out a living as rescue pilots, establishing Suletta as a very capable pilot despite her [[Cowardly Lion|her personality]].
 
 
== Comic Books ==
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* The dinosaur-filled islands in the ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' movies ([[The Film of the Book|and books]]) which are even known to Costa Rican locals as "Las Cinco Muertes" (the five deaths). We only get to see Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna though. From ''Jurassic Park III'':
{{quote|'''Alan Grant:''' That's just great. Here we are on the most dangerous island on the planet and we're not even getting paid.}}
* In ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', Toontown is a goofy, silly, comedic place, and a great place to live - assuming you're a toon, that is. Truly an [[Eldritch Location]], Toontown is a place where [[Cartoon Physics]] dominate, and because humans cannot survive injuries that a toon can shrug off in mere seconds, it's a lethal place for any human visitors. Toons don't seem to welcome them much either, given the rather nasty joke that [[Bugs Bunny]] ''and'' [[Mickey Mouse]] play on Eddie when he goes there.
 
 
== Literature ==
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**Beta Colony is a desert planet with underground shelters
**On Komarr it is not even possible to live outside. Komarran cities are like space stations that happen to be on the ground.
* Many readers compare the situation Oompa-Loompas (from ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'') are in to slavery, but given his description of Loompaland (the place they're from), they were ''much'' worse off there. Wonka claims the place is a [[Hungry Jungle]] full of [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You| vicious predatory beasts]] where the unfortunate Oompa-Loompas were clearly at the bottom of the food chain.
 
== Live Action TV ==
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* Planet Ortega in ''Space Quest III'' requires wearing special underwear to survive the intense heat.
** There are only three planets in ''Space Quest V'' that require you to beam down onto the surface as part of the storyline. Of those three, one of the planets has a toxic atmosphere requiring the use of a rebreather. All of the other planets in the game have conditions so hostile that you will die immediately upon beaming down to them.
* [[Dark Forces Saga|Jaden Korr]] is assigned a rather nasty [https://web.archive.org/web/20100425203558/http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mission_to_Blenjeel_%28Disciples_of_Ragnos%29(Disciples_of_Ragnos) mission to the planet Blenjeel], a [[Single Biome Planet|Desert World]] swarming with sand burrowers (which bear a [[Shout-Out|suspicious resemblance]] to the Graboids from ''[[Tremors]]''). Oh, and there's a fierce lightning storm going on in the upper atmosphere, which forces Jaden's ship into a not-so-happy landing on the planet's sandy surface. [[Derelict Graveyard|By the looks of things]], this is a common occurrence.
* ''[[Escape Velocity]] Nova'' has Cunjo, named for its top predator. Auroran warriors sometimes hunt them for bragging rights.
** The Auroran capital worlds also qualify: ridiculous levels of pollution from extreme overpopulation makes them uninhabitable outside of arcologies.
* ''Risk of Rain'' takes place on a planet inhabited by all manners of dangerous creatures. From the indigenous civilizations to the wildlife, everything that moves is out to slaughter the crash-landed survivors, and the more time passes, the more relentless and brutal the attacks become. Even the mysterious author of the various logs concerning the place and its inhabitants [[Lampshade Hanging|can't help but notice how ludicrous it is]].
 
 
== Webcomics ==
* In [[Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger]] near the galactic core lies the homeworld of the Kvrk-Chrk. In addition to having extremes of temperature, gravity, pressure, radioactivity, etc. that would be immediately lethal for most other lifeforms, it has a biosphere so aggressive that the natives have to eat their food ''still alive and kicking'' in order to ingest it before necrotic parasites do.
** Then there are the Kvrk-Chrk themselves, who consider awake and screaming a FLAVOR, have carapaces that would put a tank to shame, and can rip any other species to shreds effortlessly. The aforementioned extremes on their planet makes them essentially immune to all but the most extreme forms of weaponry (and even the most extreme might only annoy them briefly). Among their other quaint customs is, when visiting a neighbor, ripping off one of their own limbs to offer as a snack. They also consider all other intelligent lifeforms "chatty food". They once declared war by taking a defenseless colony ship and brutally butchering the crew, then broadcasting recordings of the slaughter on all channels, promising that this would be the fate of every other species in the galaxy. The only reason they didn't wipe out the competing empires is because they found out the hard way that being unparalled engines of annihilation on the ground doesn't help too well when the guys you're fighting against can annihilate entire systems with a single shot from a stellar lance several lightyears away.
* Although''[[Subnormality]]'' "A Christmas Eve in the Future", although it [[Wall of Text|practically qualifies as a literature example]], [[Subnormality|"A Christmas Eve in the Future"]] has a [[Shell Shocked Senior|Shell Shocked Spess Mehren]] tell a confessional story of his experiences in a psychic Death World which will [[Mind Rape]] you in your sleep to a prostitute. [http://www.viruscomix.com/page505.html Enjoy!]
* [[Homestuck]]:
** Alternia. This is a world whose inhabitants are nocturnal because ''zombies'' wander around during the day. This is a world where the fauna are so vicious, 13-year-old children are expected to be combat-capable. This is a world where the only significantly large body of water is inhabited by a [[Eldritch Abomination|very large thing]] that must constantly be sacrificed to to prevent it from [[Brown Note|using its psychic powers]] on the whole populace. This is a world that serves as the training ground for a [[Proud Warrior Race]] that practices [[The Spartan Way]]. Thankfully, the protagonists from Alternia are sufficiently [[Badass]].
** And then there's Eridan's planet, which is even worse. Between all of his consorts going on a homicidal frenzy, and Eridan shooting anything that moves, even the most hardened [[Badass]] trolls were afraid to set foot on the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Land of Wrath and Angels]] for more than a few moments.
* ''[[Drive (webcomic)|Drive]]'' finally explains the adaptive value of gravity-sensitive mohawks on the Rhinn, and also [https://web.archive.org/web/20200429113827/http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/200116.html what a wonderful place their homeworld is].
 
 
== Web Original ==
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** In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' the Everfree Forest that is ''right outside'' of Ponyville is populated with monsters taken straight from the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' Monster Manual such as dragons, sea serpents, hydras, manticores, cockatrices, etc. And they pale in comparison to the Ursa Major/Minor, Kaiju-scale bears ''made of stars''.
* The Realm in the old ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (animation)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'' tv series. Not EVERYTHING was trying to kill the heroes, but most things were, including at least two beings operating on the deity level (one would attack them incidentally, the other was actively seeking to harm them). Most people with significant power were hostile or so totally preoccupied with their own problems that they couldn't help.
* Beast Island in ''[[She-Ra|She-Ra and the Princesses of Power]]''. The stories She-Ra remembers from when she was a Horde conscript say the place has blood beetles and trees with knives in place of leaves. Adora shivers as she remembers stories of “chippits with razor-sharp teeth, scruffers with razor sharp horns, and razor-fins with razor-sharp teeth... really not sure how they got that name...” However, long after she defects to the Rebellion, Shadow Weaver admits that ''those'' were only “children’s stories” about the place, which is FAR worse. The island is actually a [[Genius Loci]] that torments visitors with visions of their fears and regrets before consuming them completely.
 
 
== Real Life ==
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