Eldritch Location: Difference between revisions
→[[Literature]]: Replaced redirects
(Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta9)) |
(→[[Literature]]: Replaced redirects) |
||
| (16 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
[[File:Persona-3-Tartarus-Tower 3690.jpg|link=Persona 3|frame| Apartments for rent, convenient to downtown. Inquire within.]]
{{quote|"''We're talking about a higher order of reality... The world they come from, the world I come from, has...more of everything. I don't think you understand yet; the light of Heaven would slash open your corneas. The music of Heaven would puncture your eardrums and drive you insane. The air of heaven would burst your lungs and boil your blood. Only spirit can bear Heaven's touch."''
|'''Zauriel'''|''[[Murder Mysteries]]''}}
In fiction-land, some places just don't agree with [[Alien Geometries|the laws of physics, geography, and the way we understand the world]].
'''Eldritch Locations''' take many forms: [[Lost World]]s, [[The Wonderland|Wonderlands]] ("Wonder" is not always a good thing); Strange Planets, Incomprehensible Voids, [[Womb Level|the insides]] of [[Eldritch Abomination]]s, [[Alternate Universe]]s, ordinary-looking buildings...basically, wherever the author decides could use some weirdness.
These are usually depicted as [[Mordor|bad places]], but not always. The ones that aren't are usually sources of [[Surreal Humor]].
Line 28 ⟶ 29:
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]]
* Hell's Gate in ''[[Darker than Black]]'' is full of [[Not of This Earth]] weirdness, the geography constantly shifts, [[Reality Is Out to Lunch]], and, generally, there are ''very'' good reasons the scientists studying it have mostly abandoned manned missions in favor of sending in robots. As an added bonus, its appearance in the middle of [[Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe]] was accompanied by an [[Alien Sky]] covering the entire Earth and people suddenly becoming superpowered [[Lack of Empathy|sociopaths]].
** Said "sending in robots" consists of sending in a robot with a camera and having a full room of people watch the video stream and write down everything they see, because even through the video, everyone sees something different.
Line 36 ⟶ 37:
* ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' has {{spoiler|the inside of the D-Reaper's mass bubble when it invades Earth. It goes from a giant bunch of melted buildings and electronics and a few sidewalks to a liquid-like gooey landscape of pure pink and red evil all around.}} Not only that, but the {{spoiler|digital world certainly qualifies when the D-Reaper has taken over and turned everything into a rather disturbing, apocalyptic-looking war zone.}}
* Heaven and Hell in ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'' both use and avert this concept. On the one hand, both are realms that exist in twelve-dimensions, far more than the normal humans of Earth can ever hope to perceive. However, due to their complete inability to perceive what they are not perceiving, the sheer alien quality of the two realms is completely lost on humans.
* ''
** {{spoiler|The Sea of LCL is actually Primordial Earth after Rei had returned every living being in existence back to its most basic form. All Souls are now one with Rei and/or Kaworu, the Mother and Father respectively of every living being on Earth. So in said Reality of Rei, Kaworu, and Shinji it was basically the Entire World at the moment. Or maybe it was all concepts of Reality, depending on your interpretation of what the bloody hell was going on.}}
* The so called 'closed spaces' in ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' can be considered a form of this.
Line 42 ⟶ 43:
** Actually, it's been established that {{spoiler|Amestrian alchemy is indeed powered by tectonic energy, but Father created a buffer to limit the amount of energy drawn and to have the ability to turn off the alchemy whenever he wanted. What the Xing characters sensed could either be Father or the buffer (or both)}}
** In addition, there's the inside of the Gate, ("It's ''awful''!") and the inside of Gluttony's stomach, which is a failed Gate somewhere "between reality and the real Gate".
* ''[[One Piece]]'',
**
** The All Blue is a place that has been mentioned, but never actually seen. Sanji claims it only place in the world where the North, South, East, and West seas meet, and has sea life from all four seas. Presumably it is in the Grand Line. Chefs like Sanji dream of finding the All Blue, given how popular seafood is (seeing as 90% of the world is ocean) and the limitless opportunity to gain ingredients for the best dishes.
* Hell in ''[[Hell Girl]]'' is this, and it is deliberately designed for personalized [[Mind Rape]].
* The Witches' barrier in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica|Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica]]''
* The Red Night in ''[[11eyes
* Hueco Mundo and the precipice world in ''[[Bleach]]''
* The Book of Eibon (manga only) and inside {{spoiler|Asura's}} sphere (anime only) also the Nakatsukasa mindscape at first in ''[[Soul Eater]]''
* Some dreamscapes in ''[[Yumekui Merry]]''
* Tsukuyomi and the Living Corpse Reincarnation realm, also some genjutsu are capable of projecting this type of location from ''[[Naruto]]''.
* Tokimi's realm in ''[[Tenchi Muyo!
* In ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', the tiny planet where King Kai lives. Goku quickly discovers its gravity is 10 times that of Earth. However, King Kai explains to him that ''everything'' is amplified here times ten, so the three months of training Goku receives there improves his skill as much as ''years'' of training would on Earth.
* ''[[Shuna's Journey]]'' has the place far west, where the moon sets. It has [[Narnia Time]], strange inhabitants, and otherworldly structures. The location is inhibited by many strange and exotic species, some of which [[The Hero]] Shuna believed were extinct.
== [[Art]] ==
* Clark Ashton Smith's paintings and illustrations are just chock-full of wondrous eldritch locations. Just one example would be
* Many of [http://www.gnosis.art.pl/iluminatornia/sztuka_o_inspiracji/zdzislaw_beksinski/zdzislaw_beksinski.htm Zdzislaw Beksinski]'s paintings would certainly qualify.
* Some of [[M. C. Escher]]'s works certainly qualify.
* The works of [[w:Hieronymus Bosch|Hieronymus Bosch]].
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* In [[The DCU]], Heaven, of all places.
** The city of Vanity from the short-lived ''Aztek'' series was implied to be one as well. It was a [[Wretched Hive]] that was ''worse than Gotham'', full of a strange psychic malaise that turned two [[Captain Patriotic]] heroes into [[Nineties Anti-Hero]]es. It was implied that the town founders were all mad and used principles of sacred geometry to make the city utterly bent.
** Let us not forget Arkham Asylum. The place gets destroyed regularly, yet somehow always magically comes back and it has a tendency to drive people completely batshit insane just by being there. When you remember these facts one kind of has to wonder why the city of Gotham thinks sending already insane
*** The [[Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth|madness of the asylum and its inhabitants]] has been implied to warp space and time.
* In the [[Marvel Universe]] , ''[[The Thanos Imperative]]'' introduced ''an entire freaking parallel universe'' as an Eldritch Location. It all began when somehow, somebody ''[[Death Takes a Holiday|killed death]]'' and allowed Life to grow unrestrained. Now the entire universe is under the influence of Elder Gods and , using the Fault that has opened up in the MU, they are now intent on corrupting the rest of reality.
Line 68 ⟶ 72:
* Johnny's house in ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]''. It's implied the house grew its own [[Torture Cellar]], and that the place is gradually expanding in order to take on more victims as Johnny grows increasingly insane and murderous. The Wall Johnny has to 'feed' also moves around the house, starting out at ground level and eventually finding its way down into the cellars.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Voidspace from ''[http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/33810717 Super Milestone Wars 2]''.▼
*
* ''[[The Emiya Clan]]'': their basement is the equivalent of an epic dungeon crawler. It's basically where they throw all the junk they accumulate that is too dangerous or unstable to use. It's also where they lock any [[Eldritch Abomination]] that is too hard to destroy. Put two and two together and you get something along the lines of [[The Lord of the Rings|Moria]].▼
* In the ''[[Worm]]/[[Luna Varga]]'' crossover ''[[Taylor Varga]]'', Taylor intends to build one in the ocean near Brockton Bay in order to add verisimilitude to [[Lizard Folk|the Family's]] [[H.P. Lovecraft]]-inspired [[Backstory]]. Her first scale-model efforts lead her and the Varga to discover a branch of mathematics that when combined with the Varga's magic makes possible the [[Defictionalization]] of much of that backstory.
==
▲* Voidspace from [http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/33810717 Super Milestone Wars 2]
▲* Evangelion: The Rite of Spring [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6909519/1/Evangelion_The_Rite_of_Spring\] makes the battles with the Angels even more disturbing, as it moves the fight settings to Eldritch Location pocket universes. Kaworu and Rei's secret room in the theater may or may not count, but it certainly seems to defy the laws of nature. Really only to be expected for a story that's essentially [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]] meets [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]] in art school.
▲* [[The Emiya Clan]] basement is the equivalent of an epic dungeon crawler. It's basically where they throw all the junk they accumulate that is too dangerous or unstable to use. It's also where they lock any [[Eldritch Abomination]] that is too hard to destroy. Put two and two together and you get something along the lines of [[Lord of the Rings|Moria]].
* ''[[Dark City]]''.
* In ''[[Labyrinth]]'', Sarah's final showdown with Jareth occurs in a place that was designed by [[M. C. Escher]].
Line 85 ⟶ 88:
* If you think about it, [[Toon Town]] in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'' is an Eldritch Location in its context. All that stuff may be normal in cartoons, but in the middle of the real world it's bizarre to say the least. [[Alien Geometries]]? You bet. For example, the building you're in becomes higher than all the surrounding ones if you're in danger of falling from it and look down, simply because it's a trick used by animators to make it look more like the perspective is from really high up.
* The Real World in ''[[The Matrix]]''
* The Hypercube in ''[[Cube
* The room in ''[[1408]]''. As [[Samuel L. Jackson]]'s character insists, there are no ghosts, it's just "an evil fucking room".
* In ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'', normal laws of physics don't quite seem to apply in Castle Dracula, most notably seen when Harker opens a perfume bottle that starts dripping upwards into the ceiling. For extra creep factor, the castle itself vaguely resembles a ghoulish figure crouched on a cracked throne.
* ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'' - The Beatles' Liverpool abode is a grim little wharfside hovel on the outside - inside it's a cavernous palace with endless corridors that open into scenes from ''[[King Kong]]'', Magritte paintings, and the like, while various outsize objects, inanimate and otherwise, run in and out of doors when no one's looking. The places they visit on their journey are similarly extradimensional.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* The world described in the [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|incomprehensible]] ''[[Codex Seraphinianus]]''.▼
▲== Literature ==
▲* The world described in the [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|incomprehensible]] Codex Seraphinianus.
* R'lyeh, the abode of Great Cthulhu in [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]''.
** Lovecraft's writings have several of these in addition to R'lyeh. These include the subterranean N'knai, the planet Yuggoth with its black towers and rivers of pitch, and the Outer Void that exists beyond our four-dimensional space and is the dwelling place of the Outer Gods. The Dreamlands may also count, as it's apparently a separate plane of existence that shares a connection with our world.
Line 100 ⟶ 102:
* From [[Stephen King]]: ''[[The Dark Tower/The Waste Lands|The Dark Tower]]'', a radioactive rift in the fabric of existence populated by [[Biological Mashup]]s; [[The Dark Tower/Song of Susannah|Thunderclap]], a [[Mordor]]-like desert; and [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place|End-World]] where ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' resides (a sort of [[World Tree|Yggdrasil]]-like entity).<ref>This is because the evil [[Powers That Be]] have [[Definitely Final Dungeon|occupied the Dark Tower]] and are trying to destroy it from within.</ref>
** Also the castle that Susannah's doppelganger [[Goldilocks and The Mines of Moria|visits in her dreams]] is described as an eldritch location filled with [[Nothing Is Scarier|unknown horrors]] in the machinery-filled rooms below, on the edge of End-World which is portrayed as an even worse Eldritch Location with a [[Mordor|pulsating red light]] coming from it.
** The room in ''[[1408]]''. Both the short story and the movie are insistent that there
* [[Peter Pan|Neverland]] (or Never-Never Land in some versions) is this, given the problem of traveling there. The best directions Peter can give to his home are "Second to the right and straight on till morning", whatever ''that'' means, and it's also suggested a child can find it if it ''wants'' to be found. Supposedly, if it were possible to map a child's mind, it would resemble Neverland. Peter himself discovered it as an infant while sailing [[Depending on the Writer| on a paper boat or a thrush nest.]]
* As mentioned above: Giant country and The Land of Dreams in ''[[The BFG]]''. They're somewhere on Earth, but they've never been seen by man before the events of the book, no one had even suspected they may exist, and not even the BFG, who lives in the land of Giants, knows where it is. (He gets there by homing instinct.)
* The ''[[House of Leaves|{{color|blue|House}}
* The Nevernever in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. In size, it is to Australia what Earth is to the Rhode island, and the laws of physics just don't work the way they do in our world. In fact they almost ''never'' do.
** Demonreach, introduced in ''Small Favor'', is a less alien but no less powerful site. Aside from being the source of a massive dark energy ley line, it is also [[Genius Loci|self-aware]] and does not show up on any maps because ships disappear around it and aircraft navigation goes out close to it. And apparently it has some connection to Dresden himself.
Line 109 ⟶ 112:
** Also, in [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''Eisenhorn'' series, there is a similar place; the [[Alien Geometries]] is taken to its describable extreme (for instance, there are triangles that clearly have more than 360 degrees internally) and every little thing is another impossibility made possible. Most of those who enter lose their minds in a short while.
** In fact, this sort of thing is common in Warpspace, [[Another Dimension]] which spaceships use for all interstellar travel. Also, there's a few regions where Warpspace and real space overlap, the largest one being the Eye of Terror.
* The realm of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' is a pocket dimension full of bizarre [[Alien Geometry]].
* The ''[[Faction Paradox]]'' series has the Eleven-Day Empire, a [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|tract of space/time, shaped like XVIII century London]], ritualistically separated from reality by eleven days that never existed. Specifically, when the 18th century British Empire shifted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, the date changed from the 2nd to the 14th of September. [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?|Figuring that nobody was using them, the Faction took those eleven days]], cut them off from the rest of causality, [[Crazy Awesome|and turned them into a twisted shadow version of Victorian London]] under a [[Red Sky, Take Warning|perpetually burning sky]]. [[Captain Obvious|It's a weird place]]. (In its introduction, it's explained that if you were to [[Lampshade Hanging|point out]] that the above [[It Runs on Nonsensoleum|doesn't really make sense]], because a shift in the calendar doesn't "create" unused days, Faction Paradox would say that [[Timey-Wimey Ball|that's rather the point]].)
** And then there's the City of the Saved: the result of the fusion of the ultimate sum of all human technology in all of history merged with a ''[[Living Ship|goddess]]'' from the end of time. What does that equate to? A ''galaxy-wide'' [[Genius Loci|sentient]] space station, containing all humans to ever exist in immortal, perfect bodies, including [[Half-Human Hybrid|all hybrids]] and virtually all fictional characters ever, permanently anchored at the edge of the Universe in its last nanosecond before the birth of the next. Unfortunately, there was an infection of ''[[Psycho Prototype|something]]'' that came out of the other end, and now the normally very pleasant City's infected with nightmarish industrial wastelands specialized in [[Body Horror|human experimentation]]. It's as horrific as it sounds.
* Most [[Simon R. Green]] novels feature at least one of these, if not more.
* Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows" takes place in such a setting. A {{spoiler|possibly sentient}} setting, no less.
* Lancre from ''[[Discworld]]'' contains a few places like this, including the portal to the elves' world from ''Lords And Ladies'' and the "gnarly" ground in ''Carpe Jugulum''.
** Inverted in the ''Science of Discworld'' books, where the mundane physics of the Roundworld universe—i.e. our own—seem like this trope to the wizards, who are used to things running on narrativium rather than rules.
* The setting of ''Full Tilt'' is superficially an [[Amusement Park of Doom]], but the "rides" expand into mini-worlds, ranging from a burned-out slum to a [[The Theme Park Version|mock-up]] of ancient Egypt to {{spoiler|an asteroid field made of [[Every Car Is a Pinto|Pintos that explode when touched]].}} According to throwaway dialogue from [[Humanoid Abomination|its creator]], it's less "real" than our own world, but it will become more real as more and more people are drawn into it, and all other worlds will become mere shadows.
* A very confined one, whose rooms are organized by variety of weirdness (time-based, outer-spacey, etc): the Department of Mysteries in ''[[
* The Duat in ''[[The Kane Chronicles]]''. It's the expansion pack version of the Underworld from the [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]] series by the same author (and [[Word of God|canonically]] [[Crossover Cosmology|in the]] [[Arc Welding|same universe]]). There are the shallower regions where we find the Halls of Maat, the center of Order in the universe and stronghold of the Egyptian Gods. And, presumably, the region controlled by the Olympians for their underworld and imprisoning the odd [[Eldritch Abomination]]. But then there are the deep reaches of the Duat, where there are vast gulfs even the gods fear to tread and Apophis lurks. This corresponds to the reaches where the Olympians tossed the remains of Kronos.
* In [[Dean Koontz]]'s ''Seize the Night'', military scientists have found a way into some kine of parallel universe of red skies and black, fungus-like trees. The protagonists initially believed the scientists had been building a time machine to the future. Actually, {{spoiler|they may have opened a doorway to Hell - so to speak. One of the characters later postulates that our ideas of Heaven and Hell may have come from genuine mystics who were able to glimpse alternate dimensions, some incredibly alien to our own}}.
Line 123 ⟶ 126:
* Pretty much everywhere in the [[Dr. Seuss]] books, especially "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' has several. The Dark Island from ''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'' is the only truly frightening one, though—more pleasant or neutral ones include Bism and the Wood Between the Worlds.
*
* The Darke Halls in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' are described as this, having the power of driving people to madness.
* The Q Continuum from the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise, home of the ([[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|supposedly]]) omnipotent and omniscient species known as the Q (and also sometimes used as a name for the species itself). When we saw it on-screen in two Voyager episodes, it appeared first as a [[California Doubling|gas station on a desert highway]] and then as a battlefield from the American Civil War (when the Q were fighting their own civil war). This was probably done due to the show's budget constraints, and was justified by explaining that the Continuum [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|cannot be perceived by a humanoid as it truly exists]], and thus it will appear as an analogue from the viewer's culture. In one ''TNG'' novel, the android Lt. Commander Data is taken to the Continuum and forced to perceive it in its true form. This causes him to shut down as the result of the sensory overload.▼
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* The Q Continuum from the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise, home of the ([[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|supposedly]]) omnipotent and omniscient species known as the Q (and also sometimes used as a name for the species itself). When we saw it on-screen in two Voyager episodes, it appeared first as a [[California Doubling|gas station on a desert highway]] and then as a battlefield from the American Civil War (when the Q were fighting their own civil war). This was probably done due to the show's budget constraints, and was justified by explaining that the Continuum [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|cannot be perceived by a humanoid as it truly exists]], and thus it will appear as an analogue from the viewer's culture. In one TNG novel, the android Lt. Commander Data is taken to the Continuum and forced to perceive it in its true form. This causes him to shut down as the result of the sensory overload.
** Another Star Trek example is the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' episode "[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Remember_Me_%28episode%29 Remember Me]," in which an experiment with warp bubbles goes wrong and sucks Dr. Crusher into some kind of parallel dimension shaped by the thoughts she was having at the moment she was trapped. It appears to be a replica of the ''Enterprise,'' except all the other crew members start vanishing one by one and no one except Crusher remembers they existed. Then it gets even worse. Dr. Crusher activates a view screen and sees a "warp energy field" encasing the ship. After establishing that there is no penetrating the field, she asks the computer to define the universe. It replies, "THE UNIVERSE IS A SPHEROID REGION 705 METERS IN DIAMETER". The computer says that there is '''nothing outside of the ship'''.
* The Black Lodge from ''[[Twin Peaks]]''. A world where people speak backwards, little people dance to jazz music and {{spoiler|cream corn is used as a form of currency. The lodge itself is really just a series of identical rooms with red curtains and a zig-zag patterned floor. Or it could be that it is just the same room repeated over and over.}}
* Heaven in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. Every heaven is basically just the best moment of your life over and over again.
* [[Reality Warper|Einstein's]] Realm in ''[[Farscape]].'' Reachable only by wormhole, it acts as a meeting ground between the representative of the True Ancients and anyone knowledgeable enough to be dangerous to them: it's basically an iceberg floating in an ocean of wormholes beneath a pitch-black sky. Due to Einstein's influence, physics tend to behave quite strangely here, and Crichton often ends up speaking to long-dead individuals from his past and tumbling into [[Alternate Universe|Unrealized Realities.]]
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' is
* The North Pole in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''. As Zordon describes it, the place has a "unique polarity" that leaves the heroes unable to morph, making thwarting the [[The Grinch|villains' plan to ambush Santa Claus]] a risky gambit. Fortunately, the bad guys face a similar hindrance, and are defeated via a snowball fight.
* In ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy]]'', the eponymous Lost Galaxy is a place that is unusual even by this franchise's standards. Spaceships that enter quickly become lost, as navigation systems are rendered useless, and electronic systems malfunction, evidenced by a clock that starts to spin backwards. Plants are also affected by the place, as evidenced when potted plants shrink into nothingness. The episode "Hexuba's Graveyard" seems to suggest that the place is a sort of "Hell" for defeated monsters.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* [[Celtic Mythology]] had a place called the Otherworld that was really weird home to the faeries and all sorts of mythical creatures.
* Almost any concept of The Afterlife. Whether or not they're plausible [[Flame War|is not a question for this wiki.]]
Line 145 ⟶ 148:
* Technically since God is described as omni-present, meaning that He can occupy all of space all at once and is just as present on Earth as he is in Heaven, the entire universe is an Eldritch Location for God Himself.
* God's throne in Heaven is directly above everywhere on Earth. This is an obvious physical impossibility... except that God is beyond physics.
* Norse Mythology has the Ginnungagap, Múspellsheimr to the "South" of that, Niflheimr to the "North," and pretty much any of the other Nine Worlds that isn't Miðgarðr (
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has the Far Realm, but really, most of the planes qualify, doing stuff like having distance travelled depend on the amount of good deeds you do, or matter being shaped by thought.
** Every other plane has some kind of mythology-based logic to it (Ethereal and Astral transport mimics the real-world mythology for movement in Out Of Body experiences, the Heaven and Hell planes are [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|exactly what they sound like]], etc.). The only identifiable trait of the Far Realm is that none of it is identifiable, or even quantifiable in any way, shape or form. Simply entering it causes unavoidable [[Mind Screw]] to outright [[Mind Rape]].
*** Characters may sprout eyes on their palms (but not really), relive a hundred lifetimes in which their parents were Far Realm wights, or backwards speaking begin...
*** Altogether unsurprising, as the Far Realm is based on the works and mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. The Far Realm represents the edge of reality, where the reality that mortal minds can grasp transforms into something...different.
* The D&D settings of ''[[Ravenloft]], [[Planescape]]'', and (by way of Art Major Astrophysics) ''[[Spelljammer]]'' each qualify as an Eldritch Location by their very nature.
* Terra Incognitae in ''[[Scion]]'' are all the mysterious islands and lost worlds described in mythology. You can't get to them unless you yourself are mythological (i.e., have a Legend score).
* Bardos in ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'' are places that were once thought or believed to exist, [[Science Marches On|then proved not to]], or were hoped to exist but [[I Want My Jetpack|never came to pass]]. You can still travel to them if you know where to go (or stumble into them). They range from [[The Red Planet|the Martian Empire]] and [[Dystopia|Tsoska]] to the Hollow Earth (recently taken over by [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Nazi mad scientists]]) and [[Cyberspace|The Grid]].
Line 163 ⟶ 165:
** Several of the Primordials/Yozis [[Genius Loci|are this]] as well. Things like the local geography, physical laws, and even time flow are often at the whims of the Titan that is the world. The most notable are Malfeas (the Demon King/City whose body acts as the prison of his fellows, and consists of multiple layers that constantly change shape and correspondence, and all inexplicably have the green sun of Hell right above them), Cecylene (the Endless Desert who is accessible from every layer of Malfeas and always takes ''exactly'' five days to cross) and Autochthon (who needed to deliberately modify his world body to make it habitable; the deeper parts of it show the reason for this).
** There are even a few places in Creation that work like this. One is the Well of Udr, overseen by [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|the Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate in Unrent Veils]]. It's a nexus of all possible dimensions where the strata of potential worlds collide and crash against one another, occasionally disgorging impossibilities. It's very tricky to get anywhere within its vicinity and hold onto your marbles, let alone stare into it. It's from here that the Dowager retrieved [[The End of the World as We Know It|the Great Contagion]].
* The Umbra from the ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'' folds in itself any sort of alternative reality and other states of being. And one has to step ''sideways'' to reach it. Sideways to reality as a whole. Furthermore, different places in the Umbra have their own laws, and the further one gets from Earth, the weirder and more hostile, the worlds become, until the Deep Umbra is reached. Things are just plain ''wrong'' there. And very, ''very'' inhospitable for almost any type of earth-like life.
** Its spiritual
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''. Aside from the mentions in the literature section above, ''everything'' in the Eye of Terror ends up this way, as well as the Maelstrom (basically a mini Eye of Terror that doesn't even have the decency of an explanation of how it started). Any place a Warp Rift is opened starts to slowly turn into one of these, and if the rift is left unchecked it can end up turning the entire planet into a [[World of Chaos|Daemon World]]. And that's just what happens when a ''tiny fraction'' of the Warp leaks into the real world...
** The Dark City of Commorragh, home of the Dark Eldar, is also an example, being an enormous collection of realms located inside the Webway (a network of warded tunnels in the Warp), linked together with portals. It's basically Escher on crack and populated entirely by sadistic murder-elves.
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has locations associated with its resident [[Eldritch Abomination]]s, the Eldrazi; in particular, a combination of solitude and proximity to the Eye of Ugin, which sealed the Eldrazi within the plane Zendikar, cost the planeswalker Sarkhan Vol his sanity.
* In ''[[Nephilim]]'', Selenim are capable of creating Realms, pocket universes that exist according to their will, which turn out like this trope.
* The entirety of the ''[[JAGS Wonderland]]'' setting.
== Tropes ==
Line 179 ⟶ 180:
* A [[Dark World]] can function as an Eldritch Location when it's explicitly evil or "wrong", but a few morality neutral Dark Places are natural "night side" reality counterparts to our own.
* A [[Place Beyond Time]] is this by its very nature.
* A [[Level Ate]] is a comedic example of this Trope, as is a [[Cheesy Moon]].
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* Bacterian, the [[Big Bad]] of the ''[[Gradius]]'' series qualifies: He is a [[Genius Loci]] [[Hive Mind]] that uses psychic powers to control his fleets. Every time he's defeated, the pieces of him regenerate to form new Bacterians. Gofer, Venom, Zelos, and some other large Bacterians also qualify.
* The Pfhor ship of ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' seems to be mostly organic, with green liquid all over the place. The gravity is low, too. The creepy music doesn't help either.
Line 190 ⟶ 191:
* The various incarnations of the [[Lost Woods]] in the ''Zelda'' games: they either turn off your minimap, making navigation extremely difficult, or in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages|Oracle of Seasons]]'', one place is even completely off the map, not to mention the place where Like-Likes fall from the sky. In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'' it's implied that anyone who isn't of [[The Fair Folk]] would tend to become hopelessly lost, eventually turning into skeletal imps doomed to haunt the forest forever.
** While its own version of the [[Lost Woods]] isn't particularly odd, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks]]'' definitely deserves a mention for its final area, the Dark Realm. Accessed through a dark portal that can only be found with a magic compass, it basically looks like Van Gogh's ''Starry Night'' in a black hole. Beneath the train tracks (Oh, yeah, by the way, there are train tracks. Inside an ''alternate dimension of pure evil''.) is some kind of strange, smoky/watery "ground" that gives way to a completely different landscape right beneath it.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's
* The inner sections of the Pyxis (A.K.A the Box) from ''[[Clive Barker's Jericho]]''.
* ''[[Chzo Mythos]]'' is both this and an [[Eldritch Abomination]], a pain elemental who satiates himself with tortured victims trapped inside his labyrinthine corridors for all eternity.
Line 196 ⟶ 197:
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'': [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=61507.msg1400676#msg1400676 The Adamantine Spire], a.k.a. the Adamantine Space Elevator. The weirdest part is that even when other people tried to recreate it using the same worldgen seed, it didn't show up. Current theories are that it's due to [[Good Bad Bugs|interference from old save data]].
** [[Fridge Horror]]: Considering what adamantine veins like the spire usually [[The Legions of Hell|contain,]] it looks like whatever counts as Heaven in the Dorf 'verse is in for some serious [[Unusual Euphemism|Fun.]]
** Some of the more convoluted succession forts such as ''[[Battlefailed]]'' become this. Battlefields had the temporally locked dwarves in the arena, Headshoots had the room outside of space, ect.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'':
** The Distortion World from ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|Pokémon Platinum]]'' falls under this. Floating masses of land in a giant vortex, giant plants that sprout randomly out of nowhere, disappearing platforms, and waterfalls that float up are just a few features to be found. Not to mention that the ''only'' thing living in there is the [[Eldritch Abomination]] known as Giratina. Although Giratina is no ''more'' [[Eldritch Abomination]] than some other Pokémon.
** [[Minus World|Glitch City]], anyone?
** Lavender Town's Tower is unusual even when compared to other [[Big Boo's Haunt]] locations in the franchise. First off, the Cubone ghost (which is ''not'' a Ghost Pokemon, but a spirit version of a regular Pokemon which can only be seen and battled using the Slyph Scope) is a [[Unique Enemy]], with nothing even remotely similar appearing in any other game. In addition, many of the trainers you encounter in the Tower are possessed, possibly by their own Pokémon, requiring you to exorcise them by defeating them in battle. Ghost Pokemon cannot do this anywhere else in the franchise<ref>Unless you count the anime, where they do it all the time.</ref> suggesting there's something special about the Tower itself.
* The Dark Rift from ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]''.
* ''[[Castlevania]]'' is an Eldritch Location and houses several [[Eldritch Abomination]]s to boot. The discrepancy that crops up between the games is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] and [[Hand Waving|handwaved]] with a comment that the castle is "[[Chaos Architecture|a creature of chaos]]." The castle can take many shapes and forms, picking and choosing when and if it wants to follow the laws of physics.
** Hell, in the installment that gave us that [[Hand Wave]] (''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]''), the whole castle ''has an inverted duplicate'' revealed halfway through. You and the monsters fall towards and walk around on the ceiling. All the furniture is still on the floor. It is never explained why a second castle just appears out of the clouds, nor why it's upside down. And then there's the two mirrored split castles in ''[[Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance]]'', which are somehow both the extension of Maxim's will...
* Both [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon|final levels]] of ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' 1 and 2. The one from [[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|the first game]], appropriately titled The End Of The World, is basically the remains of any and every world destroyed by [[The Heartless]], and the one from [[Kingdom Hearts II|the second game]], The World That Never Was is a dark city overrun by Heartless overlooked by the warped castle that is the headquarters of Organization XIII, and its ''[[Weird Moon|moon]]'' is apparently "[[MacGuffin|the heart of reality itself.]]"
Line 239 ⟶ 240:
* In the original ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' series, the very Algol star system it takes place in is an enormous lock for a dreadful [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]. And the lock isn't exactly completely intact.
* The titular planet in ''[[Albion]]'' looks like some alien world with primitive civilizations at first. Until it is revealed that it operates under completely different laws the Earth does. {{spoiler|The fact that it's actually a sentient (benevolent) being, has something to do with it}}.
* The tunnels under ''[[Pathways into Darkness]]''{{'}}s pyramid are actually the nightmares of a catatonic [[Eldritch Abomination]] made real.
* Several places in the [[Warcraft]] universe qualify. Chief among them is Outland. It was formed when the planet Draenor was torn apart by multiple interdimensional gateways being opened on the surface. It's now a continent with several different ecosystems, some of which are healthy and normal, or at least, [[Patchwork Map|as normal as the rest of this universe]]. However, the [[Floating Continent|continent]] is surrounded by, rather than an ocean, an edge, and if you walk off it you fall into nothingness. It also has an [[Alien Sky]], which is sunless but otherwise mysteriously normal in some zones, but looks like energy cascading through space in other places. In several places there are [[Floating Island]]s, some of which have water perpetually falling off them with no source. Other examples in the Warcraft universe:
** The Maelstrom. A hole in the world into which the ocean is perpetually draining. The constant attention of several powerful shamans is required to keep the world from falling apart through it.
Line 258 ⟶ 259:
* The '''entire''' world of ''[[Limbo]]''. It's dark (as in pitch-black save for the rare spot of light), silent, and [[Everything Trying to Kill You|literally everything is after your blood]]. [[Puppeteer Parasite|Or your brains]].
* ''[[S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (series)|STALKER]]'' is set in the Zone of Exclusion surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after its infamous meltdown. Referred to simply as "the Zone", said location has become a place when only the most heavily-armed and foolhardy ever set foot due to both massive amounts of leftover nuclear radiation and ''incredibly weird shit''. You've got your standard mutants, bandits and unfriendly soldiers, but the Zone in ''[[S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (series)|STALKER]]'' doesn't need any of those things to kill you in unimaginably horrible ways. Gravity, temperature, the causticity of your surroundings, the noxiousness of flora, ''physics, time'' and ''space'' aren't exactly constants in the Zone, and if you're caught improperly sheltered during a [[Red Sky, Take Warning|blowout]], you'll find it's even more bizarre and even more dangerous than ever. [[Everything Trying to Kill You|Briefly.]]
* The ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series has the Netherrealm, which is home to the demonic Oni and is generally about the most depressing place you can be. Of course, it is the ''MK'' universe's equivalent of Hell.
** There's also the Chaosrealm, where as the name would imply, nothing makes any sense whatsoever. The prevailing theme of the realm and all of its inhabitants is that they adamantly refuse to conform to any set of rules (especially the laws of physics). It is even implied at one point in [[Mortal Kombat: Deception|''Deception'
* The Boundary, as seen in the ''[[BlazBlue]]'' series can be classified as this - a nexus for all timelines, and so chock-full of nastiness and [[Mind Rape]] that mere ''entry'' can destroy you in some shape or form. Precisely seven beings are known to have traveled through the Boundary, either for [[Time Travel]] or some other reason.
** Ragna the Bloodedge: Involuntarily dumped into the Cauldron at Kagutsuchi via Nu. {{spoiler|Becomes Bloodedge, forfeits Azure Grimoire and memories in the process, emerges 100 years in the past.}}
Line 269 ⟶ 270:
** {{spoiler|Makoto Nanaya: Loses consciousness in proximity to Cauldron at Ibukido due to Prime Field Device activity, emerges in ''Wheel of Fortune'' timeline. Travels back to ''Continuum Shift'' timeline with aid of Rachel Alucard. Zero physical and mental degradation in both transfers.}}
* Historia in ''[[Radiant Historia]]'', {{spoiler|as well as Granorg's Royal Hall. Its final boss Apocrypha also looks something like this, albeit shrunk.}}
* The universe of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]''. The planets are not actually planets but the planes of the gods appearing as such due to mortals [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|being unable to comprehend it,]] the twin moons Masser and Secunda are the representation of Lorkhan's rotting divinity, and the nebulae are "un-stars". The stars themselves, including the sun, are actually holes in reality created when the Aedra fled Mundus.
** The many planes of Oblivion would also count.
* Astral Chaos in the ''[[Soul Series]]'' is a timeless alternate dimension from which the Soul Swords originate, and is filled with lost souls and an [[Eldritch Abomination]] or two.
* The Labyrinth of Deceit in
* Hang Castle in ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'', but especially its interior, Mystic Mansion. In the daytime, it's a normal abandoned castle, albeit an exceptionally large one. At night, the exteriors seemingly extend endlessly in all directions, and gravity doesn't always point downwards. Once inside, rooms suddenly change topography (sometimes when Sonic and the others are in it), things pop in and out from impossible places, there seems to be a physical upside-down version of the mansion underneath the normal one, dumbwaiter tracks twist and contort while zooming off at high speeds, Eggman's robots pop up out of thin air (presumably intentionally), and what is supposed to be a well is full of weird vaguely water-like texture in all directions with a few small brick platforms suspended in it.
* ''[[Monster Girl Quest Paradox]]'':
Line 278 ⟶ 279:
** Hades is a strange floating landmass, implied to be the afterlife, where [[The Grim Reaper|Reaper]] resides. It contains representations of every boss encountered in the game, which can be refought here. Luka can access it when he dies (and it allows him to come back to life) or through a strange door in Ilias Temple. However, his party members cannot enter it, or even perceive him going through said door. If he accesses it via the door, then he will be accompanied by representations of his party members that are based on his memories (according to Reaper).
== [[Web Comics]] ==▼
▲== Web Comics ==
* Ravenfell in ''[[Overlord of Ravenfell]]'' is a sentient fortress made of black crystal, created through mysterious means. Beneath it is a magically shifting maze full of traps and monsters.
* ''[[Homestuck]]'':
** The Furthest Ring, a [[Place Beyond Time]] which is the home of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Horrorterrors]], the Green Sun (a star with the mass of two universes, which breaks several laws of physics), and the afterlife (which exists as a series of dream bubbles). Time and space behave in incomprehensible ways in the Furthest Ring, and both become less reliable the longer you stay (or the further you go). For example, when Dave and Rose try to fly out to the Green Sun, they end up arriving in the distant past.
** Dream bubbles themselves may count, as within them the conventional laws of time and space don't apply, as one can warp from memory to memory, effectively traveling forward and back in time and anywhere in space. Locations can even converge in such a way that they're a mis-match of memories of the various dreamers/dead people. For example, in one there was a mixture between Jade's island, Kanaya's home, a ruin Aradia was exploring, and some other elements.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' has plenty. The alternative dimensions vary from almost identical to the "normal" one to as bizarre as you like. One example: The Never is a hellish world where spirits become solid and living creatures become even more so than usual. Other Eldritch Locations can be found without even
* The Palm Tree Ghost's realm is turning out to be [http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0296.html more and more this way] in ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''.
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
*
▲== Web Original ==
▲* Many [[SCP Foundation|SCPs]] are Eldritch Locations. Some of them also qualify as [[Eldritch Abomination]]s since they are ''[[Genius Loci|alive]]''.
** There's also [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-093 the "Red Sea Object"], which takes people into an alternate universe where {{spoiler|"a god-like being of unknown origin" instigated a massive holy war hundreds of years ago, with apocalyptic results, and now giant, immortal [[Uncanny Valley]] monsters roam the land, absorbing anyone who catches their attention}}.
* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' has [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail174.html Sweet Puttin' Cakes], a miniature golf course "every bit as messed up as the cartoon on which it's based." Residents of Free Country, USA find themselves inexplicably teleported there simply by desiring to play miniature golf. The first hole is the [[Visual Pun|"worm"hole]], the 18th hole has par infinity, and the only way to leave is to will yourself back to reality. When Strong Bad returns, he remarks that his mouth "[[Tastes Like Purple|tastes like backwards]]."
Line 303 ⟶ 302:
* Wherever the hell it is that the [[Happy Tree Friends]] universe takes place in. [[Sugar Apocalypse|MY GOODNESS.]]
* in ''[[Demon Thesis]]'', the four main characters attend a small liberal arts college in Canada, when a [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulative entity]] from another dimension begins altering reality. Only afterward do the main characters learn that their school was originally founded by an occultist who knew that the location was a place where our dimension was unusually close to and could interact with other dimensions. Said occultist intended the university to inform about the dangers of this and form a line of defense against threats, but over time the school transformed into a fairly normal university and most occult/supernatural elements have been discarded.
* The whole point of [[w:The Backrooms|The Backrooms]]. Supposedly, this endless series of hallways and tunnels is where you end up if you "noclip" yourself out of reality in the wrong place, meaning its where you end up if you fall through [[The Wall Around the World]].
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* The Spirit World in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''.
* The Ghost Zone in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' which serves as an "opposite" dimension to Earth. Home to ghosts, it's a massive world where its sky is a swirl of eerie green and black. Surrounding the majority of the GZ are (usually small) floating lands—it's rare to find giant land masses since ghosts don't really need to walk—and multiple floating doors that lead to various ghostly realms, all unique, surreal, and different based on how it fits the ghostly inhabitants.
* Although it's much more light-hearted than most, Wacky Land in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' probably qualifies.
** The original Wacky Land, however, featured in at least one Looney Toon short and its color remake, varies from merely inexplicable to subtly menacing in its bizarreness.
* The Web in ''[[
* ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' made regular use of these. From the Bogeyman's home dimension to a sneak peek at the end of the world to a ghostly pirate TV station, the series enjoyed dropping the Ghostbusters in places where physics didn't work right and the architect expected the residents to be capable of phasing through walls.
* Springfield in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' could very well count at this point. One look at the [[Separate Simpsons Geography Thing]] page should tell you all you need to know.
* ''[[My Little Pony:
** Played straight in the season
* ''[[Superjail]]'' is full of these, especially within Superjail itself, but the [[Time Police|Time Court and Time Jail]] in "Time Police" take the cake. Considering it's a place where all living beings from all corners of the universe and time work or are tried and imprisoned, this is to be expected.
* A ''[[Family Guy]]'' skit shows Peter going into the 'beyond' section of 'Bed, Bath, and Beyond' which is a black void filled with various floating formulas and the like...and the coffee mugs he was looking for.
* ''[[Invader Zim
* The Nightosphere in ''[[Adventure Time]]'', home loads of creepy demons and is essentially Hell.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* The page quote from ''Zauriel'', above, well describes the [[wikipedia:Photosphere|surface of the sun]]. The innards of a star, the depths of a [[wikipedia:Gas giant|gas giant]] and the vacuum of [[wikipedia:Outer space|deep space]] all feature mechanical properties that are incomprehensibly alien in comparison to the natural laws as we know them. Small and frail is the magical bubble in which we live and thrive.
** We can do better than that: Black holes! Also, Calabi-Yau space, the universe before the Big Bang, and pretty much anything beyond the universe. And the inside of an atom. Actually, the modern understanding of physics pretty much [[This Is Your Premise on Drugs|requires a lot of drugs to understand]].
Line 340 ⟶ 338:
[[Category:Cosmic Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Geometry Tropes]]
[[Category:
| |||