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7[[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/{{CCC}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/city_of_adventures.png]]]]
8 [[caption-width-right:350:[[http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/ccccity CCC City]], the City of Opportunities]]
9
10->''"Follow me to a place''\
11''where incredible feats''\
12''are routine every hour or so.''\
13''Where enchantment runs rampant,''\
14''just wild through the streets.''\
15''Open sesame, here we go!"''
16-->-- Theme to ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', about Agrabah.
17
18No need for AdventureTowns; all the excitement, glamour, outlandishness, and romance you could ever hope for just happens to be right in your own city. Unlike [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo]] and [[BigApplesauce New York]], this city is usually [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed fictional]].
19
20The place to go to get easy HeroInsurance, judging by the massive collateral damage they can sustain.
21
22Taken to the logical extreme, you get BuildingOfAdventure or AcademyOfAdventure.
23
24There may be a MagneticPlotDevice hidden somewhere around here. Try to find one. Alternatively, the reason for extraordinary happenings is the BigBad trying to TakeOverTheCity.
25
26See also GeographicFlexibility, NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands, SuperheroCapitalOfTheWorld and AliensInCardiff. Contrast NothingExcitingEverHappensHere. Best served with a heaping of LandOfOneCity or HubCity. May sometimes be accompanied by WhereTheHellIsSpringfield.
27
28TheCity is bound to be this.
29
30----
31!Examples:
32[[foldercontrol]]
33
34[[folder:Advertising]]
35* [[AffectionateParody Parodied]] / [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in an ad for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRMgptgPHLg Degree Deodorant]].
36[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
39* VisualNovel/AokanaFourRhythmAcrossTheBlue spans four islands of flying citizens, set in an island paradise.
40* The importance of Karakura Town, a fictional district of Tokyo, to various spiritual entities in the anime ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is explained by an area of "high spiritual density" (a phenomenon which occurs more or less randomly across the world) coinciding with an area of high population. A notably high population of former Shinigami and other spiritually-attuned beings doesn't hurt, either.
41%%** Seireitei in Soul Society might count as well.
42* Academy City in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''. The city is famous for grooming powerful power users, but it also has a dark side. The "questionable" research that's done at the city leads to many story arcs in the anime, and is enough to for a complete spin-off: ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun''. They're under international law, which apparently explains why this is considered "legal" there. The city is also far ahead of the outside world in terms of technology, and they have to use this to their advantage in order to make sure more unruly Espers (and powerful) don't go on a rampage. This may also fall under AcademyOfAdventure as Academy City is made up of dozens of different schools.
43* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikebukuro Ikebukuro]] in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}''. Something is always happening, whether it's a gang war, Slashers, or vending machines flying through the air.
44* Fukuoka City in ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', thanks to the machinations of two silly warring entities.
45* The main setting of ''FantasticDetectiveLabyrinth'' is Kyuto, the UrbanRuins of former Tokyo that was abandoned after an earthquake thirty years ago. Since then, the place is home to numerous “phantom cases” with bizarre circumstances not easily explained by simple means. The young detective Mayuki tends to assist the police and his friends in solving these cases as a hobby.
46* ''{{Anime/FLCL}}'' takes place in Mabase, a town with a colossal building shaped like a clothing-iron that lets out an enormous amount of steam every now and again. The main character (Naota) is 12-years-old yet has a "girlfriend"/StalkerWithACrush who is in high school, and just about every adult he comes in contact with in the city are presented as childlike and looney. Despite this, he views his life as "boring". If this isn't odd enough, between the beginning and the end of the series, he meets an alien, is targeted by a secret organization, and grows a portal in his own head that creates lumps that eventually turn into giant mecha/plant/anything aliens that destroy most things in their path. Naota himself [[spoiler: temporarily turns into a god in the series climax, before letting out a super-powerful being that could destroy the planet if it wanted to, but leaves for some reason]]. Despite everything that happened, he still refers to his life as "absolutely ordinary", said just before a robot with a tv-like head hangs his family laundry.
47-->"Nothing ever happens here, it's all absolutely ordinary."
48** It's also eventually revealed that [[spoiler: the giant iron is a device to be used by the series' villains (the ones responsible for all the killer robots running amok and imprisoning the aforementioned super-powerful being) to iron out all human thought on Earth.]]
49* Morioh in Part 4 of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'', which comes with a large concentration of resident stand users (though part of that is because of Keicho creating new stand users with the Stand Arrow.) The heroes' actions even end up adding new [[AndIMustScream landmarks]] and urban legends to the town.
50* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura,_Kanagawa Kamakura]], a small beachside town some 50 km away from Tokyo, forms the setting for a few series:
51%%** Most of the weirdness in ''Manga/ElfenLied'' takes place there;
52** The main characters from ''Anime/UtaKata'' spend a lot of time at its beaches, only leaving the town for one ClassTrip to Hakone;
53** The town's [[ShrinesAndTemples shrines, temples]] and local railway form the perfect backdrop for the drama in ''Manga/SweetBlueFlowers'';
54** Asumi from ''Manga/TwinSpica'' grows up at Kamakura's Yuigahama Beach, after surviving the space rocket crash there in which her mother got killed.
55* ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' takes place in a really beautiful port city, which provides an appropriate amount of adventure for pre-teens. It's a case of ''pleasant {{dieselpunk}}''.
56* ''[[Anime/LupinIIITheSecretOfTwilightGemini The Secret of Twilight Gemini]]'' portrays Morocco as a city of mystery and intrigue -- complete with beautiful women, shady characters, and all the thrills and chases of [[Franchise/IndianaJones an Indy flick.]]
57* Uminari City in the first two seasons of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. This trait was passed to Mid-Childa when the heroes officially joined TheFederation, but then again, it ''is'' the Capital World of TheMultiverse.
58* The beach town in ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', although it's ''because'' the protagonists live there that things keep happening.
59* Like most things in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', deconstructed with Mitakihara, the elaborate, beautiful, somewhat-futuristic city full of places where witches roost and are hunted by magical girls. [[spoiler: Mitakihara is full of witches because witches are fallen magical girls, and wherever Kyubey goes, there'll be more of both in time.]]
60* Death City, Nevada, of ''Manga/SoulEater'' is not only the place where the Shibusen (or DWMA, if you're watching the dub) is located, it also holds the significance of being the place where Asura was trapped and, as such, is a commonly targeted place by whoever wants to set him free ([[spoiler:which Medusa eventually manages to do, indirectly]]). And while the students and their weapon partners have to travel around the world for their field assignments, holding the fort is also of utmost importance.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Audio Plays]]
64* Biggeveen, the setting from the Dutch audio play series ''AudioPlay/OmeHenk'' (Uncle Henk) seems to be one. It is the location of multiple UFO landings. Meanwhile, the three little pigs race around in a stolen sports car, robbing and shooting at everyone they can find, while a slime monster from the sewers tries to run a mobile fast food joint. And one of the accountants of the biggest company in town is actually a wizard. To top it off: the Dutch Sesame Street is located in said town, while the forest the Smurfs live in lies beside it.
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Comic Books]]
68* It is extremely common in solo SuperHero series for the hero to have a specific city that they are known to patrol as "their territory":
69** Gotham City (Franchise/{{Batman}})
70** Metropolis (Franchise/{{Superman}})
71*** Metropolis is considered to be the single most adventure-riddled city in the DCU, even compared to all the other cities of adventure.
72** Central City/Keystone City (Franchise/TheFlash)
73** Opal City (ComicBook/{{Starman}})
74** Fawcett City/Fairfield ([[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]])
75** Ivy Town (ComicBook/TheAtom)
76** Blüdhaven (ComicBook/{{Nightwing}})
77** Coast City (Hal Jordan's ComicBook/GreenLantern)
78** Gateway City ([[ComicBook/MisterTerrific Mr. Terrific]] / ComicBook/TheSpectre / ComicBook/WonderWoman for a time)
79** Boston (ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}})
80*** ...or Washington DC at other times.
81** Hub City (ComicBook/TheQuestion)
82** Midway City/St. Roch (ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} / ComicBook/DoomPatrol)
83** Sub Diego (Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} / Aquagirl)
84** Star City/Seattle (ComicBook/GreenArrow)
85** The Comicbook/TeenTitans' Titans Tower is generally accepted to be in the UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco Bay.
86*** Earlier on, it was on an island in New York's East River.
87** Middleton/Denver (ComicBook/MartianManhunter)
88** Park City/Seattle (ComicBook/BlackCanary)
89** El Paso (Jaime Reyes's Comicbook/BlueBeetle)
90** Chicago (Ted Kord's Blue Beetle)
91** Smallville (a *Town* of Adventure) (pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}} ComicBook/{{Superboy}})
92** New York City (ComicBook/IronMan / Comicbook/FantasticFour / Comicbook/TheAvengers / Comicbook/SpiderMan... specifically the fictional Empire State University)
93*** Salem Center, Westchester County, just north of NYC (Home of the Comicbook/XMen's Mansion). They have since relocated to San Francisco and now reside in Utopia, a rock floating on the ocean just off the US Pacific Coast.
94*** Hell's Kitchen, NYC (Comicbook/{{Daredevil}})
95*** Damn, let's just put "New York" (in a more general/historical sense) for 9 out of 10 Marvel characters and leave it at that, okay?
96** Dakota (the city, not the state) -- ComicBook/{{Static}}, ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Comicbook/{{Hardware|1993}}, ComicBook/BloodSyndicate and other [[Creator/MilestoneComics Dakotaverse]] characters.
97** Citrusville, FL (''Comicbook/ManThing'')
98** Parodied in ''Comicbook/TheTick'' with "The City".
99** Used straight in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' with Los Angeles, with a justification: after the kids [[spoiler: take out the Pride, there's a power vacuum and supervillains try to make their niche.]] But also deconstructed somewhat with regards to New York City, the City of Adventure for the rest of the Marvel Universe - superpowers are seen as something that mostly happens far away from our heroes; then they visit NYC and are awed at seeing superheroes in the streets, and one character comments "here, we're not so special".
100* Kurt Busiek's ''ComicBook/AstroCity''; much of the plot hinges on subverting and lampshade hanging this very trope.
101* Cynosure from ''ComicBook/GrimJack''. Perhaps justified since it was built at the center of the multiverse.
102* ComicBook/JudgeDredd's Mega-City-One from the British comic ''2000AD''. Which makes sense since it takes up the entire East Coast.
103* Snap City in ''Comicbook/{{Madman}}''.
104* Madripoor in the Marvel Universe.
105* Chicago from ''ComicBook/SavageDragon''. Also, later in the series, there's ''God City''.
106* Bugtown, in Matt Howarth's various comics, including ''ComicBook/ThoseAnnoyingPostBros'' and ''ComicBook/SavageHenry''. Notable for being infinite in size, and having such screwed-up laws of physics that entropy works in reverse -- dead people inevitably come back to life after some time.
107* UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' franchise.
108* Neopolis, the Science Hero ghetto that the police of ''ComicBook/TopTen'' patrol.
109* The City in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', home to Spider Jerusalem and every vice there is.
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Fan Works]]
113* Boomfield a fictional city from the Joe the Great Franchise has lots of crime, which is usually stopped by Joe on a regular basis.
114* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Upon arriving on Tokyo-3, Asuka finds and fights everyday robbers, thugs, terrorists, super-powered villains, aliens, robots, time-travellers, {{EldritchAbomination}}s... And that is not counting the ancient evil conspiracy to end mankind her boss is concocting.
115* ''WebVideo/RWBYAbridged'' takes a deconstructive approach to this trope, with Ruby pointing out how such a city could only really exist given the state of affairs is because the city's leaders are horribly incompetent. To whit, the lead bad guy got away on a VTOL aircraft without any interference from law enforcement in the middle of the city, after trying to rob a place that sells weapon's grade materials in a manner not unlike a candy store, and whose sole guardian is a doddering old man. Without competent vigilantes like Ruby, the place would be swept away in a tide of crime.
116* ''Fanfic/PrincipalCelestiaHuntsTheUndead'': Canterlot is on a Ley Line, attracting monsters and magic of all kinds. Naturally, monster-hunters have a lot to work with.
117* The city of Balmora becomes one of these in ''Fanfic/DariaInMorrowind''. Helps that it's where most of the stories take place.
118* ''Fanfic/TarkinsFist'': Culter City [[spoiler: later renamed Amidala City]] serves as the capital of the New Empire on Mars and is the site of car chases, gambling, industrial plots, riots, gang warfare, political protests, and more court intrigue than you can shake your fist at.
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
122* During the "Golden Age" introduction of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', Municiberg fits the role well. In the course of just a few hours as Mr. Incredible is on his way to his wedding we see or hear about: a high speed pursuit with gunfire through the city's streets, a tour bus robbery, a purse snatcher, a helicopter flying through the city with guns blazing, an attempted suicide by jumping off a building, a bank robbery by a supervillain and a destroyed train track with a last minute save by Mr. Incredible.
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
126* Dinosaur City, of appropriately titled ''Film/AdventuresInDinosaurCity''.
127* ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' qualifies as a TropeCodifier.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Literature]]
131* Thousands of British juvenile adventure novels were published by the pulp presses, and an overwhelming number -- somewhere in the hundreds -- were set in Calgary. It may be because the writers wanted to show exciting things like cowboys and Indians, ranches, mountain climbers, and hunting (popular subjects of American juvenile literature) but in an Empire setting, and Calgary fit the bill. Many of these books were also translated into German.
132* Hogboro in several stories by Creator/DanielPinkwater. In ''Literature/AlanMendelsohnTheBoyFromMars'', Alan and Leonard remark on their luck finding that one of the dozen places in the world listed as suitable for interplanar contact is right in Hogboro (though tracking down the exact spot proves troublesome). The next closest spot on the list is in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada.
133* ''Literature/AngiesFirstCase'': Angie and Jess encounter three different criminal conspiracies (although some of them are associates with each other) and one petty thief in their Florida hometown over just a few days.
134* Trantor in several Creator/IsaacAsimov stories, which is in fact a city covering the entire surface of a planet. (Timothy Zahn would later adapt this idea to the planet Coruscant in the ''Franchise/{{Star Wars|Legends}}'' ExpandedUniverse; it would later appear in the prequels.) A 47th century New York City is used to the same effect in his novel ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel''. Such a world city is known as an Ecumenopolis.
135* The mythical "Bear Country" where the main characters live in ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'' series of picture books by Jan and Stan Berenstain is ostensibly an isolated rural community but features many familiar trappings of urban and suburban life (such as a shopping mall) as well as more nostalgic and fanciful settings, like a dank swamp home to roving teenage hooligans and a woman suspected of being a witch. And Bear Country ''never'' gets boring for Brother and Sister (although, to be sure, when you're a child and are just seeing many things for the first time, it's awfully hard to get bored).
136* The titular city "at the center of time" in Edward Bryant's ''Cinnabar''.
137* Cooley in "Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer". It's implied other shenanigans have occurred here despite the first entry being a standalone short story.
138* Deepdene in the ''Literature/DarkTouch'' novels. The portal to hell in one house doesn't help. Either deamons are coming through it or get drawn to it.
139* In the web-novel ''Literature/{{Domina}}'' the titular city is like this. Gangs of [[BioAugmentation bio-augmented]] crazies rule the streets, hunting [[RodentsOfUnusualSize giant rats]] is a common way to make money, and [[spoiler:it's about to be hit by a ZombieApocalypse]].
140* Chicago in Literature/TheDresdenFiles. Justified being due to a confluence of magical leylines in the area and the fact that Chicago is a travel hub in the real world so that draws at least some members of the magical community through there as well. In addition, by later books, it's clear that a lot of the action is going on in Chicago because that's where Harry himself happens to live.
141** In addition, averted in the seventh book when it becomes apparent that there are some ''really important'' things going on elsewhere that Harry and the reader don't find out about until later.
142* Literature/FactionParadox:
143** The City of the Saved, a ''galaxy-sized'', '''''[[GeniusLoci sentient]]''''' ecumenopolis situated at the edge of time itself, before the point of collapse of the current Universe and the beginning of the next. Every human to ever live, [[HalfHumanHybrid every hybrid in between]], and most fictional characters ever to exist. The only prerequisite for citizenship in the City of the Saved is a certain part of human DNA.
144** The [[EldritchLocation Eleven-Day Empire]]. [[TemporalParadox Having your entire history rewritten in a whim]] counts as an adventure, [[SarcasmMode right]]?
145* Popular in fantasy settings. Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar from his ''Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser'' stories is probably the archetype, but its parody Ankh-Morpork from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels is [[ParodyDisplacement now much better known]].
146** One of Leiber's short stories specifically links Lankhmar with its historical inspiration, Alexandria.
147* ''Literature/FeralsSeries'': Blackstone. Feral lineage runs deep there because the land it's built on was once a community for their kind.
148* The fictional English town of Blackbury in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy''. It's also the location of The Store in the ''Literature/NomesTrilogy''. Blackbury originally appeared in some of Terry's short stories for the kids' page of the ''Bucks Free Press''.
149* St Mary Mead, where Creator/AgathaChristie's [[LittleOldLadyInvestigates little old lady/amateur detective]] Literature/MissMarple lives. Given her advanced age, the events described in the books starring her must take place over the space of a few years, so it seems that mysterious murders occur in her village with alarming frequency.
150* River Heights and Bayport in the ''Literature/NancyDrew'' and ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' books. FridgeLogic makes their high crime rates plausible; they were created in the '20s and were suburbs of Chicago and New York, respectively, so it could be assumed that there's a large influence from the mafia.
151* {{Literature/Nightside}}, the secret city within London.
152* San Miguel is where almost all of the action in ''Literature/ThePantheonSaga'' takes place. It's technically the real California city of San Luis Obispo, but is very different in size and population due to the story being set in an AlternateHistory, as a 1987 earthquake resulted in the city being renamed and rebuilt as a major metropolis.
153* This is kind of the main idea behind the ''{{Quentaris}}'' books and the one thing they have in common. (They're not even all by the same author.)
154* Calyx, Reynard's hometown in ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'', is clearly one, even though most of Reynard's adventures there took place prior to the novels. Maybe in the prequels?
155* The London depicted in ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' fulfills this role whether it wants to or not.
156* Caribol in ''Literature/SkateTheThief'' is a port city full of wizards, witches, nobles, sailors, and thieves where the titular StreetUrchin makes her way through various burglaries and wild escapes.
157* MK Gibson's ''Literature/{{Technomancer}}'' has New Golgotha, a center of the demonic empire. It is a {{Cyberpunk}} {{Dystopia}} with the poor living on the bottom and the city's demonic masters living at the top of skyscrapers.
158* The Sprawl, in Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy''. Officially known as Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis (BAMA), it is essentially one huge megapolis covering most of the east coast of the USA.
159* ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' is set in Toydream 35, a combination city/theme park that was bought out by the equivalent of Creator/WaltDisney. Everything in it is made to attract tourists, so the streets are immaculate, mascot costumes are so common that ''actual'' supernatural beings go unnoticed, and there's a plethora of secret maintenance tunnels. Of course, it also has its own Chinatown, dockyard, and Venice-esque canal bridges, all of which have been fought in at some point.
160* Chicago in ''Literature/WearingTheCape'' and its sequels: Chicago is the post-Event Metropolis of the Wearing the Cape setting, with good reason; Atlas and the Sentinels created the template for superheroes and superhero teams, and with the Sentinels and the Guardians teams, the city has more superheroes per capita than any other city. Chicago is also the center of the Villain-Rap culture, which means the place is crawling with street-villains and fashion-villains. The Sentinels' reputation is also creating a problem, in that supervillain-terrorists and thrill-villains who want to make their reputations may target them and the city they protect (it has been noted that Chicago was the only freshwater port to get a Godzilla attack).
161* ''{{Literature/Worm}}''[='=]s Brockton Bay, hometown of our {{Villain Protagonist}}s the Undersiders.
162[[/folder]]
163
164[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
165* In ''Series/TwentyFour'', terrorists always make a point of attacking UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, despite the fact that it is the one city in America that has the indestructible Jack Bauer in it.
166** In the seventh season, they finally wise up and attack Washington, D.C. But their timing really sucks...
167*** And again in the eighth season, when they attack New York [[{{Retirony}} on the day Jack plans to leave for L.A.]]
168* ''Series/BabylonFive'' justifies this trope by having the station be a crossroads for many different space-faring races.
169* In ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'', Pleasantville is beset by an astonishing number of bizarre supernatural occurrences; a few of them are connected to the heroes, but mainly it's just a place where weird things happen.
170* Both [[Series/{{Arrow}} Star City]] and [[Series/TheFlash2014 Central City]] in the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' count. By the end of Season 4 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Star City has been the target of four terrorist attacks in as many years, while on ''Series/TheFlash2014'' Central City has remained plagued by a variety of metahumans since Star Labs' Particle Accelerator exploded.
171** [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' in Season 4. Team Arrow managed to save Star City from those attacks, but the attacks still had consequences; citizens are leaving the city in droves, so its economy is failing, and there's no longer a mayor because the last two were assassinated, and nobody else is willing to risk their lives.
172* The town of Sunnydale in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', being set upon a "Hellmouth", is very much a town of this sort. The Hellmouth is described as a portal that leaks mystical energy, both drawing demons towards it and affecting things in supernatural ways: e.g., a girl becomes invisible because she feels invisible, and later we see various kinds of MadScience that might not work elsewhere. Thus, there is [[MagneticPlotDevice an automatic answer]] for so many supernatural things all occurring in this one town. The town [[GeographicFlexibility transformed at need]] so that in one episode it was small enough to be taken over by a dozen bikers and in others it became a major University town with international sea and air hubs. At the end of Season 3, Xander jokes about this, asking "Why do people still move here?" Turns out [[spoiler:people usually stay the hell away from Hellmouths, but the Mayor was actually [[MyGrandsonMyself a hundred-year-old wizard]] who created Sunnydale as a smorgasbord for demons. After the Scoobies blow him up, the town gradually shrinks, ultimately depopulating completely by the final episode in which it falls into a sinkhole.]]
173** Los Angeles from ''Series/{{Angel}}'' is a more conventional example. Demons [[JustifiedTrope obviously]] like living in the same town as the OccultLawFirm -- and Doyle or Cordelia's visions served to explain why Angel usually dealt with them.
174* In ''Series/BurnNotice'' Miami, Florida seems to have an awful lot of violent criminals [[note]]which is not ''entirely'' unrealistic[[/note]], con men, and, well, ''spies''. And commandos. And drug dealers. And high-end top-secret government contractors.
175** And in ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' an alarmingly high number of active serial killers.
176* ''Series/{{CSI}}'''s Las Vegas
177** And obviously ''Series/{{CSINY}}'s'' New York and ''Series/CSIMiami'''s Miami.
178** Played with in one episode when a Vegas-based rapper claimed it was "the new New York." A certain New York rapper took offense, and a "beef" started.
179* Despite all the AdventureTowns the Doctor often visits, aliens in ''Series/DoctorWho'' like to invade 20th and 21st century Earth from the Home Counties, usually London. After two consecutive ''Doctor Who'' Christmas Specials bring AlienInvaders to London, the residents are smart and make sure to leave the city at Christmas time.
180* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': The titular town is said to attract all kinds of weirdness. A few examples are a family who sleep inside tupperware boxes to stop themselves from aging, a haunted house and Elvis living in the main character's neighborhood.
181* ''Series/ForeverKnight'''s Toronto, with a serial killer for every day of the year.
182** Same with ''Series/BloodTies2007'', with monsters taking place of serial killers.
183* "Seacouver" in ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'', especially when Duncan is there. When he's in Paris, guess where trouble happens.
184* Lampshaded in the ''Series/InTheHeatOfTheNight'' TV series, set in the fictional Mississippi town of Sparta. "I should join the Marines...I'd see less dead bodies."
185* Averted in ''Series/LieToMe'', as UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC is just too small.
186* ''Series/{{Monk}}'''s San Francisco
187** And ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'''s San Francisco, though sometimes for no reason whatsoever.
188* All of ''Series/MonsterWarriors'' takes place in Capital City ([[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield although exactly where it is the capital of is never established]]) and its immediate surrounds, with the nearby North Woods being an especially popular spot for monsters.
189* Cabot Cove in ''Series/MurderSheWrote.'' They do get Jessica out and about regularly, but there are still an ''awful lot'' of murders in her small hometown -- it's a wonder there's anyone left. After Sheriff Tupper left, his replacement in Cabot Cove (an ex-New Yorker) [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this.
190* NBC's ''Series/Powerless2017'', set in the Creator/DCComics Universe, unsurprisingly features this -- though in this case, it's not so much a ''side effect'' of being a superhero series, as it is half the point of the show: the premise being that the non-superpowered civilians in a superhero world living in [[TheCity major cities]] have to deal with a lot of added inconvenience and potential hazards due to the constant superhero vs supervillain battles going on around them. In this case, the series even goes so far as to pointedly ''not'' use a DCU-famous city that gets the "A List" heroes, like Metropolis or Gotham, but a new one called "[[NonIndicativeName Charm City]]" -- which is [[WordOfGod described by the show's staff out-of-universe]] as "the Scranton, PA of the DCU". The citizens are so blase about the superpowered battles in their City of Adventure that in the first episode, nobody but out-of-towner Emily finds the battle between Silver Fox and a supervillain to be [[FantasticallyIndifferent of any interest whatsoever]] (instead merely [[BystanderSyndrome being annoyed at the delay caused by their train derailing]]) and in the opening of episode two, a street vendor's immediate response to [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight having a flying supervillain chuck a postal box onto his table]], is to pause for a {{Beat}}, and then tell Emily: "We're out of...everything." Yeah, it's [[AffectionateParody that kind of series]].
191* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' usually follows this trope, with the occasional side trip. To date: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers An]][[Series/PowerRangersZeo gel]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Gro]][[Series/PowerRangersInSpace ve]], [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Terra Venture]], [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Mariner Bay]], [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Silver Hills]], [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Turtle Cove]], [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Blue Bay Harbor]], [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Reefside]], [[Series/PowerRangersSPD Newtech City]], [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Briarwood]], [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Ocean Bluff]], [[Series/PowerRangersRPM Corinth]], [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Panorama City]], [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Harwood County]] (which is [[NonIndicativeName not actually a county]]), [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Amber Beach]], [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Summer Cove]] and [[Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers Coral Harbor]].
192** Subverted in ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', where the characters are based in San Angeles, but travel [[CaliforniaDoubling all over the world]].
193** Justified in ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' and ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', as Terra Venture and Corinth are the only cities in at ''least'' a several-thousand-mile radius - Terra Venture is a traveling space colony and there's nothing outside the city but the empty expanse of space; while Corinth is ''the only city left on earth'', the rest of the planet being a bombed-out wasteland.
194** Also justified in ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue''; the demons limit their attacks to Mariner Bay because the city was built on the site of their old temple and they want it back.
195* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Wherever]] ''Series/PushingDaisies'' takes place seems to attract really, ''really'' odd murders.
196* ''[[Series/MadanSenkiRyukendo Ryukendo]]'''s city of Akebono is a hot spot for the Power Spot located conveniently beneath the city.
197* The city of Cascade in ''Series/TheSentinel''. Ebola virus threats? Uranium smuggling? Yakuza gang wars? Paramilitary terrorists taking whole buildings hostage? Just another day in Cascade.
198* The town of Smallville in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. The [[MagneticPlotDevice explanation]] for the large number of unusual occurrences is the presence of a significant amount of [[GreenRocks Kryptonite]] in the area, which in this case causes humans in its presence to gain powers varying from individual to individual.
199* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': the titular Deep Space Nine space station near the independent planet of Bajor acts as this especially as the nearby [[spoiler: wormhole]] provides a PlotMagnet to attract others to a space station.
200* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/KamenRider'' work on the same principle, but the events of both series apparently happen in the ''exact same'' (unnamed) ''city'' every single year. An avid fan will quickly be able to spot reused locations and come to pity the people who live there. This city [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse could as well be Tokyo]], given the appearances of the Tokyo Dome (which actually sponsors some of the tokusatsu series by Toei) in some of them, among a few other hints.
201** Except for the one time where [[Series/KamenRiderDouble it was specifically named Futo]] which was just Tokyo with a bunch of windmills added everywhere. The TV Asahi building (the channel that airs the shows) was reappropriated as the TV Futo building. And for the other time where [[Series/KamenRiderGaim it was named Zawame City]].
202** Averted in at least two ''Sentai'' series. ''Series/ResshaSentaiToQger'' traveled all over the country and had towns-of-the-week where they'd make a stop to kick out the monster that was plaguing it -- it even set up a crossover simply by saying "this week, we're stopping at (the aforementioned) Zawame". ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'' was a SpaceOpera series that sent them throughout the galaxy (though they did spend extended stretches of the show on Earth).
203* In ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Cardiff is located on an inter-dimensional rift, which results in plenty of weird things ending up there.
204* Bon Temps in ''Series/TrueBlood'' is a little town in Louisiana that just happens to attract all manner of supernatural creatures for no apparent reason, from recently outed vampires up to [[spoiler: an ifrit]]. Gets a major LampshadeHanging in Season 4 when Tara pulls a ScrewThisImOuttaHere after she gets fed up with the weirdness.
205* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' is set in Mystic Falls, a small town in Virginia. The town had a "vampire problem" around the time of its founding, one of the founding families carries the hereditary werewolf curse, and there has always been plenty of witches around. It also turns out that in pre-colonial times, the same stretch of land was home to Europeans who could somehow sail there and those people happen to include the Mikaelsen family, also known as the "Original" vampires. AND somebody tried to open a gateway to hell there shortly before the first Founders' Ball, and many witches had to sacrifice themselves to keep the hellfire contained. Of course, a bunch of teenagers and their history teacher have to deal with the consequences of all of that crap in present day. It is amazing how little effect the constant stream of deaths has on the lives of the residents.
206** The show's SpinOff ''Series/TheOriginals'' uses New Orleans in a similar way.
207[[/folder]]
208
209[[folder:Music]]
210* The works of Music/PaulShapera focusing on the city-state of New Albion, which has seen voodoo cults, civil war, digital predators feeding on VR gamers, everything in between, and many things beyond.
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder:Pinball]]
214* ''Pinball/SecretService'' is set entirely in Washington D.C., which is apparently just filled with secret agents, Soviet spies, and shootouts between the two.
215[[/folder]]
216
217[[folder:Radio]]
218* ''Series/DeadRingers:'' Spoofed when one sketch has the characters of ''Series/StrangerThings'' note that since their town has weird portals opening up all the time, it'd actually be more unusual if this ''didn't'' happen.
219
220[[/folder]]
221
222[[folder:Roleplays]]
223* ''Roleplay/CityOfLostCharacters'' is set in an extradimensional city which, similarly to the ''Massive Multi-Fandom RPG'' setting above, is changed to fit a new theme every day, and contains a large crowd of exotic, eccentric and dangerous individuals from various universes.
224* Seasons 1 and 2 of ''Roleplay/TheMassiveMultiFandomRPG'' are set in a city which keeps shifting its layout, and the presence of large crowds of disparate individuals from all over the multiverse guarantees adventure, in addition to the daily "curses" which affect the inhabitants in various ways.
225[[/folder]]
226
227[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
228* Arkham in ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror''. Home to a number of cults, the infamous [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Miskatonic University]], and far too many eldritch secrets. Most of the expansions add to the madness and make Arkham home to things like a cursed museum exhibit or the only attempted performance of a BrownNote play. A few involve mysteries outside of Arkham and add AdventureTowns to the game.
229* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' Universe, Millennium City gets far more superhuman action than you would expect for Detroit Redux. Partly justified due to its The City Of The Future meme.
230* TabletopGame/FreedomCity and Emerald City in the ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' "World of Freedom" setting. Freedom is basically the superhero capital of the world; Metropolis if it had the same density of supers as Marvel New York. Emerald is a city where supers are new, following a MassEmpoweringEvent but which also harbours much older secrets.
231* Every setting for the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game has at least one of these.
232** The Free City of Greyhawk in TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} is one of the very first.
233** Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate from the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms. Waterdeep was significant enough to get its own sourcebook.
234*** [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Neverwinter]] too, in 2011. Gloomwrought, Hestavar, and the City of Brass all have extensive write-ups as well.
235** TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'s got two! Sharn, the City of Towers, and Stormreach, outpost of Xen'drik. Sharn is the main one, though.
236** Sigil of ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' fame, being the foremost crossroads of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' multiverse.
237*** ''Planescape'' also has the "gate towns," which built up around portals between the TrueNeutral plane of the Outlands and the other Outer Planes. Each was meant to allow lower-level players to get a taste of life in the other planes without facing all the risks of actually going to many of them.
238** Creator/{{TSR}} did an entire box set on the city of Huzuz for the TabletopGame/AlQadim setting.
239** 3rd Edition's ''Epic Level Handbook'' introduced Union, a planar city in the vein of Sigil, but managed by the [[ProudMerchantRace mercane]] and meant to cater to level 21-plus gameplay (when the game had a previous soft cap of level 20). Even the generic CityGuards start at level 14. However, the city didn't have much appeal compared to mainstays like Sigil, partially because of the limited space to cover it in the book and partially because epic-level play didn't catch on too well.
240
241* Ravnica, of the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' multi-verse, is not quite a straight example, as it's a city that covers its entire world.
242** It now fits better with the presence of the headquarters of the Infinite Consortium, essentially a multi-planar organization, and several other planeswalkers living there incognito.
243* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' tends towards one signature city per game line -- UsefulNotes/NewOrleans for ''[[TabletopGame/VampiretheRequiem Vampire]]'', UsefulNotes/{{Denver}} for ''[[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken Werewolf]]'', UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} for ''[[TabletopGame/MagetheAwakening Mage]]'', UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} for ''[[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Promethean]]'', UsefulNotes/{{Miami}} for ''[[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost Changeling]]'', UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} for ''[[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunter]]'', and UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity for ''[[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Geist]]''. There's also an independent book for Chicago that covers plot hooks for mortals, as well as laying out the politics of the local "big three" (vampires, werewolves, and mages).
244** Fan game ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' does the same thing, with UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} as its city of choice.
245*** By chance, ''[[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent Demon]]'' chose Seattle as its signature city as well.
246** ''[[TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse Mummy]]'' has two, one in the USA and one international - UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC and Rio de Janeiro.
247** Both fan games ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'' and ''TabletopGame/DragonTheEmbers'' chose UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco as their signature cities.
248** For the second editions of the game lines, the approach is to present a number of Cities of Adventure in the corebooks, with all of them featuring Tokyo as that particular splat sees it. ''[[TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial Beast]]'' also goes this route.
249** Fan-game ''TabletopGame/SirenTheDrowning'' uses Honolulu.
250* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' produced several guides to real-world cities, with details of the nasties there.
251* One sample scale for map-drawing on ''TabletopGame/OnMightyThews'', presumably because of places like Lankhmar.
252* The city of The Edge in the island nation of Al-Amarja is the setting for all the weirdness in ''TabletopGame/OverTheEdge''.
253* The ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' Roleplaying Game has the city of Absalom.
254* Monte Cook's ''TabletopGame/{{Ptolus}}'', a setting revolving entirely around the titular city (and, incidentally, one of the fattest roleplaying books ever published, at 672 pages).
255** The city is built around SealedEvilInACan and on top of multiple layers of SealedEvilInACan, and (mostly unrelatedly) is home to several men who are, or can at least get away with claiming to be, emperor. The evil is leaking, the cans have become something of a tourist industry, and the political tensions are on the rise. Yes, there are some explanations.
256* Lots in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge''. The best example is the Republic of Emancipation on Mars, which is a fully fleshed out revolutionary state and is the setting for the Mars sourcebook's adventure. Many other adventures either connect to Emancipation, or feature characters coming from there, as it is a city in flux.
257* ''SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': As befitting a superhero setting, the environment decks Megalopolis and Rook City portray expy locations of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Metropolis]] and [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]] respectively, each with their own hazards and pitfalls for everyone. Megalopolis is a straightforward bright city that at the worst suffers the occasional alien invasion while Rook City is a gloomy locale stagnating under mob rule, corrupt police officers, and plague rats.
258* TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'s Seattle Metroplex.
259* TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} has TabletopGame/{{Mordheim}}, a warband setting that takes place in the titular City of Adventure and puts [[BlackAndGreyMorality its]] [[CrapsackWorld own]] [[GallowsHumor unique]] [[LowFantasy perspective]] on it. The city was levelled by a meteorite of Warpstone, a substance that has tremendous value for magical experiments and is a vital ingredient in the Philosopher's Stone- that is, an alchemical concoction that can change "base" metals into pure gold. So, naturally, the city is swarming with violent, opportunistic mercenaries and treasure hunters. Of course, Warpstone is also ToxicPhlebotinum, or perhaps PsychoSerum would be a better descriptor, as it causes physical, mental, and spiritual corruption. So, naturally, the city is also teeming with all manner of horrific monsters...
260* Similar to the TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} example above, TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 has ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'', its equivalent of Mordheim. Taking place on the [[SingleBiomePlanet Hive World]] of the same name, it's justified in that, like all Hive Worlds, the actual planet has been polluted so terribly by eons of industrial production that humans now live in tremendous ant-hive like buildings that serve as the new equivalent of ''continents''.
261[[/folder]]
262
263[[folder:Video Games]]
264* In ''VideoGame/{{Academagia}}'', [[http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd512/Tom_Kraan/Academagia/UCMFinal.png Mineta]] is one of the largest and most important cities in [[WorldintheSky Elumia]]; as well as the home to "The Academy of Magic of Mineta", more commonly called "[[TitleDrop Academagia]]". The game includes many potential events and adventures set in and around Mineta.
265* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' features several games where the cities are essentially the main character. Special mentions to Florence and Venice (''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''), Rome (''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood''), Constantinople (''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'') and of course, Paris (''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'').
266* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': The city of Baldur's Gate itself, naturally, as in the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms.
267* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': The FirstTown of Athkatla, which is also one of the most active areas for quests and encounters.
268** You may be attacked by low-level muggers every once in a while.
269** Any mages caught casting any form of magic are imprisoned and horrifically tortured for the rest of their lives. Or simply murdered, as in the case with the player character (unless you manage to just keep on killing Cowled Wizards until they give up).
270* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'': Saradush, although it's a lot smaller than Baldur's Gate or Athkatla.
271* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'': The game's third act takes place in the sprawling titular city.
272* The city of Yharnam of ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' is very much like Victorian London -- if Victorian London was designed by Creator/MCEscher, plagued with an illness that transforms people into [[AnimalisticAbomination murderous beasts]], and filled with [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Lovecraftian horrors]] that reveal themselves to you as soon as you gain [[SanityMeter Insight]]. Still, it is an attractive place for outsiders, as its art of Blood Ministration can provide a cure to any disease known to man.
273* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' has the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, the main setting of the first game. Every stage from it was set within the city's confines, but even as the story moved on to other locales like Ibukido, Kagutsuchi has remained a large part of the series' mythos.
274* ''VideoGame/BlueArchive'' takes place in Kivotos, a massive, Tokyo-inspired city built entirely around and servicing several schools and their students; the "adventure" is handled by the armies of students and delinquent gangs packing heat. Granted, the burgeoning anarchy of the city is actually a recent development, which is what forced the General Student Council to create the player's taskforce in order to return order to the city.
275* Befitting that it borrows a lot from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' (as listed directly above), ''VideoGame/{{Crackdown}}'' takes place in 'Pacific City', and seems to be either inspired by or borrows the idea of a multi-island approach for geography.
276* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' has Night City, California, which was rated [[CrapsackWorld the worst city in America]] with its sky-high rates of violence and poverty. In spite of its reputation as a veritable WretchedHive, it still attracts a lot of people into coming for the opportunities presented in the city, your PlayerCharacter included.
277* The city of Kirkwall in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''.
278* ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' in Stormreach.
279* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'': The majority of games are set in a City of Adventure built around a labyrinth or dungeon; ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIIITheDrownedCity'' shakes things up by instead featuring a PortTown as your base of operations.
280* The eponymous city in ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'', the [[UndergroundCity underground capital]] of a failing British Empire, is home to (among other things) HumanoidAbomination {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s with an inexplicable fondness for romance novels, ambassadorial missions from both [[LegionsOfHell Hell]] and an [[HiddenElfVillage isolationist nation of immortals]], a smuggling ring run by a thirteenth-century Mongolian princess, a [[BodySurf body-surfing]] UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, a movement of BombThrowingAnarchists who want to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens overthrow the gods]], and [[CityOfSpies hundreds if not thousands of spies]].
281* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series is no stranger to urban settings, but the eponymous city of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' stands out, being the closest thing to an actual honest-to-God city in the series. Being built from the largely intact remains of the Las Vegas strip and getting power from the Hoover Dam certainly doesn't hurt.
282* South Town is a focal point for events in the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' series, and also gets a mention in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series. Appears to be quite a multicultural place, possibly justifying how so many people there master several martial arts from around the world.
283* The town of Fuyuki in both ''[[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'' and ''[[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia Fate/hollow ataraxia]]''
284* South Town itself is "largely inspired" by Metro City, where the events of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' happen.
285* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''
286** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' sets its entire first act in the confines of Midgar, a sprawling MegaCity rife with corporate corruption, freedom fighters, terrifying monsters, and dangerous robots.
287** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the [[HubCity Hub Cities]] in each of the game's regions, with later expansions adding at least one more. These include (but are not limited to): [[MerchantCity Ul'dah]] in Thanalan, [[HiddenElfVillage Gridania]] in the Black Shroud, [[NotSoSafeHarbor Limsa Lominsa]] in La Noscea, Revenant's Toll in Mor Dhona, [[HolyCity Ishgard]] in Coerthas, [[{{Wutai}} Kugane]] in Hingashi, the Crystarium on the First, [[{{Scienceville}} Old Sharlayan]], and Radz-at-Han in Thavnair.
288* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series consistently gives us three of this kind of city since the first game: Liberty City (an {{expy}} of New York City), San Andreas (an expy of California and Nevada), and Vice City (an expy of Miami). ''[=GTA=] 2'' also gives us "Anywhere, USA", though it's [[SequelDisplacement almost forgotten]].
289* The city of Hekseville in ''VideoGame/GravityRush''. There's always something going on...
290* Most of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure'' takes place in Crossbell City, with the rest of the game taking place in Crossbell's immediate outskirts. These games pack as much into one city as other ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries Trails]]'' games pack into a much larger country.
291* ''VideoGame/PowerwashSimulator''[='=]s Muckingham has [=UFOs=], time machines, an active volcano and the remnants of Atlantis. All of which are in serious need of a deep clean, of course.
292* Sigil of ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', where one could easily spend over half the game and to which you periodically returned even when out adventuring in other planes.
293* The ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' franchise practically has this as a staple trope starting with the Sands of Time saga. Each one is notable in that it manages to find ways to make its cities abandoned and filled with enemies, specifically [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime Azad]] (sand zombies), [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin The Island of Time]] (sand cult), [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones Babylon]] (invading army), [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008 the unnamed Ahura city]] (Ahriman's influence) and [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheForgottenSands King Solomon's Palace]] ([[BreadEggsBreadedEggs invading sand zombie army]]).
294* VideoGame/RealityOnTheNorm from the eponymous series.
295* Stilwater in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' happens to be a city full of opportunities and if Stilwater didn't have enough opportunities alone, the new bigger city of Steelport is gonna have a lot more than that of Stilwater.
296* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' loves this trope, mainly due to its UrbanFantasy stylings. In fact, many of the games take place in [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo]] (or [[AfterTheEnd what's left of it anyway]]). Games that don't take place in a city are the exception rather than the norm.
297** ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'': All games take place in cities serve as the base for your exploits, where you meet various interesting teammates and allies, and stumble upon supernatural adventures. From ''3'' onwards, the cities let the protagonist engage in loads of activities like singing karaoke, working at a daycare, and practicing his home run swing at the batting cages.
298*** Mikage-cho in ''VideoGame/Persona1'' is the epicenter of a zombie apocalypse.
299*** Sumaru City in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' is barely a hair away from WretchedHive. Between the [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve rumor curse]], [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs foreign crime syndicates]], [[CorruptCop rampant police corruption]], zombies and demons in both private and public buildings, an ApocalypseCult, widely available MurderInc services, {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s, demon summoners, too many ancient ruins, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking drug stores with brainwashing music]], it's miracle the locals don't move out en-masse.
300*** Tatsumi Port Island in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is an artificial island that mainly draws the youth (since it also hosts an AcademyOfAdventure) and is the target of the supernatural phenomenon of the [[TimeStandsStill Dark Hour]].
301*** Inaba in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', despite being a small rural town, is full of quirky people, {{Urban Legend}}s and mysteries to uncover even without taking the murders into account.
302*** UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}} in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is as exciting as you'd expect, with to s of jobs, unique crowds, events, interesting locations and other things taking place.
303* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series includes a lot of urban areas and levels, including (but not limited to) Station Square in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', an unnamed "Capital City" in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Central City in ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', and Empire City in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed''.
304* ''VideoGame/UrbanChaos'' takes place in Union City.
305* Clint City in ''VideoGame/UrbanRivals'' most certainly qualifies. It has gangs, vampires, aliens, robots, pirates...
306* Much of ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'' takes place in the bustling medieval city of Novigrad. Markets hum with activity, shady characters lurk in the back alleys, children play in the puddles, ladies of pleasure ply their trade in the docks, soldiers patrol the streets in the day and drunks wander them at night.
307* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' is set mainly in Kamurocho, a district of Tokyo based on the real-world Kabukicho district. In addition to being a hotbed of criminal activity, Kamurocho is also home to many attractions and amenities that make it a popular place for average people: bars, arcades, hostess clubs, batting cages, cat cafes, and restaurants that cater to just about any taste. Later games in the series feature even more urban settings, the most notable location aside from Kamurocho being the Osaka's Sotenbori district (itself inspired by the real-world Dotonbori district).
308* ''VideoGame/YsIXMonstrumNox'' is set in the Prison City of Balduq. As the party is prevented from leaving Balduq by a mysterious power, it serves as the primary setting of the game. The city itself is split into several vastly different districts, and has dozens of caves and secret passages, not to mention an entire BuildingOfAdventure that is the Balduq Prison. It's also constantly under attack by weird monsters known an "[[TheHeartless Lemures]]", that the party is forced to fight to prevent them from entering the real world.
309[[/folder]]
310
311[[folder:Web Animation]]
312* WebAnimation/{{CCC}} City, the 'City of Opportunities' in [[http://vinnieveritas.com/flash/ccc/ the popular flash video series]], in which literally every day in and around the city (so large it renders maps pointless) involves countless adventures of many different levels.
313[[/folder]]
314
315[[folder:Webcomics]]
316* [[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Cumberland, Maryland.]] Inhabited by [=McNinja=], [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Danish ninja-hunter actors from]] TheEighties, [[TimeTravel Timetravelling]] Mayors, Zombies and [[WorldOfBadass Badasses all over the place.]]
317* ''Webcomic/BasketsOfGuts'': Ancard, though some events of the plot take place in its surroundings.
318* ''Webcomic/ElectricWonderland'' has Nettropolis, a city evolved from the Internet and populated by [[DigitalAvatar digital avatars]].
319* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' events take place mostly in Moperville. With all the HumanoidAliens, HalfHumanHybrid, {{shapeshifting}}, FunctionalMagic and MadScience. When [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-01-20 a news reporter wanted to investigate]] a story of "evil monkey" rampaging in a public school, her boss, Ed, shot the idea down:
320--> '''Ed''': A public school in ''Moperville'', where the local newspaper is sold in neighboring towns with all the regard of a ''tabloid''. We've got a reputation to protect! We can only report on ''confirmed'' monsters, like ''Mega Hogs'', or ''Bigfoot''!
321--> '''Carol''': Ed, I ''grew up'' in Moperville. ''Weird stuff'' happens here...
322** Later revealed to be a (mostly) [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] example. As it turns out, [[spoiler: someone has been increasing the magical energy that exists in Moperville.]] Because of this, magical beings and whatnot found themselves (and are still finding themselves) being drawn to the town, without realizing it. And by the look of things, it's supposed to get worse soon.
323* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'''s eponymous boarding school.
324* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' has the "pleasantly innocuous hamlet" of Generictown, which has become a City of Adventure purely because Bob the WeirdnessMagnet lives there. Presumably, it would quiet down again if he moved, but he shows no signs of doing so.
325* ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' has its reality show in its very own space station built expressly for this purpose; it houses the show, the arena, and everything else you need for a world-class tourist resort to house and host all the spectators coming to watch.
326** And in fact, there IS a named city built into the space station, known as the City of... [[http://www.lastres0rt.com/2009/09/work-play-and-die-where-you-live/ Wonder.]] Since we're talking about a city manufactured into the space station, it's not that surprising of a name.
327* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo''. Among other things, {{Magical Girl}}s and {{Ninja}} exist, zombies invade on a semi-frequent basis, video game companies like Creator/{{Sony}} and Creator/{{Sega}} are in league with {{Satan}} and employ [[PsychoForHire psychotic mercenaries]] to enforce their edicts, the Tokyo police department ride around in HumongousMecha, and {{Kaiju}} insurance is a bitch to get.
328* ''Webcomic/{{Opplopolis}}'' starts with a mysterious man assigning Carla Tumblemas the task of going into the city of Opplopolis to uncover the meaning of the word "[[MacGuffin marvedyne]]". All of the ensuing action takes place there.
329* In ''Webcomic/RoninGalaxy'', the characters wander around the city of New Edo, searching for mercenary work. All of the adventures so far have occurred without them leaving the same city.
330* Tackleford from ''Webcomic/ScaryGoRound'' and ''Webcomic/BadMachinery''.
331* Whatever unnamed city the ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' crew lives in seems to have an unusually large number of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], [[TalkingAnimal talking animals]], [[MadScientist mad scientists]], [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], FBI agents, and [[DemonicPossession demonic possessions]], not to mention some really ''weird'' stuff.
332* The city of Cwcville in the infamous ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' attempts to follow this trope within the comic's pages, though the [[PsychopathicManchild author's]] canonical descriptions of the laws and government in the city outside the comics have made it sound more like a fascist [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]-like {{Dystopia}}.
333* ''Webcomic/TemplarArizona'' the comic is about this kind of city.
334* The Ruhr Area from ''Webcomic/UnionOfHeroes'' consists of more than one city so "Cities of Adventure" is more to the point here.
335* The town of Podunk, Oklahoma in ''Webcomic/WildeLife'' is home to adventure far beyond what one would expect for a town its size. When main character Oscar moves there, he quickly finds himself with a witch for a landlady and a ghost for a roommate. His first living friend is a werewolf, and his next-door neighbor is haunted by the ghost of her daughter.
336* Port Metro of ''Webcomic/WooHoo'' is a surreal blend of modern Vancouver and Seattle, with sci-fi and fantasy elements (including high technology, superheroes, and alien/non-human races) and a sprawling [[UndergroundCity subterranean]] component.
337[[/folder]]
338
339[[folder:Web Original]]
340* [[LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries Achievement City]] is not really a city ''per se'',[[note]]It is a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}: Xbox 360 Edition'' world whose "Downtown" district consists of just [[TheMonolith one stone skyscraper with no windows and only one main floor]] and a few small houses.[[/note]] but it is the home of the majority of the Creator/{{Achievement Hunter}}s' LetsPlay competitions.
341* Mayfield in ''Literature/TheDescendants.'' It's somewhere in Virginia.
342** Inside the city itself, a healthy amount of the action takes place in or around Westinghall Plaza.
343* Welcome to Denfair City, New Jersey. Home of ''Literature/TheImpossibleMan''.
344* Metro City, the title city of the ''Literature/MetroCityChronicles''.
345* The titular city of Website/{{Mortasheen}} is a continent-sized version of this combined with the Industrial type of {{Mordor}}, filled with crazy mutants and monsters in a constant state of chaos.
346* [[Literature/TheQuestportChronicles Questport]] is a village, rather than a city, but has enough adventure and oddness for a city a dozen times its size.
347* Megalopolisville from ''WebAnimation/SocietyOfVirtue''.
348* ''Literature/StarHarborNights" This is to be expected, considering Star Harbor and Nebula city is set in a classic superheroes universe/
349* The Franchise/{{Transformers}} fan club fiction has [[ComicBook/TransformersTransTech Axiom Nexus]].
350* Literature/WhateleyUniverse:
351** [[Creator/HPLovecraft Dunwich, New Hampshire,]] only a couple miles from [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]].
352** Boston and New York City. Whenever one of the characters goes to either place, something happens.
353** Los Angeles, since that's where Phase now lives when she's not at school.
354[[/folder]]
355
356[[folder:Western Animation]]
357* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', Agrabah is a fairly normal Middle Eastern city (with a vizier problem). In the show, it becomes a full-on City of Adventure, with {{Evil Sorcerer}}s, [[SadlyMythtaken Sekhmet ripoffs]], and giant flying snakes attacking seemingly every week. {{Lampshaded}} in an episode where Aladdin is running from a giant floating eyeball and Iago tries to explain to him that he's only dreaming by pointing out how absurd their situation is. Aladdin merely shrugs and says, "Stranger things have happened."
358* ''WesternAnimation/AtomicPuppet'' has Mega City, your classic superhero-protected metropolis where supervillains and giant monsters of every kind show up on a regular basis to give the local do-gooders plenty of action.
359* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': The [[CityWithNoName unnamed]] yet [[GeographicFlexibility strangely familiar]] hometown of the Rescue Rangers.
360* Marzipan City from ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'', a diverse and bustling metropolis with an exotic aesthetic, all manner of strange sights straight out of Dr. Seuss' work, some truly whacked-out everyday occurrences, and some of the most whimsical culinary delights one can imagine.
361* The in-universe Cleveland from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', where the main Sector V protagonists live. Other major operatives like Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 86 also live there.
362* The Middle of Nowhere in ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' seems to be some sort of nexus for "creepy stuff", to the point where it takes obvious danger to get anyone but Courage to take notice. Talking animals, aliens, deities, and supernatural entities (not to mention Courage's [[FunnyAnimal own sapience]] [[SpeechImpairedAnimal and abilities]]) are all treated as normal until the big pointy teeth come out.
363* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has Amity Park, a town with ghost/occult-related names for obvious reasons.
364* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': St. Canard was a cross between San Francisco and [[Creator/WaltDisney Disney's]] rendition of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]] -- complete with its own RoguesGallery of villains like: Megavolt, The Liquidator, and [[EvilCounterpart Nega Duck.]] And it was always up to Darkwing Duck and his trusty {{sidekick}}, [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 Launchpad McQuack]], to stop them.
365* ''WesternAnimation/TheDayMyButtWentPsycho'': Mabeltown is this, what with it being home to the greatest living buttfighters and the mortal enemy of human and buttkind.
366* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' lampshades the trope during the opening verse of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXo5haNd9M its intro:]]
367-->"Life is like a hurricane... here, in Duckburg."
368-->"Race cars, lasers, aero-planes... It's a... duck blur."
369-->"Might solve a mystery. Or rewrite HISTOR~YYY!!!"
370-->Duck Tales! WHOO~OO!!"
371* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'', Dimsdale became this when Timmy wished for a comic book world, and again in the "Abra-Catastrophe" movie when the entire planet became a jungle world after Bippy the chimpanzee ate some of the rule-free wish muffin.
372* New New York, in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. The series takes place many years in the future where aliens and RidiculouslyHumanRobots are commonplace.
373* Trolberg from ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'' functions as this due to the titular character and her friends encountering several supernatural occurrences throughout the city.
374* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gravity Falls}}'', where mystery lurks around every corner. The town is so weird in fact, that when Bill Cipher unleashes [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Weirdmaggedon]], the borders of Gravity Falls [[WeirdnessMagnet prevent Bill's magic from spreading to the rest of the world,]] much to Bill's frustration.
375* Miseryville on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''. While as much of a CrapsackWorld as the name suggests, Jimmy shows the citizenry that plenty of thrills are to be found when you live in a town populated by TheLegionsOfHell and ruled by a CorruptCorporateExecutive RealityWarper who makes products that MayContainEvil. But what do you expect from a town that's practically in {{Hell}}?
376* Middleton, home of WesternAnimation/KimPossible, was full of {{Supervillain}}s.
377* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Republic City was already being compared to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham]], from the promos alone. Sure enough, in its first season, the city's reputation for peace and equality [[ElementalPowers for benders]] and [[{{muggles}} non-benders]] soon gave way to its seedy underbelly. Korra found herself having to contend with [[{{ninja}} The Equalists]], whose public face was a nonviolent protest group, but was really a terrorist cell, secretly plotting to take over the city. Plus, corrupt politicians, like [[spoiler: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Tarrlok]]]].
378* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' is set entirely in Orchid Bay, a FictionalCounterpart of UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco. This is a JustifiedTrope because Juniper is [[BlessedWithSuck magically prevented from leaving the city]] as long as she's the Te Xuan Ze.
379* Most of the experiments seen in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' were found in Kokaua Town, the title characters' hometown on Kaua'i, UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}. (The town doesn't exist on the actual island, but it is based on the real-life Hanapepe over there.)
380* Tremorton in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', a place where earth-shaking events from alien invasions to giant monster attacks are just an average day for the town's local superpowered RobotGirl.
381* Ponyville in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', to the point where the townsfolk just shrug and continue with their daily activities while the Mane Six do battle with a bugbear. It is situated right next to an EldritchLocation called the Everfree Forest, and from season five onwards it is the location of the magical Castle of Friendship.
382* Danville in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. Besides the titular characters' physics-defying daily projects, there's a city-wide organization of animal secret agents who go undercover as pets, a league of evil scientists and girl scouts who [[MeritBadgesForEverything get patches]] for ''wrestling [[SewerGator sewer alligators]]''.
383** ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'' continues the tradition, showing that alongside all of the above, there's also a kid who's both BornUnlucky and a WalkingDisasterArea, as well as time travelers, getting into all sorts of misadventures on the other side of town.
384* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'': The nameless city of the 3 heroes has no shortage of adventure for the heroes; there are various villains roaming the streets at night, a portal to another dimension hidden behind a wall in an alleyway, and another portal to what is implied to be the afterlife in a sphinx statue in the museum, various relics hidden in the city, and caves underneath it that contain even more relics.
385* The City... of Townsville in ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls''.
386** And the Town... of Citysville [[spoiler: is a Deconstruction.]]
387* WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja has Norrisville, where most of the show's mystical and technological conflicts revolve around.
388* The Bay Area in ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}''. More specifically in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, from the looks of it, but only the term "Bay Area" is ever used.
389* ''WesternAnimation/RollBots'': Flip City provides adventure for all its citizens simply because the roads are all autobahns designed by an extreme sports enthusiast for robots that turn into high-speed spheres.
390* Springfield in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is a deliberate parody of this. At one point Our Favorite Family suddenly notices that they live across the street from an expensive mansion that [[GeographicFlexibility wasn't there before]] and was created for that episode so that George Bush could move in.
391** Capital City is one of these in some early episodes. In "Dancin' Homer", it's even given its own theme song (sung by Tony Bennett, no less) which overtly invokes the trope in its lyrics.
392*** Subverted in which the family travels abroad on occasion, and them being the Simpsons, wherever they go, hijinks follow.
393* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Colorado. It can all be summed up in one quote...
394-->'''Reporter''': "And so just weeks after the devastating attack of mutant genetic creatures, zombies and Thanksgiving turkeys, the town of South Park has managed to rebuild itself once again-" ''(sees giant robotic Music/BarbraStreisand destroying the town)'' "Oh, Goddamn it, not again!"
395* ''WesternAnimation/TalesOfArcadia'': This entire trilogy of series is primarily set in the town of Arcadia Oaks, California.
396* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': Cape Suzette was often plagued by Don Karnage and his henchmen, with [[AcePilot Baloo]] and [[TheLancer Kit Cloudkicker]] being the only thing standing in their way. Which is aptly conveyed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tKHlukQTik in its intro]], as well.
397* The TV series ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' has the Titans Tower in "Jump City", at least according to the comic adaptation ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo''; the team's hometown was never named in the cartoon. Meanwhile, "Steel City" is the location of Titans East.
398* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': Acme Acres was its "own wide world apart," according to the show's theme song, but was more like [[WorldOfWeirdness an adventure campus]], than an actual city.
399* UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', which seems to have had a reasonable population of supervillains even before the Transformers came along. Some of it can be explained by being the center point of the robotic revolution created by Isaac Sumdac.
400* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishfart}}'' is set in a CityWithNoName where everything is weird and magical. It's populated by a FantasyKitchenSink's worth of characters, with a good chunk of the citizens are the way they are because of [[{{Leprechaun}} Dez]]'s wish-granting. And did we mention that ''TheUnderworld'' is located not too far beneath the city sewers?
401* Heatherfield in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', which is where all the portals are, and where all the Guardians live.
402[[/folder]]
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