History Main / ForbiddenZone

* In ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', Battleworld has the south pole, which is comprised of [[ComicBook/AgeOfUltron Perfection]], [[ComicBook/MarvelZombies the Deadlands]] and [[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet New Xandar]]. Between an army of Ultrons, an army of super powered zombies, the Annihilation Wave, and Thanos, no one wants to be there as its certain death. [[spoiler:GodEmperor Doctor Doom sends people there as punishment for breaking major laws. Or just annoying him. Partway through the story, Earth!616 Thanos takes over the entire area on his own.]]

* Basically anything that isn't the Great Valley in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' series, following the original (since that was spent getting ''to'' the Great Valley). Most of the outside area that isn't a natural hazard zone is populated by carnivorous dinosaurs.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Traitor General'', the Untill is a swamp which only certain natives can live in. The Ghosts are of course forced to go there to avoid chaos forces.

* In the world of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' there was an ancient empire known as the Valyrian Freehold based off the country of Valyria. Once the most powerful empire in the world thanks to their mastery of magic and dragons, ''[[NoodleIncident something]]'' happened one day that literally destroyed the country, known offhandedly as the Doom of Valyria. Now sailors and explorers fear to even come close to the country's waters as they are storm-wrecked, choking with dangers and the land itself is an inhospitable waste reduced by volcanic eruptions, leading to the proverb that the Doom still rules Valyria. Events in ''Literature/FireAndBlood'' suggest [[spoiler:there's ''something'' alive there. Something alive, unfriendly, and capable of hurting dragons.]] Which is why King Jaehaerys forbid anyone from setting foot there.
* In C. S. Lewis' [[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy Space Trilogy]], the ''entire planet Earth'' qualifies as a Forbidden Zone to the rest of the Solar System, being known as Thulcandra, The Silent Planet.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has "Tormented Space" which most species stay away from due to dangerous electrostatic anomalies and the barbarism of the natives. Of course, the heroes have to go there to escape the various bad guys. Once they arrive they buy equipment to compensate for the anomalies from the locals and otherwise have no more problem than they do in every other region.
* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', you'd have to be insane to even consider going into Reaver-occupied space. TheMovie, of course, sees our protagonists forced to do just that.

* In ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', Zone 09 is forbidden to enter for all other citizens of the Ark, and especially for UNION (the Ark police). [[spoiler:It's a district that was abandoned by the government due to a [[TheCorruption redshift]] incident gone horribly wrong a few decades ago, with the police's solution being to quarantine the whole place indefinitely, leaving it to its own devices and basically becoming this game's equivalent of the [[UsefulNotes/HongKong Kowloon Walled City]]. In one chapter, you sneak into it to learn more about a FantasticDrug being distributed there, and when you're caught at the end of the chapter, you're subsequently arrested for entering Zone 09 as well as using your [[PuppetLegion Legion]] without authorization from higher command. The only reason this doesn't get you fired or worse (while your coworker who led the mission does) is because your assistance is urgently needed in the following chapter due to an extremely dangerous enemy.]]

* Most of Earth is this in ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent''. It's called [[http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=66 Silent World]], and is full of [[ViralTransformation Rash Illness Victims]]: trolls, beasts and giants. With EverythingTryingToKillYou it's considered a suicide to dwell further than few kilometers from the Known World, which means that in Year 90, nobody really knows what's there. Of course, that's what our heroes are hired to find out...

** The Serpent's Pass is a quick route to Ba Sing Se, the only land passage across the large inland sea that separates the sections of the Earth Kingdom, and for those without tickets or passports for the hidden ferry it is the ''only'' way to reach the safety of Ba Sing Se. Of course, considering the entrance signpost actually says "''Abandon Hope''," and only the most desperate of travelers dare to take this deadly route, maybe you should think twice before crossing this isthmus. Hint: [[spoiler:there's a giant mother-flipping '''serpent''' swimming around.]]

* The Null Void in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10''. Kevin was scared and horrified of going there (or threatening to go there), Ben claimed it's worse than prison, Argit hesitated to go there, and even [[BigBad Vilgax]] had an [[TwitchyEye eye twitch]] by just mentioning it, calling it accursed.

* The short-lived Ruby-Spears animated series known as ''WesternAnimation/PiggsburgPigs'' featured an area right outside of their city that was literally known as the Forbidden Zone, and for good reason....it was populated by all manner of demonic creatures, from swamp monsters, to vampires, to aliens. Though for some reason, these creatures were more humanoid in appearance, whereas the Piggsburg populous were all anthropomorphic pigs that wore clothes. So whichever one was truly more frightening is left up to you.

* The Exclusion Zone around {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} in Ukraine, including parts of Belarus. These days, you can actually go there, but not for long. Note that hundreds of people work there daily, but the area is large enough that a casual visitor is unlikely to see anybody else during a brief visit.

* This is what the area around the Yucca nuclear waste repository may look like to future humans, depending on the exact method that the government employs to discourage passersby from wandering inside to see what's there. The difficulty, of course, is averting the "naturally, the heroes will inevitably wind up going there" part of the trope. One proposed method is to build a large field of concrete thorns around it.

* There is an island off the coast of Brazil called Ilha da Queimada Grande. You can only travel there with special permission from the government. Why? Because the island's nickname is "Snake Island", as in Golden Lancehead Vipers, one of the ''absolute deadliest snakes in the world''! The entire island is infested with them to the point that some parts of the island have one snake per square meter. Local legend even has it at ''five'' per square meter! There is one story of the former lighthouse keeper and his family attempting to flee the island during the night because the snakes were literally overrunning their home.

* Yellowstone National Park is mostly in Wyoming, but its northern and western edges spill over into Montana and Idaho. Through a combination of state courts having no authority in US national parks, the entire park being under the jurisdiction of the US District Court of Wyoming, the fact that no one lives in the Idaho portion of the park, and the Sixth Amendment requiring all juries to be made up of people living in the area the crime took place, it's possible one could commit any crime in the Idaho portion of the park, including murder, and never face punishment for it because it would be impossible to summon a jury for it and thus hold a trial. Though this hasn't been tested, the Idaho strip has since gained the nickname the Zone of Death from this legal anomaly.

Not to be confused with ''Film/ForbiddenZone'', a Music/DannyElfman film.

* ''Tabletop/{{Shadowrun}}'' has the Saar-Lorraine-Luxembourg Special Administrative Zone (SOX), a massive exclusion zone created after the meltdown of the Cattenom Reactor, it includes territory from France, Germany and the whole former nation of Luxembourg, all enclosed behind a massive and heavily fortified concrete wall. In practice, the SOX is administered by a compact of MegaCorps who run secret laboratories within what is effectively the largest extraterritorial enclave in the world. As a result, thousands of corporate citizens live and work within the zone in acrologies, and they even host their own take on the [[WarForFunAndProfit Desert Wars]] called the Rad Wars. It's still mostly forbidden on account of the radiation, waste disposal sites, mutated critters, gangs of radpunks and the horrific effects all this has had on the astral plane.

* Yellowstone National Park is mostly in Wyoming, but parts of its northern and western edges spill over into Montana and Idaho. Through a combination of state courts having no authority in US national parks, the entire park being under the jurisdiction of the US District Court of Wyoming, the fact that no one lives in the Idaho portion of the park, and the Sixth Amendment requiring all jury tries to be made up of people living in the area the crime took place, it's possible one could commit any crime in the Idaho portion of the park including murder and never face punishment for it because it would be impossible to summon a jury and thus a trial. Though this hasn't been tested, the Idaho strip has since gained the nickname the Zone of Death from this legal anomaly.

* ''Webcomic/TheGreeningWars'' has [[SicklyGreenGlow the Glow]], an intensely radioactive area [[NuclearNasty full of monsters]] produced by the [[NuclearOption nuking of southern Europe]].

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has Area 69, a military and research compound that instantly gives you a 5 star warrant level if you approach it and you'll be shot down by missiles or the military's fighter jets if you approach the area by air. There's one mission where you do get the chance to sneak into the facility and see why the area is so heavily guarded; using alien technology, the military created a jet pack that allows the wearer to fly. You get to keep it as well once you complete the mission.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BirdBoyTheForgottenChildren'', going to the scrapyard is off-limits for the people living in the town, as many shady businesses are dealt in there and their inhabitants are known to be hostile to bypassers, willing to rob and/or kill them if they cross their zone. Even the police are scared to go in there, knowing how messed up things are there.

* The Calm Belts of ''Manga/OnePiece'' sound like a pleasant place, but they're actually one of the deadliest places in a world of sailing ships. There is absolutely no wind or sea currents in the Belts, meaning any ship that enters the area is permanently becalmed and must rely on oars to escape. This alone wouldn't be so bad, but the Belts are also the nesting grounds of the [[SeaMonster Sea Kings]], which are far more numerous and larger in these waters. The Calm Belts border either side of the Great Line which is why it can only be entered at Reverse Mountain.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts has giant carnivorous spiders, centaurs that, on the whole, don't want humans to bother them, and the occasional ghoul drinking unicorn blood. Students are forbidden to go there for any reason, so naturally, Hagrid spends a lot of time keeping students out.

** Caradhras and Moria. The Fellowship attempts to cross the Pass of Caradhras but is forced to turn back and go through Moria instead.

* In ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', Zone 09 is forbidden to enter for all other citizens of the Ark, and espeically for UNION (the Ark police). [[spoiler:It's a district that was abandoned by the government due to a [[TheCorruption redshift]] incident gone horribly wrong a few decades ago, with the police's solution being to quarantine the whole place indefinitely, leaving it to its own devices and basically becoming this game's equivalent of the [[UsefulNotes/HongKong Kowloon Walled City]]. In one chapter, you sneak into it to learn more about a FantasticDrug being distributed there, and when you're caught at the end of the chapter, you're subsequently arrested for entering Zone 09 as well as using your [[PuppetLegion Legion]] without authorization from higher command. The only reason this doesn't get you fired or worse (while your coworker who led the mission does) is because your assistance is urgently needed in the following chapter due to an extremely dangerous enemy.]]

* In ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', Zone 09 is forbidden to enter for all other citizens of the Ark, and espeically for UNION (the Ark police). [[spoiler:It's a district that was abandoned by the government due to a redshift incient gone horribly wrong a few decades ago, with the police's solution being to quarantine the whole place indefinitely, leaving it to its own devices and basically becoming this game's equivalent of the [[UsefulNotes/HongKong Kowloon Walled City]]. In one chapter, you sneak into it to learn more about a FantasticDrug being distributed there, and when you're caught at the end of the chapter, you're subsequently arrested for entering Zone 09 as well as using your [[PuppetLegion Legion]] without authorization from higher command. The only reason this doesn't get you fired or worse (while your coworker who led the mission does) is because your assistance is urgently needed in the following chapter due to an extremely dangerous enemy.]]

* In ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', Zone 09 is forbidden to enter for all other citizens of the Ark, and espeically for UNION (the Ark police). [[spoiler:In one chapter, you sneak into it to learn more about a FantasticDrug being distributed there, and when you're caught at the end of the chapter, you're subsequently arrested for entering Zone 09 as well as using your [[PuppetLegion Legion]] without authorization from higher command. The only reason this doesn't get you fired or worse (while your coworker who led the mission does) is because your assistance is urgently needed in the following chapter due to an extremely dangerous enemy.]]

* The Exclusion Zone around {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} in Ukraine, including parts of Belarus. These days, you can actually go there, but not for long. Note that hundreds of people work there daily, and their numbers are likely to increase as the new radiation shield needs to be built around the reactor soon. Still, the area is large enough that a casual visitor is unlikely to see anybody else during a brief visit.

* The Tower of Regrets in ''[[Literature/{{Indigo}} Nemesis]]'', although it doubles as a CallReceivalArea.

** Any area of land deemed a Chaotic Zone is offlimits to civilians because it is a PlaceOfPower and a spawning ground for monsters. Mercenaries aren't civilians so Eric can still go there.

** The destroyed Fire Nation warship near the Southern Water Tribe village in the first episode straddles the line between Forbidden Zone and CallReceivalArea. It was probably forbidden because it had been rent through with ice and was unstable, not because the elders ''knew'' of any boobytraps, but the flare Aang and Katara set off summons Zuko to provide a reason to get out of dodge.
* Null Void in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}''. Kevin was scared and horrified of going there (or threatening to go there), Ben claimed it's worse than prison, Argit hesitating to go there and even [[BigBad Vilgax]] had an eye twitch by just mentioning it, calling it accursed.

** Also in the episode "A Bicyclops Built for Two", there was the Forbidden Valley (right next to the Permitted and Required Valleys). As it turns out however, [[spoiler:the Forbidden Valley actually separates and stops Alcazar's brides from seeing the other four identical castles, where the other brides live]].

* The short-lived Ruby-Spears animated series known as ''WesternAnimation/PiggsburgPigs'' featured an area right outside of their city that was literally known as the Forbidden Zone, and for good reason....it was populated by all manner of demonic creatures, from swamp monsters, to vampires, to aliens. Though for some reason, these creatures were more humanoid in appearance, whereas the Piggsburg populous were all anthropormorphic pigs that wore clothes. So whichever one was truly more frightening is left up to you.

* For a time in the 1980s the Libyan government declared the Gulf of Sidra off-limits to international shipping, calling their boundary the "Line of Death". Yet, oddly, a pair of U.S. aircraft carrier battlegroups encountered ''no trouble at all'' when they entered it. The Libyans did send aircraft after them on two occasions -- in each case, the Libyans were blown out of the sky by F-14s.

* Area 51. In hindsight it was probably a bad idea to burn radioactive waste in their backyard without any safety measures.

* The DMZ betwixt the Koreas, full of landmines and devoid of human activity. Even when visiting the Joint Security Area, the only place along the DMZ where personnel from both North and South can get close to each other, you're only allowed to visit as part of an organized tour and you have to sign a waiver acknowledging that "the visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action."

* No Fly Zones, where aircraft are forbidden to fly on pain of being shot down. This is a common response to regional instability, to prevent combatants with aircraft from launching bombing strikes against civilians.

* In ''VideoGame/ArxFatalis'', the entire surface world is a Forbidden Zone, thanks to the planet being plunged into TheNightThatNeverEnds and consequently becoming a frozen wasteland. You ''can'' try to go out onto the surface, but [[NonStandardGameOver all that happens is that you instantly freeze and die]].