Elaborate Underground Base: Difference between revisions

To maintain [[Plausible Deniability]] and hide from magical TV [[Spy Satellites]], any sufficiently powerful or advanced covert organization of heroes, villains, conspirators, or military personnel needs an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] to use as their headquarters and hide their [[Applied Phlebotinum]]. [[After the End]], or in preparation for [[The End of the World as We Know It]], openly known organizations may elect to move [[Beneath the Earth]] as well. And it's a good location for a [[Supervillain Lair]].

The [[Elaborate Underground Base]] will generally have a [[The War Room|war room]], and may also include hangar space for [[Humongous Mecha]] or a [[Cool Starship]]. Particularly large examples may be the size of an entire city, and might include hydroponics bays for growing food or even actual fields of crops lit by sun lamps. The larger sizes of [[Elaborate Underground Base]] frequently serve as an [[Adventure Towns|Adventure Town]]; the smaller ones are frequently the setting for a [[Bottle Episode]].

Particularly secretive organizations may hide their [[Elaborate Underground Base]] in the middle of a city, and include lots of elevators, trams, pneumatic tubes, and other means of transportation between the base and hidden chambers in buildings on the surface.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' has NERV setting up shop inside the GeoFront, a massive cavern that is actually just the upper 11% of an even larger spherical cave almost completely filled up with earth and rock debris. And going [[Up to Eleven]], Terminal Dogma is an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] built below another [[Elaborate Underground Base]].

* The Island of Bardos from ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Dr. Hell set his first base in the subterranean mazes of that island, building all what he needed for his [[Supervillain Lair]]: a war room for planning strategies, private chambers for his [[Co-Dragons]], barracks for his [[Mook|Mooks]], several hangars, laboratories to build weapons, [[Humongous Mecha]] and cyborgs, training fields for his troops and [[Robeast|Robeasts]], his throne room...

** ''[[Great Mazinger]]'': Mykene were a civilization had lived underground for millennia, so their entire empire -an intrincate network of caves and caverns- was an [[Elaborate Underground Base]].

* [[Super Dimension Fortress Macross|Macross]]/''[[Robotech]]'' have an underground base in Alaska (possibly in the site of the real life Elmendorf AFB), armed with the ''[[BFG]]'' of the [[Wave Motion Gun|Wave Motion Guns]]. Incidentally, Macross' secondary sources list four other identical bases being build when the Zentradi launch the final attack, one of them in the same area of [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Jaburo]].

* One of ''[[Doraemon]]''`s future gadgets allow instant creation of [[Elaborate Underground Base]]. It can be big enough to become a city of its own, which Nobita then exploit to create his own dictatorship ([[Played for Laughs]]). However, one of the movie deal with the sinister encounter with [[The Reptilians]] when Nobita and co [[Dug Too Deep]]...

* ''[[PS238]]'', the school for children of superheroes, is in an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] beneath an ''actual'' elementary school.

* In ''X2: [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] United'' the underground base becomes a plot element when the [[Spy Satellites]] actually detect the [[Cool Ship]] in its hangar underneath the Mutant Academy. William Stryker uses this evidence to convince the President to okay a commando strike on the school, secretly to further his plan to wipe out all mutantkind. Stryker's also got an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] of his own.

* A similar rationale obtains for the enormous set of underground tunnels built by the deep-down dwarfs in Ankh-Morpork in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novels. By digging under the city, they can create their own dwarfs-only authentic dwarf mine under the city, unbeholden to city law or city rents. After the events of the book ''Thud!'', the deep-downers are thoroughly discredited and Lord Vetinari appropriates their delve for the city government. (It is heavily implied that these tunnels will form the basis of a future Ankh-Morpork subway system.)<br /><br />And the dwarfs have better legal standing than Wonka, considering that on parts of the Disc that dwarfs normally live, such as the Ramtops and Überwald, dwarf-law does cover the underground and is entirely separate from surface law. This just isn't true on the Sto Plains.<br /><br />The bulk of Dwarf civilization away from Ank-Morpork is also mostly underground. There are huge cities.

* Tolkien was big on these, both for good and bad guys. In ''[[The Hobbit]]'', you have dwarf fortress in the Lonely Mountain (owned by Smaug the dragon). In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' you have Moria, also mostly dwarven but built with some assistance from the high elves. Melkor, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' had [[Hell|Utumno]], which amounted to an underground ''country'' and Angband (whose excavation produced enough refuse and slag to pile into ''three'' 10km high mountains), and (somewhat unusually) ''elven'' underground fortresses in the form of Nargothrond (built with some assistance from the dwarves, pwned by Glaurung the dragon) and Menegroth (also built with dwarven help).<br /><br />The Hobbit mentioned a few elven cultures, one of which was the "deep elves," which might refer to the Noldor who lived in places like Nargothrond (though canonically, the underground-dwelling Wood Elves of Mirkwood are separate from the Noldor). Underground elves are rather unusual... perhaps the assumption that [[Our Elves Are Better]] means they don't live in holes in the ground anymore. Only [[Exclusively Evil|dark elves]] would do that sort of thing nowadays.<br /><br />While, contrary to [[Our Elves Are Better|tradition]], Elves of all kinds (Noldor and Sindar- see Menegroth or Thranduil's halls) do live underground in Tolkien's books, it's fair to assume that "deep-elves" in that case, as in the ''Lost tales'', refers to "Gnomes", or Noldor, Elves which are deep in knowledge and thought, not Elves who dwell underground.<br /><br />The Dead Men of Dunharrow lived in an elaborate system of caves in the mountains. Even 3,000 years after they died.

* In [[Kim Newman]]'s short story ''Swellhead'', the the ghostly remains of the [[Elaborate Underground Base]] of a supervillain from an [[Alternate Universe]] is beginning to seep into our world with disastrous consequences.

* In ''[[Hogan's Heroes]],'' the Allied POWs/spies had a network of tunnels under Stalag 13, to which Colonel Klink was consistently oblivious -- not the sort of cramped tunnels POWs might dig with spoons, but what you would find in a long-worked industrial mine. How the tunnels had been dug undetected was never explained.

* British puppet character Roland Rat was originally supposed to live in the sewers beneath King's Cross railway station. In ''Roland Rat: The Series'' this suddenly became "the Ratcave"; an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] containing living quarters, a talk show studio and a reception area, and accessed from a hidden lift in a workman's shelter outside the station.

* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', Stargate Command functions as an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] that includes a functioning interplanetary wormhole (see "[[Real Life]]" example, below). In later seasons, the "Alpha Site", "Beta Site" and "Gamma Site" are all built as copies of the SGC on other planets.

* Torchwood Three in ''[[Torchwood]]'' is hidden under Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff. This is in stark contrast to Torchwood One's tower in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', which is Canary Wharf. The Torchwood Three base was a deviation from the classic luxurious underground base -- aside from the central hub, it was a rat-nest of cramped rooms and converted tunnels that have been repurposed and rebuilt over decades, it was dim and dingy, and water was always leaking in from Tiger Bay. The trope is Lampshaded in ''Children of Earth''.

* M.I. 9 has an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] concelaed beneath St Hope's School in ''[[M.I. High]]''. Given it houses only three operatives and their handler, it does seem somewhat like overkill.

* Xenon Base in ''[[Blake's 7|Blakes Seven]]'' was an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] owned by a [[Villain of the Week]]. Upon his death, the heroes moved in and made it their base of operations for the remainder of the season. When you are a marginal band of outlaws facing a star-spanning empire, there is significant psychological comfort of being hidden under megatons of rock.

* Alpha Complex from ''[[Paranoia]]'' is usually an elaborate underground warren with all the super-science facilities you could ever need. <ref>Then again, continuity has never been a big deal in ''[[Paranoia]]'' so it can be a a domed city, underwater, whatever the GM desires.</ref>

* Despite the name, virtually none of the "dungeons" in any ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign are prisons. They're either natural caverns full of unintelligent monsters (rare), tombs full of undead (uncommon), or this trope for the [[Villain of the Week]] (''extremely'' common).<br /><br />Taking this to its logical extreme is [http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/45536ba641a897edcc85536f05a293fe97906a7c.jpg Malsheem], fortress of [[Satan|Asmodeus]], [[God of Evil|god of sin and tyranny]] and [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|lord of devils]]. As the fourth edition has transformed the Nine Hells into a planet, Asmodeus' fortress is comprised of the ''entire core'' of that planet.

* The prototypical [[Elaborate Underground Base]] may well be Erik's lair under the Paris Opera in the various incarnations of ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', making this [[Older Than Radio]].

* A few games have appeared where constructing an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] is a major aspect of the gameplay, notably:

* From the ''[[Fallout]]'' [[RPG|RPGs]], the various Vaults.

** ''Project Origin'' takes it even further. The Auburn Memorial Hospital is a full-sized building constructed underground ''inside'' another [[Elaborate Underground Base]]. Wade Elementary has another [[Elaborate Underground Base]] beneath it. And that's before you get to the giant tram tunnels running through titanic chambers that include a Replica storage facility and massive maintenance area. Pretty much the entirety of Fairport is riddled with Armacham secret bases.

* In ''[[Thief]] II: The Metal Age'', the Cetus Project is run from Markham's Isle, a former pirate base taken over by the Mechanists. As you learn when you go there, the administration of the project is a bit complicated, but Markham's Isle certainly fits the [[Island Base]] and [[Elaborate Underground Base]] tropes.

* In a series full of [[Supervillain Lair|Supervillain Lairs]] to begin with, in the ''Birdman'' episode ("Number One") that brought them into the open and really defined them as a threat, [[Nebulous Evil Organisation|F.E.A.R.]] turned out to have an elaborate underground base.

* In the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' pilot, Aldrin Klordane had turned a cave conveniently placed underneath the Federal Gold Reserve into his own [[Elaborate Underground Base]] which not only has a diagonal monorail, but even a real railroad connection.

* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' had the underground base of Section 13 in San Francisco. Said organization was where the main characters would live along with being the location of what ever [[MacGuffin|MacGuffins]] were being [[Gotta Catch Them All|collected]] that season. Could be reached via a phonebooth elevator or "the stairs".

* The ''[[Road Rovers]]'' had an [[Elaborate Underground Base]]. It was strongly implied in at least one episode that it was the remains of a lab in Socorro, NM, that the Rovers' mentor ran.

** Also, Cheyenne Mountain is in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and ''[[Jeremiah (TV series)|Jeremiah]]'' (This one has the benefit of being a real complex). In the original movie ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'', the Gate was hidden in the fictional Creek Mountain complex -- also in Colorado, and to boot having recycled the Cheyenne Mountain entrance set from ''[[War Games]]''. The series retconned the Stargate's location without much fuss.

** Speaking of decommissioned bunkers and missile silos, there's a [{{[http|//www.missilebases.com/ real estate company}} specialising in such properties.

** [[Conspiracy Theorist|Conspiracy Theorists]] [[Epileptic Trees|speculate]] about the existence of DUMB, or Deep Underground Military Base. It doesn't sound any more sinister than your regular well-protected military base, except that it's supposedly run by your favorite conspiracy ([[The Illuminati]] and [[The Reptilians]] being popular choice) and people are abducted and carried there for unspeakable purposes.