History Main / SoiledCityOnAHill

* Ba Sing Se, capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, [[spoiler:Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated Ba Sing Se, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally captured the city and the entire Earth Kingdom.]] Unusually for this trope, though, [[spoiler:Ba Sing Se was never actually destroyed. At the end of the series, it was retaken by the Earth Kingdom, and the SecretPolice were presumably disbanded. The final scene in the series has the heroes relaxing in Iroh's tea shop in the city, while [[HeartwarmingMoments Aang and Katara kiss outside]].]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Ba Sing Se]], capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the Avatar world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, [[spoiler:Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated Ba Sing Se, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally captured the city and the entire Earth Kingdom.]] Unusually for this trope, though, [[spoiler:Ba Sing Se was never actually destroyed. At the end of the series, it was retaken by the Earth Kingdom, and the SecretPolice were presumably disbanded. The final scene in the series has the heroes relaxing in Iroh's tea shop in the city, while [[HeartwarmingMoments Aang and Katara kiss outside]].]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Ba Sing Se]], capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the Avatar world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, [[spoiler:Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated Ba Sing Se, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally captured the city and the entire Earth Kingdom.]] Unusually for this trope, though, [[spoiler:Ba Sing Se was never actually destroyed, at the end of the series, it was retaken by the Earth Kingdom, and the SecretPolice were presumably disbanded. The final scene in the series has the heroes relaxing in Iroh's tea shop in the city, while [[HeartwarmingMoments Aang and Katara kiss outside]].]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Ba Sing Se]], capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the Avatar world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, [[spoiler:Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated Ba Sing Se, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally captured the city and the entire Earth Kingdom. Unusually for this trope, though, at the end of the series, Ba Sing Se was recaptured by the Earth Kingdom and restored to its former glory. The final scene in the series has the heroes relaxing in Iroh's tea shop in the city, while [[HeartwarmingMoments Aang and Katara kiss outside]].]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Ba Sing Se]], capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the Avatar world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, [[spoiler:Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated Ba Sing Se, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally conquered the city and the entire Earth Kingdom. Unusually for this trope, though, at the end of the series, Ba Sing Se was recaptured by the Earth Kingdom and restored to its former glory. The final scene in the series has Aang and Katara kissing behind Iroh's tea shop in the city, while the other characters relax inside.]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Ba Sing Se]], capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the Avatar world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, [[spoiler:Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated Ba Sing Se, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally conquered the city and the entire Earth Kingdom. Unusually for this trope, though, at the end of the series, Ba Sing Se was recaptured by the Earth Kingdom and restored to its former glory.]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Ba Sing Se]], capital of the Earth Kingdom, was once the greatest city in the Avatar world. But over time, thanks to EvilChancellor Long Feng and his SecretPolice, it has degenerated into an Orwellian dystopia where {{brainwashing}} abounds, poor people are kept in segregated neighborhoods, and people are forbidden to even mention the war that's been raging outside the city for a hundred years. And just when Long Feng was arrested and things were starting to look up, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation infiltrated the city, got the SecretPolice on her side, and finally conquered the city and the entire Earth Kingdom.

* In the {{Mahabharata}}, the city of Dwaraka sinks into the ocean after becoming corrupt.

Often, the Soiled City was once a ShiningCity or {{Utopia}} but, [[HumansAreBastards humans being who they are]], it fell victim to arrogance and moral degeneration. In fact, before destruction, the Soiled City can still look like a ShiningCity even though by then it's really nothing more than a whited sepulcher with a gleaming shining outside appearance concealing the rot and vileness within.

A city or civilization that is destroyed after growing so [[AndManGrewProud hubris-laden]] and/or [[WretchedHive corrupt]] as to be beyond redemption. Usually the agent of destruction is [[BoltOfDivineRetribution divine retribution]] or [[TheScourgeOfGod a scourge of God]] but also can be the result of [[CallItKarma Karmic justice]], [[GaiasVengeance nature's revenge]], [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], or even human error.

A city or civilization that is destroyed after growing so [[AndManGrewProud hubris-laden]] and/or [[WretchedHive corrupt]] as to be beyond redemption. Usually the agent of destruction is [[BoltOfDivineRetribution divine retribution]] but also can be the result of [[CallItKarma Karmic justice]], [[GaiasVengeance nature's revenge]], [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], or even human error.

* In BatmanBegins, there's [[KnightTemplar the League of Shadows]] which is a secret ancient organization that takes upon itself to destroy societies and cities that, according to their standards, have become too corrupt and decadent. ("We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground.") Next on their list: Gotham City.

Almost always a WretchedHive. Can also be a CityNoir. The opposite or (as mentioned previously) the corrupted version of the ShiningCity. This trope often overlaps with AndManGrewProud and is used as AnAesop.

* In BatmanBegins, there's [[KnightTemplar the League of Shadows]] which is a secret organization that takes upon itself to destroy societies and cites that, according to their standards, have become too corrupt and decadent. ("We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground.") Next on their list: Gotham City.

A city or society that is destroyed after growing so [[AndManGrewProud hubris-laden]] and/or [[WretchedHive corrupt]] as to be beyond redemption. Usually the agent of destruction is [[BoltOfDivineRetribution divine retribution]] but also can be the result of [[CallItKarma Karmic justice]], [[GaiasVengeance nature's revenge]], [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], or even human error.

* Port Royal was an open haven for pirates and smugglers during the 17th century with economy largely based around boozing, whoring, and stealing. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692 that '''caused it to sink into the sea.'''

* In BatmanBegins, there's [[KnightTemplar the League of Shadows]] which is a secret organization that takes upon itself to destroy societies and cites that, according to their standards, have become too corrupt and decadent. ("We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground.")

* In BatmanBegins, there's [[KnightTemplar the League of Shadows]], a secret organization that takes upon itself to destroy societies and cites that, according to their standards, have become too corrupt and decadent. ("We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground.")

[[AC:Religion and Mythology]]

A city or society that is destroyed after growing so [[AndManGrewProud hubris-laden]] and/or [[WretchedHive corrupt]] as to be beyond redemption. Usually the agent of destruction is [[BoltOfDivineRetribution divine retribution]] but also can be the result of [[CallItKarma Karmic justice]], [[GaiasVengeance nature's revenge]], or even human error.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys The sunken city of Ys]] in French folklore and CelticMythology. It was built below sea level and surrounded by a dike with a gate that was opened to allow access for ships during low tide. Ys was destroyed by being sunk under the waves as punishment for the [[RoyalBrat Princess Dahut's]] and the other inhabitants' debauchery. (Although, in one version of the legend, Ys sank [[WhatAnIdiot as a result of the Princess Dahut getting drunk and opening the gate at high tide during a storm]].)

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rungholt Rungholt]] was a thriving German merchant city on the North Sea coast until it was destroyed by a storm tide in 1362. Later stories attributed its destruction to the rampant greed of its citizens and acts of sacrilege against God.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys The sunken city of Ys]] in French folklore and CelticMythology. It was built below sea level and surrounded by a dike with a gate that was opened to allow access for ships during low tide. Ys was destroyed by being sunk under the waves as punishment for the [[RoyalBrat Princess Dahut's]] and the other inhabitants' immorality. (Although, in one version of the legend, Ys sank [[WhatAnIdiot as a result of the Princess Dahut getting drunk and opening the gate at high tide during a storm]].)

* The low-lying Dutch city of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeftinghe Saeftinghe]] was a prosperous trading center from the 14th to the 16th century until much of its surrounding land was lost to a disasterous flood in 1570. The city itself was abandoned in 1584 when, during the Dutch War for Independence, Dutch soldiers were forced to destroy the dike that protected Saeftinghe resulting in its sinking into the marshy bogs of the Schelde River. In [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeftinghe_legend Dutch folklore]], Saeftinghe was an ornately rich but avaricious city that ul

* On the Arabian Peninsula, there was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iram_of_the_Pillars Iram of the Pillars]]--the "Atlantis of the Sands". In Islamic legend, Iram of the Pillars (also known as Ubar) was a city of untold riches that was buried under the desert sands after defying God. Long thought to be a myth, satellite photos and recent archeological excavations have indicated such a city probably existed until around 300 AD.

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