This is a speculative tale that takes place in undiscovered or semidiscovered country in the present or "recent" (usually no earlier than the early 20th century) past supposedly on this Earth. As opposed to say a HighFantasy in a Medieval setting, or a SpaceOpera in a far future-like setting. As the title indicates it often takes place in a tropical rain forest though that is not necessary. The key point is that WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief is provided primarily by the use of settings that are regarded as exotic, mysterious, dangerous and above all, far away by most readers, yet still on this world; rather then providing a whole imaginary world "in a galaxy far away". A typical setting for instance, might be TheAmazon, DarkestAfrica, or ShamgriLa . There are occasional similarities with the SpaceOpera, the two genres can each borrow tropes normally associated with each other and there is potential for crossovers (aliens can for instance kidnap the intrepid explorers, or perhaps a Space Opera can have a story take place on a jungle planet). However some elements of a Jungle Opera can be less flexible then other speculative sub-genres by the nature of operating in "closer proximity" (so to speak) to RealLife.

Jungle Operas tend to feature {{Precursors}}, [[LostColony Lost Colonies]], [[MacGuffin Ancient Artifacts]], and the like; [[TempleOfDoom ruins-filled-with-deathtraps]] is one of TheOldestOnesInTheBook. This will also likely involve AncientAstronauts and have an AdventurerArchaeologist as one or more of the characters. Oddly enough the experiences of RealLife explorers did sometimes have a suspicious resemblance to this genre. We don't ''think'' that any secrets man was not meant to know have been discovered -- not that anyone would admit it if there have been some. Maybe the world was not yet ready?

Often involves a LostWorld. In some versions the story is about a quest to find this, and a Lost World is a {{MacGuffin Location}}.
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!!Examples:

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* {{Tintin}} had this every once in a while (first one in Africa, then in India, then in Peru, etc.) but one of his later books set in Southeast Asia has this with a twist: [[spoiler:AncientAstronauts]].
* The ''{{Marsupilami}}'' lives in the jungles of [[BananaRepublic Palombia]] and the comics often feature the native indian tribe, a GreatWhiteHunter, and foreign ducumentary filmmakers and industial investors entering its wild world.
** And in the same way, several volumes of ''SpirouAndFantasio'', who are some of the mentioned documentary filmmakers who are the first to prove the Marsupilamis existance and take one back to France as their pet.
* Many a {{Scrooge McDuck}} story.
* The beginning of ''IronMan Noir'' features this.
* ''ComicBook/SheenaQueenOfTheJungle''

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[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' is the example everyone remembers.
* ''TheLibrarian'' is a satirical version.
* Parts of ''Film/GungaDin'', what with the lost temple and all.
* ''TheMummyTrilogy''
* ''Secret of the Incas'', which was a major inspiration for the adventures of [[Franchise/IndianaJones Dr. Jones]].
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' is this [[RecycledInSpace in space]]

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/KingSolomonsMines'' by Creator/HRiderHaggard is the UrExample.
* Sir Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's ''Literature/TheLostWorld'' probably counts. The heroes end up on a lost plateau in the South American jungle with dinosaurs, ape-men, diamonds and EverythingTryingToKillYou.
* ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}''
* The Jack West series by MatthewReilly.
* ''The Serpent'', the first novel in Jane Gaskell's ''Literature/{{Atlan}}'' series, takes place in a prehistoric civilization in ancient South America and contains such elements as giant carnivorous birds and a reptile-man villain. The rest of the saga is more in the vein of a LostWorld.
* ''DocSavage''
* ''Congo'' is a rare modernized version of this trope.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''TalesOfTheGoldMonkey.''
* ''BringEmBackAlive''
* ''{{Lost}}'' is [[GenreRoulette primarily]] this genre, with the Island being an archetypical LostWorld.
* ''RelicHunter''

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[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

* ''JungleJim''

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[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* ''{{Gurps}}'' volume ''Cliffhangers'' has a lot about this kind of story and how to draw a typical plot of this kind.

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''{{Uncharted}}'', particularly the second game [[spoiler: it even has ShamgriLa!]].
* ''Franchise/TombRaider.''

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''TheRoadToElDorado''
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' did this sometimes.
** So does ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin.''
* The "JustForFun/DaringDo" series of [[ShowWithinAShow Books Within A Show]] in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep Read it and Weep]]", which is heavily based on ''Franchise/IndianaJones''.

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