-->'''Ron Stoppable''': "Have we been in this lair before?"
-->'''KimPossible''': "[[LampshadeHanging They all start to look alike after a while.]]"

Every up-and-coming SuperVillain aspires to create a particularly cool SupervillainLair. It may be an ElaborateUndergroundBase, an [[HauntedCastle old castle]] (preferably atop a craggy mountain peak in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a [[DramaticThunder perpetual lightning storm]]), an [[UnderwaterBase underwater complex]], a [[IslandBase volcanic isle]], a space station, or a corporate office building, among other possibilities, but if you really want to be a cut above lesser villainous contemporaries you make it a [[FloatingContinent floating fortress]] or an AirBorneAircraftCarrier. It will generally be stocked with most or all of the following:

* A [[TheWarRoom war room]], equipped with {{trap door}}s for disposing of [[YouHaveFailedMe minions who displease the]] BigBad.
* A throne room, if the BigBad has delusions of royalty (or [[AristocratsAreEvil an actual title]]). Comes complete with [[CoolChair throne]] for the villain to [[SlouchOfVillainy slouch in]].
* A WaveMotionGun or other WeaponOfMassDestruction with which to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* Barracks for an army of EvilMinions.
* Lavish quarters for TheDragon and the members of the QuirkyMinibossSquad.
* [[MechaMooks Roving security robots]].
* [[AirVentEscape Human-sized ventilation ducts]] that the {{heroes}} will eventually crawl around in.
* A vehicle hangar, possibly stocked with HumongousMecha or a CoolShip of some sort.
* A [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter beautiful daughter]] who is impatient at being cooped up in the SupervillainLair.
* An InsecuritySystem featuring {{booby trap}}s and [[LaserHallway laser hallways]] strewn about everywhere.
* A SharkPool, and at least one other suitable {{deathtrap}} such as a LavaPit.
* Whatever transmission equipment is required to broadcast directly to the UN or to [[DoNotAdjustYourSet take over every TV set in the world]].
* Lots and lots of AppliedPhlebotinum.
* {{No OSHA Compliance}}.
* A MadScientistLaboratory for the MadScientist minions (Or the villain, if a MadScientist him/her self).
* A monorail.
* A healthy dose of SigilSpam, for the more megalomaniacal [[SuperVillain supervillains]].

The more elaborate the digs, and the more time spent dwelling on them, the more likely that the heroes will end up [[StormingTheCastle paying them a visit]] and exposing some [[LoadBearingBoss important architectural flaws]].
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* In ''BlackCat'', Creed, being a ClassicVillain, has one of these.
* In ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Lord Genome's city of Teppelin should easily qualify; I mean, the entire city structure IS the GiantRobot / WeaponOfMassDestruction!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* Lots of series set in TheDCU.
* The MarvelUniverse has the modestly named Castle Doom (In the city of Doomstadt, in Doctor Doom's home country of Latveria). The Red Skull, Superia, and [=HYDRA=] seem to prefer elaborate bases hidden on seemingly deserted islands. The Kingpin, being a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive "legitimate businessman"]], has a penthouse in a New York skyscraper-- with the floor directly below him packed full of lowlife goons. Doctor Demonicus raised an island from the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Magneto had his own private asteroid base in orbit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* Nearly every ''JamesBond'' film ever made.
* Spoofed to death in the ''AustinPowers'' series.
* The Death Stars from the ''StarWars'' movies contain most of the features on the above list.
* Spoofed in ''D.E.B.S.'', with Lucy's lair being something vaguely evil-looking. Then, after the film skewers the meetup dialogue (and Lucy's "evil" image), we find out that, despite all her high-tech gadgetry, the lair still has yet to be completed. This, of course, could be due to Lucy's just having come back from Antarctica or wherever.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* The Initiative from the fourth season of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
* The offices of Wolfram and Hart in ''{{Angel}}''.
* Brilliantly spoofed, along with the rest of JamesBond, in an episode of ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''.
* ''StarTrekVoyager''. The Fortress of Doom, Chaotica's lair in the holodeck program ''The Adventures of Captain Proton!''
* In ''{{Babylon 5}}'', the (adopted) Shadow homeworld at Za'ha'dum had most of the features of a SupervillainLair.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* "Skullcrusher Mountain", by JonathanCoulton, is set at one of these.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* Spoofed relentlessly in ''Totally Renamed Spy Game'' by Cheapass Games (formerly known as "''Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond''").
* The ''entire basis'' of ''Evil Genius'' is to build a lair - twice - get the money, minions and henchmen you need to defeat the Super Spies, and successfully TakeOverTheWorld - all done in a [[{{Troperrific}} cheesy 1960's-style way]]. Great fun if you're into that kind of thing.
* ''MagicTheGathering'': The plane of Rath, a parasitic plane connected to Dominaria, has as its centerpiece a stronghold that looks like nothing so much as an inverted mountain. From within its vast structure, the evincars of Rath have plotted for their Phyrexian masters to conquer Dominaria in the name of Yawgmoth. While the Stronghold doesn't have one or two of the above list, it notably subverts at least one of them, with giant bugs roaming the air ducts and an apparently bottomless pit despite it having defined dimensions.
* The DungeonsAndDragons supplement ''Evil'' contains instructions for playing evil PCs, including details on the construction of an evil lair. These cover finding a remote location, dealing with local creatures and possibly making them your minions, the cost of constructing a lair underwater or inside a volcano, creating magic traps and guardians, building escape routes... Pretty much a short handbook for this trope from a DangerouslyGenreSavvy villain's point of view.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''{{Castlevania}}''. Natch. Sometimes this troper starts to wonder if the lair itself is more of an interesting character than boring ol' Dracula.
* ''ImpossibleMission'', by Epyx.
* The original ''MetalGear'' that spawned the ''MetalGearSolid'' series.
* In the highly acclaimed "Dreamcatcher" custom module for the original ''NeverwinterNights'', the following exchange dialogue option occurs between the player and a [[EvilMinions kobold minion]], in a secret lair on the ocean floor:
-->'''[=[PC]=]''': "Why is it that villains always go for the underwater secret base?"
-->'''Krunk the Kobold''': "Krunk doesn't know, but he did have a previous master who had a secret volcano base. The sulfur hurt Krunk's sinuses."
* The White Star in both ''SuperRobotWars Original Generation'' and ''SuperRobotWars Original Generation 2''
* In ''CommandAndConquer: Red Alert 3'', after assassinating Allied Supreme Commander Bingham Premier Cherdenko decides that YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and launches attacks at you from his Secret Volcano Base.
** Similarly, his opposite President Ackerman has a superweapon hidden in Mount Rushmore, decimating each of the Presidents' as he activates it.
** Don't forget the Temple of Nod/Temple Prime in the Tiberian series. Sure, they typically get blasted by the Ion Cannon, but that was [[XanatosGambit Kane's plan all along]].
* In the ''KingdomHearts'' series, Organization XIII has had not one, but 2 castles surrounded by perpetual lightning so far.
** it should be noted that their names are "Castle Oblivion" and "The Castle That Never Was". And if a Disney world has a villain, he'll have his lair...
* At the centre of the ''CityOfVillains'', [[EvilOverlord Lord Recluse]] spins his web of schemes within his futuristic fortress in Grandville, the [[PresidentEvil capital of his island nation]]. And that's just the main base- each of his lieutenants has their own customised base ([[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghost]] [[DarkActionGirl Widow]] has an EvilTowerOfOminousness, [[MadScientist Dr Aeon]] has a futuristic city...), and dozens of smaller [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Arachnos]] bases are dotted in all the territory they control. Player villains can join a Super Group and construct a base of their own.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WebComics]]
* [[http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=80 This map]] from ''{{Casey and Andy}}'' pretty much sums it up.
* [[GirlGenius Castle Heterodyne]], and, for that matter, Mechanicsburg as a whole, it being the town of [[TheIgor Igors]]. An enormous, ancient and ''[[InstantAIJustAddWater sentient]]'' castle, with its cavernous halls and wavy passages filled with {{Death Trap}}s, and more than slightly [[AIIsACrapshoot whacked in what it has as a head]], it certainly qualifies. Somewhat subverted in that for at least two generations, including the most recent, Heterodynes were ''the heroes'', but their castle is much, much, ''much'' older. [[AirBorneAircraftCarrier Castle Wulfenbach]] and other [[MadScientist Sparks']] lairs are on the book too. Pretty much unsurprisingly, the comic being about [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]].
* ''MinionsAtWork'': [[http://www.minionsatwork.com/2006/05/minions-8-directions.html directions to the lair]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''KimPossible'' has a lot of fun with this one. Most notable, in one episode Dr. Drakken builds a lair in the "World's Largest Cheese Wheel"; which, we are [[RunningGag reminded several times]], is not a cheese-covered building, but is in fact 100 percent Wisconsin swiss.
** Then, of course, there's Señor Señor Sr., who only became a villain after Ron pointed out that his home was already half way to being a lair.
* ''TotallySpies''.
* While it rarely dwelt very long on any of them, nearly every supervillain to appear on ''Birdman'' had a snazzy lair of some kind. Mountains and personal islands were the most popular, but the sky was the limit, and more than one bad guy took up residence there.
* Several examples from ''TheVentureBros.'', most of them subverted. None of the other characters can tell what the Monarch's flying cocoon is supposed to be (it's mistaken for a giant pine cone more than once) and prior to season 3, it was parked in the Grand Canyon where anyone could see it. Phantom Limb had a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired base he called "the lair of the phantom", but it was located in a gated suburban community for supervillains.
* In ''AquaTeenHungerForce'', Dr. Weird has his lair and laboratory somewhere on the South Jersey Shore. In the first Dr. Weird short, his Rabbot escapes by smashing through a wall; this flaw causes him problems later, as his inventions sometimes escape or are stolen from "[HIS] IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* In the WhateleyUniverse, you can ''order'' your own SupervillainLair from a ''website''. There are ones listed for sale or rent, there are SupervillainLair timeshares on the island of Karedonia (which is run by a supervillain), there is everything you could want, down to 'Evil lair human resources specialists to keep your henchmen happy'.
* The Dark Overlords from the serial ''DimensionHeroes'' each live in a different type of scary lair, from a fortress to a castle to a palace to a citadel.
[[/folder]]
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