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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51pir86gbdl.jpg]]
2 [[caption-width-right:350:Beautiful beachfront property for sale, great plesiosaur fishing. Call today!]]
3
4First, an 1864 Creator/JulesVerne ScienceFiction novel (the French original being titled ''Voyage au centre de la Terre'') about a German professor and his nephew, who travel down volcanic tubes in an extinct Icelandic volcano. They then discover prehistoric animals and all sorts of danger as they go down farther. Verne was inspired by Charles Lyell's ''Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man'' to write it, although the science has not aged very well compared to his other books (at least, science as Professor Lidenbrock describes it -- see the WhatWeNowKnowToBeTrue entry below).
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6The novel has had numerous adaptations over time:
7* ''Film/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth1959'', starring Pat Boone and James Mason, and adding characters such as Gertrude the duck and [[AristocratsAreEvil Count Saknussem]], notable in its day for the special effects.
8* ''Film/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth2008'', a UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie starring Creator/BrendanFraser. The movie received a sequel, ''Film/Journey2TheMysteriousIsland'', a loose adaptation of ''Literature/TheMysteriousIsland'' -- which is, apparently, {{Atlantis}}.
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10There was also an AnimatedAdaptation by Creator/{{Filmation}} in the late '60s, and a ConceptAlbum (plus sequel and expanded remake) by Music/RickWakeman.
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12!!This novel contains examples of:
13* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: "Graüben" is not even close to an actual German name; the sequence "aü" is virtually non-existent in German. Some translations, including the German one, [[DubNameChange call her Gretchen instead]].
14* BehemothBattle: The ichthyosaur and plesiosaur are so huge they're first thought to be five separate giant animals as different parts of their bodies emerge (a porpoise, an iguana, and a crocodile for the first, a sea serpent and giant turtle for the second).
15* BeneathTheEarth: The bulk of the novel takes place in a mazelike complex of caverns beneath the Earth, going from lava tubes nearest to the surface to more and more complex cave systems deeper down, ending with the enormous cavern that houses the [[LostWorld Lidenbrock Sea]].
16* BreakTheScientist: Invoked, as Axel ''knows'' the whole concept of a hollow-earth journey makes absolutely no sense (see the "Science Marches On" entry on the Trivia page).
17* CargoEnvy: Axel's sweetheart Grauben is an amateur geologist who spends time classifying rock samples, and Axel states he's quite jealous of the minerals she's cleaning.
18* ComeToGawk: Lidenbrock has a problem saying certain complicated scientific words, leading to a lot of histrionics on his part. Most people who attend his lectures are there to watch him struggle with the recalcitrant term until he manages to spit it out.
19* ComicTrio: Notably lampshaded, proving that this trope is [[OlderThanRadio older than the Three Stooges]]. Axel sees himself as the OnlySaneMan, with Professor Otto Lidenbrock as the idiotic leader and Hans as the even more idiotic follower. [[SmarterThanYouLook He later changes his mind...]]
20* ConvectionSchmonvection: The explorers are carried up the tube of a volcano by lava on their raft of fossilized wood (an asbestos dish in the 1959 movie, a dinosaur skull in the 2008 one) which in real life would get them cooked alive (Axel notes the temperature rises to 70°C). Some editions avoid this by having them be carried up by water (which was the case for the first part of the ascent), the implication being that lava below has caused a geyser-effect to blow them out of the volcano.
21* DubNameChange: Some editions of the novel change Axel's name to "Harry Lawson", Lidenbrock's name to "[[TheVonTropeFamily Von Hardwigg]]" and/or Graüben to Gretchen.
22* EccentricMentor: Professor Otto Lidenbrock of the ''Johanneum'' in Hamburg.
23* FeeFiFauxPas: At the beginning of the book, the narrator, having broken an ancient explorer's code, shows his uncle how the code is written. Unfortunately, he has his love for his uncle's ward on the brain, and the phrase he codes is that he loves her... Thankfully for everyone, his uncle's response amounts to, "Huh. Well, we'll talk about that later."
24* FungusHumongous: The explorers find a grove of mushrooms forty feet high and with caps equally broad when they first reach the shores of the Lidenbrock Sea.
25%%* HotBlooded: Professor Lidenbrock.
26* ItsTheJourneyThatCounts: The heroes don't get anywhere near the center of the Earth, but they become world famous anyway since the discoveries they've made are plenty revolutionary on their own.
27** The 1959 film changes this; having them pass through the center of the Earth while sailing on the upper surface of the underground ocean. How that was supposed to work was not explained.
28* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Professor Lidenbrock has shades of this, as does Axel, but with varying degrees compared to Lidenbrock.
29* JungleOpera: A chronicle of the adventures of a German researcher, his adventurous nephew, and a geologist as they explore some dormant lava tubes within an Icelandic volcano. Though they never get to the center of the Earth, they do discover oodles of wonders and marvels, concluding with the discovery of a lake, warmed by fumaroles, that's home to heretofore extinct dinosaurs.
30* LivingDinosaurs: Might be the UrExample; a plesiosaur and an ichthyosaur fight in the middle of the Lidenbrock Sea.
31* TheLoad: Axel, dear Axel. He spends the entire book moaning about going on the trip and trying to stop them from going, always trying to get everybody to turn back, and constantly fainting and getting lost. It was also his idea to use the gun-cotton near the end. In his defense, he really ''didn't'' want to go on the expedition, but was too afraid of Lidenbrock to say no to him.
32* LostWorld: The Lidenbrock Sea, home to a great variety of primordial {{Sea Monster}}s, and its shores, covered in forests of [[FungusHumongous giant fungi]] and prehistoric jungles inhabited by mastodons and giant ape-like men.
33* MadScientist: Professor Lidenbrock; at least of the one-track mind type.
34* TheMillstone: Axel, whose chef contributions to the trip consist of getting lost and complaining about how much he doesn't want to be there (although in his defense, he never wanted to come to begin with and only went because his uncle made him), although he arguably functions as professor Lidenbrock's MoralityPet.
35* MundaneSolution: How do you get a large, heavy bundle of ropes, blankets, clothing, etc. down a thousand-foot vertical shaft? You drop it.
36* MyGirlBackHome: Grauben[[note]] Spelled "Graüben" in French to indicate the name is to be pronounced with an "ow" sound, not a long "o".[[/note]] ([[DubNameChange Gretchen]] in many English editions). She's from the rural ''Vierlande'' ("four lands") near Hamburg.
37* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Axel's idea to use the gun-cotton not only nearly kills them and puts an end to the expedition, but also destroys the way downwards.
38* NoEndorHolocaust: What happened to the Lidenbrock Sea and its unique flora and fauna after the explosion?
39* NotSoExtinct: Many prehistoric animals are revealed to still live deep in the Earth, including mastodons, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, ''Glyptodon'', ''Megatherium'' and a few others.
40* NothingIsScarier: The fact that we don't really learn anything about the 12-foot man that Lidenbrock and Axel encounter, or find out what would have happened if they had been spotted by him. It arguably makes him far more mysterious and frightening.
41* NuclearCandle: After the darkness of the tunnels, the vast cavern containing the Lidenbrock Sea is brightly lit by a mysterious source of illumination, which the travellers presume is from some kind of natural electricity.
42* PetTheDog: Lidenbrock becomes quite sympathetic when he thinks his quest will result in Axel's death, but then reverts back to his usual behaviour as soon as they're safe again.
43* PrehistoricMonster: The ichthyosaur and plesiosaur are portrayed as nothing more than vicious, terrifying and dangerous monsters. The caveman might count as well.
44* TheQuietOne: Hans, professor Lidenbrock's and Axel's Icelandic guide. Although since Axel can't speak with him due to the language barrier, it doesn't make much difference.
45* SayingTooMuch: When Axel figures out the cipher to Arne Saknussemm's note, the example he uses to demonstrate it accidentally reveals his love for Grauben, Lidenbrock's ward. Amusingly, Lidenbrock [[SelectiveObliviousness completely]] [[ComicallyMissingThePoint ignores]] this revelation as he's more interested in decrypting the note.
46* SeaMonster: The ichthyosaur and plesiosaur, ferocious {{Prehistoric Monster}}s lurking in the depths of the underground sea.
47* SeaSerpents: The explorers briefly mistake the ichthyosaur and plesiosaur for a tangle of monsters including a sea serpent, which is simply the plesiosaur's long neck.
48* StayInTheKitchen: It could have been a good idea for Grauben to join the expedition instead of Axel. Even if she had been no more useful than Axel was, at least she wouldn't have been whining all the time, as she at least ''wanted'' to join ... but she could not, because she's a girl.
49* TheStoic: Hans, who rarely speaks more than one word at a time. In fact, the only sign of emotion he shows is at the very end when he heads back to Iceland, cracking a smile as he says goodbye.
50* SundialWaypoint: How they locate the cave entrance, and the cause of Lindenbrock's frenzy at the beginning of the book: if they don't get to Iceland as soon as possible they'll have to wait another year for it to happen.
51* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: The translator working for Griffith & Farran was apparently so xenophobic and jingoistic that he couldn’t countenance the viewpoint character not being English (or worse, thought [[ViewersAreMorons his readers would be so bigoted]]) and thus renamed Axel to Harry and changed his nationality from German to English, with his mother’s sister having married Lidenbrock (renamed Von Hardwigg) and then died. In Verne’s original there is no hint that Lidenbrock ever married or that he isn’t Axel’s biological uncle.
52* WhatWeNowKnowToBeTrue: Axel keeps protesting every step of their adventure with fairly accurate comments about the heat and pressure of the Earth's interior, and the sheer impossibility of a navigable passage leading to the center of the Earth, all of which his uncle brushes aside as outdated theory. It's left open at the end who would've been proven right if they'd kept going.

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