The Lost Woods: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

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

 

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...

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

* Mocked in ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'' by the [[wikipedia:Evelyn Wood (teacher)|Evelyn Wood]], a dark and dangerous forest which had once been a sunnier and more friendly demesne known as the [[Natalie Wood|Nattily Wood]] before being corrupted.

 

== Music ==

* Fungi Forest in ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' downplays the trope—the theme is forests, but the stage has no forest-specific obstacles.

* 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.

** 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.

* ''[[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]]''.

 

 

* 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...

* Any reasonably thick forests can be made out as that with some imagination. The play of firelight, moonlight and the shadows of trees can allow you to very easily pretend there are Strange Things there.

*Not to mention that even in well governed areas, nature can take a turn for the worse, or a hunter might [[Unfriendly Fire|mistake you for a deer]] or what not.

[[Category:Tropes of Nature]]

[[Category:Tree Tropes]]