Level Ate: Difference between revisions
Importing old example from TV Tropes
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[[File:LevelAte montage 3 7466.gif|frame|Do not play these levels on an empty stomach.<ref>(clockwise from top-left: [[Parodius]], [[Cocoron]], [[Zool]], [[Prehistorik]] 2, [[Rayman]], [[Earthworm Jim (video game)|Earthworm Jim]])</ref>]]
{{quote|''"There's cream in dem thar hills!"''
▲{{quote|''"There's cream in dem thar hills!"''|'''The Doctor''', ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "Short Trips and Side Steps"}}
|'''Bill Oddie'''|''[[The Goodies]]''}}
▲{{quote|''"That's fool's cream, that is."''|'''Bill Oddie''', ''[[The Goodies]]''}}
For some reason, creators seem fond of designing settings that are literally made out of food. Indeed, stemming from the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Oral]] [[Oral Tradition|Tradition]], it is clearly [[Older Than Print]]—and possibly much older.
Obviously, these sorts of settings tend to have a rather [[Magicant|whimsical or silly]] nature. [[MST3K Mantra|Don't spend too much time thinking]] about where that river of milk is coming from, why it hasn't spoiled, how those pastry buildings stay up, or how that moon made of cheese could form. Counts as an [[Eldritch Location]], but [[Denser and Wackier]] than most.
A fairly popular subtrope is to focus on sweets, probably in part because the concept of a land made of confectionery already has [[Sugar Bowl|a certain amount of stock symbolism invested in it]]. [[Cartoon Cheese|Cheese]] is also popular. Older variants, stemming from times when food shortages were commonplace, tended to have more variety in the foodstuffs. Its inhabitants, if there are any, might be [[Anthropomorphic Food]] themselves.
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* ''[[Madoka Magica]]'': Charlotte's labyrinth is made of desserts. Well, the parts that aren't hospital themed are. [[Darker and Edgier|Like everything in Madoka Magica]] this is '''not''' [[Played for Laughs]]. {{spoiler|[[Wham! Episode|In fact]], Charlotte is the [[Knight of Cerebus]].}}
* [[Toriko]]'s world seems to be half this trope, half [[Death World]].
* In ''[[One Piece]]'' proper, the setting of the Whole Cake Island arc is Totto Land, a Level Ate archipelago in New World, ruled by Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors. Originally, it was believed to be only Whole Cake Island, with a cake theme, but Whole Cake was later revealed to be one of 35 islands that also follow a dessert theme, with edible architecture and everything. Given her [[Sweet Tooth]], this is fitting. Known islands thus far include Chocolate, Jam, Nuts, Candy, Biscuits, and Milk. Given the titles of Big Mom's governors, it is presumed there are also islands with themes of Butter, Gelato, Whipped Cream, Beans, Juice, and Fruit.
== [[Film]] ==
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* ''[[The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl]]''. The protagonists find themselves floating down a river of milk on a giant chocolate chip cookie.
* Mentioned in the Literature section, but expanded upon in the Tim Burton remake film. Willy Wonka in ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'' clarifies that everything in the candy room is edible, including himself.
* ''[[Wreck-It Ralph]]'' has ''Sugar Rush'', a candy-themed racing game
== [[Literature]] ==
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* In the ''[[Xanth]]'' novel ''Ogre, Ogre'', one [[Dream World]] that Smash must track the Night Stallion through is a Level Ate.
* A short story from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' short story collection ''Short Trips and Side Steps'' featured the Doctor and Romana celebrating K9's birthday on a world apparently made entirely from candy. How this came to be is never fully explained.
* ''[[Discworld]]'' examples:
** Mono Island in ''[[
** The Discworld also has large lard deposits under Überwald. And raw treacle deposits (caused by prehistoric sugar cane forests trapped in the geological strata) under Ankh-Morpork. However, most of Ankh-Morpork's treacle comes from toffee beds (in the Ramtops somewhere, IIRC).{{verify}}
** In ''[[
* In Lucian of Samosata's ''[[True History]]'', the sailors visit, among other outlandish places, an island with rivers of wine, and an island made entirely out of cheese.
* The children's book ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'' (and the movie it inspired) are about this. The actual landscape isn't made of food, but (as you might guess from the name) the weather most certainly is. "Restaurants" lack roofs, and are mostly just nice places to sit while waiting to be fed by the sky.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHFFol-8REI Shanks & Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate]
* In ''[[The Nutcracker (theatre)|The Nutcracker]]'', there's the Land of Sweets, populated by various dancing delicacies and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* In one old ''[[Garfield]]'' comic, the protagonist falls asleep and dreams he's in "the Land of Large Breakfasts" where he eats a giant pancake. He wakes up, and says it was a great dream... Then he turns around and exclaims, [[Marshmallow Dream| "Where's my blanket?!"]]
== [[Oral Tradition]] ==
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Candy Land]]''. The title is [[Not Hyperbole]].
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''
** The Madolche originally seemed to live in a place like [[Candy Land]], as their cards, like Madolche Chateau, suggest. However, it was later revealed that they are actually [[Living Toys]].
** The Nemurelia archetype features a young girl named [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Dreaming_Nemurelia Dreaming Nemurelia]] who dreams of a candy world where she sleeps atop [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/The_Sleeping_Beauty_Tower_of_Nemurelia The Sleeping Beauty Tower of Nemurelia] (a giant stack of pancakes), protected by her friends, [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Nemurelia%27s_Dream_Defender_-_Couette Couette] (a vanilla monster) and [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Nemurelia%27s_Dream_Defender_-_Oreiller Oreiller] (a chocolate monster).
* [[Gary Gygax]] wrote a [[Self-Parody]] module of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' called ''Castle Greyhawk'' intended for playtesting (which sadly, was never published) that had many silly things including a level like this, with monsters like dough-ppelgangers and Poppinfarsh the Dough Golem.
== [[Theatre]] ==
* Act 2 of ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' takes place in the Land of Sweets, where the Nutcracker Prince is king. Also called Sweetieland in the Matthew Bourne version.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] is "Level Ate", the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|eighth level]] of ''[[Earthworm Jim (video game)|Earthworm Jim]] 2'', which is made primarily of meat, with cheese, french fries, eggs, and eating utensils also to be found. {{spoiler|There's also a secret level called "Totally Forked", which, as its name implies, is [[Spikes of Doom|much heavier on the forks.]]}} Oh, and did we mention the boss of the level is a fire-breathing steak named ''[[A Worldwide Punomenon|Flamin' Yawn]]''?
* The original ''[[Populous]]'' had a cake-themed world that was [[That One Level|insanely difficult]].
* ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' examples:
** ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' has several levels with [[Edible Theme Naming]], but Chocolate Island appears to be made of chocolate, including boiling hot chocolate pits where other worlds would have lava. By the same token, Choco Island and Choco Mountain from the ''[[Mario Kart]]'' games qualify.
** Sweet Sweet Galaxy and "Bouncing Down Cake Lane" in Toy Time Galaxy from ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]''.
** ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'' reuses the trope with Sweet Mystery Galaxy, a level based around a spotlight that revealed hidden platforms. And the contents of the candy bars you're walking on.
** Peach's stage in ''[[Mario Party]]'',
** Also the Sweet Dream board in ''[[Mario Party]] 5''.
** The Waffle Kingdom in ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' is never shown, but implied to be like this from [[Theme Naming|the names]], and most of the inhabitants we see look like food.
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* The Candy Chateau in ''[[Rayman]]'', which is also (amusingly and unfittingly enough) ''the final level and the contrasting villain's hideout''. However, the level's boss arena is a radical departure from the stage itself (It is a generic castle room with no trace of this trope).
** ''[[Rayman Origins]]'' has Gourmand Land. Both locations [[Hailfire Peaks|mix]] in [[Lethal Lava Land|fire]] and [[Eternal Engine|kitchen]], and [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|ice]] and [[Palmtree Panic|resort]].
***These levels return in ''[[Rayman Legends]]'' and now include patches of ground made of cake which can be tunnelled through via Murfy's bottomless stomach.
* The secret "good" ending of ''[[
* [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] of ''[[Psychonauts]]'' is the Meat Circus, A literal combination of Raz's own nightmares from his circus upbringing, and another character's nightmares from his father's butcher shop. As can probably be guessed, the level is very macabre.
* A few of the maps in the ''[[Worms]]'' series are food displays.
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* Sweet Mountain Zone from ''[[Sonic Colors]]''. This is especially prevalent in Act 2, parts of which have Sonic going around a giant cheeseburger filled with cake and jellybeans.
** Eggman's PA announcements deconstruct the nature of this zone, describing various flaws (like melting rides) in that zone, and warning visitors not to lick the attractions (because that would be disgusting).
* Most ''[[Kirby]]'' games have worlds named after food such as Grape Garden and White Wafers, but the food imagery starts and ends with the names. However, ''[[Kirby's Epic Yarn]]'' has Sweets Park in Treat Land (the Hub is made of this trope, even though not all of its levels are)
** There's also the ice cream factory levels in ''[[Kirby Planet Robobot]]'', where you walk across giant ice cream sandwiches and dodge giant, delicious-looking ice cream cones that fall over and try to crush you.
* ''[[Panic Restaurant]]'' for the NES. The whole point is that you fight your way through a restaurant full of mutated food for enemies.
* While there are platforms made of stone to be found, the Golden Temple of ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'' has many platforms made of strawberries, blueberries, cherries, cinnamon sticks, oranges, and, of course, [[Trademark Favorite Food|bananas]].
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* Victoria's Laboratory from ''[[LittleBigPlanet]] 2'' mixes this trope with [[Eternal Engine]].
* Obscure Famicom title ''[[Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa]]'' has no less than ''three'' stages like this - a candy/cake word, a vegetable world, and a milk/cheese world. The crossover game ''[[Wai Wai World 2]]'' has the same sort of food-themed level design in World 5, along with Upa himself.
* The Meat Circus from ''[[Psychonauts]]'' combines this with [[Circus of Fear]]. This unique mental world is the result the brainwaves of two characters - Razputin and Coach Oleander - becoming intertwined thus combining Razputin's memories of growing up in his family's circus, and Coach Oleander's traumatic memories of his father's butcher shop. As Oleander himself puts it, “My memories were bad enough. ''This'' is just ''gross''.”
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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* ''[[Cyanide & Happiness]]'''s Ted Bear short is about the title character exploring a land with with bacon trees, fruitfish (they're actually crustaceans), and Nestlé quicksand.
* ''[[Neopets]]'' [[The Not-Secret|certainly does not have a land made entirely of gelatin.]] That would just be silly.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDKrP3HtHLg Volume 9] of ''[[RWBY]]'' takes place in a literal [[Fairy Tale]] Land which includes [https://youtu.be/O3hj3b45y0Q?t=23 a section that appears to be made of candy and whipped cream] -- up to and including peppermint-striped mountains in the background.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** [[I'm a Humanitarian|Aren't they?]]
* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'''s Candied Island.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* There was a rather scary one in an episode of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' - Dad, [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|going mad from lack of muffins]], hallucinates that he's in a world made of (and inhabited by) muffins. They make him their king.
* The ''[[I Am Weasel]]'' episode "Dessert Island".
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* ''[[Adventure Time]]'' has the Candy Kingdom, complete with a Bubble Gum Princess.
* ''[[Chowder]]'' pretty much ''is'' this trope.
* In one old ''[[Popeye]]'' cartoon, Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy visit the moon, which is actually made of cheese, and populated by cute little cheese-men. Unfortunately, [[Large and In Charge| the Big Cheese]] who rules the place [[The Caligula| is a cruel tyrant.]] After a dose of spinach, Popeye manages to turn him into crumbs.
* In the ''[[Amphibia (TV series)|Amphibia]]'' episode "Night Drivers", Anne, who has been helping Hop Pop drive their carriage for 20 hours straight, finally falls asleep and dreams of "Yogurtopia", a land of cookies, cake and frozen yogurt. The [[Anthropomorphic Food]] natives not only [[Let's Meet the Meat| offer themselves to her]], they assure her none of the sweets have bugs in them. (Often a problem with food in Amphibia.) Unfortunately, this dream turns into a nightmare quickly, because all the yogurt is [[Stock Yuck| black licorice-flavored]].
==
* Gingerbread houses at Christmastime.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Settings]]
[[Category:Otherworld Tropes]]
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[[Category:Food Tropes]]
[[Category:Video Game Settings]]
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