History Main / FantasyWorldMap

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' subverts it but makes it a plot point nonetheless: despite how big it is, the world ''doesn't'' have a map, due to being mostly ocean with islands and landmasses here and there. Drawing a full map of the world is Nami's childhood dream, which she continues working on to this day.

* ''Manhwa/VagrantSoldierAres'' has a map of the Kingdom of Chronos and its neighboring kingdoms.

** Viciously parodied in the 1969 paperback ''Literature/BoredOfTheRings'', whose map of "Lower Middle Earth" includes such features as "The Legendary Drillingrigs", "The Land of the Knee-walking Turkeys", "The Islets of the Langerhans", "The Tiny X-Shaped Forest", and a body of water shaped like the profile of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon called "The Bay of Milhous". It also includes a compass rose with the directions Up, Down, Right (pointing left) and Left (pointing right). (This last may be an intentional ShoutOut to the original maps of Oz -- see below.) Fortunately for the competency-challenged cast, they didn't have to visit ''every'' labeled spot on it, and those they do visit don't have to be in geographical proximity.

** The limited edition also has a {{Feelie}} map printed on cloth.

* Strangereal, a [[FictionalEarth parallel Earth]] in which most of the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series takes place, has its own [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/acecombat/images/c/c5/Strangereal_Map_AC7.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180614082840 map]].

* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' eventually had several maps made of it, as did the city of Ankh-Morpork within, even though Pterry said that he never envisioned a map of any kind when writing. (Some of the earlier publications even have quotes from him explicitly stating that "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humor.")
** Pratchett has stated that he purposely avoided making a map of Ankh-Morpork until the publication of the Discworld Mappe, ostensibly because the city's layout changes so often that it would be ''impossible'' to keep an accurate map. However, he now plots Ankh-Morpork stories with the help of both the map and the limited-edition 3D model of Unseen University. In ''Night Watch'', during the rooftop standoff at the beginning of the book, all the sight-lines are purportedly consistent with the model.

[[caption-width-right:336:Even maps can be {{Troperiffic}}.[[note]]Case in point -- here's what's in the map: {{Arcadia}}, BornInTheSaddle, DeathMountain, EnchantedForest, FarEast, FloatingContinent, ForbiddenZone, GhibliHills, GrimUpNorth, HailfirePeaks, HereThereBeDragons, LandDownUnder, {{Mayincatec}}, OceanAwe, OceanMadness, TheSavageSouth, SeaStories, ThirstyDesert, TurtleIsland, and {{Uberwald}}.[[/note]]]]

* Creator/KameronHurley started drawing a fantasy map at the age of 12, after many years and multiple modifications, [[https://www.kameronhurley.com/mapping-the-days-of-my-life-mirror-empire-map-in-full-color/ that map served as the basis]] for his novel ''The Mirror Empire.''

* ''Manga/FairyTail'', also from Hiro Mashima, shows a large, similarly vague continent map early on, and in a much later arc shows there's a bigger continent across the sea. [[spoiler:The original Fiore Kingdom gets turned into a PatchworkMap when a particularly powerful sorceress magically shifts ''the entire kingdom at random''.]]

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' shows an interesting variation. The world map is made of the continents of Earth, but rotated and given different sizes and locations.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' subverts it but makes it a plot point nonetheless: despite how big it is, the world ''doesn't'' have a map, due to being mostly ocean with islands and landmasses here and there. Drawing a full map of the world is Nami's childhood dream, which she continues working on to this day.

* The French comic ''La compagnie des lames'' (The Order of Blades) has a map of the world on the inside covers, showing a continent [[TheWallAroundTheWorld divided by a wall]] that separates the southern kingdoms from the wastelands to the north.
* ''ComicBook/{{Birthright}}'' features a [[http://static2.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11114/111140384/4204709-terrenos+map.jpg hand-drawn map]] for Terrenos, the fantasy world visited by Mikey Rhodes when he was a child.

* Robert Stanek's The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches (an author who has become known -- and not in a positive way- [[http://conjugalfelicity.com/robert-stanek/ for the dishonest way he advertises his books]]) has a map of the world, [[http://conjugalfelicity.com/keeper-martins-tale/coyly-terrified/ which is frankly incoherent.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' occasionally shows a map of the world, especially during the opening.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The World of Remnant has associated fantasy maps that were created in a restaurant when Creator/MontyOum and his two writers (Creator/KerryShawcross and Creator/MilesLuna) spilled ketchup on a napkin and folded it a few times. Two of the landmasses accidentally ended up resembling dragons (both Eastern and Western styled), having serpentine-like bodies, wings, horns and jaws. They ran with it, making them in-universe {{Object Shaped Landmass}}es, where lore, legends and fairy tales help the natives explain these shapes as having been created from two [[SiblingYinYang brother dragon-gods]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', an {{Animesque}} CGI production from Creator/RoosterTeeth, created and animated by Creator/MontyOum, has one of the world of Remnant. An interesting note is that two of the landmasses in the final version of the map closely resemble dragons (both Eastern and Western styled), having serpentine-like bodies with what resembles wings, horns and jaws. This is mostly coincidence: Monty came up with the map by spilling some ketchup on a napkin and folding it up a few times.

* Creator/AAPessimal uses the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' canonical Mapps, both of Ankh-Morpork and of the wider Disc, for inspiration and research. His stories therefore tend to follow canon; but he will advise readers of where he is deviating from the Mapp. The author is of the opinion that Howondaland should be larger and better defined. The vaguely described "Kingdoms of Howondaland", where the ''Compleat Discworld Atlas'' provides little information, have become an analogue of sub-equatorial Africa, with on one side a set of loosely allied Kingdoms reflect an exaggerated version of places like UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}}, UsefulNotes/SierraLeone and UsefulNotes/{{Ghana}} on our world. On the other side of the continent, what was the historical Zulu Empire on our world has been expanded into a wider, thriving concern that takes in what we would know as UsefulNotes/{{Mozambique}}, UsefulNotes/{{Tanganyika}}, UsefulNotes/{{Uganda}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kenya}}, shading into UsefulNotes/{{Somalia}} and the Sudan. In between and to their Hubwards, the canonical region called "S'Belinde" (which appears to have a white population left over from colonial times) has been expanded into a portmanteau of places like [[UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}} Rhodesia]], UsefulNotes/{{Namibia}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica. These collectively became The Union of Rimwards Howondaland, or simply White Howondaland. Readers are advised that they will be advised if the stories go seriously off-canon, geographically. Other Pessimal add-ons are [[UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} Toleda]], [[LatinLand Paraquat]] and a very large expansion of [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Rodinia]].

* ''Liturature/MaxAndTheMidknightsTheTowerOfTime'': On pages 34 & 35 of the book, we see a map of the land that stretches from the Red River to the Blistering Sea. This allows Max to try to figure out the best pathway to take to get to the Kingdom of Klunk from Byjovia.

* ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'' also has a map thoughtfully provided for the viewers' enjoyment, on the wall of Snow White Memorial Prison, so that both the hapless heroes TrappedInAnotherWorld and the viewers can learn exactly what the Nine Kingdoms look like. Unlike most versions of the fantasy map, it displays places which are never visited in the miniseries, since the story remains confined to the Fourth Kingdom (with brief forays into the Third and Ninth). It also has the amusing location marker "You Are Imprisoned Here" -- this becomes a slight RunningGag in the {{Novelization}} with a map in Kissing Town marked "You Are Romantically Here" -- and has the interesting feature of being remarkably similar in outlines to Europe... a feature which has led to some interesting EpilepticTrees among the fandom, ranging from [[AlternateHistory the Nine Kingdoms having diverged from our timeline centuries ago]] to our world being a non-magical, cursed offshoot of the Kingdoms.

* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' published full-color insert maps of the World of Two Moons (Abode) and its solar system in the 1980s. (They can probably still be found on the ''[=ElfQuest=]'' [[http://www.elfquest.com/ website.]])

** Fanfic/ThePalaververse: [[http://i.imgbox.com/PeWTyLjq.png A map]] is included in the changelings' exposition blog post showing the geography of the AU, including two main continents of Ungula (where Equestria and most of the plot-central nations are) and Dactylia, the island-continents of Ceratos and Saddle Arabia and the archipelagos of the Burning Mountains and the Asinial Main.
* The Literature/{{Discworld}} is one where Creator/AAPessimal uses the canonical Mapps, both of Ankh-Morpork and of the wider Disc, for inspiration and research. His stories therefore tend to follow canon; but he will advise readers of where he is deviating from the Mapp. The author is of the opinion that Howondaland should be larger and better defined. The vaguely described "Kingdoms of Howondaland", where the ''Compleat Discworld Atlas'' provides little information, have become an analogue of sub-equatorial Africa, with on one side a set of loosely allied Kingdoms reflect an exaggerated version of places like UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}}, UsefulNotes/SierraLeone and UsefulNotes/{{Ghana}} on our world. On the other side of the continent, what was the historical Zulu Empire on our world has been expanded into a wider, thriving concern that takes in what we would know as UsefulNotes/{{Mozambique}}, UsefulNotes/{{Tanganyika}}, UsefulNotes/{{Uganda}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kenya}}, shading into UsefulNotes/{{Somalia}} and the Sudan. In between and to their Hubwards, the canonical region called "S'Belinde" (which appears to have a white population left over from colonial times) has been expanded into a portmanteau of places like [[UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}} Rhodesia]], UsefulNotes/{{Namibia}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica. These collectively became The Union of Rimwards Howondaland, or simply White Howondaland. Readers are advised that they will be advised if the stories go seriously off-canon, geographically. Other Pessimal add-ons are [[UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} Toleda]], [[LatinLand Paraquat]] and a very large expansion of [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Rodinia]].

* In the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' series of solo game books, each book includes a map of the region where it takes place, justified as the protagonist having been given just such a map as part of his starting equipment. How useful such the map is varies tremendously from book to book.

* Each of the ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' books has a map of the region the series takes place in, but each one is varied depending on the book -- for example, Wistala's solo focus book only shows the lands between the Inland Ocean and the Red Mountains, [=AuRon=]'s includes those lands but also spreads further east, and the Copper's shows the underground network of tunnels that form the Lower World, because those are the areas where those books are focused. Also, each map has a series of footnotes marking where key events from that specific book takes place.

* The ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' is especially symptomatic of the "must visit every places on it" syndrome. David Eddings, in ''The Rivan Codex'', argued that an aspiring quest author needed to draw a map or they'd get lost.
** He also mentions that he ''started'' with the map before he wrote a word of the story. Indeed, the map was the inspiration for the story, because he started out doodling a random fantasy map during breakfast with gibberish names for the countries. After cleaning it up a bit, he decided to write a story set in it.
*** He also references the first part of the Tolkien quote above regarding this decision, so the comments on this page about Eddings being responsible for the map-first idea are a little off-target.
* ''Literature/{{Beyond}}'' features a map of Orbis.
* More history than fantasy, but the same idea: many [[Literature/TheBible Bibles]] end with a few pages of maps. Usually includes things like Israel and its surroundings in both the OT and NT time periods, the original layout of the Temple, and Paul's journeys. They even tend to follow the [[LeftJustifiedFantasyMap left-justified]] rule, since the areas of interest are mostly east of the Mediterranean Sea.

* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium

Maps of [[ConstructedWorld fantasy worlds]] have been a feature of {{Fantasy}} books ever since Creator/LFrankBaum's Literature/LandOfOz. A visual reference can be very handy. Often drawn in elaborate script, pointing out the DoomedHometown, TheGoodKingdom, TheEmpire, various {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s, each of the StandardFantasyRaces' lands, many of the {{Wacky Wayside Tribe}}s, the dangerous ForbiddenZone ({{Mordor}}) and the EnchantedForest. Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'' has a few things to say on the subject of maps, including the fact that if you're on a quest you may expect to visit ''every single place'' [[LawOfConservationOfDetail marked on them]].

Fantasy world maps will often have roughly the proportions of a standard book page so that all the places in the fantasy world can fit conveniently on the map - the LawOfCartographicalElegance. ''Really'' deluxe worlds are proportioned like two pages side by side, thereby indicating they rate a hardcover edition with endpapers. Fantasy world maps sometimes also have a tendency to make it seem as if the world is literally flat.

* Robert Stanek's The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches (an author who has become known - and not in a positive way- [[http://conjugalfelicity.com/robert-stanek/ for the dishonest way he advertises his books]]) has a map of the world, [[http://conjugalfelicity.com/keeper-martins-tale/coyly-terrified/ which is frankly incoherent.]]

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', and most of their related expansion packs[=/=][=DLCs=] come with a paper map of the game's setting. Each is designed to look as though it was drawn by an in-universe cartographer, including, in a few cases, an watermark and signature.

** Fans who have studied the original Discworld Mapp[[note]]It has since been redrafted, expanded and given more detail in its second edition[[/note]] in detail and/or used it for plotting fanfic have pointed out ''lots'' of inconsistencies and scale problems. Rehigreed, noted as a province of Agatea, is as far away as you can possibly get from the Agatean mainland; Lancre is far too near Ankh-Morpork; the Central Continent appears too big and Howondaland is far too small; Genua appears to be further away from A-M than stated in the text; and so on. Since the name "C.M.O.T. Dibbler" appears on the map, there is of course a [[WatsonianVsDoylist Watsonian]] explanation.

Sometimes complicated by opaque library book covers that cannot be removed from the book. In that case, there will forever be one side of the map that you cannot see without breaking the book cover, though if you're lucky the map will be on the inside of both the front and back covers, covering up the left and right sides respectively. This may help explain why (with a little monster-powered-by-evil-source-you-are-getting-closer-to-in-order-to-remove Hand Wave explanation) you can't just acquire a boat and kill the sea monster now that the sea storm that it entered by is over.