History Main / BazaarOfTheBizarre

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Mos Eisley Cantina, from ''Film/ANewHope'', though not a market in the strictest sense, is a place of business where drink and food are purchased, and the ambiance is undoubtedly bizarre, what with the exotic music and clientele and all their fantastic accouterments. It is also dangerous and violent, thus operating under the rules of a TruceZone, i.e. no blasters allowed on-premises, so as to cultivate a business-as-usual atmosphere in spite of the diverse races and species which converge there from all across the galaxy; however, the letter of the law is not entirely followed.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' has a Bazaar of the Bizzare called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Bizzare Bazaar.]] Anne and Sprig find an invitation to this place in the hollow of a tree and venture there despite lacking Hop Pop's permission. The quest was made in an effort to discover more about the music Box that sent her Amphibia in the first place. It doubles as a WretchedHive where thievery, cheating, and mischief are common.

** Waterdeep isn't called "City of Splendors" for nothing, it's a major trade center where they don't bat an eye at weird stuff and minor magic items. The Old Xoblob Shop has anything adventurers can pick up in forgotten ruins, from random weapons to {{treasure map}}s to weird curio like drow sculptures or lizardman boundary poles, and uses an iron golem as candelabra/bouncer.
** Calimport actually has a bazaar in a [[AnotherDimension pocket dimension]] known as the Dark Bazaar. "Invitations" are given out by shadowy figures, and it's a [[TheNeutralZone neutral ground]] for various fiends, celestials, monsters, and, of course, people.
** Sshamath is a drow [[TheMagocracy magocracy]] rumored to have ''anything'' for sale, up to lesser artifacts. They may well do at Dark Weavings Bazaar, and services to get a few absent things too; The Genie's Wish is mostly a [[HonestJohnsDealership glittering version aimed at]] the visitors too clueless to get [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor all implications of its name]].
** The [[EvilSorcerer Red Wizards of Thay]] were known for their making [[DealWithTheDevil deals with demons]], using TheUndead as a nearly-limitless supply of {{Mooks}}, and their attempts to conquer and enslave their neighbors. Fortunately, their attempts at conquest were often undermined [[WeAreStrugglingTogether by their propensity for infighting]] and {{Enemy Civil War}}s. By 3rd Edition, many of the Red Wizards switched from attacking other countries to trading with them, opening enclaves across Faerun. These enclaves sold all kinds of magical trinkets, making the Red Wizards huge amounts of money, improving their relations with other countries...and allowing some of them ways to hatch further dark plots.
** The 3rd edition ''Tome of Magic'' has Fark's Road, a bazaar hidden by shadow magic where shadowcasters, illusionists, and odd critters trade cross-planar goods. Since it isn't tied to any particular city and is hidden by an illusion, it can pop up [[SchrodingersGun anywhere the GM wants it to]], even in established settings.
** While Graz'zt's entire triple realm, three connected layers of the Abyss known as Azzagrat, is already a very commercial area of the plane, the second layer of the capital Zelatar, Gallenghast, is by far its most prominent mercantile area. Traders from all over the Great Wheel gather there, offering everything from spices to slaves, powerful magic items, and other alien goods of any nature one could imagine. It's thought to be a relatively "safe" area, but this is not exactly true. The entire capital of Zelatar is something of a haven for merchants, Graz'zt's decree giving protection to them, but it's not always an enforced rule. The word of the Dark Prince may be the closest thing to law in Azzagrat, but if those who guard the merchant think they can get away with it, they will rob or extort the merchant. Graz'zt himself even occasionally invites people of interest to his estate so as to take anything he may want from them, [[FortheEvulz simply because.]]

** Merchant cities of ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''. Waterdeep isn't called "City of Splendors" for nothing, it's a major trade center where they don't bat an eye at weird stuff and minor magic items. The Old Xoblob Shop has anything adventurers can pick up in forgotten ruins, from random weapons to {{treasure map}}s to weird curio like drow sculptures or lizardman boundary poles, and uses an iron golem as candelabra/bouncer. Calimport actually has a bazaar in a [[AnotherDimension pocket dimension]] known as the Dark Bazaar. "Invitations" are given out by shadowy figures, and it's a [[TheNeutralZone neutral ground]] for various fiends, celestials, monsters, and, of course, people. Sshamath is a drow [[TheMagocracy magocracy]] rumored to have ''anything'' for sale, up to lesser artifacts. They may well do at Dark Weavings Bazaar, and services to get a few absent things too; The Genie's Wish is mostly a [[HonestJohnsDealership glittering version aimed at]] the visitors too clueless to get [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor all implications of its name]].

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': The [[SuperheroSchool Whateley]] Weapons Fair, an annual gathering of the various [[MadScientist Devisor]] and GadgeteerGenius students that showcases their various inventions. While the majority of the items on sale are weapons and defensive systems of various sorts, different students offer items ranging from a HyperspaceArsenal UtilityBelt, a number of anti-eavesdropping gadgets, a suite of nanotech feminine hygiene products, technomantic protective amulets, and a specialized shower system very specifically aimed at women. Also, the Fair itself almost invariably ends with some piece of MadScience 'going Film/{{Westworld}}' and attacking the customers...

{{Roguelike}} computer games often feature these. On a shop level, you'll tend to find a general store (food, drink, and tools), a weapons and armaments shop, a shop that caters to the clergy (defensive and healing spells and potions, appropriate clothing, and blunt weapons), one for mages (attack spells, staves and rods, and such), and one may sell just anything, occasionally including seriously out-of-level artifacts.

** Ankh-Morpork itself is an example for the races of Discworld: it's a trade city that hasn't warred for years and years (until ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', that is) and is about the only place where dwarves, trolls, vampires, werewolves and other living and unliving creatures would all trade rather than fight. Quite a few plots of the books of the Night Watch series are dedicated to keeping it that way.