History Main / WindmillScenery

Sister trope to LighthousePoint, since windmills and lighthouses are usually used in the same way. See also LandOfTulipsAndWindmills for the HollywoodAtlas version of UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands, which make an abundant use of this trope. Unrelated to WindmillPolitical, NoMereWindmill and WindmillCrusader (except for the TropeNamer).

* The Windmill Plains, from ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing''. After all, it's even in the name.
* As one could expect after seeing the level's name, ''many'' windmills appear in the "Windmill Hills" level from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze''. Their rotating blades carry platforms and the Kongs have to jump from one to the other carefully as not to fall in BottomlessPits.

** The Kakariko village windmill in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' is the town's most prominent feature. It is actually a wind''pump'', as it is used to draw up water from the well that sits in from of it.
** A big windmill-slash-lighthouse is the main landscape feature from Windfall Island in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. A rather smart choice for a power source if the name of the island is to be believed.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', two windmills appear Skyloft. [[spoiler:The two actually are important to the plot, as rotating them toward the Light Tower activates it, which is crucial to find the Isle of Songs]].

* The ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'' level "Knitty-Knotty Windmill Hill" takes place in a grassland with an absurd number of windmills, some of which carry platforms on their sails so they can be used by Yoshi.

* [[GhostsNGoblins Ghouls 'N' Ghosts]] has [[SceneryGorn The Village of Decay And Destruction]].

* [[VideoGame/Ghosts N Goblins Ghouls 'N' Ghosts]] has [[SceneryGorn The Village of Decay And Destruction]].

* [[Ghosts N Goblins Ghouls 'N' Ghosts]] has [[SceneryGorn The Village of Decay And Destruction]].

* [[GhostsNGoblins Ghouls 'N' Ghosts]] has [[SceneryGorn The Village of Decay And Destruction]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Round and round they go.[[note]] Clockwise from the top-left: ''Disney/TheOldMill'', ''[[VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident]]'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'' [[/note]]]]

* An old, long-abandoned windmill is the star of Disney's 1937 short ''Disney/TheOldMill''. Said short shows the life of various wild animals that live in the windmill before and during a violent storm that culminate in a lightning strike hitting the old building, destroying one of its sails.

Rural and grassy environments in fiction seem to frequently feature windmills ([[LandOfTulipsAndWindmills especially if said environments are in Dutch]]).

Sister trope to LighthousePoint, since windmills and lighthouses are usually used in the same way. See also LandOfTulipsAndWindmills for the HollywoodAtlas version of Holland which make an abundant use of this trope. Unrelated to WindmillPolitical, NoMereWindmill and WindmillCrusader (except for the TropeNamer).

* The ''[[Film/Slipstream1989 Slipstream]]'' is a permanent world-encircling wind, like the jetstream but at low level, affecting the environment and culture of an AfterTheEnd future. Naturally the communities that have evolved beneath the Slipstream have plenty of wind turbines to make use of the free energy provided.

* Perhaps the most recognisable landmark shown in the original opening to ''Series/ThomasTheTankEngine'' is the Post Windmill, which has gone on to make countless appearances in the show through the years.

Once used to mill grain or pump water, windmills are now completely obsolete thanks to the advent of more recent technologies. They are nowadays similar to the [[LighthousePoint lighthouses]], serving no purpose other than being a distinctive landscape feature, often to add a rural, quaint flair, although they have occasionally been used to crank up the creepy factor.

* ''Franchise/SuperSmashBros'':

** In ''Wii U'', the Windy Hill Zone stage has a giant windmill on the right. Only a portion of the spinning mill is within the blastlines, so standing on it carries the risk of being swooped away from the stage stright into a KO.

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* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}''

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* One of the main mysteries of {{WebVideo/Petscop}} is an example of this trope. It keeps disappearing, it rotates the opposite way multiple times, and it's an integral plot point. Apparently even mentioning the location is enough to [[CensorBox get censored]].

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* Windmills are a very iconic obstacle in minigolf courses.

!!Examples

* In ''Foreign Correspondant'', the journalist Jones witnesses an assassination in Amsterdam, then pursues the killer into the countryside. He winds up in open plains, with dozens of windmills visible. One of these windmills is turning ''against'' the wind; Jones figures this must be a signal and goes to investigate. Sure enough, the killer's accomplices are hiding there.

** In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', the Windy Mill can be found at the bottom of the conveniently windy Gusty Gulch, and it looms ominously before the path to a Boo-infested village. [[spoiler:It serves as the entrance to a Tunnel that leads to Tubba Blubba's heart.]]

* The ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'' level "Knitty-Knotty Windmill Hill" takes place in a grassland with an absurd number of windmill, some of which carry platforms on their sails so they can be used by Yoshi.