History Main / WainscotSociety

->''Young man, understand this: there are two Londons. There's London Above―that's where you lived―and then there's London Below―the Underside―inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world. Now you're one of them. Good night.''

-->-- '''Marquis de Carabas''', ''Literature/Neverwhere''

* ''Literature/ThePeople'' are psychic aliens forming a fairly small wainscot.

* Szuflandia in ''Film/{{Kingsajz}}'' is a tiny [[FantasyCounterpartCulture copy]] of [=PRL=], built of [[ScavengedPunk card catalogues, matches and trash]] in a disused basement of the most boring scientific institute around.

[[caption-width-right:350:After the shock wore off, the Borrowers asked Tim stop hiding his dirty magazines in their parlour.]]

There is a society, which may well resemble the real world at some time in the present or past. And then, alongside that society, there is a whole other social system with its own rules and hierarchies. It may be secret or just obscure, or even merely hard to access in some way. This is the ''Wainscot Society,'' sometimes just called a "wainscot" for short.

The important thing about this trope is that beings living within the wainscot can interact with the mainstream society, and the physical locations of the two populations overlap; this isn't the funny foreign country next door. However, not everyone can move between the two societies, either because they just don't know that the other group exists, because only certain types of being (who may be unknown to or persecuted by the mainstream society) can operate within the secondary group, or because of physical or magical barriers. Exactly how easily it is to move between the two societies varies from case to case, but the transfer must be quick enough that it can be what starts a story; it shouldn't require a whole novel or movie just to make the shift. If it's inconceivable for more than one or two beings ever to shift between the two societies, the trope isn't present. Many wainscot fantasies involve multiple transfers in the course of the story.

SisterTrope to {{Masquerade}} (a system of intensive secrecy, and therefore one means by which a Wainscot Society in close contact with mainstream society may be kept separate), and MouseWorld (a setting full of beings much smaller than normal humanity, who may well form a Wainscot Society). In other cases, the wainscot's population may be based BeneathTheEarth, in an UnderwaterCity, on an unusually convenient IslandOfMystery, in an AlternateDimension (maybe a DarkWorld) to which fairly accessible portals exist, or anywhere else that can somehow permit fairly easy access to the mundane world -- or they may just be InvisibleToNormals. A really AncientConspiracy may have become a fully developed society in its own right; the AlienAmongUs might be one of many, who have planted a replica of their home society among humans. The HiddenElfVillage is more detached from the mainstream than this trope requires, though if its inhabitants are forced into increasing contact with the rest of the world, it may be transformed into a Wainscot Society.

It is also required that the secondary society is a fully-fledged ''society'', with family groups and traditions; "ordinary" secret conspiracies and spy agencies ''don't'' qualify, and nor do weird parallel dimensions which some characters can enter. If you can’t talk about a second society, it isn’t a Wainscot Society.

** The Rebels of Zion who, in one reality, live in the sewers and abandoned power plants of the post-apocalyptic world and in the other regularly do business in the sewers and abandoned hotels of the slick cyberpunk world of the late 90s, early 2000s. They dress outlandishly, use weapons and martial arts with borderline supernatural ability, and dive from rooftops without a thought.

* In Creator/HPLovecraft's Franchise/CthulhuMythos, various twisted cults and factions have what amounts to a parallel society in port cities and remote human communities, hidden from the mass of society but with a structure of its own. Ghouls, mostly living ''[[BeneathTheEarth under]]'' human cities, have fairly frequent contact with humanity, often via such cultists and maniacs, as well as happily eating any human corpses they can get hold of, while the aquatic Deep Ones and their half-human hybrids have a fair amount of influence in the human world.

* Creator/PiersAnthony wrote a cycle of works[[note]]The ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' series[[/note]] set on the planet Proton, which on the surface of things is a dead world, destroyed by its human colonists in search of the rarest and most precious mineral of all, forcing the human population to live in sealed cities. The hero Stile realises that he is one of a very select few who can cross at will to the ''other'' Proton - a green and fertile world sharing the same space, but powered by magic and home to many races and sentient beings.

* ''Series/{{Beauty and the Beast|1987}}'' concerns the denizens of a society living in the various tunnels beneath New York City, occasionally interacting with normal humans such as the heroine.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and its spin-off ''Series/{{Angel}}'' have vampires, demons, and other supernatural beings running a society of sorts in parallel to the humans on whom they prey, mostly preserving TheMasquerade.

* This is the entire point of ''[[TabletopGame/DontRestYourHead Don't Rest Your Head]]''. Those who lose the ability to sleep are able to find doors into a metaphorical CrapsackWorld -- and once they return the Crapsack World is quite capable of following them back.

%%* ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}'' is a game about a dark, bleak version of our world being the wainscot hiding us from the real, much worse underlying reality. Our world is the illusion maintained by the horrifyingly oppressive and very evil Archons and their counterparts, the even worse and supremely destructive Death Angels. The two sides maintain the illusion because they're both scared pantsless of the real monsters - humanity - creatures so evil and powerful that unless kept under an illusion, they do far worse than any Archon or Death Angel can imagine. Places of significant horror and trauma can lead between this world, the illusion, to any of the parallel worlds. The Archons and Death Angels hate each other, but they are so scared of humanity getting its power back, they would do anything to keep up the illusion. Too bad that GodIsDead, [[BlackAndGrayMorality Satan Is Not Good]], LightIsNotGood, HumansAreCthulhu, and the veil is breaking.

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1660887173030828300
%% See thread to discuss a replacement.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/{{Neverwhere}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neverwhere_mera.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You never know what might exist right under your nose. Or your feet.]]

* Creator/PiersAnthony wrote a cycle of works[[note]]The ''Adept'' series[[/note]] set on the planet Proton, which on the surface of things is a dead world, destroyed by its human colonists in search of the rarest and most precious mineral of all, forcing the human population to live in sealed cities. The hero Stile realises that he is one of a very select few who can cross at will to the ''other'' Proton - a green and fertile world sharing the same space, but powered by magic and home to many races and sentient beings.

* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' features two Wainscot Societies, both of which uphold TheMasquerade to avoid drawing the ire of TheMan:

* The toys in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' and its sequels appear to have a society of sorts, which only operates when humans aren't looking -- but they necessarily take a keen interest in human activities.

It is also required that the secondary society is a fully-fledged ''society'', with family groups and traditions; "ordinary" secret conspiracies and spy agencies ''don't'' qualify.

{{Muggles}} from mainstream society may sometimes blunder into the wainscot by accident, or people or creatures from a wainscot may occasionally enter human society, bringing strangeness with them. When discovering or entering the wainscot defines the beginning of a hero's story, it functions as TheOutsideWorld. Someone who can move unusually freely between the two societies is a ChildOfTwoWorlds. Low-budget Wainscot Societies may have to repurpose a lot of junk from the mainstream society, so the trope sometimes adds a bit of ScavengedPunk.

%%* Magic users - Free Spirits - in ''Literature/AkataWitch'' live in a Masquerade, as is usual with magical societies involving children.
* ''Literature/{{Borribles}}'' are runaway children who have undergone an unknown process that gives them pointed ears and immortality. They live on the underside of human society: stealing what they need to survive, living in abandoned houses, and trying not to be captured by the authorities. Their enemies, the Rumbles, are fascistic rodent-like beings with a wainscot society of their own.

%%* ''Literature/RetiredWitchesMysteries'': The series is set on Earth, with the main characters being witches who live and work among normal humans while hiding their magical identities.

%%* The wesen in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' are mythological creatures who live alongside humanity, but hidden from them, posing as humans.

%%* In ''Webcomic/BreakingCatNews'' there are the Robber Mice, four (or more?) female mice in BlatantBurglar black and white prison stripes and [[DominoMask Domino Masks]]. They remove these on festive occasions, as you can see in [[http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/the-peoples-annual-gratitude-feast-is-underway/ BCN's November 2015 Thanksgiving sequence]] ([[https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2018/11/24 updated version for the newspaper version here]]). Throughout the year they abscond with food and various items from the People and cats alike, using them to decorate their own living spaces.
%%* In the Webcomic ''The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo'', the monsters live in abandoned or unused places in Echo City. Unfortunately, there is only so much space to be had, and the city is gentrifying, so TheMasquerade is beginning to buckle under the strain. This is where Margo Maloo, Monster Mediator, comes in.

%%* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the adventures of [[AdventurerArchaeologist Daring Do]] and her adversaries are sufficiently removed from Equestrian society that she can sell books about her adventures as works of fiction under a PenName.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}'' is a game about a dark, bleak version of our world being the wainscot hiding us from the real, much worse underlying reality. Our world is the illusion maintained by the horrifyingly oppressive and very evil Archons and their counterparts, the even worse and supremely destructive Death Angels. The two sides maintain the illusion because they're both scared pantsless of the real monsters - humanity - creatures so evil and powerful that unless kept under an illusion, they do far worse than any Archon or Death Angel can imagine. Places of significant horror and trauma can lead between this world, the illusion, to any of the parallel worlds. The Archons and Death Angels hate each other, but they are so scared of humanity getting its power back, they would do anything to keep up the illusion. Too bad that GodIsDead, [[BlackAndGrayMorality Satan Is Not Good]], LightIsNotGood, HumansAreCthulhu, and the veil is breaking.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}'' is a game about a dark, bleak version of our world being the wainscot hiding us from the real, much worse underlying reality. Our world is the illusion maintained by the horrifyingly oppressive and very evil Archons and their counterparts, the even worse and supremely destructive Death Angels. The two sides maintain the illusion because they're both scared pantsless of the real monsters - humanity - creatures so evil and powerful that unless kept under an illusion, they do far worse than any Archon or Death Angel can imagine. Places of significant horror and trauma can lead between this world, the illusion, to any of the parallel worlds. The Archons and Death Angels hate each other, but they are so scared of humanity getting its power back, they would do anything to keep up the illusion. Too bad that GodIsDead, SatanIsNotGood, LightIsNotGood, HumansAreCthulhu, and the veil is breaking.

* Magic users - Free Spirits - in ''Literature/AkataWitch'' live in a Masquerade, as is usual with magical societies involving children.

* ''Literature/RetiredWitchesMysteries'': The series is set on Earth, with the main characters being witches who live and work among normal humans while hiding their magical identities.

* The wesen in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' are mythological creatures who live alongside humanity, but hidden from them, posing as humans.

* In ''Webcomic/BreakingCatNews'' there are the Robber Mice, four (or more?) female mice in BlatantBurglar black and white prison stripes and [[DominoMask Domino Masks]]. They remove these on festive occasions, as you can see in [[http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/the-peoples-annual-gratitude-feast-is-underway/ BCN's November 2015 Thanksgiving sequence]] ([[https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2018/11/24 updated version for the newspaper version here]]). Throughout the year they abscond with food and various items from the People and cats alike, using them to decorate their own living spaces.
* In the Webcomic ''The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo'', the monsters live in abandoned or unused places in Echo City. Unfortunately, there is only so much space to be had, and the city is gentrifying, so TheMasquerade is beginning to buckle under the strain. This is where Margo Maloo, Monster Mediator, comes in.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'': Much like [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJackLong Jake Long]] above, this show dealt with a magical society co-existing alongside the mundane one, with the hero's ne tasked with keeping peace and order between the two.
* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'' features the same Wainscot Society as the live-action film, above, as it is a continuation of such.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the adventures of [[AdventurerArchaeologist Daring Do]] and her adversaries are sufficiently removed from Equestrian society that she can sell books about her adventures as works of fiction under a PenName.

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* The wesen in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' are mythological creatures who live alongside humanity, but hidden from them, posing as humans..

SisterTrope to {{Masquerade}} (a system of intensive secrecy, and therefore one means by which a Wainscot Society in close contact with mainstream society may be kept separate), and MouseWorld (a setting full of beings much smaller than normal humanity, who may well form a Wainscot Society). In other cases, the wainscot's population may be based BeneathTheEarth, in an UnderwaterCity, on an unusually convenient IslandOfMystery, in a AlternateDimension (maybe a DarkWorld) to which fairly accessible portals exist, or anywhere else that can somehow permit fairly easy access to the mundane world -- or they may just be InvisibleToNormals. A really AncientConspiracy may have become a fully developed society in its own right; the AlienAmongUs might be one of many, who have planted a replica of their home society among humans. The HiddenElfVillage is more detached from the mainstream than this trope requires, though if its inhabitants are forced into increasing contact with the rest of the world, it may be transformed into a Wainscot Society.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonterAllergy'': Apparently various monsters have built their homes not just alongside human ones, but actually on top of them. It helps that the monsters and their stuff are invisible to muggles, save one guy who can not only see them, but also sneezes when they're present. It helps him track down their criminals.

* In the Webcomic The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo, the monsters live in abandoned or unused places in Echo City. Unfortunately, there is only so much space to be had, and the city is gentrifying, so TheMasquerade is beginning to buckle under the strain. This is where Margo Maloo, Monster Mediator, comes in.