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1[[quoteright:300:[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chessboard1_6996.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:[-Taking [[VariantChess 3-D Chess]] to a completely different level.-]]]
3
4A subtrope of ChessMotifs. Somewhere "[[EldritchLocation else]]" has this checkered motif on the floors, walls or both. It could be a MentalWorld, a LayeredWorld or just an EldritchLocation.
5
6Not necessarily HumanChess, but who knows?
7
8Also known as the Mason Checkered Floor. Compare WhiteVoidRoom. See also CosmicChessGame.
9----
10!!Examples:
11
12[[foldercontrol]]
13
14[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
15* ''Anime/{{Kyousogiga}}'': Inevitable, given the massive HumanChess and ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' refs.
16* All over the place in ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'', be it the {{OVA}}, the game or anything else.
17* Many of the Witches in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' have this motif somewhere inside their closed off worlds.
18** The page image up there appears in the first episode. Interestingly, that particular area is never shown again, and it's unclear what exactly it is.
19** At the start of episode 9, when [[spoiler:Sayaka [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie becomes a witch]]]], the surroundings turn into a bizarre depression in the ground, with the witch Oktavia in the center. The entire terrain has a black and white checkerboard design. Interestingly, when Kyouko and Madoka return to the barrier to actually ''fight'' Oktavia, the astral checkerboard is completely gone, replaced with [[spoiler:an elaborate concert hall where her familiars are performing a symphony]].
20** When Homura fights [[spoiler:the wraiths]] at the end of the manga, the fight takes place in a dungeon with a checkered floor.
21** Margot's labyrinth is particularly filled with this in ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica''.
22* A checkerboard floor shows up in ''Manga/SoulEater'' in every scene of, and exclusively in, Soul's mental image of his ''[[MentalWorld soul world]]'' when he's in his weapon form.
23%%* Seen in Nightmare's lair in ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa''.
24* Checkerboards appear throughout ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', and are typically either hint at hidden danger or Kaneki's damaged mental state. The primary example is Yamori's [[TortureCellar Playroom]], where Kaneki endures 10 days of torture prior to embracing his Ghoul nature. At several points after that, he [[MentalWorld hallucinates]] checkered patterns on floors, walls, or even ''skies''. Another, more subtle example is [[spoiler: the checkered pattern on the floors of Uta's shop]], hinting at their true nature as TheChessmaster manipulating events behind the scenes.
25* After Kazuma dies in ''Literature/KonoSuba'', he ends up in some sort of Purgatory, which has checkerboard flooring.
26* In ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'', the executives of SOL Tech are named after Chess Pieces, and appear in an appropriately themed virtual space
27[[/folder]]
28
29[[folder:Comic Books]]
30* Creator/PhilippeDruillet uses this as a recurring motif in the ''Lone Sloane'' series. When travel psychic and physical takes place odds are there's going to be some version of this pattern showing up.
31* Gideon Gordon Graves' battlefield in Ramona's mind in the ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' graphic novels has a checkered floor.
32* The Timekeeper's domain in ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' is half this and half Salvator Dali painting.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Fan Works]]
36* During Susie's nightmare during ''[[Fanfic/TheBestSevenYears In Love and War]]'', several cardboard boxes fall from the sky, some with the bottoms black, others white. Once they are finished falling, they resemble a giant checkerboard.
37* In ''Fanfic/TopHatsAndTigers'', [[EldritchLocation the Mindspace]] resembles a WhiteVoidRoom, except it is checkerboard-patterned instead of blank.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
41* All over ''Franchise/TheMatrix''.
42** The [[Film/TheMatrix first movie]] makes clear {{Shout Out}}s to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', and one example of a checkerboard is when Neo is informed by MrExposition Morpheus.
43** In one DVDCommentary, the creators mention that checkerboards and grids are an obvious VisualPun on the work's title. A matrix is a rectilinear grid of cells.
44* ''Film/PansLabyrinth'': The Pale Man's room has a checkerboard pattern.
45%%* The Devil's office in ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate''.
46* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' has dream locations like this.
47* The longest and most memorable of The Dude's dream sequences in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' features the checkerboard flooring he saw earlier at the eponymous Big Lebowski's house.
48* Notably the afterlife hallways in ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'', but shows up other places as well. Combines with stripes and other bold patterns, as well as {{Bizarrchitecture}}.
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
52* The [[http://i51.tinypic.com/nl2wih.jpg C.I.D. ceiling]] in ''Series/AshesToAshes2008''. Even used in the [[http://i51.tinypic.com/6ymq93.jpg promo pictures.]]
53* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' has a variation: the [[http://serialconsign.com/images/2007/08/red-room.jpg black-and-white chevrons on the floor]] of the [[EldritchLocation Black Lodge]].
54* ''Series/DoctorWho'', "Mawdryn Undead": Turlough has an out-of-body experience following a car crash, and finds himself in a mysterious void with a checkered background, being recruited as a pawn in a CosmicChessGame.
55* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''/''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
56** The cockpit of the Majins/Megazords in ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''/''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' is a not-actually-real place that looks like a checkerboard floor in the middle of a void. For bonus points, the Rangers themselves even have their lower bodies turned into chess pieces bases while they're there.
57** Abaremax/Triassic Ranger's "Max Field"/"Triassic dimension" in ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger''/''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' had a checkerboard motif in one instance.
58[[/folder]]
59
60[[folder:Music Videos]]
61* Music/TomPetty's video for "Don't Come Around Here No More".
62* Music/AyumiHamasaki's "Song 4 u".
63* Murray Head's "One Night in Bangkok" which has both a chessboard on a table and a huge one on a floor big enough to have people as the pieces.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Software]]
67* Due to the ease of generating a checkerboard pattern on an infinite plane, this is a common aspect of early computer-generated images. Compare the classic mirrored sphere on a checkerboard floor. Not to mention the famous checkerball from the early Platform/{{Amiga}} graphics demo (it was patterned so you could see that it was spinning) -- so famous that it eventually became the platform's official logo.
68* Commonly used to represent transparency in images being edited. Used in Paint Shop Pro, Paint.NET, The Gimp, and others.
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Video Games]]
72* A more meta example: In all games developed in the ''[[Creator/ValveCorporation Source engine]]'', missing textures are represented by a purple-and-black checkerboard, so if you're somewhere you shouldn't be, have incorrectly installed textures, or are playing something unfinished; these checkerboards will probably show up. Checkerboards as placeholder textures are used in many other individual games, but the Source engine's purple-and-black one is the most notorious.
73* The Logic Chess sequences in ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Ace Attorney Investigations 2]]'' take place on a blue checkerboard plane, representing Edgeworth's mental chess matches against witnesses.
74* Lots in ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' and [[VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns its sequel]], as you'd expect from something based on ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''.
75* The bizarre, surrealism-inspired EldritchLocation of ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'''s Funhouse Frazzle has these on the floor and ceiling of its middle section. Checkerboard patterns also appear on the [[LivingStructureMonster walls]] that serve as gatekeepers for the level’s weirder areas.
76%% Needs context * Tartarus in ''VideoGame/Persona3''.
77* In a similar vein, the Collective Unconscious in the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series.
78* The heart of the Amala Labyrinth in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' [[spoiler: where Lucifer resides]] has a checkerboard floor.
79* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
80** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'': Checkerboard tiles in floors show up on certain fortresses, as well as the walls of the kings' castles. Given the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' roots of the franchise, it makes sense.
81** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'': The Astral Hall is a mysterious room located in the second floor that features a checkerboard design in the floors as well as the walls. Luigi has to light the candles to make ghosts appear and capture them to reach the Observatory, where he unveils a mystic path reminiscent of outer space.
82** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'': The green tiles will actually disappear if Mario/Luigi were to step on them. Also, in the first game, the staircase leading to the planet on which Mario/Luigi fights [[BigBad Bowser]] will be smashed apart by meteorites.
83* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''
84** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': The Southern Face Shrine has this design. It appears earlier in the game as well, but this is the point where it's most appropriate. [[spoiler:It's where Link discovers that the island is part of a dream-made-real, created by the Wind Fish.]]
85** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': The checkerboard floor of the Temple of Time, which serves as the resting ground for the Master Sword. The Forest Temple has rooms with this pattern as well.
86** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': The Ancient Castle of Ikana features this, as well as some parts of the Stone Tower Temple.
87* ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' features them quite prominently in the ''VideoGame/BlueSphere'' special stages. GreenHillZone doesn't count, however, since despite featuring a prominent checkerboard pattern, it's not actually otherworldly within the context of the series.
88* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': In Fanworks, Eiki Shiki's Court has a chessboard floor, somewhat justified, given her ability to judge things black and white.
89** The Background in the final battle of ''VideoGame/TouhouGensokyoLotusLandStory'' uses a Blue and black checkerboard background.
90** Also the Palace of the Earth spirits has a Checkerboard floor
91* ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' has a checkered pattern on Madotsuki's shirt. The Fangames took that and carried on with it, ending up with this trope.
92* Chessboard Land in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI''.
93* ''{{VideoGame/Quake}}'' has levels with this style of decor.
94* The {{Bizarrchitecture}} in Constantine's mansion in ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' includes checkerboard floors (and walls and ceilings in such places as the floor ceases to be a floor).
95* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', Sasha Nein's mental world is shown as a large cube with an odd, checkerboard-like design, signifying himself as TheStoic.
96* ''VideoGame/{{Superliminal}}'' has one of these [[spoiler:near the end of the game.]]
97* ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' has Dirk jumping from square to square on a chessboard to keep the bad knight from electrocuting him.
98* Checkerboard surfaces are all over the place in the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' GameMod ''Void'', which is set in an EldritchLocation.
99* ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame'' culminates in a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind with Gideon on a checkerboard floor.
100* [[https://www.microsoft.com/en-is/p/aqua-fortis-aqua-valis/9p8cxzblst62?activetab=pivot:overviewtab Aqua Fortis Aqua Valis]] the floor of almost every stage.
101* ''Videogame/Wizard101'': When Novus is still in an unformed state, it looks like a meshwork of purple and beige rectangles, arranged into the approximate shape of the landscape that it will eventually turn into.
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[folder:Web Animation]]
105* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' [[ShowWithinAShow cartoon within a cartoon]] "Sweet Cuppin' Cakes" is set on a teal checkerboard plain. This is probably the show's [[QuirkyWork least surreal feature]].
106* I ''WebAnimation/MysterySkullsAnimated'', any setting summoned by Lewis with his ghost powers has a faint pink checkerboard motif.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Web Comics]]
110* The Battlefield in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is a Checkerboard PLANET after prototyping enough times.
111* The world beyond the couch cushions in ''Webcomic/OzyAndMillie'' features a good amount of this. To quote the commentary in the book ''Prehistrionics'': "[[AuthorAppeal My fondness]] for stripes, checkerboards, polka dots, arrows, and other pop-art-esque patterns has never been so obvious as it was during this storyline."
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Web Original]]
115* Chessboard patterns appear throughout the ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' series: the dining room floor in ''DHMIS 1'', the bathroom floor in ''2'', the picnic mat in ''3'', the digital world in ''4'', and the kitchen tiles in ''5''. This all foreshadows an important setting in the sixth and final episode: [[spoiler:the LotusEaterMachine nature of the world they live in; the world's control room also has chessboard flooring]].
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Western Animation]]
119* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': There's a notable creepy checkerboard ground in the scenes where the mane cast confront the villain Discord on his throne during part two of the season 2 premiere. Because of [[RealityWarper Discord]], all of Ponyville had effectively been turned into an EldritchLocation. In the comics, a map included in one issue has a similar design for the site of where a battle with Discord was once held long ago.
120* When the ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' first encounter Mad Mod he is in control of a strange world with a checkerboard pattern. [[spoiler: It's later revealed to be all smoke and mirrors.]]
121* In the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' episode "The Box", the kids briefly find themselves in another, ''even stranger'' world with celestial bodies strewn across a dark sky, a standing clock, and this.
122[[/folder]]
123
124[[folder:Real Life]]
125* The black and white checkerboard floors in Masonic lodges: actually an [[InvertedTrope inversion]], since it symbolizes the material, mundane world, in which light and darkness, good and evil, matter and spirit, are jumbled together.
126* For given values of "real life," this has been reported by self-professed astral travelers.
127[[/folder]]

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