History Main / HiddenElfVillage

* ''LightNovel/TheHeroIsOverpoweredButOverlyCautious'': The Dragon Village is the home of the dragonkin/dragonewts, and can only be accessed by a teleporter in the Dragons' Den due to the village being on a distant and phantasmal continent.

* ''LightNovel/SeireiGensoukiSpiritChronicles'': The various races of the Seirei no Tami live in a secluded forest to avoid humans. Bonus points for elves being among those races. Few humans, such as the main character Rio, are allowed to enter their civilization due to past conflicts.
* ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'':

** The "Inward Perfection" civic available to Fanatic Pacifist/Xenophobe empires. The flavour text suggests the nation is a hermit kingdom akin to Joseon Korea, a calm and isolationist place where the people have no time for strange visitors who don't understand their way of life. It's DifficultButAwesome because it places severe restrictions on how you conduct war and diplomacy[[note]]you cannot invade anyone, you can only defend yourself; you cannot enter commercial or defensive pacts or research agreements, nor can you join federations or make rivals and tributaries either[[/note]] but it makes your empire massively stable and gives hefty bonuses. [[BewareTheQuietOnes If you play your cards right]], you can quietly become the galactic superpower in a galaxy of conflict and hold out against the [[FinalBoss endgame Crises]] by yourself, or take the Psionic Ascension route, [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant remove the Inward Perfection restrictions by getting the Divine Sovereign event, and then easily conquer the galaxy like an unleashed]] [[BonusBoss Awakened Fallen Empire]].

TreeTopTown is a common subtrope. If they're highly advanced, see AdvancedAncientAcropolis. If supposedly mythical creatures live there, it's a FantasticNatureReserve. Compare CityInABottle. Contrast TheOutsideWorld.

%%* Wild Woods in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' has a Shy Guy village in the trees.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' reveals that the AlwaysChaoticEvil KillerRobot geth are in fact the ''terrorist outcasts'' of a Hidden Elf '''Civilization''', thus demonstrating yet another problem with the trope; if most of you just sit in your peaceful utopia, all most will see of you are the vicious jerks who go out and raise hell. Galactic Interpretation: All Geth Are Killer Robots.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has the Kingdom of Tantal, who are isolationists who rarely have any contact with outsiders, aided by the fact that their Titan spends most of its time beneath the Cloud Sea rather than on the surface. The problem is their Titan is a frigid landscape with little in the way of farmland, and there's a chronic problem with their food supply. The heroes' arrival does prompt their government to open up the ports for trading somewhat.

** [[AbusivePrecursors Militant Isolationists]] [[VestigialEmpire Fallen Empire]]. Their only ethical ideal is fanatic xenophobia, which means that they are [[AbsoluteXenophobe extremely intolerant of any outsider]]. In addition, they forbid the "younger species" to colonize any stellar systems adjacent to them, using this space as a [[TheNeutralZone buffer zone]] between them and the rest of the galaxy.

* ''[[Literature/{{Temeraire}} Empire of Ivory]]'': The Tswana is best described as a Hidden Dragon Empire... that forgoes the 'Hidden' part when they "abolish" the European slave ports.

* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium:
** [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Gondolin]], Doriath, Nargothrond, [[Literature/LordOfTheRings Rivendell]], and Lothlórien are all examples, if this trope allows for very large populations, advanced technology (for the setting), expeditionary armies, and large political ambitions. Some of them (especially Gondolin, Doriath, and Nargothrond) do have periods of isolation along this trope's lines, and two of them (Gondolin and Nargothrond) meet horrible ends at the hands of the Big Bad they were hiding from. Doriath and Lothlórien are purposely hidden by magic, while Gondolin, Rivendell, and Nargothrond are simply hidden by geography. Lothlórien is probably the trope maker.

* The [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs sentient dinosaurs]] in ''Fanfic/MesozoicEffect'' turn Earth into one when they realize that their thousand-plus years of pacifism have left them with no hope of defeating [[Franchise/MassEffect the invading Reapers]] in battle. They successfully pull it off for over a hundred million years, until a damaged Reaper [[PhlebotinumKilledTheDinosaurs accidentally stumbles into them.]] When the [[HumanPopsicle cryonically frozen]] survivors wake up 65 million years later, they decide to take a much more aggressive approach to the problem.

** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': Talokan is an aquatic kingdom founded by 16th century Mayans who fled the European colonization and have remained hidden due to fear of the surface world. Deposits of vibranium on the ocean bed have allowed them to develop a technological society capable of rivaling Wakanda should war erupt. The creation of a vibranium detector which could guide outsiders to their nation convinces Talokan that they can only remain safe by wiping out the surface world. [[spoiler:In the end, Shuri makes the decision to ally with Namor and Talokan in a mutual defense pact, ensuring Talokan's continued secrecy]].

* ''Literature/GamearthTrilogy'' has a female player sneak into the game room at night paint a Hidden Elf Village on a single tile of the hexagonal world map, then paint over it. Since the game is magic and their [=PCs=] are rapidly becoming self-aware, when the party lands on the seemingly blank space the next morning, the village is there, waiting for them.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The entire Wizarding World exists as a network of magically hidden buildings, safehouse, and miniature towns squirreled away throughout the countryside and cities of the British Isles, and the wizards live under a code of absolute secrecy so extreme that some are completely incapable of functioning outside their little enclaves. Of course some of these don't function too well even inside their own little world; rather than being hidden away because it's so perfect, Wizard society has its own societal ills including crime, prejudice, and institutional corruption.

* ''Hari-Lek'' by "Ganpat". Harry Lake and his pals find a remote valley populated by the Christianised descendants of one of Alexander the Great's legions, somewhere in Central Asia. This was set shortly after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and written in 1925 -- probably the last time when such a thing would have been just about possible in real life.
* Stittle Woad in ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc'' is a TreeTopTown that guards the secrets of elven magic, with powerful enchantments to hide it from people who intrude in the forest. Those enchantments didn't account for technological advances, though, so the EvilSorcerer Zharradan Marr commandeers a {{magitek}} [[CoolAirship airship]] and hunts it down from above.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Shinovar is the country variant. It's quite a large country, but it's completely isolated from the rest of the continent by mountains, with only a single small pass allowing outsiders in. The Shin greatly disapprove of outsiders, due to starkly different religions and cultures, and rarely allow them into the country. Even fewer Shin leave, since part of their religion makes it blasphemy to walk on bare stone, while the entire rest of the continent is nothing ''but'' bare stone. Speaking of which, Shinovar's ecology is completely different from the rest of the continent, looking normal to us while the rest of Roshar looks more like an underwater coral reef. Visitors find the land completely alien.
* In Huxley's ''Literature/{{Island|1962}}'', Pala is a Hidden Elf Island {{Utopia}} populated by PerfectPacifistPeople.
* ''Literature/MythagoWood'' by Robert Holdstock: George Huxley finds one deep within the BiggerOnTheInside Ryhope Wood:
--> The village is the legendary palisaded village, hidden in a valley, or across a remote mountain, where the pure folk live, the old inhabitants of the land who have never been found by the conqueror. A strong and persisting myth across many centuries, and startling to me since I lived ''within'' a mythago … the village itself, and all its inhabitants are created from the racial unconsciousness. This, so far, is the most powerful myth ''landscape'' in the wood, that I have discovered.
* ''Literature/RickBrant'': ''The Lost City'' feature a valley inhabited by the descendants of Genghis Khan's subjects, who have had almost no contact with the modern world since Khan's death.
* ''Literature/TheShadowhunterChronicles'': Idris. It's an entire country that is hidden in the maps. It is sandwiched between France, Germany, and Switzerland, but no [[{{Muggle}} mundanes]] can enter it by simply stumbling upon it, because a magical enchantment will simply transport them to the other side, while most Shadowhunters travel to it through portals anyway. According to Shadowhunter legends, the angel Raziel designated it to be a safe place for Shadowhunters a thousand years ago and since then it has had no direct contact with the mundane world, hence why it lives in perpetual MedievalStasis (no cars, no electricity, etc).
* ''Literature/TalionRevenant'': A literal example. Nolan discusses the fact that the elves have a city hidden deep in the vast woods where they live, but no human has ever seen this since fierce warrior clans patrol the outskirts to insure it's kept safe and kill any intruders (except for children).
* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': The Hidden Kingdom, a very beautiful, idyllic, isolated Country. Its people are Elves, Mystical Masters, or both. Tourists will be given a talk by its ruler on magic or their life goals. Food may, surprisingly, not be Stew (but invariably vegetarian). Despite it being utopian, Tourists will quickly grow bored and want them to go. Its people will be happy with that, finding them restive. They will deliver a Prophecy and then send the Tourists off with supplies.

*** [[spoiler:''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': The sequel offers further deconstruction and subversion. Although Wakanda has taken a more active role in the wider world, the appearance of second hidden civilization with vibranium-based technology - one that could easily match Wakanda should things come to war - calls much of their history and cultural ethos into question. As a result, Ramonda and Shuri make the active decision work with the CIA and involve an American college student in helping with the country's defense. In the end, Shuri makes the decision to ally with Namor and Talokan in a mutual defense pact, further integrating both nations with wider society.]]

** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': Wakanda is an [[AdvancedAncientAcropolis extremely technologically advanced society which]] [[HiddenInPlainSight hides in plain sight]] as a depressed third-world country. While theoretically justified, as they wanted to keep their very valuable natural resource from falling into the wrong hands, Wakanda itself is largely a deconstruction of the trope; despite said advancement, they do not share their progress with the world and don't seem to have advanced ''culturally'' for hundreds of years, still partaking in ritualistic violence to choose leaders and with no major participation in government by ordinary people. [[spoiler:In the end, it's subverted as T'Challa realizes the error of their ways, thanks to the villain Killmonger, and decides to open up Wakanda to the world.]]
*** [[spoiler:''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': The sequel offers further deconstruction and subversion. Although Wakanda has taken a more active role in the wider world, the appearance of second hidden civilization with vibranium-based technology - one that could easily match Wakanda should things come to war - calls much of their history and cultural ethos into question. As a result, Ramonda and Shuri make the active decision work with the CIA and involve an American college student in helping with the country's defense. In the end, Shuri makes the decision to ally with Namor and Talocan in a mutual defense pact, further integrating both nations with wider society.]]

* ''Manga/RecordOfLodossWar'': [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Forest of No Return]] is the home of the elves of Lodoss. To ward off any visitors, the forest changes shape and traps them inside with the intent that they die trying to escape. While most elves try to stay, several have left to see the world for themselves, namely Deedlit and Pirotess.

* ''Literature/LostHorizon'': One of the most famous examples of this trope, and the one that is the codifier for the TheShangriLa. The secluded lamastery and surrounding valley do not allow just anyone to enter or leave, and are detached from the outside world.

Inhabitants are not required to be [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]], but you can expect SpaceAmish or SpaceElves of the ProudScholarRaceGuy sort or PerfectPacifistPeople to reside here. It can be a CloseKnitCommunity. May contain a SuperweaponSurprise.

* In ''ComicBook/ElfesEtNains'', most of the Elven races have hidden or very hard to reach settlements. The Wood Elves live at the heart of the great forest of Duhann, and none has managed to reach it until the Wood Elves opened to their allies. The White Elves used to live on secrets islands whose location was only known of them. The Dark Elves all live on the fortress of Slurce, perched at the top of a mountain in the middle of a wasteland they can effortlessly watch. The only exception is the city of Elsémur, the capital of the Northen Blue Elves which is a hub of trade routes and regularly deals with neighboring kingdoms; on the other hand it is situated in the middle of the sea, and only the most powerful navies can invade it.

** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': Wakanda is an [[AdvancedAncientAcropolis extremely technologically advanced society which]] [[HiddenInPlainSight hides in plain sight]] as a depressed third-world country. While theoretically justified, as they wanted to keep their very valuable natural resource from falling into the wrong hands, Wakanda itself is largely a deconstruction of the trope; despite said advancement, they do not share their progress with the world and don't seem to have advanced ''culturally'' for hundreds of years, still partaking in ritualistic violence to choose leaders and with no major participation in government by ordinary people. [[spoiler:In the end it's subverted as T'Challa realizes the error of their ways, thanks to the villain Killmonger, and decides to open up Wakanda to the world.]]

* ''Film/SixReasonsWhy'': To the west of The Badlands lies a Utopian community that has closed its gates to what it sees as the sin and corruption of the rest of the PostApocalyptic world. According to a pilgrim searching for it at the start of the film, there are no criminals, no whores and no violence there.

* ''Literature/DragonWarsSaga'': The elf realms of Andur'Blough, Inninness, and Tymwyvenne are both extremely secretive and magically protected (the former by a spell which prevents explorers from finding the place without being guided there, the latter by zombies and sleep-inducing pollen).

* ''Literature/GamearthTrilogy'': Has a female player sneak into the game room at night painting a Hidden Elf Village on a single tile of the hexagonal world map, then paint over it. Since the game is magic and their [=PCs=] are rapidly becoming self-aware, when the party lands on the seemingly blank space the next morning, the village is there, waiting for them.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The entire Wizarding World exists as a network of magically hidden buildings, safehouse, and miniature towns squirreled away throughout the countryside and cities of the British isles, and the wizards live under a code of absolute secrecy so extreme that some are completely incapable of functioning outside their little enclaves. Of course some of these don't function too well even inside their own little world; rather than being hidden away because it's so perfect, Wizard society has its own societal ills including crime, prejudice, and institutional corruption.

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's: The various forms of Tanelorn, a city which exists as a sort of cosmic rest stop for the Eternal Champion, who nonetheless is always compelled to leave eventually.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Shinovar is the country variant. It's quite a large country, but it's completely isolated from the rest of the continent by mountains, with only a single small pass allowing outsiders in. The Shin greatly disapprove of outsiders, due to starkly different religions and cultures, and rarely allow them into the country. Even less Shin leave, since part of their religion makes it blasphemy to walk on bare stone, while the entire rest of the continent is nothing ''but'' bare stone. Speaking of which, Shinovar's ecology is completely different from the rest of the continent, looking normal to us while the rest of Roshar looks more like an underwater coral reef. Visitors find the land completely alien.

* There's one lengthy ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' story, titled "[[http://daaaer80.blogspot.com/2013/05/blog-post_28.html The Old Village]]", where Master Q and friends, Big Potato and Mr. Chin, lose their jobs and starts a courier service of their own instead. Their first assignment had them travelling to the titular Old Village to deliver a cart of expensive medical supplies, only to find out the village is secluded behind mountains and seems to be stuck in the Ming Dynasty (despite the rest of the story taking place in the 70s).

** The world of TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} has a Hidden Elf Nation in the country of Celene, which refused to help its neighbours in the wars against the evil creatures that invaded them. Naturally, this generated a lot of ill will towards Celene. The elven race as a whole, though, is more nuanced in that they don't actually have anything against most other races and will provide help to refugees seeking food and heroes seeking aid, but are simply more comfortable living in their own communities than they are living among humans or other races. Even within Celene itself, there's a sizable number of elves who disagree with their queen's decision to stay out of the surrounding conflicts and actively work to help their human and dwarven neighbours.

** The prestige class "Seeker of the Misty Isle" is about the idea that a legendary population of elves were lost during a war between the gods, and certain elves might make it a mission to find them. Whenever anyone finds this "Misty Isle," it would have to be something of a Hidden Elf Village.

** The Chaos Dwarfs reside in Zharr-Naggrund a massive ziggurat city in the Mountains of Mourn. There not many visitors there save for the Chaos warbands who trade thousands of slaves for the Chaos Dwarfs war machines.

* The ''Franchise/DragonAge'', the Dalish tribes are nomadic and frequently move their hidden elf villages around. This is due to their mistrust of the humans who in the past destroyed ''two'' of their homelands. The Tevinters enslaved them for a thousand years and caused them to lose their immortality, while the Andrastian Chantry lead a Holy War against their former allies and stripped the Canticle of Shartan, the writings and tale of the Dalish general who lead Andraste's army, completely from the [[SacredScripture Chant of Light]].

** Garifs of FFXII are a much more lighthearted version of this trope, though unlike Vieras: Garif laws aren't as strict, leaving the village is allowed, they have less of a distaste for outsiders(though they do show concern for how humes are violating the world), and Garif do eventually begin to consider getting involved with the outside world. The Garif are all {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s and will practically give non-Garif proud warriors full access to the village(as is the situation with the game's main characters).

** In the ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' [=DLC=] ''Leviathan'' [[spoiler: the race of Leviathan that actually indirectly built the reapers hid under water for literally billions of years to not get involved in the eternal galactic struggle.]]

* Xenophobic isolationist empires in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' are essentially an intergalactic empire version of this. They seldom expand very much, so as to prevent border friction with aliens, and shy away from diplomatic interaction. Beyond being almost impossible to trade with as they prefer acting as though you weren't there, this makes them general fairly good neighbours as they're unlikely to start trouble.

* In ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', the Lunar Capital was founded by people who fled the Earth in ancient times to escape its "impurity" (aka life and death), and is kept hidden by a barrier. Mortal beings who manage to reach the Capital (usually by accident) are turned away to prevent them from contaminating it.

* Arboria from ''VideoGame/WildStar'' was this trope on the scale of an entire planet, until the Exiles stumbled upon it. Unfortunately, so did the Dominion, and now there's not much of a "Village" to speak of, either.

** ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' has a village of, well not Elves, but Moogles. And you had to walk around a multiseasonal four screen forest until you unlock it.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Frozen Flame", the elf village prince Arius fins is more isolated and forgotten than actually hidden. With hundreds of bandits scattered along the countryside, monsters roaming around and magical creatures eager for blood, it is quite understandable why contact between the human and elf colonies had not happened sooner.

*** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE57TheGoldenHorseshoes2 The Golden Horseshoes, Part 2]]", the castle of the Green Mountain elves is placed on a remote, inaccessible peak that can be only be reached by flight, and is so high up that for many the air becomes too thin to breathe before the castle itself is even reached. On getting there, their home's deliberately frightening appearance also serves to keep visitors from approaching.
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3'': The pegasus ponies live in their own secret island hidden behind a waterfall.

* Amish, Old Order Mennonites, most orders of monks (Christian or Buddhist) and other "non-wandering" ascetic or mystic sects usually abide by the "non-subverted" version of this trope. The Amish in particular pledge to "live in this world but not of it." They do let their kids live in the outside world for a time before deciding to stay in the order.

** And many more that have yet to be investigated. There are villages on satellite images that don't show up on maps, but nobody has sent an expedition to yet. The government doesn't take kindly to people exploring the country who aren't them.

*** And thus the trope [[{{Ouroboros}} swallows its own tail]] as the elf village trope, so common in Japanese videogames, is likely inspired loosely by history.

** Albania during the last years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. Enver Hoxha rejected Yugoslavia right off the bat, then the Soviets after Stalin's death, and then China after the failure of the Cultural Revolution, considering them as [[NoTrueScotsman soft Communists/Socialists]], and decided to go it alone. Emigration (and immigration to a lesser extent) was forbidden from 1968. Hoxha trained the entire country to be in alert for war, hence the hundreds of war bunkers scattered all over the country. Albania was the only European country that didn't sign the Helsinki Agrement, establishing the organization that would become the predecessor of the OSCE. By the UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag, Albania had become a sort of European North Korea (it even had its own version of the ''Juche'' ideology, except since there was no Soviet or Chinese aid, it ''literally'' was self-reliance) and had the hardest time transitioning to capitalism among the Eastern bloc.

* There are several tribes in the Amazon Basin who have chosen to disappear, retreating into the rain forest's deep interior rather than maintain contact with the rest of the world. One particular example are the Awá people of Brazil, some of whom still choose to live as hunter-gatherers following their ancient traditions within the isolated cores of a handful of preserves -- preserves that are still under constant threat by illegal logging and encroachment, endangering even these isolated holdouts.

* The remote Afghan region formerly called Kaffiristan adhered to an ancient pagan religion and remained closed to outsiders until the late 19th century, when it was conquered by its Muslim neighbors and renamed Nuristan. Its pre-conquest form provides the setting for Literature/TheManWhoWouldBeKing.

* ''Film/TheIslandAtTheTopOfTheWorld'' (1974), set in 1907, has a surviving Viking village in a remote Arctic island.
* ''Film/LastOfTheDogmen:'' The Dog Soldiers have been living in the unexplored Montana wilderness for 128 years since they fled the Sand Creek Massacre, and have had no contact with the modern world beyond a few violent encounters with intruders.

** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': Wakanda is an [[AdvancedAncientAcropolis extremely technologically advanced society which]] is HiddenInPlainSight as a depressed third-world country. It's largely a deconstruction of the trope as, despite said advancement, they do not share their progress with the world and don't seem to have advanced ''culturally'' for hundreds of years, still partaking in ritualistic violence to choose leaders and having an absolute monarchy with no concept of human or civil rights. [[spoiler:In the end it's subverted as T'Challa realizes the error of their ways thanks to the villain Killmonger, and decides to open up Wakanda to the world.]]

* The North Pole in ''Film/TheSantaClause'' movies. Complete with a school, mayor, and factories to make the toys, obviously. Santa tries to disguise it as a Canadian manufacturing village when he brings his in-laws, who haven't been given the "Santa Secret," yet. It just had a lot of ''short'' Canadians.

* ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' has the Gungan city, which meets all the requirements easily. Hidden apart from the rest of the world (underwater), main character (Jar-Jar) comes from there, and later they return to get the Gungans to fight alongside them in the final battle.

* The various forms of Tanelorn in Creator/MichaelMoorcock's writings, a city which exists as a sort of cosmic rest stop for the Eternal Champion, who nonetheless is always compelled to leave eventually.
* Many from Creator/JRRTolkien's [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Legendarium]]:
** [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Gondolin]], Doriath, Nargothrond, [[Literature/LordOfTheRings Rivendell]], and Lothlórien are all examples, if this trope allows for very large populations, advanced technology (for the setting), expeditionary armies, and large political ambitions. Some of them (especially Gondolin, Doriath, and Nargothrond) do have periods of isolation along this trope's lines, and two of them (Gondolin and Nargothrond) meet horrible ends at the hands of the Big Bad they were hiding from. Doriath and Lothlórien are purposely hidden by magic, while Gondolin, Rivendell, and Nargothrond are simply hidden by geography. Lothlórien is probably the trope maker.
** The Shire is a classic Hidden Elf Village, apart from the dumpiness and furriness (and non-Elvishness) of its inhabitants (and the fact that there was no actual ''policy'' behind it -- the inhabitants were just homebodies that were missed by the general collapse of civilization in the area rather than people that actually went out of their way to hide). In the latter part of its history, until the end of the Third Age, the Rangers secretly kept watch on the Shire to make sure no potential invaders found it.
** Valinor may also count if large populations and advanced societies are allowed. Across the sea, Valinor kept itself isolated and defended from [[BigBad Morgoth]], whose domain was in Middle-earth. After his defeat, Valinor did not fully isolate itself until the Drowning of Númenor, when the aforementioned Númenoreans launched a full-scale invasion of Valinor to conquer it. Following this, Valinor isolated its lands from the East and prevented the Men of Middle-earth from ever travelling there on their own accord again. Elves are still welcome, though.
** The Avari Elves who resided in the far-east of Middle-earth. They refused to journey to Valinor with their kinsmen and indeed chose to remain in absolute isolation in the wilderness they inhabited. Eventually some began to wander westward and join other Elven societies, while others fragmented into small tribes. By the late Third Age, only six known reclusive Avari tribes remain, all located in wild lands east of the Misty Mountains.
* Ash Grove ("ash" as in the tree) in ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'' is an entire Hidden Elf ''City'', although it's split into a dryad half and an elven half. Only the latter is hidden, and that's because the elves don't want dryads "infesting" their part of the city after some imagined spat. They've surrounded their city with illusions, making it look like there's nothing there from afar, and as the story is set in the middle of winter, the elves have also raised a magical snow wall for good measure. No dryads allowed. This falls flat, however, because they and the dryads share a spy agency, and the dryads, themselves a very isolationist bunch squirreled away in their half of Ash Grove, just collectively shrug their shoulders. Both halves of Ash Grove remain in a state of eternal summer, the dryards due to their clever landscaping and the elves thanks to their [[GreenThumb Staff of Fertility]].
* ''Literature/{{Gormenghast}}'' might qualify, although to what extent its isolation is intentional isn't clear.
* In the ''Literature/DragonWarsSaga'', the elf realms of Andur'Blough, Inninness, and Tymwyvenne are both extremely secretive and magically protected (the former by a spell which prevents explorers from finding the place without being guided there, the latter by zombies and sleep-inducing pollen).
* Creator/KevinJAnderson's ''Literature/GamearthTrilogy'' has a female player sneak into the game room at night painting a Hidden Elf Village on a single tile of the hexagonal world map, then paint over it. Since the game is magic and their [=PCs=] are rapidly becoming self-aware, when the party lands on the seemingly blank space the next morning, the village is there, waiting for them.
* In Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' series, the [[TheFairFolk Sithi]] city of Jao é-tinukai'i is one of these. To be fair, they had plenty of justification: they were on the losing end of a catastrophic war and had been [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters hunted by humans]] for centuries thereafter. That doesn't stop their AlwaysChaoticEvil counterparts, the Norns, from taking advantage of their isolationism to wreak all kinds of havoc, up to and including [[SealedEvilInACan unleashing]] an unstoppable [[EldritchAbomination undead horror]] on the land. Furthermore, both the Sithi and Norns are exiles from a mythical land far to the west of Osten Ard known as the [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Garden]].
* The entire ''Literature/LandOfOz'', situated as it is inside an impenetrable desert that kills anyone who tries to cross it.
* In ''Literature/LilithsBrood'' by Octavia Butler, there is a hidden mountain village where the citizens have become so isolated from the rest of the world that they all suffer horrible genetic diseases from inbreeding.
* One of the most famous examples of this trope, and the one that is the codifier for the TheShangriLa, is ''Literature/LostHorizon''. The secluded lamastery and surrounding valley do not allow just anyone to enter or leave, and are detached from the outside world.
* Galt's Gulch in ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. Initially, it's just a retreat from the awful proletariat, becoming this in time. ([[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}''.)
* The entire Wizarding World in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' exists as a network of magically hidden buildings, safehouse, and miniature towns squirreled away throughout the countryside and cities of the British isles, and the wizards live under a code of absolute secrecy so extreme that some are completely incapable of functioning outside their little enclaves. Of course some of these don't function too well even inside their own little world; rather than being hidden away because it's so perfect, Wizard society has its own societal ills including crime, prejudice, and institutional corruption.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in Terry Brook's ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' collection, where it's pointed out in ''Elfstones'' that while the Elves and other Faerie creatures used to live by this standard, it aided in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt general apocalypse]] and thus when humanity started to rebuild, they joined the newly formed races.
** Becomes a [[ChekhovsArmy plot point]] in the later ''Scions of Shannara'' series, where due to the arrival of the Shadowen, the Elves have once again formed a Hidden Elf Village, and it's absolutely necessary to bring them back.
* Ellesmera from ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eldest]]''.
* The [[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Wheel of Time]] has several, most notably the Sea Folk isle of Tremalking and its surrounding archipelago, the Aiel holds (though those are more of "we kill you (or let you die of thirst) if you set foot on our land without things to sell us and we come out and kill you if you do something really, really dumb like [[TooDumbToLive chopping down that wondrous tree we gave you generations ago]]"), and the land of Shara, an entire country that goes to insane lengths to prevent any traveler getting a good look inside its borders.
** You could technically count the Two Rivers, too, since until the middle of the series they were so isolated they were still using thatch roof and had next to no affiliation to the country they're part of. This isn't a result of any particular effort on their part, it's just that they conveniently have very isolating geography and, since the destruction of their ancestral kingdom generations ago, are all simple farmers who haven't drawn attention to themselves.
** And more than any of the above, the Steddings, though these are not exactly hidden: a normal person might easily ride past them, but any supernatural being will find them quite easily. However, for most of the evil forces in the series entering a Stedding is all but impossible, and their inhabitants have gotten accustomed to letting the world pass them by, secure in the near-absolute safety offered by their domains.
** There's even a weird EvilCounterpart in [[spoiler: the town known only as "The Town," in the valley of Thakan'dar near Shayol Ghul, whose inhabitants serve the BigBad]].
* In ''Franchise/TheDarkTower: Literature/TheWasteLands'' by Stephen King, Eddie hopes to find this in the devastated city of Lud. Even saying, "Bring on those wise f*** in' Elves." Given that he's in a CrapsackWorld, this doesn't happen.

* The Hawkbrothers' Vales in the Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar.
* The Tswana, as introduced in ''[[Literature/{{Temeraire}} Empire of Ivory]]'', is best described as a Hidden Dragon Empire... that forgoes the 'Hidden' part when they "abolish" the European slave ports.
* In the ''Literature/SimeGen'' series the Rathorites are a secret society/hidden community who have tools that could go a long way towards fixing the problems of the world, but won't reveal them because they could be misused.
* Literature/TimeScout: Time Terminal 86 is hidden in a warren of tunnels inside the mountains of Himalaya.
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': Camp Half-Blood may count as it also possesses magic barriers aside from just hiding the demigods, but the sequel series ''Heroes of Olympus'' has Camp Jupiter and the adjoining city of New Rome.
* In the WebSerialNovel ''Literature/{{Theatrica}}'', the city of the same name transpires to be perfectly hidden from the outside world, [[spoiler: as its people, the Theatricans, are xenophobes.]]
* For years Literature/{{Xanth}} was one, ever since King Roogna set up a magic shield that killed anything crossing between Xanth and Mundania (our world). The only people allowed through were those being exiled. This ends when "[[AntiVillain Evil Magician]]" Trent manages to get back in, and discovers to his horror that the centuries of isolation have led to magical inbreeding, which will in time lead to the extinction of humans in Xanth. When he takes over, he takes down the shield and encourages his own followers to marry locals to keep the gene pool clean.
* The Oompa-Loompas of ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' come from Loompaland, a DeathWorld of fearsome predators. The little people created a TreeTopTown to afford some safety, but it wasn't an ideal situation because there was virtually nothing decent for ''them'' to eat. When Willy Wonka, in need of a new workforce, discovered them and learned that more than anything else, they craved cacao beans (the basis of chocolate), he made them an offer: If they'd come and work for him, they could live in his factory -- an ElaborateUndergroundBase -- and have all the cacao beans they wanted. They jumped at the offer, and he secretly transported the entire tribe to his factory. Moving from one form of isolation to another (owing to Mr. Wonka's determination to keep spies out of the factory, the reason he sacked his original workforce), they were able to create a new system of villages and towns in the factory.
* The titular island in ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}''.
* Kaffiristan in ''Literature/TheManWhoWouldBeKing'' by Creator/RudyardKipling, both the original novella and the movie adaptation. This is based on an actual region in real life (see below).
* ''Literature/LastMage'' has Shambala. [[spoiler: Abandoned by all the inhabitants save an impressive AI and a KnightTemplar dormant EldritchAbomination]].
* ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' has too many to count, but the ones that stand out are:

* In Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' series, the [[TheFairFolk Sithi]] city of Jao é-tinukai'i is one of these. To be fair, they had plenty of justification: they were on the losing end of a catastrophic war and had been [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters hunted by humans]] for centuries thereafter. That doesn't stop their AlwaysChaoticEvil counterparts, the Norns, from taking advantage of their isolationism to wreak all kinds of havoc, up to and including [[SealedEvilInACan unleashing]] an unstoppable [[UltimateEvil undead]] [[EldritchAbomination horror]] on the land. Furthermore, both the Sithi and Norns are exiles from a mythical land far to the west of Osten Ard known as the [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Garden]].