History Main / TheOutsideWorld

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'', the PC is a personal friend of the Emperor sent to the titular city in order to investigate the appearance of the ghost of its former king. Natually, you are shipwrecked along the way and must escape a NoobCave dungeon before traveling into the game world.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', you are a prisoner from the Imperial City released on the authority of the Emperor himself to the titular province. The game makes it very clear that the PC is an "Outlander", and you get to learn about the land and culture of its people at the same rate as the PC. Once you step outside it becomes abundantly clear that we [[NotInKansasAnymore aren't in Cyrodil anymore]].

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerall]]'', the PC is a personal friend of the Emperor sent to the titular city in order to investigate the appearance of the ghost of its former king. Natually, you are shipwrecked along the way and must escape a NoobCave dungeon before traveling into the game world.

* The first act of ''Film/TheIsland'' takes place in an underground bunker, inhabited by people who believe the world has been devastated some vague disaster, with their bunker and a paradise-like place called 'The Island' from which no-one ever returns to be the only remaining bastions of human civilisation. The protagonists, Lincoln and Jordan, escape the bunker when they learn that it's a PeopleFarm where the inhabitants are cloned and harvested for their organs, and discover that the outside world is fine.

* ''WesternaAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' takes place on The Boiling Isles, an archipelago made up of the [[GiantCorpseWorld giant corpse]] of a dead Titan in the middle of an ocean of boiling water. The Boiling Isles appear to be the only land in the Demon Realm, but there are eventually revealed to be uncharted islands far from the Titan [[spoiler:and a whole other landmass on the other side of the world which appears to be made of another Titan's hand, complete with a native population of Witches]].

** The Kokiri in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' believe that they are [[DepartureMeansDeath cursed to die if they venture outside their forest home]]. Link is eventually permitted to leave when the Great Deku Tree sets him a quest to save Hyrule, [[spoiler:though he's not a true Kokiri; he's a Hylian who was taken in by the Kokiri and raised as one of them]].
** When Link firsts awakens in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', he is stuck on top of the Great Plateau with no friendly company except for a strange Old Man. He is contacted telepathically by Zelda, who implores him to save Hyrule by defeating Calamity Ganon, but he has no way to safely get down from the Plateau. The Old Man offers to give a Paraglider for that task provided Link goes through several [[MiniDungeon Shrines]]. Only once Link does this, receives a last bit of exposition from the Old Man, and gets the Paraglider can he soar down and begin the quest proper.
* The entire story of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter'' involves the protagonists trying to make their way to the surface, since humanity has lived underground for so long that the surface became a myth. [[spoiler: When Ryu finally opens the seal to the outside world for the first time in 1000 years, he is greeted by calm, clear blue skies and lush green fields all around him]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' has TheProtagonist wanting to go to the Outside World to find a real live tree for a girl he likes. However, he finds that [[spoiler: the outside is a really bleak and dark CrapsackWorld.]]

->''"I was so scared then, but in a way it was really fun. I mean, every boring day had been just the same for me. But this… this was the beginning of a real adventure!”''

This is one of the most important steps on TheHerosJourney.

* Ariel, ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', is fascinated by the world above the ocean surface, particularly in humans to the point that she falls in love with one, and makes a DealWithTheDevil to get the chance to live up there.
* Rapunzel in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' has [[GirlInTheTower lived her whole life in her tower]] and desperately wants to get out and see what's outside, an opportunity that comes when a thief gets into her tower looking for a place to hide some loot and she [[FryingPanOfDoom knocks him out with a frying pan]] and forces him to take her along.

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' Elsa and Anna both are trapped for years in the castle where they live. They both emerge into the Outside World in different ways. Anna goes on a journey searching for Elsa, who decided to ''Let it Go'' and stop holding in her powers by moving out of the Kingdom and into the snowy mountains. In this case, the outside world itself is not a great source of interest, both characters having previously experienced it when younger and much of it being embroiled in an [[EndlessWinter unnatural winter]], which both challenges and entrances Anna. Anna's main interest in the outside world lies in the people in it, while Elsa makes herself another castle and revels in the opportunity to exercise her powers away from others.
* While still in the egg, the iguanodon Aladar from Disney's ''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'' gets abducted to the remote island of the lemurs, where he hatches and is adopted. However, a horrific meteor shower obliterates the island, compelling Aladar and his lemur family to explore the mainland, just in time for the seasonal dinosaur migration.

* While still in the egg, the iguanodon Aladar from Disney's ''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'' gets abducted to the remote island of the lemurs, where he hatches and is adopted. However, a horrific meteor shower obliterates the island, compelling Aladar and his lemur family to explore the mainland, just in time for the seasonal dinosaur migration.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' Riku is intensely curious about why their island is totally cut off from any other civilization. The first mission involves Sora, Riku, and Kairi collecting provisions for an exploratory voyage to see what lies beyond the sea. It turns out that [[spoiler: their world ''is'' cut off from the other worlds, and they are supposed to be separate.]] The Outside World proves to be [[spoiler: other Disney worlds in a myriad of [[ArtShift different styles]]]].

* Having undergone a HeelFaceTurn in ''Literature/LogansRun'', "sandman" Logan 3 escapes the rigidly controlled city with renegade Jennifer 6 to explore the abandoned but habitable colony on Mars. This was later adapted into the film ''Film/LogansRun'' by MGM studios in 1976, changing the outside world to the overgrown but habitable Washington, [=DC=]. A television series follows the further adventures of Logan and Jenny, plus the android Rem.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Dare to breach the surface and sink." [[note]] quote by Vera Nazarian. Image by [[http://fgesn.deviantart.com Fgesn]] [[/note]]]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]

[[folder:Film-Animation]]

[[folder:Film-Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheVillage'' has the blind protagonist journeying outside world beyond the titular village on a mission to retrieve medicine despite the monsters. [[spoiler:The outside world is actually modern 90s society, and the Elders had only set up the village to appear to be in the 1800s and surrounded by unknown dangers in order to start over and protect their kin from the murders and violence they witnessed in the "real world"]].

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' Elsa and Anna both are trapped in the castle, [[PowerIncontinence Elsa physically out of necessity]], Anna metaphorically by naiveté (she could technically leave at any time). They both emerge into the Outside World in two different ways. Anna goes on a journey searching for Elsa, who decided to ''Let it Go'' and stop holding in her powers by moving out of the Kingdom and into the snowy mountains.

* While still in the egg, the iguanodon Aladar from Disney's ''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'' gets abducted to the remote island of the lemurs, where he hatches and is adopted. However, a horrific meteor shower obliterates the island, compelling Aladar and his lemur "family" to explore the mainland, just in time for the seasonal dinosaur migration.

[[folder:ComicStrip]]

[[folder:Film Animation]]

[[folder:Film Live-Action]]

** The world outside the former U.S is this for the series as a whole; despite over 200 years passing by ''Fallout 4'', there have been no known contact with the rest of the world since the Great War.

* The real world in ''Film/{{Tron}}'' and ''Film/TronLegacy''. Programs are barely aware of its existence, except as a place where the nearly-mythical Users live, but some of them are anxious to break out of their computerized life and enter reality. The MCP in ''Tron'' is trying to use Dillinger to access more powerful systems, namely the Pentagon, and Clu 2.0 in ''Legacy'' actually wants to invade the real world to make it "perfect".

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Fallout3}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outside-fallout_5956.png]]]]

* Some of the Vaults in the ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' universe have adopted this mentality:

* TheFinalFrontier

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the PC [[NoodleIncident was caught trying to cross the border]] by the Imperial Legion, who had set a trap for [[RebelLeader Ulfric Stormcloak]] and his men. You ride a wagon into the town of Helgen to await your execution along with the Stormcloaks, but are quickly [[VillainousRescued rescued by a dragon]] who promptly destroys the town. After escaping the carnage through underground tunnels, you and a companion flee to the nearest town through some gorgeous snowy countryside.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' lives by this [[HeroicMime on]] [[AudienceSurrogate principle]]; the games in the Elder Scrolls franchise feature the player emerging from prison, sewers, or some other inner world, including the first game ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena''.
** In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind,'' after your [[OverlyLongGag prison ship]] drops you off, the game even puts you through a [[CharacterCustomization citizenship registration process]] before allowing you access to the game world. Once you step outside it becomes abundantly clear that we [[NotInKansasAnymore aren't in Cyrodil anymore]].
** In the game ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' the players character is a prisoner who is allowed to leave prison through the sewers. His or her emergence from the sewer is particularly spectacular: from the dank dark sewers, the player emerges into the rest of the World. It is absolutely lush and beautiful in comparison to the previous area.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'' is set primarily in Pennsylvania Dutch country in TheFuture, where the outside world has continued to progress drastically, while the Mennonite and Amish towns have remained largely unchanged.