History Main / WorldTree

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' provides an example of the corrupted world tree archetype in Yaldabaoth, the principal deity of the Sarkic cults (in this case meaning the cosmic power they exploit in a slightly more respectful manner). One part AlmightyIdiot, one part MotherOfAThousandYoung, and one part {{inverted}} PlanetaryParasite, it does for LifeEnergy what LightIsNotGood did for ThePowerOfTheSun.

* Given that it's the Myth/NorseMythology inspired plane, it shouldn't be surprising that the plane of Kaldheim in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' is made up of several smaller realms connected by one of these. The tree itself is also represented by an extremely powerful land card: it effectively works like a normal Forest most of the time, but if you have six or more lands, it grants them all the ability to produce mana of any color, and if you spend two mana of each color, it can get any number of gods out of your library and onto the field.

* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'': "Yggdrasil" is the name of the computer system that connects all things. It is also the name of the original World Tree of Myth/NorseMythology, which underlies much of the series. In the the ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' {{OVA}}, Belldandy and Keiichi made a promise long ago that affected Yggdrasil greatly. It also looks like a tree. A very odd kind of tree, with three intertwined trunks that form an endless triple helix.

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'': Yggdrasil is the source of all magic; fueled by people's belief. It thrived in the Golden Age of Magic, but has largely disappeared in the Modern Era. [[spoiler:In the finale, Akko and Diana using the World Reconstruction Magic to destroy the Noir Fuel Spirit Missile, combined with their inspiring people around the globe with the act, is implied to have revived it.]]

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheGreenGiantLegend'': The core of the Green Planet is supported by one such tree, which grows from the planet's heart and turns all vegetation into sentient PlantAliens. Unfortunately, the aliens intend to grow a second one on ''earth'', covering the world's surface with vegetation, as retaliation on mankind's pollution and destruction of their "non-sentient earth plant brothers".

* "When [[{{Myth/Merlin}} Myrddin's]] Tree shall tumble down, then shall fall Carmarthen town." An ancient [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian legend]], and possibly {{Defictionalization}}. The tree, which sits in the middle of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrddin_Wyllt historical Merlin's]] hometown, is said to be ancient. The people of Carmarthen (aka [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} the Welsh]], who are descended from the Britons) have naturally encased the stump of the old tree [[ExactWords in concrete]].

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree) Pando]] is a clonal tree colony in Utah with one root system, six thousand metric tons of mass, forty-seven thousand trunks, and possibly one million years to its name. It's thought to be at ''least'' eighty thousand-years-old, making it older than every OlderThanDirt trope on this wiki.
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The World Tree may exist ''between'' worlds, with its roots in one and its branches in another. It may even be a [[PortalNetwork Wood Between the Worlds]]. It's often a GeniusLoci. In cases where a significant portion of the story takes place ''within'' the World Tree itself, it may become a TreeTopWorld; cases of the latter set within a single tree almost always overlap. Nature's rough equivalent to the {{Starscraper}}. See also LayeredWorld and TheTower. Compare TreeVessel and TowerOfBabel, the Biblical counterpart of it.

** The game lore tells that before the age of the Erdtree, there had been another divine tree simply called the Greattree (whose colossal stump we presumably find in the Deeproot Depths), and the roots of the two are still entwined together.

* ''Manga/MobPsycho100'': The Divine Tree which is actually a giant head of broccoli that fills a similar purpose, as it springs up in the middle of Seasoning City following [[spoiler:Mob's battle against the leader of the Claw organization, and causes anyone who eats of it becomes a worshipper of Mob due to it being created by Mob putting his and Touichirou's excess power in some broccoli seeds he had in his pocket]].

* In ''Webcomic/WintersInLavelle'' Kari and Aiden receive their [[ClingyMacGuffin Magic Amber]] from a massive Oak tree. It is later referred to as the "A Pillar of the Woods" by Rio, and hinted to be vital to the forest's survival.

** The Erdtree, a gigantic, glowing, golden tree that can be easily seen from anywhere on the map. It's so huge that the highest peaks of the Mountaintops of Giants just barely come up to the Erdtree's ''lowest'' branches. It's worshipped as a divine being by the peoples of the Lands Between. In fact, the lore says the people thought it was unique, and were very surprised when it bore seeds that began to grow more Erdtrees across the land (these Erdtree "saplings" are still the size of skyscrapers).

** Miquella's Haligtree is yet another colossal tree that dwarfs mountains, though it's still small compared to the Erdtree. It's implied that Miquella planted it as a future rival to the Erdtree and the Golden Order it represents, watering it with his own divine blood, but was kidnapped by [[spoiler:Mohg, Lord of Blood]] long before the Haligtree could reach its full size and become a self-sufficient world tree.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': The Erdtree, a gigantic, glowing, golden tree that can be easily seen from anywhere on the map. It's so huge that the highest peaks of the Mountaintops of Giants just barely come up to the Erdtree's ''lowest'' branches. It's worshipped as a divine being by the peoples of the Lands Between. In fact, the lore says the people thought it was unique, and were very surprised when it bore seeds that began to grow more Erdtrees across the land (these Erdtree "saplings" are still the size of skyscrapers).
** The game lore tells that before the age of the Erdtree, there had been another divine tree simply called the Greattree, and the roots of the two are still entwined together.
** Miquella's Haligtree is yet another colossal tree that dwarfs mountains, though it's still small compared to the Erdtree. Its implied that Miquella planted it as a future rival to the Erdtree and the Golden Order it represents.

* ''Anime/DoraemonAndTheGreenGiantLegend'': The core of the Green Planet is supported by one such tree, which grows from the planet's heart and turns all vegetation into sentient PlantAliens. Unfortunately, the aliens intend to grow a second one on ''earth'', covering the world's surface with vegetation, as retaliation on mankind's pollution and destruction of their "non-sentient earth plant brothers".

* In ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/RageOfBahamut'', the World Tree appears as a woman with pink hair, pointy ears and a sprout growing out of her head. She's described as enormous in size, though she's able to row and shrink at will.

A gargantuan tree fills the sky. Usually situated in [[GrimUpNorth a breezy land of ice and snow]] or [[TheLostWoods a sprawling forest]] or maybe even [[GhibliHills a green, green field]]. It can be seen from miles away...

* In ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'', the people in the Forest of Memories cherish a great Divine Tree that towers over the rest of the forest. Interacting with it [[GenreShift turns the game into a text adventure for the duration of the encounter]], but reveals that the tree serves as an organic repository for mankind's memories from before the cataclysm that took place centuries ago. [[spoiler:[[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nier destroys it,]] just another of his contributions to humanity's extinction over the course of the game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', a [[BecauseDestinySaysSo prophecy]] states that the armies of the [[LethalLavaLand Fire Kingdom]] will invade TheLostWoods of the [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairies]], and be destroyed once they reach the World Tree... Except that there is not and has never been a world tree in the world of ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', something which King Onyx angrily notes when Armageddon begins and their land begins to sink underwater, using it as justification for why they cannot be stopped. When the prophecies begin to come true, [[spoiler:we learn that the fairy queen Mercedes's true name is Yggdrasil, and that she is the World Tree that would stop them. She [[NoBodyLeftBehind dies]] defeating King Onyx, who expresses disbelief upon hearing her true name and ruefully congratulates her as he dies, and on that spot, an actual world tree grows.]]

** Miquella's Haligree is yet another colossal tree that dwarfs mountains, though it's still small compared to the Erdtree. Its implied that Miquella planted it as a future rival to the Erdtree and the Golden Order it represents.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': the Erdtree, a gigantic, glowing, golden tree that can be easily seen from anywhere on the map. It's so huge that the highest peaks of the Mountaintops of Giants just barely come up to the Erdtree's ''lowest'' branches. It's worshipped as a divine being by the peoples of the Lands Between. In fact, the lore says the people thought it was unique, and were very surprised when it bore seeds that began to grow more Erdtrees across the land (these Erdtree "saplings" are still the size of skyscrapers).

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': the Erdtree, a gigantic, glowing, golden tree that can be easily seen from anywhere on the map. It's so huge that the highest peaks of the Mountaintops of Giants just barely come up to the Erdtree's *lowest* branches. It's worshipped as a divine being by the peoples of the Lands Between. In fact, the lore says the people thought it was unique, and were very surprised when it bore seeds that began to grow more Erdtrees across the land (these Erdtree "saplings" are still the size of skyscrapers).

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Certain editions, most prominently 2nd edition's ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' setting, featured the world ash Yggdrasil, a huge tree growing in-between the planes. Its branches ended in portals to other planes, making it one of the major nexus points for travelers of the multiverse (Sigil, the main setting for Planescape, being another such nexus).\\\
4th edition has the World Tree as one of the biggest and most important Primal Spirits; it's the embodiment of the lifeforce of TheMultiverse. Not surprisingly, there's an Epic Destiny that revolves around a Primal character ascending to become a guardian of the World Tree.

* ''Anime/{{Windaria}}'': The 'Tree of Life' in The Valley. Its huge, refered to as the region's 'Guardian Spirit' and is prayed to by the inhabitants for health and happiness.

* ''Film/TheFountain'' pretty much entirely revolves around this trope, particularly the Christian Tree of Life and Mayan World Tree variations. It actually ''is'' the titular FountainOfYouth, apparently, since you drink its sap. (Though eating the bark is just as effective.) It can also [[LiteralGenie grant immortality]], but probably not the way you'd expect. "[[ExactWords Together we will live forever]]," indeed. It apparently [[BittersweetEnding outlasts Earth]] and its health is seemingly tied to the health of the planet. It is suggested that the future version of the tree is a seedling planted over [[spoiler:Izzy's grave]] by present-Tom. Before future-Tom [[GainaxEnding put it in a spaceship]], the original Tree was planted in a pool of water on top of a pyramid and guarded by a Mayan sacrifical priest [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic with a flaming sword]].

* ''Literature/{{Spellfall}}'': The Soultrees. They're huge (so huge that walkingfrom one end to another may take ''days''), they have magical powers (including providing food and shelter for mages), [[spoiler:souls of dead mages house in the tree so their relatives can speak to them]], and they have other magical properties...

* ''Manga/{{Strider}}'': There's a Yggdrasil (or Yugdesiral, as its mangled in English). This one, however, is a twisted, man-made mechanical MindControlDevice created by the MegaCorp and its president, Faceas Clay, as part of his plan to mind control humanity. In Clay's view, the machine will lead to mankind's rebirth, a "Golden Millenium" where wars and poverty will be erradicated under his total control.