History Main / IslandOfMystery

* Skull Island in ''Film/KingKong1933''. Dinosaurs, giant insects, natives who perform {{Human Sacrifice}}s, and the giant ape himself.

* ''Dead in Bermuda'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/DeadInVinland'' are set on such islands, and reached via plane crash and shipwreck respectively. They contain many of the above tropes, including caves, ruins, bizarre monsters, mysterious supernatural phenomena, giant carnivorous plants, treasure, both a volcano and various fellow castaways in the case of the latter game, [[spoiler: and blue-skinned Atlanteans who are apparently also the Greek and Norse gods.]]

* The island that granted the heroes in ''ComicBook/JupitersLegacy''. It has a cloaking field, calls to one of the heroes in dreams to come visit, is made of alien metal, has a room inside that's larger than the island and has extra-dimensional aliens on it who grant superpowers.

An island {{Setting}} where the island in question [[WorldOfMysteries is crawling with strange and mysterious people, creatures and places, ancient, magical or high-tech]]. These islands are often very hard to locate (at least more than once), especially if [[TravelingLandmass mobile]]. Usually tropical, they can have a variety of terrain, but generally default to jungle. The island can be big, but not too big. Too big and it's really a small country and doesn't have the same sense of isolation.

* The archipelago of ''VideoGame/FarCry'' contains not-so-abandoned genetic research facilities and genetically altered mutants.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry3'' is set on the tropical Rook Islands, which are implied to be somewhere near Thailand. The islands are home to hostile wildlife, murderous pirates, drug mercenaries and [[RuinsForRuinsSake ancient ruins]], and it's implied that there is ''[[EldritchLocation something]]'' about the HungryJungle that will drive newcomers on the island to insanity.

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* The island of Ezan-Throgg in ''Literature/StarWarsGalacticFolkloreAndMythology'' falls into this category. Based heavily on the Irish legend of Hy-Brasil, Ezan-Throgg is described as a small island on the planet Brodo Asogi which is only ever visible during a leap day, being shrouded in a magical mist the other 408 days of the year. This is said to be the work of the late King Fonhom, who threw his cloak over the island after it was attacked by Atarian warriors in order to shield it from any future invaders.
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* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island North Sentinel Island]] is a mysterious and remote jungle island in the Indian Ocean. Mysterious primarily because its inhabitants are cannibals who quickly attack and kill anyone or anything approaching the island.

* The island of Ezan-Throgg in ''Literature/StarWarsGalacticFolkloreAndMythology'' falls into this category. Based heavily on the Irish legend of Hy-Brasil, it's described as a small island on the planet Brodo Asogi which is onlyn ever visible on a leap day, being shrouded in a magical mist the other 408 days of the year. This is said to be the work of the late King Fonhom, who threw his cloak over the island after it was invaded by the neighboring Atarians in order to shield it from any future attackers.

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* The Marivellas in ''Series/TalesOfTheGoldMonkey'' are a whole chain of Islands of Mystery, with such inhabitants as [[ManiacMonkeys two sets of killer monkeys]], [[EverythingsBetterWithSamurai samurai]], lost tribes of Africa ''and'' ancient Egypt, [[AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage tentacled swamp monsters]] and....[[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers the Amish]].

* The IslandBase of Dr. Totenkopf at the end of ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. More dinosaurs, plus dangerous robots and [[spoiler:a spaceship]]!

Creator/JulesVerne's novel ''Literature/TheMysteriousIsland''.

* [[SupervillainLair Supervillain lairs]]. See the SubTrope IslandBase.

* [[CannibalTribe Cannibalistic]] and [[AppeaseTheVolcanoGod human-sacrifice-prone]] natives.

* [[TreasureRoom Treasure]], particularly {{pirate}} booty. An island that's hard to get to is perfect for hiding your booty.

Not to be confused with the fan-fic ''FanFic/MysteryIsland'' or Creator/JulesVerne's novel ''Literature/TheMysteriousIsland''.

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/msyteryisland2_3352.jpg]]]]

* The island of Leshp from the Creator/TerryPratchett novel ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}''. It tends to raise itself from under the sea on a regular basis and is covered with [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Chthonic]] architecture. An homage to R'lyeh, home of Great Cthulhu.

** Kratoa, The Living Island is a small island subjected to nuclear testing that turned the island's ecosystem into a hive-mind entity. Kratoa has had children.

* Much of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2'' takes place on the Island of Creation, the deadly trap-filled home of the Sisters of Fate.

* R'lyeh, the island of ''Literature/CallOfCthulhu'' has ancient ruins and the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Big Guy]] himself.

An island {{Setting}} where the island in question is crawling with strange and mysterious people, creatures and places, ancient, magical or high-tech. These islands are often very hard to locate (at least more than once), especially if [[TravelingLandmass mobile]]. Usually tropical, they can have a variety of terrain, but generally default to jungle. The island can be big, but not too big. Too big and it's really a small country and doesn't have the same sense of isolation.

* ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'' is set on a series of Islands, all lorded over by Doctor Neo Cortex, a MadScientist and his [[Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau hybrid creature creations]].

* Largo Winch has Sarjevan(e), a lovely Baltic island in the Adriatic Sea originally colonized by a small community of 15th Century Orthodox monks who hid on the island - for over 400 years! - to escape Turkish persecution. Isolated by sheer cliffs with a freshwater lake at its heart(supplied by a spring) his adoptive father Nerio purchased the island as his own Franchise/JamesBond hideaway; installing electricity but no telephone, television or even a radio - and hid the only entrance behind a remote-controlled secret passage.

* ''Franchise/PeterPan'': Neverland, home of the title character and the Lost Boys. Uncharted and accessible only through magic, children never grow old and die there and can fly with a little help. The geography of Neverland is shaped by the minds of the children residing there.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'': When Scrooge goes to find the lost play of [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed William Drakespeare]], he finds a strange island that seems to be inhabited by characters from Drakespeare's plays, and who all seemed determined to throw them off the island. [[spoiler: They eventually find the play, and find out that these are actually actors, descendants of Drakespeare's original theatre company]].

* [[Creatures IsleOfGiantHorrors]]! [[{{Kaiju}} Gigantic creatures]]. [[Characters/ClassicalMythologyMonsters Mythical creatures]]. [[HybridMonster Hybrid creatures]]. [[LivingDinosaurs Thought-extinct creatures]].