The Lost Woods: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''Aragorn''': Of course the woods are enchanted. They all are.

'''Gimli''': Nature Boy is right. When was the last time anyone saw a regular, non-enchanted forest? You can't grow two trees next to each other without some wizard or demon coming along and enchanting them.|''[[DM of the Rings]]''}}

 

 

Besides your usual forest creatures, all manner of strange things lurk in the shadows. In any setting, it may be home to a [[Tree-Top Town]]. In ye olden days, the Lost Woods were home to [[The Fair Folk]], the [[Big Badass Wolf]], [[Plant Person]] and [[When Trees Attack|the occasional tree out to kill you]]. In the modern day, it's home to the [[Ax Crazy|axe-wielding]] [[Serial Killer]], and campers- particularly those of the teenage variety- had [[Don't Go in The Woods|better stay out of them]]. In [[The Future]], it's home to cloaked snipers who want to make a hunt out of you. And Ewoks.

May be a [[Shadowland]] for even [[Arcadia]], but even more likely for [[Shining City|a brilliant and happy city]].

 

 

Frequently a [[Genius Loci]], but it's not required. For a slightly more realistic setting, see [[Wild Wilderness]]. Compare [[The Hedge of Thorns]].

 

Named for the infamous [[Recurring Location]] in the ''Zelda'' games.

 

== Anime ==

* [[Windaria]] ''Haunted'' Woods to be precise. It looks creepy enough but evil spirits live their too. They prey on fear and can lead to death and confusion.

== [[Fairy Tales]] ==

* "[[Hansel and Gretel]]"

* [[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (novel)|Snow White]] is abandoned in the forest.

* In "[[Brother and Sister]]", the title characters run off into the forest to escape their [[Wicked Stepmother]]. Because she is also a [[Wicked Witch]], she enchants the streams they come to and finally turns Brother into a deer. They live in the forest until the king finds her there and falls in [[Love At First Sight]].

* "Babes in the Wood". Sometimes combined with ''[[Robin Hood]]'' as a [[Pantomime]].

 

 

** Two sequel video games have different takes on what happens when the book's read in an urban environment. ''A Fistful of Boomstick'' portrays it as more or less a standard [[Zombie Apocalypse]], but ''Regeneration'' (a [[Continuity Reboot]] sequel) shows a wrecked city engulfed by mist and overrun with giant, living tree roots, as though it were in the process of changing into a Lost Wood.

* ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', in which the entire forest is also {{spoiler|one massive planetary ecological hivemind of sorts.}}

* ''[[Raggedy Ann and Andy A Musical Adventure]]'' has the Deep, Deep Woods, which the dolls are warned to stay away from by Marcella. While at first it seems to be a normal forest, made spooky by the darkness of night, it ends up being the gateway to [[Eldritch Abomination|The Greedy]] and Loony Land.

* ''[[Princess Mononoke]]''. The forest has its own ancient tree spirit, giant wolves, giant boar...

* Harry Turtledove's ''Tales of the Fox'' series has the forest around Ikos, where strange things live, which has a mind (or mids) of its own, which doesn't necessarily care for people, and roads only exist at the forest's sufferance. It can also make unwanted travelers vanish in unexplained but silently ominous ways. It's implied that the forest exists to protect the Oracle of Ikos, placed by the all-seeing [[Physical God|god]] Biton.

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' has weirwood forests, especially those with a heart tree, due to their association with the children of the forest and the old gods. A more malevolent version would be the Haunted Forest beyond the Wall, due to the Others.

* A benevolent version is the setting of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's ''[[Green-Sky Trilogy]]''. The forest covers the entire world and is a friendly, nurturing place to the tree-dwelling Kindar people. The Erdlings, who have spent many generations trapped underground, eulogize the forest as a lost paradise, but the first Erdling to escape from the caverns experiences the forest as both lonely and threatening at first.

* The Forbidden Forest in [[Harry Potter]] is filled with [[Our Centaurs Are Different|centaurs]], unicorns, [[Giant Spider|giant spiders]], and other magical beasts to the point that students are punished by having to go in it at night.

* [[William Morris]]' ''The Wood Beyond the World''.

* [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Tower]]'': ''[[The Dark Tower (Literature)/The Wind Through the Keyhole|The Dark Tower]]'' has "The Endless Forest".

 

== Music ==

 

== Tabletop RPG ==

* ''[[Exalted]]'' has the far East, surrounding the Elemental Pole of Wood. This serves as the source for the vary ''concept'' of plantishness in Creation. Eventually, the trees grow so thick that the branches and leaves fill up what would be the sky, and the roots crowd out the earth itself, leaving nothing but an endless procession of trunks, roots, and branches.

* [[Ravenloft]] has Lost Woods in spades. Much of the southeastern Core (the main landmass) is covered in thick, primeval forests. Notable areas include Verbrek (full of savage werewolves), Kartakass (full of intelligent wolves that hunt humans by shapeshifting into seductive human forms), and Tepest (where the goblins are the least of your worries compared to [[The Fair Folk]] and the hags).

* Indie RPG ''Summerland'' has this as a central motif-the world has been spontaneously covered by a [[Spirit World|supernatural]] forest called the Sea of Leaves, inhabited by [[Intellectual Animal|sentient beasts]], eccentric hermits called the Lost, and [[Barbarian Tribe|savage Wild tribes]], who have forgotten they were once human. Those last two were normal people, but had their personalities overwritten by the [[Charm Person]] effect the Sea has on normal people (the Lost are treatable, the Wild are not). You play as a Drifter, a person immune to the call...[[Blessed with Suck|which is probably worse than being normal]], since it requires having such [[Dysfunction Junction|overwhelming]] trauma in one's past that you can't deal with normal people.

* Usually one fifth of every [[Magic: The Gathering]] set. Lorwyn and Shadowmoor took place in the same woodsy fairytale land, the first being enchanted and the second being cursed.

 

 

* The Viridian Forest, Ilex Forest, Petalburg Woods, Eterna Forest, Pinwheel Forest, and Lostlorn Forest in ''[[Pokémon]]'', particularly the second, fourth, and sixth.

* Vine Valley in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'', Gloomy Gulch in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 2'' (which is [[Hailfire Peaks|also]] a [[Big Boo's Haunt]]), Kremwood Forest in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 3'', and Forest in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]''.

* Mazewood in ''[[Romancing SaGa]]''. {{spoiler|It is also the Domain of the Forest God; Cyril.}}

** ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' features Forever Forest as the setting for Chapter 3 up to the transition to Gusty Gulch. It ''is'' haunted, after a fashion, though the scary bits serve as hints more than haunts; and the enemy population consists of Fuzzies and Piranha Plants. Like in certain incarnations of Zelda's Lost Woods, going the wrong way just takes you back to more familiar settings, so becoming irretrievably lost from Toad Town is not a concern, except for the critters...

* Gaoracchia Forest from ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''

** [[Tales (series)]] likes this trope, and it appears in almost every, if not every, installment. ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' even has TWO: besides Gaoracchia is Torent Forest, which while not as dark or creepy does require you to follow a specific path or you'll just end up wandering around indefinitely.

* ''[[Folklore]]'s'' "Faery Realm" is a cross between this and technicolor [[Ghibli Hills]].

* [[World of Warcraft]] features a few of these, typically anywhere [[Our Elves Are Different|Night Elves]] make their abode. Ashenvale is the most prominent example, with the lighting always at essentially night-time levels and full of things like giant wolves and big, stompy four-story walking trees.

*** Terrokar ''Forest'' would perhaps be a better example.

** Duskwood qualifies as well.

** Well, both of the 'forests' are like a mix between forest and hill zone, with big open sunny skies and the general upbeatness. Gusty Garden seems more like a hill zone, too. At least it's not Evil Garden or some such.

** Tall Trunk Galaxy from [[Super Mario Galaxy 2|the sequel]] is actually a more straight example of this, in which there are various planets either shaped like trees, logs, and even a giant slide much akin to the one seen in ''[[Super Mario 64]]''.

* Several stratums in ''[[Etrian Odyssey]]'' are entirely this.

* Wiese Forest (Chapter 3) in ''[[Riviera: The Promised Land]]'' has an area like this. Cierra leads you in this direction, thinking it's a shortcut to the next area, only to have Serene berate her for getting lost. Furthermore, you have to navigate through ''two'' different sequences to get out.

** ''Seiken Densetsu''/''[[Final Fantasy Adventure]]''/''[[Sword of Mana]]'' had the sacred land Illusia, located atop an unreachably high plateau and being home to the game's [[World Tree|Mana Tree]].

** ''Seiken Densetsu 2''/''[[Secret of Mana]]'' had ''several'' of these, with playable areas being small parts of bigass undeveloped forest land covering vast stretches of the world map. The [[World Tree|Mana Tree]]'s forest is located on the island of Pure Land, inaccessible from the water because of high cliffs, and inaccessible from the air because of dense clouds that never clear. With its deceptively peaceful zen-like music, Pure Land actually [[Everything Trying to Kill You|has some of the most difficult normal enemies in the game]].

*** The game also has a forest maze that hides a [[Hidden Elf Village]]; the correct trail is marked by glowing flowers at night.

*** And in Carlie/Kevin's routes, the final dungeon is hidden beyond the [[The Maze|Jungle of Illusion]].

* ''[[Digimon World]]'' has the Misty Trees. Native Forest is really more of a [[Green Hill Zone]] or [[Ghibli Hills]].

* There are two in ''[[Shining the Holy Ark]]''. One is the second dungeon that leads to a cemetery (complete with secret underground passage). The second is just before you reach the [[Haunted House]]. In both cases expect the dead to be roaming around and for trees to pop out of the ground to attack you.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Gillitie Wood from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''.

* ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'' is a [[Fairy Tale]] pastiche, so naturally half the world is covered in forests of this type. [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/01-15.html Perrault doesn't believe November because she says she came through one.]

* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', the forest next to Dr. McNinja's office is haunted and filled with various undead horrors. He hates the place.

{{quote|"[[Alt Text|Doctor McNinja was not informed about the ghosts when he bought the property]]."}}

* ''[[Wooden Rose]]'' [http://www.woodenrosecomic.com/comic/chapter2/39.html The forest]

* ''[[Bird Boy]]'':

* ''[[Roza]]'' [http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/?date=2007-06-10 in search of a curse-breaker]

* In ''[[Thistil Mistil Kistil]]'', [http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch02-pg12/ where he meets Loki]

* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [http://endstone.net/2010/06/28/4-01/ even Kyri finds some woods dark and foreboding].

* In ''[[Rusty and Co.|Rusty and Co]]'', [http://rustyandco.com/comic/4/ where they camp].

* In ''[[Wake the Sleepers]]'', [http://wakethesleepers.com/comics/80 where Locke flees].

* The Everwood Forest and the much larger Silverfronds Forest in ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''.

 

 

* ''Neopets'' has the Haunted Woods.

** Post-[[Colony Drop]], Faerieland has become a non-dangerous example of this. We hope.

* [[One Hundred Yard Stare]]: Macy might have wandered into this in episode five.

 

* We could probably list the entirety of southern New Jersey, with the exception of Atlantic City. Driving down the pine barrens roads at night can easily give you the impression that you're somewhere in [[Lovecraft Country]].

** The pines have ''reclaimed'' several small towns. Wander through the wrong section of the barrens, and you might find bits and pieces of what used to be houses...

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Tropes of Nature]]

[[Category:Tree Tropes]]