History Main / GrimUpNorth

* ''Fanfic/UnderTheNorthernLights'': Tarandroland is populated by dour and violent reindeer, one of whom describes the climate as ice four fifths of the year, with the fifth part being mosquitos. While the ponies of Equestria may have to actively [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp wrap up winter]] every spring, the reindeer have to literally ''fight'' winter to make it go away. The story kicks off when [[HornyVikings reindeer in dragonships]] get back into their old habit of plundering northern Equestria.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': The Never-Never is formed by the subconscious myths and legends of humanity, meaning that the Winter Queen's realm there almost literally IS this trope.

* JV Jones' ''Literature/SwordOfShadows''. Pretty much the whole series takes place in what the rest of the world would consider to be the grim north, though even beyond that you get to "the Great Want", frozen {{Mordor}} and EldritchLocation ''par excellence''.

* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' and the worldwide ZombieApocalypse, the Arctic Circle actually fares better than most areas as zombies freeze solid in the winter. Mind, "better than most" still means that most evacuees are completely unprepared for winter survival and die anyway. Those who do survive and set up fortifications are able to scavenge unimpeded during the winter and hole up during the summer.

** While not in The North, the Iron Islands have this vibe, being grey and dreary due to their location, and the people are not much better. They're still well north of most of the rest of Westeros, though. In universe, most scholars agree that the Ironborn and Northmen are basically two branches of the same tribe.

* Myth/FinnishMythology: In ''Literature/TheKalevala'', Pohjola (literally "northplace") is the enemy land ruled by the witch Louhi and the place where all evil comes from. Note that the Sámi people have always lived north of Finns and were the natural enemy for a long time until the arrival of Swedes from the west and Russians from the east.

* ''Idän ilmat ilkehimmät, Pohjan pakkaset pahimmat'' -- another Finnish proverb. Literally "eastern weathers most vicious, northern frosts the worst". TruthInTelevision here: when wind blows from East, it means a cyclone is about to pass over the observer; when wind blows from North, it means there is a massive high pressure area at North Pole, where the air is especially cold.

* ''Literature/TheBible'': Throughout the Old Testament and even some in the New Testament, north was seen as Israel's weak side. Oppression giants became fewer in TheSavageSouth (Egypt) and more plentiful in the north (Assyria, Scythia, etc.) as time progressed.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'': The northern bits of the Flanaess aren't exactly the most welcoming either, even without taking into account the frigid climate; from West to East, they are: the lands of the Bakluni [[HordesFromTheEast Turkic-like]] Tiger and Wolf Nomads (the latter are proud and wary of strangers, but reasonable enough if propitiated, while the former are generally assholes); the dreary, swampy (and possible resting place of incredibly ancient, powerful and dangerous {{Magitek}}) archbarony of Blackmoor; TheEmpire of [[EvilOverlord Iuz the Old]], a spectacularly depraved [[HumanDemonHybrid cambion]] turned [[GodOfEvil demigod]] and his hordes of minions, worshippers, and demons; the Barrens and the Bandit Lands, both inhospitable mostly-conquered wildernesses home to a few desperate groups still attempting to resist Iuz's sadistic grip (the Rovers in particular, a nearly-pure Flan culture of Barrens nomads, have been brought to the edge of extinction); the Hold of Stonefist, a realm of barbaric marauders whose main pastime/economic activity is literally RapePillageAndBurn; and the Thillronian Peninsula, home of three different flavors of Suel-descended HornyVikings. And to the north of the Nomads' lands, at the northernmost tip of the Flanaess, lies the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Land of Black Ice]], a mysterious expanse about which virtually nothing is known apart from the dark ice its inland glacier is made of and being the abode of many strange arctic monsters.

** On Irrisen's other side lies the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. There are no permanent settlements here, and most of the land is untamed tundra and boreal forest home to nomadic [[BarbarianTribe Kellid tribes]] eking out a harsh existence on the icy plains, Ice Age megafauna and tribes of giants in the mountains who regularly war against the Kellids. The Kellids live in a state of constant siege, having the witches of Irrisen on one side and the [[HellGate Worldwound]] and its demons on the other, and even when not fighting off these two threats their lives are hard and short, ended most often by a rampaging beast, a frost giant's axe or the unforgiving cold.

* The world of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has arguably the grimmest up North in fiction. Past the merely inhospitable Kislev, you get from west to east to the lands of the Norscans (evil Vikings), the Kurgans (evil Mongols) and the Hung (breathtakingly depraved evil Huns), the closest of all the realms of men to the Powers of [[EldritchAbomination Chaos]] and universally marauder tribes that form the core of the LegionsOfHell and the Champions of Chaos who lead the hordes of Chaos in war. In particular, the Norscans are the vanguard of those hordes as they are fanatically devoted to the Chaos Gods and are perhaps the cruelest and most vicious warriors to stalk the Old World, with a hatred of the South, in particular the Empire, which dates back several thousand years to the age of [[MessianicArchetype Sigmar]]. Further north, through the Chaos Wastes (daemon-infested black deserts where [[RealityIsOutToLunch reality is wearing pretty damn thin]]), you eventually reach the Realm of Chaos, which is basically {{Hell}}. ''All'' of these (except Kislev) regularly spew out TheLegionsOfHell to lay waste to the Old World (although the Hung, who live half a world away from the main setting, mostly ride out against [[{{Wutai}} the empire of Cathay]] instead).

** In fact, ''40K'' makes the decision to blow up ''Fantasy'''s LeftJustifiedFantasyMap to fit an entire galaxy, with the Segmentum Obscurus (the bits "north" of Earth) including Fenris, Valhalla, and even its own Chaos-Wastes-In-Space, the Eye of Terror.

* MMORPG ''VideoGame/{{Dofus}}'' has an entire [[ExpansionPackWorld continent]] called Frigost. Oddly, it's not particularly far north, instead being situated in the middle of the ocean far to the west of the normal world. [[SubvertedTrope It was originally not particularly grim at all,]] [[AllThereInTheManual until the ruler of the island decided it would be a good idea to try and create an eternal summer for the island's farmers.]] This did not go down well with the demon who controls December, and provoked him into freezing the island for the past century.

** ''Videogame/SunlessSea'' reveals ''some'' of the stuff up North, and none of it is especially pleasant. In the northern reaches of the Zee, one can find: an incredibly creepy church full of cannibals. A gateway to outer space at the utmost north (please note: ''Sunless Sea'' is set ''underground'') which is constantly, absolutely still and will always be in front of you when you travel to the northern edge of the map, no matter your east-west location. A magical ice castle slash EldritchLocation that imprisons fears that you may or may not hallucinate entering. A city that exists[[TimeTravelTenseTrouble (/existed/will exist)]] partially outside time. The only warm place is an active volcano full of old devils. While up north, you share the seas with snow flurries that slow your ship down, "lifebergs", which are essentially homicidal living icebergs, and Mt. Nomad, the hardest monster in the game.

* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', TheEmpire is headquartered on a perpetually grim and stormy FloatingContinent north of most of the rest of civilization. The actual arctic ice cap isn't so bad, though; it just has one dungeon and a couple of {{Bonus Boss}}es, no worse than the rest of the world. Of course, given that lazy programming makes Arcadia look like a [[WorldShapes torus]] according to the map, it's impossible to tell whether this dungeon is the north pole or the south pole.

*** The practical reason for this is that the designers thought it would be pretty boring to have an entire expansion covered with snow, so they didn't. The two northernmost areas of the northern continent though both follow this trope in slightly different ways. The aforementioned Undead/Vikings/[[NinjaPirateRobotZombie Undead Vikings]] in Icecrown, and both [[{{Precursors}} Precursor ruins]] and a SealedEvilInACan in the Storm Peaks.

** ''Literature/BerenAndLuthien'': Beren's Man tribe is wiped out by the army of orcs and fell beasts of Sauron coming down from the North and invading Dorthonion. Later, during the Quest of the Silmaril, the party must travel northward, sneak past Sauron's fortress "the Isle of Weverwolves" and continue further north to reach Angband, the fortress of Morgoth.

* Many songs by the infamous Swedish band Music/{{Kent}} are about the coldness (both literally and figuratively) of Sweden.

* Myth/IrishMythology: Of the five IRish provinces, "Ulster in the north is the seat of battle valour, of haughtiness, strife, boasting; the men of Ulster are the fiercest warriors of all Ireland, and the queens and goddesses of Ulster are associated with battle and death."

* The comic book miniseries ''ComicBook/ThirtyDaysOfNight'' was about a remote town in Alaska attacked by vampires during its long "winter night". Subsequent miniseries in the same setting returned there a few times.

* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'': The BigBad was sealed away inside Attu Island, an uninhabited island in the Bering Sea, 77,000 years ago. It came at the cost of every single Mothra and Battra on the planet save one of each and a global extinction event that left the world largely devoid of magic. The island was peaceful enough, if remote, until it started to awaken. What followed was a parade of nightmares to any who came near it, freak storms, and mass animal die off relating to its LandSeaSky Aspects with thousands of sea birds, fish and marine mammals, and then the sole remaining human expiring during fits of pure panic as the monster broke free.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12724207/1/Hindsight Hindsight]]'': The Saiyans live in the brutal, far northern kingdom of Vegeta. Unusually for the trope, however, it serves as a sanctuary for Princess Bulma.

* ''Fanfic/UnderTheNorthernLights'': Tarandroland is populated by dour and violent reindeer, one of whom describes the climate as ice four fifths of the year, with the fifth part being mosquitos. While the ponies of Equestria may have to actively [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp wrap up winter]] every spring, the reindeer have to literally ''fight'' winter to make it go away. The story kicks off when [[HornyVikings reindeer in dragonships]] get back into their old habit of plundering northern Equestria. On the other hand, following the AnachronismStew of the original show, this trope is heavily mixed with NorseByNorsewest, and the reindeer follow many stereotypes of modern Scandinavians (the author being Swedish).

* The main villain, Nekron from ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'', makes his home up north in Icepeak.
* Being a Fantasy Counterpart Culture to the Nordic Countries, Arendelle from ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' is very cold but it's a PlayedWith example -- it's a pretty positive portrayal. That being said, when Elsa runs away and starts causing her EndlessWinter, her fortress is on the ''North'' mountain.

* Referenced for atmosphere several times in ''Literature/TheBalladOfTheWhiteHorse'', first in the description of the "[[EndOfAnAge apocalypse]]" in the first book, then with [[OmnicidalManiac Ogier]] as a sort of personification of it. "[[RousingSpeech For the ice of the north is broken, and the blood of the north is free!]]"

* In ''[[Literature/TheBible Bible]]'' times, throughout the Old Testament and even some in the New Testament, north was seen as Israel's weak side. Oppression giants became fewer in TheSavageSouth (Egypt) and more plentiful in the north (Assyria, Scythia, etc.) as time progressed.

* In the ''Literature/{{Conqueror}}'' books, the evil Tartars live in northern Mongolia, where the winters are even harsher than the south.

* The Never-Never of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is formed by the subconscious myths and legends of humanity, meaning that the Winter Queen's realm there almost literally IS this trope.

* In ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', the darkest, most evil parts of the story occur in the land simply referred to as "The North." While Walton may see the frozen lands as a prospect of opportunity, they are shown to be nothing but complete wastelands to which Victor chases his monster away from the civilized world. As is commonly believed among scholars of the Romantic period, this land is likely used as a symbol for the desolation caused by Victor's blind obsession with progress. While he may have intended to bring warmth to the world by raising the dead, all he brings are a cold and bitter death to himself and his monstrous progeny and what he finds is loneliness and desolation.
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': The lands northward, specifically Alaska, are beyond the gods' power. This is where Alcyoneus makes his base, holding Thanatos captive and waiting for demigods foolish enough to try rescuing him.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' subverts this. In the first book, titled ''Northern Lights'' (or ''The Golden Compass'' in some areas), the CorruptChurch sets up camp in a northern fortress called Bolvangar[[note]]which means "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Fields of Evil]]"[[/note]], but they're only intruding on territory that belongs to the witches (many of whom are on the heroes' side) and the panserbjørne (a neutral faction of [[BearsAreBadNews armored polar bears]]).
* According to ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', the Grinch actually lives just north of Whoville.

* ''Literature/TheSnowQueen'' has the titular villain's castle very far north. That being said, Gerda does acquire help in Lapland and Finland. While the Queen may be an antagonist, her motives are ambiguous enough that she may not be actually evil; Gerda just has to rescue Kai from her palace.

** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' mentions that Angmar, the former realm of the Witch-king, lay in the far north of the world. However Tolkien placed Mordor in the South to deliberately avert the trope.
** Averted with {{Mordor}} itself, which is in Middle Earth's southeast.
** In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Morgoth's fortress of Angband is in the north extreme of Beleriand (the North-West of Middle-Earth). Similarly, his first fortress, Utumno, was in the north of Middle Earth. Apparently, [[EvilIsDeathlyCold this is why North is cold]].
** Also in ''The Silmarillion'', many Noldor emigrants die when they try to cross the Grinding Ice, a sea-strait between Aman and Middle-Earth filled with icebergs. There's no inherent evil fortress there, though; it's just a nasty stretch of inhospitable icecap.

* Germanic mythology placed the realm of the giants, the monstrous enemies of gods and men, in the far North-East. This is attested as early as c. 100 AD by Tacitus in his ethnographical work ''Germania''.
* In many of the "Alexander Romances" -- legends and folkloric embellishments of the life and exploits of Alexander the Great -- a land beset by "unclean" nations to the north is encountered by Alexander during his conquests. Recognizing their need, Alexander has his army construct the "Gates of Alexander" across the mountain pass which served as the border between the peaceful southern tribes and their warlike neighbors to the north; these nigh-impenetrable gates, often said to be constructed of the mythical substance "adamantium", effectively severed the north's capacity to reach the south, therefore preserving the southerners' safety and way of life. ''Note'': in many cases, these barbarous and unclean northern tribes are identified as none other than Gog and Magog -- mentioned in the various Abrahamic religions, where they are invariably portrayed as bad or evil or at the least "unclean", and who in extra-Biblical tradition become the BigBad who are said to one day rise up and make war on the rest of the world, bringing about Armageddon.
** In solemn, historical fact, ancient Macedonia (and the northern Greek states in general) was threatened by assorted (probably Celtic and later Germanic) tribes coming down from the Danube region into the Balkans. Alexander's father only succeeded to the throne after two elder brothers were killed fighting, and Upper Macedonia completely overrun. Things stabilised for a while for the successor kingdoms, but the Romans regarded the area as a military, frontier province.
* Myth/GreekMythology was absolutely loaded with this trope. Numerous writings describe how the more north one travels the more dangerous that everything becomes. Monsters like griffins, vicious bear-human hybrids, and lawless centaurs make their homes in great numbers. And the land is filled with nomadic tribes of raiders like the human-eating Athrophages, the one eyed race of horse mounted warriors called Arimaspians, and the Kimmerioi who lived in eternal night, among others, all making war amongst each other and outsiders alike. And passed all that was believed to be a desolate land of eternal winter called Pterophoros. However, survive all that and it becomes a subversion with the land of Hyperborea, a beautiful paradise populated with peaceful, kind-hearted frost giants.
* ''Kylmä kuin ryssän helvetissä'' -- "Cold as in the Russkie Hell" -- a Finnish proverb to describe really low temperatures. Although Russia is east of Finland, not north.
** A more straight example from the Myth/FinnishMythology and ''Literature/TheKalevala'': Pohjola (literally "northplace") is the enemy land ruled by the witch Louhi and the place where all evil comes from. Note that the Sámi people have always lived north of Finns and were the natural enemy for a long time until the arrival of Swedes from the west and Russians from the east. (However, Finns[[note]]Finns weren't a single tribe at this point (starting out as one group, some sort of "Proto-Finns", splitting into several tribes, then reuniting through nationalism). The main ones were the Finns (''suomalaiset'', later giving their name to the whole nation), Tavastians (''hämäläiset''), Karelians ('karjalaiset'', who split into several groups themselves (they were VERY expansive) some of which mixed with the others.)[[/note]] claimed much of the former Sámi lands and pushed them further north to Lapland, creating pre-modern Finland and Karelia, so technically the area that was called Pohjola by the first Finns is now Finland: it's even possible that all of Finland is former Pohjola, depending on which theory you believe. It may have been colder back then, though.)

* In Irish mythology, of the five provinces, "Ulster in the north is the seat of battle valour, of haughtiness, strife, boasting; the men of Ulster are the fiercest warriors of all Ireland, and the queens and goddesses of Ulster are associated with battle and death." Which became HarsherInHindsight sometime around the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles late twentieth century]].
* In the early periods of Japanese history, northern provinces were noticeably more grim than the rest of the country. Between general lawlessness (you either had a sizable private force... or not very high hopes about your life expectancy) and Ainu raids, there was also unforgiving cold weather. That's what became part of samurai's charm in later eras, though -- they were portrayed as hardened warriors from fringes of civilization, as opposed to the soft and decadent court aristocracy (that most people got fed up with at that point).
* In the Bible and Christianity, God and His Heaven or Zion is in the north (or sides of the north). So why is that grim? Because the devil from heaven and thus he wants to go up north to ascend up in the clouds to be like God. Many fundamentalist Christians connect this to Santa being an anagram of Satan and him dwelling in the North Pole, pretending to be God, possessing omniscient and omnipresent powers.

* ''Website/TaerelSetting': The Shauren Iceplains is a large barrein ice plain ruled by the cruel and savage Vytheri kin'toni fits this trope. It is never stated if it is in the north though, but implied by the description of the seasons to be so.Also, the Loremdra Kin'toni Clan are from the North, but never stated where exactly, but due to the ice age, marched south.

When the EvilOverlord rises to gather his armies and bring destruction upon the lands of men, elves, dwarves, and the race of funny LittlePeople, he often does this from a stronghold built in the most [[EvilIsDeathlyCold frigid]], dark, frigid, remote, [[RuleOfThree frigid]], ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment cold]]'', benighted corner of the wasteland that in most cases is simply called "the North".[[note]]In the Francophone world, the band of cold lands northwards of the 60°N latitude are treated as parts of a large biome, which include the boreal forests, tundras and frozen wastelands, named "the Great North" -- ''le Grand Nord''.[[/note]]

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': The region to the north of Eostia is [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace the Badlands]]. Not perpetually freezing like typical examples, but it is still a {{Mordor}} and the place where Olga, the Dark Queen of the Black Fortress, gathers her {{Mooks}}, including the native AlwaysChaoticEvil orcs and other fantasy "monsters", to make incursions into the borders of Eostia. Unfortunately, the kingdom cannot retaliate by invading the North due to the harsh conditions there, an excellent natural defence, as well as a bane to any army. It is only due to the advent of [[OneManArmy the Good Hunter]] that Celestine finds an invasion to the Black Fortress a viable option.
** Other named regions in the north, like [[SwampsAreEvil the Dead Marshes]] and Scathlocke, have undesirable climates that threaten the morale of armies, though the latter is less worse than the former. Again, they are only cold during winter.

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Jak and Daxter|ThePrecursorLegacy}}'', the Green Sage tells Daxter that the only person who will be able to reverse his case of BalefulPolymorph will be no easy matter to reach because he lives to the north -- "far, far to the north." He turns out to be the one of the {{Big Bad}}s and the reason the protagonists go there ends up being to bring down his evil lair.

->''"Where its cold, and ice hits your skin''\\
''Few can stomach how harsh it is''\\
''In the woods lies a Great Old One''\\
''Who'll tear the flesh, right off your bones..."''

When TheDarkLord rises to gather his armies and bring destruction upon the lands of men, elves, dwarves, and the race of funny LittlePeople, he often does this from a stronghold built in the most [[EvilIsDeathlyCold frigid]], dark, frigid, remote, [[RuleOfThree frigid]], ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment cold]]'', benighted corner of the wasteland that in most cases is simply called "the North."[[note]]In the Francophone world, the band of cold lands northwards of the 60°N latitude are treated as parts of a large biome, which include the boreal forests, tundras and frozen wastelands, named "the Great North" -- ''le Grand Nord''.[[/note]]

This trope may stem from how generally inhospitable the North often is to human (and other) life ([[CreatorProvincialism at least in the Northern hemisphere]]). While a gentle cover of snow can [[SnowMeansLove imply romance]], and snow can often be used to create an incredibly beautiful and peaceful otherworldly air, when taken to blizzard-level extremes it becomes an icy hell. And its [[HostileWeather blustery wind]] is usually a degree [[FromBadToWorse worse]] than that which comes from the other cardinal directions to the point that it's frequently [[AnthropomorphicPersonification portrayed in a]] [[TheOldNorthWind rather humanoid form with a mind of his own]]. As many forms of AlwaysChaoticEvil creatures are somehow protected from extreme cold -- for example, TheUndead simply don't care about temperatures -- the North is an environment where the Forces of Good are often at a disadvantage. Savage tribes draped in PeltsOfTheBarbarian often swarm down on the peaceful neighboring lands.

On the other hand, people in those climates tend to portray very bad places -- such as Hell -- as hot. It is the people who live in the North who insist that Hell is [[EvilIsCold cold]].

* In the Bible and Christianity, God and His Heaven or Zion is in the north (or sides of the north). So why is that grim? Because the devil from heaven and thus he wants to go up north to ascend up in the clouds to be like God. Many Christians connect this to Santa being an anagram of Satan and him dwelling in the North Pole, pretending to be God, possessing omniscient and omnipresent powers.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'': The northern bits of the Flanaess aren't exactly the most welcoming either, even without taking into account the frigid climate; from West to East, they are: the lands of the Bakluni [[HordesFromTheEast Turkic-like]] Tiger and Wolf Nomads (the latter are proud and wary of strangers, but reasonable enough if propitiated, while the former are generally assholes); the dreary, swampy (and possible resting place of incredibly ancient, powerful and dangerous {{Magitek}}) archbarony of Blackmoor; TheEmpire of [[EvilOverlord Iuz the Old]], a spectacularly depraved [[HumanDemonHybrid cambion]] turned [[GodOfEvil demigod]] and his hordes of minions, worshippers, and demons; the Barrens and the Bandit Lands, both inhospitable mostly-conquered wildernesses home to a few desperate groups still attempting to resist Iuz's sadistic grip (the Rovers in particular, a nearly-pure Flan culture of Barrens nomads, have been brought to the edge of extinction); the Hold of Stonefist, a realm of barbaric marauders whose main pastime/economic activity is literally RapePillageAndBurn; and the Thillronia Peninsula, home of three different flavors of Suel-descended HornyVikings. And to the north of the Nomads' lands, at the northernmost tip of the Flanaess, lies the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Land of Black Ice]], a mysterious expanse about which virtually nothing is known apart from the dark ice its inland glacier is made of and being the abode of many strange arctic monsters.

* The elves of the ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' sealed the heart of the dragon Everblight on the top of the highest mountain they could find. Guess which direction a horde of monstrous BodyHorror dragonspawn is pouring out from?

* ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' inverts this trope. While the Jurchen inspired Yobanjin are rather barbaric compared to the Rokugani to their south, they mostly ignore each other, and many Rokugani lords even (illegally) hire the Yobanjin as expendable mercenaries. It is the vast Shadowlands to the Emerald Empire's south that are it's true fear. Created by the fallen kami Fu Leng it is the source of the taint and the entire Crab Clan is dedicated to manning or supporting the giant Kaiu Wall to prevent its tainted host from destroying all of Rokugan. The importance of their duty is so significant that even the Scorpion Clan do not distract them with the petty wars and palace intrigues so popular among the samurai class.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Midnight}}'': The evil god who was cast down from the Heavens retreats to the North to gather his strength and from there launches his campaign of conquest.

** Subverted with Narshe in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', [[spoiler:at least in the World of Balance]]. Once all misunderstandings are cleared, Narshe becomes the closest thing to an HQ that the heroes have. [[spoiler:Played straight in the World of Ruin]].

This trope may stem from how generally inhospitable the North often is to human (and other) life ([[CreatorProvincialism at least in the Northern hemisphere]]). While a gentle cover of snow can [[SnowMeansLove imply romance]], and snow can often be used to create an incredibly beautiful and peaceful otherworldly air, when taken to blizzard-level extremes it becomes an icy hell. And its [[HostileWeather blustery wind]] is usually a degree [[FromBadToWorse worse]] [[UpToEleven than that which comes from the other cardinal directions]] to the point that it's frequently [[AnthropomorphicPersonification portrayed in a]] [[TheOldNorthWind rather humanoid form with a mind of his own]]. As many forms of AlwaysChaoticEvil creatures are somehow protected from extreme cold -- for example, TheUndead simply don't care about temperatures -- the North is an environment where the Forces of Good are often at a disadvantage. Savage tribes draped in PeltsOfTheBarbarian often swarm down on the peaceful neighboring lands.

* ''VideoGame/{{Majesty}}'' is set in a fantasy kingdom, but the the ExpansionPack, called the "Northern Expansion," moves the setting furthur north, where it is cold and snowy.

When TheDarkLord rises to gather his armies and bring destruction upon the lands of men, elves, dwarves, and the race of funny LittlePeople, he often does this from a stronghold built in the most [[EvilIsDeathlyCold frigid]], dark, frigid, remote, [[RuleOfThree frigid]], ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment cold]]'', benighted corner of the wasteland that in most cases is simply called "the North"[[note]]In the Francophone world, the band of cold lands northwards of the 60°N latitude are treated as parts of a large biome, which include the boreal forests, tundras and frozen wastelands, named "the Great North" -- ''le Grand Nord'' [[/note]].

* In the original [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first game]] in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', Death Mountain, the dungeon home of the BigBad, is located at the northernmost portion of the map, but the terrain isn't snowy, and Death Mountain is a LethalLavaLand in later games. Played straight in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'' with its [[DarkWorld Lorule]] equivalent, which is covered in perpetual blizzard, is swarming with [[DemonicSpiders Lynels]], and is home to the Treacherous Tower, a lengthy monster gauntlet.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Golarion has a number of... ''interesting'' places in the northernmost reaches of Avistan, its [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Fantasy Counterpart Europe]]. The three main countries in its furthest north all present their own particular variation on the theme of the hostile, frigid northlands, although they all share bitterly cold weather, [[TheLostWoods massive stretches of trackless forests]], and regular trouble with tribes of barbaric [[OurGiantsAreBigger frost giants]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent ice-breathing white dragons]], [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], [[SavageWolves huge wolves]], saber-toothed cats and [[TheFairFolk cruel winter fey]].

* The comic book miniseries''ComicBook/ThirtyDaysOfNight'' was about a remote town in Alaska attacked by vampires during its long "winter night". Subsequent miniseries in the same setting returned there a few times.

* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' subverts this. In the first book, titled ''Northern Lights'' (or ''The Golden Compass'' in some areas), the CorruptChurch sets up camp in a northern fortress called Bolvangar[[note]]which means "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Fields of Evil]]"[[/note]], but they're only intruding on territory that belongs to the {{witch|Species}}es (many of whom are on the heroes' side) and the panserbjørne (a neutral faction of [[BearsAreBadNews armored polar bears]]).

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When TheDarkLord rises to gather his armies and bring destruction upon the lands of men, elves, dwarves, and the race of funny LittlePeople, he often does this from a stronghold built in the most [[EvilIsDeathlyCold frigid]], dark, frigid, remote, [[RuleOfThree frigid]], ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment cold]]'', benighted corner of the wasteland that in most cases is simply called "the North"[[note]]In the Francophone world, the band of cold lands northwards of the 60°N latitude are treated as parts of a large biome, which include the boreal forests, tundras and frozen wastelands, named "the Great North" - ''le Grand Nord'' [[/note]].

This trope may stem from how generally inhospitable the North often is to human (and other) life ([[CreatorProvincialism at least in the Northern hemisphere]]). While a gentle cover of snow can [[SnowMeansLove imply romance]], and snow can often be used to create an incredibly beautiful and peaceful otherworldly air, when taken to blizzard-level extremes it becomes an icy hell. And its [[HostileWeather blustery wind]] is usually a degree [[FromBadToWorse worse]] [[UpToEleven than that which comes from the other cardinal directions]] to the point that it's frequently [[AnthropomorphicPersonification portrayed in a]] [[TheOldNorthWind rather humanoid form with a mind of his own]]. As many forms of AlwaysChaoticEvil creatures are somehow protected from extreme cold -- for example, TheUndead simply don't care about temperatures--the North is an environment where the Forces of Good are often at a disadvantage. Savage tribes draped in PeltsOfTheBarbarian often swarm down on the peaceful neighboring lands.

* Being a Fantasy Counterpart Culture to the Nordic Countries, Arendelle from ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' is very cold but it's a PlayedWith example — it's a pretty positive portrayal. That being said, when Elsa runs away and starts causing her EndlessWinter, her fortress is on the ''North'' mountain.
* ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' continues this, with the mystical Ahtohollan north of the Enchanted Forest - with the lullaby even describing it as "where the north wind meets the sea". It's an EldritchLocation containing all the memories of the world. [[spoiler: Elsa herself is frozen when she reaches it, but it's ultimately proved to be a benevolent place - with the revelation she found out being the reason she froze]].
* The Barbaric Archipelago from the ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' franchise (Berk in-particular) is constantly mentioned by Hiccup - in his usually snarky way - as being cold, semi-inhospitable and (until Hiccup changed everything) infested with [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fire-breathing monsters]] that outnumber the humans that live there 10 to 1. The only reason why the inhabitants have not migrated away is because they are vikings, who are famously stubborn.
--> '''Hiccup:''' This... is Berk. It snows nine months of the year… and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so.

* In ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', the Sheriff of Nottingham hires thugs from the north--Celts ([[AnachronismStew during the Third Crusade]]), who drink the blood of their dead, and seem to share the Sheriff's (evil) god.

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' books, the north pole of Barsoom is overrun with apts--six-limbed monsters that resemble some combination of a gorilla and a hippopotamus. Worse still, they are capable of hunting their prey for ''30 days straight''. And up until John Carter invaded the region to rescue Dejah Thoris, it was not safe to travel there by aircraft, as the locals, the yellow-skinned Okarians, used powerful magnets to draw in and capture aircraft.

* In ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'', while there are the sympathetic Rimmersmen and Qanuc civilizations in the north, go a bit further and you start running into the deeply unpleasant Black Rimmersmen--and further than ''that'' you come to Stormspike, mountain citadel of the Norns (the AlwaysChaoticEvil variant of the FairFolk) and base of operations for [[BigBad the Storm King]]. Not a nice place.

* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' the North of the continent of Calernia is home to the ancient and dreaded Kingdom of the Dead (Keter) and the Chain of Hunger - barely sentinent but very numerous RatMen who periodically come South to quench their HorrorHunger.

* In many of the "Alexander Romances"--legends and folkloric embellishments of the life and exploits of Alexander the Great--a land beset by "unclean" nations to the north is encountered by Alexander during his conquests. Recognizing their need, Alexander has his army construct the "Gates of Alexander" across the mountain pass which served as the border between the peaceful southern tribes and their warlike neighbors to the north; these nigh-impenetrable gates, often said to be constructed of the mythical substance "adamantium", effectively severed the north's capacity to reach the south, therefore preserving the southerners' safety and way of life. ''Note'': in many cases, these barbarous and unclean northern tribes are identified as none other than Gog and Magog--mentioned in the various Abrahamic religions, where they are invariably portrayed as bad or evil or at the least "unclean", and who in extra-Biblical tradition become the BigBad who are said to one day rise up and make war on the rest of the world, bringing about Armageddon.

* ''Kylmä kuin ryssän helvetissä''--"Cold as in the Russkie Hell"--a Finnish proverb to describe really low temperatures. Although Russia is east of Finland, not north.

* ''Just like Poles have the Tartars, the Swedes have Finns''--a saying of the 17th century. Not that Sweden is a warm place itself.
* ''Idän ilmat ilkehimmät, Pohjan pakkaset pahimmat''--another Finnish proverb. Literally "eastern weathers most vicious, northern frosts the worst". TruthInTelevision here: when wind blows from East, it means a cyclone is about to pass over the observer; when wind blows from North, it means there is a massive high pressure area at North Pole, where the air is especially cold.

* In the early periods of Japanese history, northern provinces were noticeably more grim than the rest of the country. Between general lawlessness (you either had a sizable private force... or not very high hopes about your life expectancy) and Ainu raids, there was also unforgiving cold weather. That's what became part of samurai's charm in later eras, though--they were portrayed as hardened warriors from fringes of civilization, as opposed to the soft and decadent court aristocracy (that most people got fed up with at that point).

** In ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'', the land of Vaasa in the north of Faerun is where the Witch-King Zhengyi created his Castle Perilous and launched an invasion of the neighboring country of Damara. The region known as the North (actually to the Northwest) isn't much better (with the exception of the Silver Marches), what with the rugged terrain, Viking-like raiders on the coast and islands, barbarian tribes inland, and the periodic threat of gigantic Orc invasions from their strongholds in the Spine of the World mountains. This is also the region where VideoGame/IcewindDale is, which isn't a barrel of warm happy sunshine either. Moving progressively east one will encounter the anomalous Anauroch desert (created by the lifedraining magics of [[EldritchAbomination the Phaerimm]]), then the Moonsea region and its grim, rapacious and warlike city-states (and the home turf of the Zhentarim Black Network, one of Faerun's premier evil organizations, now fully under the thumb of [[ReligionOfEvil the Church of Bane]]) and the badlands of the Thar (home to hordes of evil humanoids that have been known to unite under ogre warlords to threaten the Moonsea and beyond), then the aforementioned land of Vaasa, the Great Glacier (whose Ice Dwarf inhabitants are reasonable enough, but good luck getting to one of their villages without the environmment killing you) and the plains of Narfell (for whose human inhabitants becoming warlike horse barbarians was actually a step ''up'' - their ancestors ruled an EvilEmpire based on demon summoning), and the evil Red Wizards certainly think that Rashemen (a cold land of forest, mountain and cold steppe peopled by berserkers, witches, and plenty of monsters and elemental and nature spirits) is this trope; further east one leaves Faerun and enters the Endless Waste, also known as the [[HordesFromTheEast Hordelands]], land of the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Turco-Mongol-like]] Tuigan.

** Silesse in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''. Historically, it's actually hewed more to the "peaceful snowy winter" type of place, as its patron Crusader was a MartialPacifist. But recently, the former king's brothers despise their nephew Lewyn because he's the heir and they aren't--and when he returns as part of Sigurd's group, the uncles start a civil war. That event ''is'' grim, as it results in the death of a beloved MauveShirt and a potential slaughter of civilians if the player isn't quick enough to rescue them.

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Jak and Daxter|ThePrecursorLegacy}}'', the Green Sage tells Daxter that the only person who will be able to reverse his case of BalefulPolymorph will be no easy matter to reach because he lives to the north--"far, far to the north." He turns out to be the one of the {{Big Bad}}s and the reason the protagonists go there ends up being to bring down his evil lair.

* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' uses this too many times to count. Whenever ancient evils are [[SealedEvilInACan let out of the can]] they inevitably depart for 'the North'. This is eventually revealed to be an ancient, snow-covered ritual site, where members of a quasi-immortal race gather every 500 years to rejuvenate their powers by sacrificing the weakest one. Players who go north--at least from older parts of the map--are greeted with the Wilderness, a place filled with ruin, hideous monsters, and other players with murderous intent that gets worse the further North you go. This is revealed to be [[spoiler:the battleground of an ancient war fought over the domain of the GodEmperor Zaros when he was betrayed by [[TheStarscream Zamorak]]. Three other gods allied and cornered Zamorak, who in desperation [[FantasticNuke blasted the whole empire, leaving it a scorched and cursed wasteland]].]] The ritual site and Wilderness are on the main continent of Gielinor. The antagonist penguin race hails from even further north, possibly from the as-yet unvisited ice-covered continent of Archeron, which is too cold even for the [[HornyVikings Fremennik people]].

* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries Trails]]'' features North Ambria, a nation that lost a significant chunk of its land long before the events of the game to a bizarre multiple selge[[note]]one selge is equal to 100m; an arge is equal to a metre, and the pillar is initially described as "[soaring] hundreds of arge into the air"[[/note]] tall pillar that turned everything around it into salt. After democratization resulting from Prince Balmund fleeing the country during what was dubbed the Salt Pale disaster, it became reliant on the Northern Jaegers to have some semblance of a functioning economy, and people who don't want to become a jaeger (or [[HeelRealization become disillusioned with the jaeger lifestyle]] [[spoiler:like Sara did]]) tend to end up emigrating to other countries, chiefly Erebonia and Calvard due to their proximity. The former nobility is hated because of the grand duke's abandonment of the country, with Prince Balmund's family being called "devils" because of his selfish actions, and the once-beautiful country is largely a saline wasteland, with vegetation extremely difficult to grow due to the salty soil. [[spoiler:The economy's reliance on jaegers ultimately dooms the state when Northern Jaegers take part in Duke Albarea's attack on Celdic--an atrocity that ultimately ends up costing the Noble Alliance the war, since they're forced to cede Bareahard to the Reformists in an attempt to salvage some sort of moral authority. Following the annexation of Crossbell, the Northern Jaegers overthrow the government during negotiations with Erebonia regarding their complicity in the Celdic attack, resulting in a war that Erebonia wins within a month. With the Northern Jaegers disbanded, North Ambria is forced to submit to Erebonian rule. Independence talks after Crossbell's liberation are implied to have gone nowhere because, as opposed to Crossbell--which had been flourishing prior to Mayor Crois' idiotic decision to declare complete independence and provoke Erebonia and Calvard--Erebonian rule legitimately improved North Ambrians' quality of life.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Wargroove}}'' has another inversion - Felheim, from whence hail the undead and very evil Felheim Legion, is a cold and snowy land which just so happens to lie directly to the ''south'' of [[TheGoodKingdom Cherrystone]].