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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 6 | |
| 7 | %% Zero-context examples are not allowed on wiki pages. |
| 8 | %% All such examples have been commented out. |
| 9 | %% You are free to restore them, but only if you provide sufficient context for them. |
| 10 | %% For more information: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/ZeroContextExample |
| 11 | |
| 12 | [[quoteright:293:[[VideoGame/PaperMario64 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ominouscastle.bmp]]]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Some villains have their own country, and with a [[{{Mordor}} well-guarded desolate volcanic wasteland]] around their [[EvilTowerOfOminousness ominous, dark tower]] that the heroes must battle their way through. Others, however, have bigger plans. Entire planetary systems, or an alternate universe, perhaps. And right in the middle is this place, a floating, menacing castle of doom or huge levitating fortress overlooking... well, pretty much nothing. There's no {{Mordor}} here, no [[ViceCity vice-filled urban district]], and certainly no [[LethalLavaLand red-hot volcanic underworld]]. The base floats in absolute nothingness. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | On top of that, there are multiple versions with their respective associations. A FloatingContinent with this place on top will often be a rather mystical area, while aliens in space-faring series usually have an enormous AirborneAircraftCarrier in the centre or edge of the universe. Then, of course, anything literally in a void has a pretty good chance of being a MindScrew. Nevertheless, it's relatively common, especially as TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon in a videogame, providing the backdrop for many an extremely powerful evil force. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Not to be confused with ''Roleplay/FloatingCastle''. Outfitting such structure with long-ranged weaponry may [[{{pun}} upright]] turn it into AirborneArtillery. Extreme cases can overlap with SpaceStation and if armed, may even commence OrbitalBombardment. |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!Examples |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 23 | |
| 24 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 25 | %%* ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja'' has one first seen in the title sequence, [[spoiler:and '''only''' seen there, since it [[TrailersAlwaysLie doesn't show up in the series at all]]]]. |
| 26 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Schneizel's ''[[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/codegeass/images/c/cc/Damocles_4.JPG Damocles]]'' fortress is basically an amalgamation of the earlier airships with a Britannian-style palace, using float systems and energy shields introduced earlier in the series. [[spoiler:Knowing [[MagnificentBastard Schneizel]], who had those technologies commissioned, this was all a part of the plan.]] True to its [[MeaningfulName name]], it's not only shaped like a hovering sword, but also [[spoiler:houses a stockpile of FLEIJA warheads that could be launched on any city at Schneizel's whim, thus enforcing peace]]. |
| 27 | %%* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'': Digimon Kaizer's flying fortress. |
| 28 | * ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': The BigBad's castle floats in a void of "space". |
| 29 | %%* ''Anime/MonsterRancher'': Moo uses his castle as transportation to wherever he needs to go.%%How is it ominous? |
| 30 | * ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': The [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Gravekeepers' Palace]], the base of operations of Kosmo Entelecheia during Ala Rubra's time. As Rakan said, "Now that's what I call a [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Final Dungeon]]!!" |
| 31 | * ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'': Hellywood is one of these, but we don't actually see it fly until the final two episodes of the series. |
| 32 | %%* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': [[AntiHumanAlliance Fairy Tale's]] headquarters is one of these. |
| 33 | * ''Anime/TheSoulTaker'': Episode 6 is aptly named "The Malevolent Stratosphere Castle" for its location. It was a safe haven for a mutant who had become jaded with his work for the Hospital and sought to end his life in peace. |
| 34 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has the Ark Cradle, Z-ONE's fortress, [[spoiler:which is constructed from the ruins of the destroyed Neo Domino City in the future, and is set to [[ColonyDrop crash into]] and [[TemporalParadox destroy the present-day version of the city]]]]. |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 38 | * ''Animation/GuardianFairyMichel'': The Black Hammer Gang use a floating castle as transportation. |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 42 | %%* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Infidel lives in such a palace. It's actually something of a prison, though one he resides in voluntarily. |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/DisneyKingdoms'' has the Museum of the Wyrd, which is located on a floating island in the middle of nowhere. |
| 44 | * ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'': The archenemy of Doctor Strange, the Dread Dormammu, is typically depicted sitting on a throne floating in the middle of a swirling chaotic void that is the Dark Dimension. |
| 45 | * ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' begins with a magical fairytale castle appearing in midair... above a group of terrified neanderthals, who promptly attack its elfin occupants when it comes crashing to the ground moments later. |
| 46 | * ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': Knowhere is a fortress made from ''a Celestial's head'', discovered by the Guardians and located near the Rip, the extreme outer edge of all existence. (Who killed it? Pretty much everyone hopes they never find out. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that it was [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Knull]], god of the symbiotes and the ComicBook/KingInBlack.]]) It serves as base for those who study the Rip and the space-time abnormalities of the location. (It also appears in [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 the movie]] and [[WesternAnimation/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2015 the animated series]].) |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': The villain Prometheus lives in a crooked house version of this in his "Ghost Zone", which may or may not also be the Phantom Zone or Limbo. |
| 48 | * ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast1992'': [[https://zeldawiki.wiki/wiki/File:Ganon%27s_Tower_(comic).png Ganon's Tower]] looks like an absolutely massive floating sphere with massive spikes protruding all over its stony surface. |
| 49 | %%* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Asteroid M. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 53 | * "Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk": The focus of the story is Jack's exploration of the evil giant's castle high up in the sky. In some versions, it is implied that there's a whole world of giants up in the clouds. |
| 54 | * "Literature/PrinceIvanTheWitchBabyAndTheLittleSisterOfTheSun": A rare non-villainous example. The Sister of the Sun's castle is made of rose clouds and hangs in the sky beyond the end of the world. It is the only place where Prince Ivan can feel safe from his witch sister. |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 58 | * ''Fanfic/AgesOfShadow'': [[FallenHero Jade's]] Grand Palace of the Shadow Netherworld starts off as a palace made from solidified shadow, set adrift in the void. However, by the time she encounters the [[{{Cult}} Shadow Walkers]], she's expanded it to the point that it's a FloatingContinent. |
| 59 | * ''Fanfic/TheImmortalGame'': The boon that [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nihilus]] asks for in exchange for serving [[BigBad Titan]] is a floating fortress, something her CoDragons General Esteem views as tacky and cliche. [[spoiler:True to form, it collapses when Nihilus is defeated by the Elements of Harmony.]] |
| 60 | * ''Fanfic/TheLionOfIvalice'': Bethla Garrison first becomes an EvilTowerOfOminousness after Altima is revived and sets up shop there. When the combined armies of Ivalice lay siege to her tower, [[spoiler:she simply opts to devote her power into tearing Bethla out of the earth and into the skies]]. |
| 61 | %%* ''WebVideo/MegaManEddieLebron'': Dr. Wily's castle happens to be one of these. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 65 | * ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisMilosReturn'': The deranged former millionaire Erik Hellstrom ([[NapoleonDelusion who is under the impression that he is the god Odin]]) uses the power of a stolen Atlantean artifact to make his castle (appropriately called Asgard even before) and the mountaintop it's on float in the air above the mountain itself. |
| 66 | * ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'': Laputa isn't an evil castle per se, but lots of bad things happen there. |
| 67 | * ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'': The evil sorcerer Merlock uses the Genie's magic to turn Scrooge's money bin into a Floating Castle that is ''very'' ominous. Merlock specifically wished to "return home in his new home", which Genie fulfills by making the fortress fly directly to Persia. Scrooge however defeats him before they get to the destination. |
| 68 | * ''Anime/Pokemon2000'': Lawrence III's ''Hikōkyū'' (translation: Flying Palace) is a mechanical flying fortress the size of a city. Unfortunately for Lawrence, its only weaponry was on the bottom; when Moltres and Zapdos began quarreling around the central area of the ship, Lawrence was powerless to stop them, sending the palace crashing down. |
| 69 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': Bowser's castle is built on a floating mass of rock with its lava dripping out the sides onto the ground and doubles as a ship, floating from location to location. |
| 70 | %%* ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'': The film version has one of these, although it's merely surrounded by an [[DeathMountain evil region]] rather than being evil in and of itself. |
| 71 | [[/folder]] |
| 72 | |
| 73 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 74 | * ''Film/BlackWidow2021'': [[spoiler:The Red Room facility itself is a variant of this, being a modern spy fortress rather than a castle, but it still maintains the spirit of this trope. Going into the third act, the facility is revealed to be airborne, which is how [[BigBad General Dreykov]] kept off the radar for so long. At the film's climax, the Room is sent crashing to Earth, culminating in Natasha and [[TheDragon Taskmaster]] getting into a FreefallFight.]] |
| 75 | %%* ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'': The Childlike Empress' castle ends up like this. |
| 76 | * ''Film/UltramanGingaSTheMovieShowdownThe10UltraBrothers'': Etelgar's fortress, which descends above Tokyo early in the film. The Ultras have to infiltrate the fortress in the finale, with three of them (Series/UltramanTiga, Series/UltramanDyna and Series/UltramanGaia) staying at ground level to do battle against Etelgar's first summon, Five King, while the remaining heroes (Series/UltramanNexus, Series/UltramanMax, Series/UltramanMebius, Franchise/UltramanZero, Series/UltramanCosmos and Series/{{Ultraman Ginga}}-Victory) goes through the fortress, one level at a time (and each holding a summon for an Ultra to stay behind to battle) before confronting Etelgar at it's very tip. |
| 77 | [[/folder]] |
| 78 | |
| 79 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 80 | * ''Literature/CastleInTheAir'': The eponymous castle is the villain's base of operations. |
| 81 | %%* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': The Star of Bethlehem and Radiosonde Castle. |
| 82 | * ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'': [[EldritchAbomination The Daemon Sultan Azathoth]] is said to sit on his black throne in the center of the universe (or possibly the multiverse), surrounded by the Ultimate Void. |
| 83 | %%* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Castle Black, a non-evil example. Of course, the Empire is littered with the ruins of castles that fell out of the sky the last time [[TheMagicGoesAway The Magic Went Away]]. |
| 84 | * ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'': The Flying Citadels, which also come with the benefit of being able to go ''to'' their supply lines rather than having to make them come to you. |
| 85 | * ''Literature/TheElderScrolls'': Umbriel is a massive chunk of land in a downward pointing conical shape. Everything that falls in its shadow is turned into mincemeat. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/TheLegendsOfEthshar'': There are magical tapestries used for transportation -- you weave a picture of where you want to be. One highly advanced magician makes a tapestry of a "in a void of nothingness" castle and thereby brings into being a little pied-a-terre (pied-a-void?) for himself and his mistress... but when the return route gets blocked, said mistress ends up trapped in said castle for a few centuries. Said magician also created a flying castle in the skies, which was brought down by a FantasticNuke. |
| 87 | * ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'': |
| 88 | ** In the first book, ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', the armies of the Malazan empire besieging the city of Pale face a flying fortress called Moon's Spawn under the command of a powerful sorcerer, Anomander Rake, who at first is presented as the antagonist -- what with a titles like Son of Darkness and Mane of Chaos. |
| 89 | ** In book six, ''Literature/TheBonehunters'', a group of Malazans find several of those floating fortresses hanging in the sky of the Imperial Warren. They try to investigate but get stuck, and after Cotillion, the Patron God of Assassins, informs them the fortresses are full of [[LizardFolk K'Chain Nah'ruk]], they decide they've got more immediate problems. |
| 90 | * ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'': The Castle in the Air is actually a floating prison, inhabited by a couple of captive princesses. |
| 91 | * ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': |
| 92 | ** In the old days of ForTheEvulz-style villainy, these were a big thing, especially under [[TheEmperor Dread Empress Triumphant]] ([[TheDreaded may she never return]]). The [[PragmaticVillainy current leadership]] of [[TheEmpire Praes]] has stopped using them, due to the fact that they both take up valuable resources and have a tendency to crash, making them extremely inefficient. |
| 93 | ** In book three, [[spoiler:[[AristocratsAreEvil Diabolist]] performs a ritual to raise the city of Liesse above the clouds to buy time for her time to finish her work on a MysticalPlague. It doesn't stick, and the city eventually ends up in [[LandOfFaerie Arcadia]] and becomes key part of Twilight Ways]]. |
| 94 | ** In book seven, [[spoiler:Praesi mobilise some of the mothballed flying fortresses against the Dead King. They turn out quite useful, though it is noted that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome they're easy to destabilize from the inside and become unescable deathtraps if it happens]]]]. |
| 95 | * "Shah Guido G." by Creator/IsaacAsimov features the titular despot ruling future Earth from his flying city before it is destroyed by piling on too much weight. (The title, when pronounced [[ShaggyDogStory correctly]], warns the reader that the entire story is a set-up for a [[{{Feghoot}} truly hideous pun]].) |
| 96 | %%* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': The first game takes place in a giant floating stone castle called Aincrad. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'': The floating castle made of clouds counts as it is currently the home of the Demon Xanth, his consort Chlorine and their son. Somewhat subverted in that the Demon currently in residence isn't actually evil. |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 101 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': The Cylon Colony was floating in empty space during "The Plan", but by the time of "Daybreak" it had been moved to the accretion disk of a black hole so that it would be hard for anyone but a Cylon to 1) find it and 2) be able to enter it. Extra points for being a [[http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs43/f/2009/083/e/a/Overview_of_The_Cylon_Colony_by_Tar_Minastir.jpg black techno-organic construct]] with eight arms, each one miles long. |
| 102 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]", the AirborneAircraftCarrier ''Valiant'' serves as one of these for {{the Master}} during his year-long rule of Earth. |
| 103 | * ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The titular space station was this to the Bajorans before the Cardassian occupiers deserted, when it was known as Terok Nor. It was eventually moved out of orbit to the terminus of the Bajoran Wormhole to claim it. |
| 104 | * ''Film/UltramanGingaSTheMovieShowdownThe10UltraBrothers'': The main villain of the picture, Etelgar the Space-Time Demon, resides in a floating castle that hovers above Tokyo, with the final showdown consisting of the ten Ultramen working together to [[StormingTheCastle confront and defeat Etelgar and his minions in the castle]], one level at a time. |
| 105 | * ''Series/{{Wizbit}}'': Professor Doom's castle is built on a giant stone fist hovering in the sky. |
| 106 | [[/folder]] |
| 107 | |
| 108 | %%[[folder:Pinball]] |
| 109 | %%* Mingo in ''Pinball/FlashGordon'', seen hovering between the upper and lower playfields. |
| 110 | %%[[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 113 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 114 | ** ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'': Mobile floating castles were used in the War of the Lance. |
| 115 | ** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': |
| 116 | *** Netherese Enclaves are built by cutting off, turning over, and levitating the top of a mountain. |
| 117 | *** There was an epic level spell (the most powerful magic in third edition) that let you do this. In previous editions it was a 10th level spell in a system where the most powerful spells are normally 9th level. |
| 118 | *** Flattery Wyvernspur's castle, Temple in the Sky and several cases when the top half of a wizard's tower remained [[ReinforceField in a good condition]] and in its proper place for several centuries after lower floors were completely ([[StuffBlowingUp and violently]]) removed. Starting with the one from which young Elminster, then ''[[GenderBender Elmara]]'', with her band of adventurers were kicked out in ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries The Making of a Mage]]''. |
| 119 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'': |
| 120 | *** Floating castles, forts and fortresses are fairly common, most notably the Doomguard citadels which float on the borders between the Negative Energy Plane and the Quasielemental Planes and Orcus's crumbling fortress of Tcian Sumere also in the Negative. These all likely inspired the Fortress of Regrets in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. |
| 121 | *** The Githyanki capital Tu'Narath is a fortress-city in the timeless void of the Astral Plane, built out of the petrified corpse of a forgotten god. |
| 122 | ** ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'': In ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'', the demilich Acererak has the gigantic Fortress of Conclusion hovering at the edge of the Negative Energy Plane, an infinite expanse of pure entropy and decay. |
| 123 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': The tomb-bodies of the Neverborn are both Ominous Floating Mountain-Thingies and one of the setting's (many) groups of Big Bads. They ''really'' want to fall into the Void and finish dying, and they're willing to destroy all of Creation to get there. |
| 124 | %%** The (now ruined) Flying Fortress of Bagrash Köl, as well as the Titan fortresses that can quite cheerfully wipe a city off the map. |
| 125 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': |
| 126 | ** In the ''Giantslayer'' adventure path, the BigBad is a tyrannical storm giant who has taken over the flying castle of a clan of cloud giants by slaughtering its old rulers with the aid of a few traitors, and afterwards filled it with his minions and servants and converted it into a flying base of operations for his plans to conquer as much of the world as he is able. |
| 127 | ** In the ''Mummy's Mask'' adventure path the [[NefariousPharaoh Sky Pharaoh Hakotep I's]] flying pyramids were built simply to be absurdly ostentatious tombs for himself and his generals, but when they rose from the dead millennia later as mummies, they repurposed them as mobile fortresses. |
| 128 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': The Zurich Station, located on Earth's orbit. It houses the central governing body of all Evil {{Mega Corp}}s, and is considered to be the most secure facility in existence. |
| 129 | * ''TabletopGame/SwashbucklersOfTheSevenSkies'': Floating fortresses are common in the setting, as everything is either on a FloatingContinent or free-floating in the Skies. Of particular note was the ''Astramorte'', an obvious {{Expy}} of the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]], destroyed in a daring raid taking advantage of seemingly inconsequential vulnerabilities. |
| 130 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has a couple. The Floating Castle is a creepy location in the Realm of Chaos, doubtless home to daemons. There is also a rare good example -- the Palace of Hothar the Fey -- a powerful High Elf mage prince's palace that drifts gently through the clouds of the Elven province of Saphery. |
| 131 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 132 | ** The Silver Towers of Tzeentch float across the surface of a planet, held aloft by the power of its sorcerous residents and the energies of enslaved daemons. While they don't float far above the ground during a battle, they are spaceworthy and are often used as starships and {{Drop Ship}}s. |
| 133 | ** During the Second Battle of Damnos, the [[MechanicalLifeform Necron]] forces unleashed the Baleful Necropolis, a massive floating tomb complex that incorporated multiple Monoliths and a Tesseract Vault into its structure. The Necropolis did massive damage to the [[SuperSoldier Ultramarines]] before it was destroyed. |
| 134 | ** "The Rock", the Fortress Monastery of the Dark Angels chapter of Space Marines, is all that remains of their homeworld of Caliban, a literal castle on a jut of rock floating in space. It has since been sealed against the void and equipped with engines to travel the stars, moving from world to world to find new recruits. Unlike a lot of other examples though, this also qualifies as DarkIsNotEvil. [[spoiler:[[DarkSecret Well]], [[FallenHero mostly]]...]] |
| 135 | * ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has a handful of these with varying degrees of ominousness, such as the Castle of Dark Illusions, Cloudcastle, and Skyfaring Castle of the Black Forest. |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 139 | * ''VideoGame/AceOnline''/''Air Rivals'': Not exactly owned by the villain, but the Advance Base Rakion at the Mesos Floor can look rather intimidating to inexperienced pilots. It doesn't help that it's the largest map in the entire game and that players from ANI and BCU must fight for control of the Advance Base to put it into use. The [[AllThereInTheManual official website]] says it is a spy satellite of the Shrines, AKA [[AliensAreBastards the evil aliens that want to conquer the planet]]. ANI and BCU just borrow it during their skirmishes. |
| 140 | %%* ''VideoGame/AlisiaDragoon'': The Sky Palace. |
| 141 | %%* ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'': The Floating Palace, which is where the final battles take place. |
| 142 | %%* ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'': The Mana Fortress is another example of an ending in a floating castle. |
| 143 | %%* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'': The first game has [[spoiler:Cor Hydrae]], TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. |
| 144 | * ''VideoGame/BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'': Giant Palace initially comes off across this way in its first mission. It's subverted though when Billy and his chums boot [[BigBad Dark]] [[FinalBoss Raven]] out, [[CueTheSun bringing morning]]. As a result Giant Palace becomes a much nicer place. |
| 145 | * ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': Comstock House is the biggest and most intimidating structure in Columbia, even without the thunderstorm and the gigantic statues of the Founding Fathers it rests upon. In addition to being the house of the BigBad, it [[spoiler:becomes an asylum run by the inmates in the future of 1984]]. Concept art makes the building look even more Gothic (as in the architecture with sharp towers and flying buttresses). |
| 146 | * ''VideoGame/BraveFencerMusashi'': The Soda Fountain is the capital of the evil [[FoodThemeNaming Thirstquencher]] [[TheEmpire Empire]]. It's presumably kept aloft by the gigantic [[GreenRocks Binchotite crystals]] jutting out of the bottom, given that the ones you normally encounter in game constantly spin in midair. |
| 147 | %%* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI'': Agua. Obelisk too, but only after Tyr is released. |
| 148 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Chantelise}}'': The final level, which holds a Archdemon inside it. |
| 149 | * ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': The Black Omen floats in the air for thousands of years, such that when it appears, people comment on it regardless of the time period you visit. In fact, it's been around so long that people aren't even scared of it anymore, even though it is a gigantic obsidian floating {{Magitek}} imposing ''thing'' that's even named the ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Black Omen]]''. |
| 150 | %%* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'': Sky Dragon's Isle takes to the skies and transforms into Terra Tower, aka Dinopolis. |
| 151 | %%* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'': |
| 152 | %%** The Shadow Shard consists of ''several'' Ominous Floating Castles, separated by {{Floating Continent}}s. |
| 153 | %%** As well as the base for Ouroboros, the "time travel agency". |
| 154 | * ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'': The Moonflower Palace used to be one, until it engaged the heroes' own flying fortress, [[HumongousMecha Paznos]], and it was sent hurtling right towards [[DoomedHometown Palm Brinks]]. Paznos' robot mode was barely able to ground it elsewhere. |
| 155 | * ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': Necron Monoliths from ''Dark Crusade'', the only Necron building that can produce units. Once fully upgraded, they fly, teleport decent distances, and bring enormous firepower to bear on anything unfortunate enough to get in their path. If one ends up being severely damaged, it teleports back to its original location. Not really ominous, as that implies that your doom is merely impending, Monoliths are the final seal on your tomb. |
| 156 | * ''VideoGame/DiabloII'': The Arcane Sanctuary floats in space. |
| 157 | * ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'': The seventh level in the game, Creepy Castle, is a haunted castle floating in the clouds, where it's always rainy and dark. Besides the small island that the castle is on, there's nothing between it and a long, long way down. |
| 158 | * ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'': The Fortress of Doom orbits Earth and serves as the Doom Slayer's less than humble [[HubLevel abode]]. |
| 159 | * ''Franchise/DragonAge'': The Black City, which supposedly was the home of [[{{God}} The Maker]] and the location of heaven before it was corrupted by the hubris of mortals, appears as a vaguely city shaped blob of darkness in the otherwise empty sky of [[SpiritWorld the Fade]]. Interestingly enough, the Black City is the only permanent landmark in the fade, with [[AlienGeometries all points in the fade somehow appearing to be equidistant from the city.]] |
| 160 | * ''Franchise/DragonQuest'': |
| 161 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'': Dhuran, the last of the Dread Fiends, has the Stormsgate Citadel as his lair, which is also fought as a boss after the Hero and his party gather what is nowadays the Zenithian Equipment. |
| 162 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'': The Black Citadel, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Rhapthorne’s]] lair and the final dungeon of the game which was formerly sealed within the Holy Island of Neos before Eight and the party defeated Marcello]]. |
| 163 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'': The game’s second to last dungeon [[spoiler:during Version 1 of the game]], the Temple of Reidametes, is a volcanic temple that menaces the Ogre village 500 years ago as a fake sun and is also a place of worship for Nelgel the Netherlord's believers. The Hero fights Razuban there to try and prevent Nelgel’s coming, but is too late despite the latter’s defeat. [[spoiler:Said temple is also used for the Heart of Hell, Nelgel’s base of operations, while Temple Reidametes itself is brought back during the game’s 10th Anniversary Quest sidestory.]] |
| 164 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'': The Fortress of Fear, Mordegon’s base of operations, where he mostly chills out after obtaining the Sword of Light and bringing Erdrea into a monster infested land of darkness. It’s also the final dungeon for the game, [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle though since the evil that Mordegon stopped from regaining his power wasn’t properly taken care of…]] |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIIHeroesOfLagaard'': The [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon fifth Stratum]] of the game, the Heavenly Keep, is a legendary flying castle hidden within the highest reaches of Yggdrasil. |
| 166 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 167 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'': The Floating Fortress is a castle floating in the sky. The castle itself is not evil; it was constructed by the Lefeinish before Tiamat the Wind Fiend screwed them over and seized the castle. |
| 168 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': The Castle of Emperor Palamecia is kept aloft by a massively destructive Cyclone, and can only be reached with the help of a flying dragon. |
| 169 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': Ultimecia's castle. It's so floaty that it has to be held down with improbably huge chains. |
| 170 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Sky Fortress Bahamut is both a floating fortress and an EvilTowerOfOminousness, tall enough to reach the clouds with its upper decks while its bottom floats just a few hundred feet above ground level. |
| 171 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Mt. Gulg is an unusual example: It's a huge mountain that was quite literally ripped off the ground and sent floating in the sky thanks to the powers of the [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Lightwarden Innocence]]. However, as you start reaching the peak, the "castle" part of the area starts to show itself, with huge white walls and pillars giving the players the feeling like they just stepped in the Pearly Gates! The 'ominous' part is that its utterly filled with [[LightIsNotGood Sin Eaters]]. |
| 172 | %%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': The [[{{Magitek}} highly technological]] Tower of Zot, Golbez' personal base of operations until he moves to the [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Tower of Bab-Il]]. |
| 173 | %%** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'': The Lonka Ruins, sustained by the [[CosmicKeystone Earth Crystal]]. |
| 174 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'': Freeport 7 explodes in a million pieces at the very beginning of the game, and looks like the only base in the entire system (there's an unofficial mod that lets you enter the Freeport 7 system, which is indeed completely empty except for the remains of Freeport 7). |
| 175 | %%** Then there's [[spoiler:Nomad city]]... |
| 176 | %%* ''VideoGame/GigaWing'': The fourth stage is set on a FloatingContinent, and the stage following it one-ups it with a floating city. |
| 177 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Glider}} PRO'': "Castle o' the Air." |
| 178 | * ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' and ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'': While no one is entirely sure if its inhabitant is evil or not, the floating Wizard's Tower has an ominous air about it. In the latter game, while the nearby town is protected by elementals charmed by its inhabitant, the townsfolk are still fairly doubtful of the elementals despite praising the wizard. |
| 179 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The Covenant capital of High Charity, a giant mobile space station built over a detached chunk of the Prophets' homeworld. It is first seen in ''VideoGame/Halo2''. |
| 180 | %%* ''VideoGame/Jak3'': The KGB 'floating war factory'. |
| 181 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': The villain's hideout, the Castle That Never Was, which is right next to the Realm of Nothingness. |
| 182 | * ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'': |
| 183 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'': Dark Castle is the last of the Rainbow Islands and the source of the clouds that are covering them. The area boasts 7 stages (with almost half being [[RemixedLevel harder versions of the first 3]], a battle with a [[DemonicPossession sleeping King Dedede]] and, if you got all the Rainbow Drops, a showdown with [[spoiler:[[TrueFinalBoss Dark Matter]]]]. |
| 184 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' has Royal Road, a fancy castle found at the top of the Dreamstalk. It is the destination of Dedede's kidnapper Taranza and the home of his boss [[spoiler:[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Sectonia]]]]. |
| 185 | * ''VideoGame/LandOfIllusion'' has the Phantom's Cloud Castle, which serves as the game's fourteenth and final level. To access it, Mickey must first plant [[BeanstalkParody a beanstalk]] on the island below it so he can climb his way to the top. This level houses the Phantom, who has stolen the magic crystal and cast spells upon Mickey's friends, turning them into his henchmen. The Phantom serves as the game's FinalBoss, and when Mickey defeats him, he recovers the crystal. |
| 186 | %%* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'': Most of the ancient Wingly cities were like this until the Dragon Campaign. |
| 187 | * ''VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia'' and its sequel do this, although the first one does score extra points for [[spoiler:having the tower being a piece of junk made to fly ''specifically'' to invoke this trope and lure the player's to a LoadBearingBoss fight.]] |
| 188 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': [[BigBad Malefor]] has a flying castle his lair. Between ''The Eternal Night'' and this game, he retook the Dragon Temple after being set free, then used his magic to lift it high about the ground and use it as his castle. For added ominousness, it's over a ''volcano''. |
| 189 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 190 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Ganondorf's castle]] floats above a [[LavaAddsAwesome lava pit]] just north of the ruined Hyrule Castle Town. |
| 191 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': The Palace of Twilight floats alone in the void that is the Twilight Realm. |
| 192 | %%* ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'': Roper Klacks' castle. |
| 193 | %%* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'': Daos has his castle on top of what is aptly named the FloatingContinent. |
| 194 | * ''Videogame/LunarEternalBlue'' has Neo-Vane, [[FatBastard Borgan's]] floating fortress, which was built to replace the floating Magic City of Vane from ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', with the original city having fallen to earth in a state of disrepair in the second game. |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': |
| 196 | ** The Lair of the Shadow Broker turns out to be a unique spaceship constructed to be permanently [[VortexBarrier hidden inside a massive storm]] in the skies above a planet that is searing hot on the day side and freezing cold on the night side. |
| 197 | ** The [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Collector Base]] floats in deep space. It and the [[PortalNetwork mass relay]] to access it are the only landmarks in the area at all. Of course, there's not ''nothing'' around -- there are [[DerelictGraveyard the ruins of thousands upon thousands of ships]] that tried and failed to enter Collector space over the millennia. |
| 198 | * ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'': Sigma Palace is shown to be a futuristic castle on a floating island in the game's ending. Curiously, the remake ''[[VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX Maverick Hunter X]]'' makes it a regular island instead. |
| 199 | * ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'': The Oubliette is a prison structure stored in a pocket dimension to ensure [[SealedEvilInACan Gorea]] can't escape. Samus ends up pulling it out of the pocket dimension late in the game, at which point it floats in normal space. |
| 200 | * ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': This is a somewhat popular model of base to build. Due to gravity not working on most blocks, elaborate floating bases can be made out of dirt, stone, brick, wood, metal, ice, or nearly anything else. |
| 201 | * ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni: Wrath of the White Witch'': The Ivory Tower floats above a mountain range in the Summerlands once the White Witch makes her existence known to the world. |
| 202 | * ''VideoGame/{{Perimeter}}'' has the Frames -- ominous floating cities housing what is left of Mankind. |
| 203 | %%* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarI'': The Air Castle was this. It re-appeared in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'' as a space floater, given that the planet it was on was [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroyed]] in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII''. |
| 204 | %%* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'': The Fortress of Regrets at the end. |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/PokemonRangerGuardianSigns'': The Sky Fortress serves as the setting for the climax of the game against [[spoiler:the Societea]] and also an extra mission involving [[spoiler:Purple Eyes]]. |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/PowerStone 2'' takes place in a castle in the sky. In addition to collecting the titular wish-granting [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]], the objective of the game is for the player characters to fight their way out of the castle. [[spoiler:True to the form of this trope, defeating [[BigBad Dr. Erode]], the master of the castle, in the FinalBattle leads to the destruction of the castle.]] |
| 207 | * ''VideoGame/RagingBlades'': The first stage is the Castle of Immortal, a fortress on floating rocks above the skies of Atranart. |
| 208 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'' has Dr. Zero's Death Gaia in the second game. |
| 209 | %%* ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'': The Mana Fortress, which once destroyed the world. |
| 210 | * ''VideoGame/ShounenKinindenTsumuji'': The final area, the Demon Castle, floats in a sky filled with demons. |
| 211 | * ''VideoGame/SomethingElse'': [[spoiler:Else Castle in the void-like special world. It is Ballser's new base after Mario beat him in Something.]] |
| 212 | * ''VideoGame/{{Slashout}}'': The final stage, Diablo's Keep, is a floating castle in the air with Diablo's foetus-like form incubating in it's heart. The walkways suspended in mid-air contains various LivingShadow enemies, and you'll need to find a way to reach the castle's top to destroy Diablo. |
| 213 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'' has the Ballog/Balrog Flying Fortress, and the [[ThatsNoMoon Third Moon]]. |
| 214 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 215 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'': Castle Bleck is a floating, glowing castle in monochrome colours set in the middle of a void that is actually ''called'' "The Void" (which [[BigBad Count Bleck]] created for his SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum). |
| 216 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars'': Smithy's Factory starts out as a series of platforming elements floating in a dark blue void of nothingness, but Mario and friends eventually discover that it's a giant factory floating in said void. |
| 217 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'': Bowser's Galaxy Reactor serves as his main base in the game, floating in the center of the universe. It consists of floating, broken chunks of castle mixed in with miniature deadly planets. |
| 218 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'': Bowser's Galaxy Generator is a castle bigger than the actual galaxy inside it. |
| 219 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'': Castle Bowser -- yes, Bowser now takes the form of a castle after merging with Prince Florian's castle with the help of a Wonder Flower -- is the TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon in this game. |
| 220 | ** Bowser's castles in many of the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games can fly, and usually have some sort of giant cannon with which he terrorizes the citizens on the ground. In some games, sabotaging the castle's flight mechanism is necessary to StormTheCastle, but, in others, Mario and friends will fly up to it or find other means to board it while it's still airborne. |
| 221 | ** ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'': The castle must be reached by space rocket (although it's shown in the clouds in the intro). Like most Mario examples, it crashes to the ground after the FinalBoss is defeated. |
| 222 | %%* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'': |
| 223 | %%** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': The Glorious Land of Eldrant crashes to earth ''before'' the BigBad is defeated when he attempts to [[ColonyDrop squash the party]]. |
| 224 | %%** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has the Ancient Tower of Tarqaron. |
| 225 | %%** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has Yggdrasil's castle, Vinheim. |
| 226 | %%* ''VideoGame/ThreadsOfFate'': Valen's Fortress manifests itself as a floating, pointy fortress. |
| 227 | * ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld II'': Killorn Keep, suspended above a desert, serves as an outpost to the BigBad and a MirrorUniverse to Britannia. It's kept afloat by two brain creatures, and if you kill them it comes crashing to the ground. |
| 228 | * ''VideoGame/{{Valfaris}}'': The titular Valfaris is an ancient, corrupted citadel floating in space. Valfaris was home to the disappeared Emperor Vroll, a despot driven mad by his dark experiments into travelling to other dimensions and now it's a breeding ground to disgusting monsters and rogue war machines. |
| 229 | %%* ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe2'': The end cutscene shows one of these, allegedly the source of the Black V-Watch and Black Film. [[OrphanedSeries However...]] |
| 230 | * ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline'': The ([[SceneryPorn spectacular]]) Chaos capital, the Inevitable City, is located on the edge of a vast crater beneath a seething hole in reality. The Eternal Citadel, the fortress where the BigBad lurks, sits on one of many floating chunks of rock hanging beneath the AlienSky. |
| 231 | %%* ''VideoGame/WarioLandShakeIt'': While not so much ominous or a boss level, Airytale Castle, Prism Prison and possibly Launchpad Labryinth in this kind of floating building. |
| 232 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': |
| 233 | ** Tempest Keep and its satellite structures in ''The Burning Crusade'' float over the edge of Outland, above a drop into the Twisting Nether. |
| 234 | ** The Necropoli, the main fortresses of the Undead Scourge, are Nerubian ziggurats torn from the ground and floating hundreds of feet in the air to spread the undead armies and serve as mobile bases. The most prominent of those are Naxxramas in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' (an Instance that was revamped for ''Wrath of the Lich King''), and Acherus The Ebon Hold (The Death Knight's equivalent to Moonglade). They also showed up all over the place during the ZombieApocalypse event before the release of ''Wrath of the Lich King'', and Naxxaramas was ominous enough to get a patch named "Shadow of the Necropolis" after itself. |
| 235 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': Prison Island is a fortress that floats above Eryth Sea and sticks out against the clean High Entia structures and natural scenery with its dark, medieval appearance. Late in the game, it is [[spoiler:drawn into a void by the game's BigBad and serves as his stronghold.]] |
| 236 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'': |
| 237 | %%** Solomon Shrine on the FloatingContinent of Ys in ''VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter''. |
| 238 | %%** The lost city of Kefin in ''VideoGame/YsVLostKefinKingdomOfSand''. |
| 239 | [[/folder]] |
| 240 | |
| 241 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 242 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030630 Castle Wulfenbach]], the base of Baron Wulfenbach's empire, is actually an [[AirborneAircraftCarrier extra-large airship]] filled with mad science labs, military barracks, superweapons and living quarters, alongside an accompanying airship fleet, that serves as a mobile capital in which the Baron can easily move to respond to crisis situations and literally loom over rebellious subjects. |
| 243 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': [[spoiler:[[BigBad Xykon]] the Epic lich]] builds a "[[BuffySpeak fortress tomb-thingy]]" in the [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds Astral Plane]], where he can [[spoiler:safely keep his [[SoulJar phylactery]]]]. It's only [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0833.html briefly seen]], but it looks like a place [[AlienGeometries M. C. Escher would have fun in]]. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | %%[[folder:Web Original]] |
| 247 | %%* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': |
| 248 | %%** The Overlord of Evil's base was more of a glorified turret than a full-on castle. He was intending to tear a hole in reality using it's laser beam. |
| 249 | %%** Melinda used to own one before she was sealed away. [[spoiler:Vampire Lord lives there now.]] |
| 250 | %%* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': Darigan's Citadel. |
| 251 | %%[[/folder]] |
| 252 | |
| 253 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 254 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the season two finale, "[[Recap/AmphibiaS2E36TrueColors True Colors]]", [[spoiler:upon using the Calamity Box to reactivate the land's LostTechnology, while at the same time revealing he was EvilAllAlong, King Andrias transforms the royal castle of Newtopia into this, intending to use it as a fortress as he becomes a MultiversalConqueror]]. |
| 255 | %%* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'': "Merlin" [[spoiler:(actually Venger)]] has one in "The Day of No Tomorrow". |
| 256 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': This trope is probably what the Magus had in mind, when he froze them in their stone form "until the castle rises above the clouds". The possibility that ''buildings'' would one day be tall enough for the place to become a clouddeck penthouse didn't occur to him. |
| 257 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[spoiler:During [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Weirdmageddon]], [[EldritchAbomination Bill Cipher]] creates an enormous floating pyramid to serve as his castle.]] |
| 258 | * ''WesternAnimation/LavenderCastle'', as the protagonists' goal, [[http://sixtiescity.net/Anderson/LAVCAS2.jpg is not very ominous]]. In fact, it's the place they believe they will find their BigGood, who or whatever that may be. However it is a floating castle in space, shown several times as the characters fly right past without noticing. [[BigBad Dr. Agon's]] twisted [[http://www.gerry-anderson-serien.de/Lavender_Castle/Bilder/Dark-Station.jpg cathedral ship]], however, does look the part. |
| 259 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': Mordhaus was turned into a free-floating complex during renovations. |
| 260 | %%* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E21PadawanLost "Padawan Lost"]]/[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E22WookieeHunt "Wookiee Hunt"]], the Trandoshan hunters have one as their base. |
| 261 | * ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'': Master Cyclonis upgrades her Terra Cyclonia into one of these with massive [[PowerCrystal crystals that allowed it to fly]]. [[spoiler:She doesn't get to enjoy it long before the heroes blow up said crystals in the finale and send it all crashing to the ground.]] |
| 262 | %%* ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'': Magneto's fortress Asteroid M. |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 |
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