History Main / BeneaththeEarth

* ''Film/TheMatrix''. Zion, Humanity's last civilization free of the Matrix is located near the Earth's core for its warmth.
** That's ludicrous. Yes, it runs on geothermal energy but no where does it say it's located NEAR the core. To have an underground city breach the crust to the mantle would already be a feat possible only by either the entire civilization of man before they were enslaved, or extreme devotion of resources on part by the machines.
** Tank, in the first movie, explicitly says that Zion is near the Earth's core "where its still warm", though it could be argued that he meant "near" only in a loose sense. Also, it is possible that either Man or the Machines ''did'' breach the crust that deeply- Man because they wanted to see if they could (or maybe as the machines rebelled, if they were desperate) or the Machines because [[spoiler: they have been periodically killing everyone in Zion and releasing a new batch of humans from the Matrix to replace them- it is presumably the same Zion that is used, so why can't the machines have made it?]]
** As it doesn't seem to have taken either the humans' ships or the machines' attack-force very long to shuttle between Zion and the surface, it doesn't seem plausible for it to lie 1790 miles below the surface. Why would either side have expended the energy to penetrate so deep, if both sides were as starved for power-sources as is claimed? Better to snuggle up near a volcanic rift in the lower crust.

** In 2003, the French police found a [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/08/filmnews.france 400 M cinema]] in Paris's underground, fully equiped with electricity, phone, and a small restaurant. The Parisian police even have a dedicated squad patrolling the underground to chase intruders.

* In DavidEddings' ''TheBelgariad'', the Ulgos have lived in the caves below Ulgoland for centuries. They are featured particularly in ''Magician's Gambit''.

* DeltoraQuest: Lief, Barda and Jasmine discover the descendants of the Pirrans living on underground islands beneath Deltora.

* All the Fraggles of ''FraggleRock'' lived in an elaborate cave hidden behind Doc's workshop. Or beneath the lighthouse, in the UK version. In both cases, exactly where the Gorgs' garden was in relation to the human world was completely unexplored.

Not so lucky ones get gloom, fungus and lava. (They're the ones who usually want revenge.) Often based on the "Morlocks" in HGWells' book ''TheTimeMachine''. Particularly well-to-do ones will build an UndergroundCity instead.

* The animals in Creator/RoaldDahl's FantasticMrFox build a labyrinth of caves and tunnels to live in and steal food from the rather nasty human villians.

* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' by Creator/NeilGaiman (based on the LiveActionTV miniseries written by him, which see).

* ''Underworld'' a relatively obscure RPG, had a setting and flavor similar to that of ''{{Neverwhere}}'', but was set under New York City instead of London.

* ''{{Neverwhere}}'' by NeilGaiman (based on the LiveActionTV miniseries written by him, which see).

* The miniseries and novel ''{{Neverwhere}}'' (both by NeilGaiman) mainly take place in an elaborate underground society beneath the streets of London. There's definite magic in the setting, though, and some hints that the lower chunks of the system aren't really connected to the "real" world.

* The [[MoleMen Tunnelers]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Lonesome Road'' resulted from the mutation of the Divide's residents who took shelter underground during the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Great War]]. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero The second nuclear catastrophe triggered by the Courier released them to the surface]].

* VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} games have their share of underground caverns. Azol-Nerub, the capital of the Nerubian civilization, is a sprawling underground labyrinth that stretches across much of the continent of Northrend. The part where the Nerubians used to live is called the Upper Kingdom, and below that is the Lower Kingdom, which consists of even deeper tunnels populated by nameless horrors and possibly one of [[EldritchAbomination the Old Gods]]. The Old God has been confirmed to be Yogg-Saron in the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion.

-->'''Moleman:''' There is no escape from the Kingdom of the Moles!

Go a few kilometers deeper, and the Earth's crust is filled with spacious caverns. The really lucky BeneathTheEarth dwellers will have a LostWorld thing going, with tropical flora and fauna in abundance (although occasionally with monsters like [[EverythinsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]]).

Go a few kilometers deeper, and the Earth's crust is filled with spacious caverns. The really lucky BeneathTheEarth dwellers will have a LostWorld thing going, with tropical flora and fauna in abundance (although occasionally with monsters like dinosaurs).

* ''VideoGame/{{Turok}} 2: Seeds of Evil'' has the Lair of the Blind Ones, whose centuries spent in darkness has rendered the titular inhabitants eyeless as well as giving them [[WeakenedByTheLight a lethal sensitivity to sunlight]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Turok}} 2: Seeds of Evil'' has the Lair of the Blind Ones, whose centuries spent in darkness has rendered them eyeless as well as giving them [[WeakenedByTheLight a lethal sensitivity to sunlight]].

Those who live BeneathTheEarth are often exiles from the World Above. They fled either to create a new home for themselves, or to harbor their grudge for revenge (depending on how well they did). Alternately, they may have fled to escape [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The End Of Their World As They Knew It.]] If they had better technology or more resources, they might have built an ElaborateUndergroundBase, but they don't, so they have to make do with simple caves and tunnels.

Not so lucky ones get gloom, fungus and lava. (They're the ones who usually want revenge.) Often based on the "Morlocks" in HGWells' book ''TheTimeMachine''. Particularly well-to-do ones will build an ElaborateUndergroundBase instead.

* The Inner World is a location in the unique anime sci-fi action anime series ''SpiderRiders'' that exisit deep beneth the Planet Earth. There live two subterranean civilizations that live in the Inner World. There are the humans, and the [[BeePeople Insectoid People]] called Insectors/Invectids.

* Khazad-Dum, in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is beneath ''Middle-Earth''.

* ''TheLordOfTheRings''. Moria, the subterranean dwelling of the Longbeards Dwarf clan under the Misty Mountains.