Maps and charts are ways of depicting the layout of an area onto a sheet of paper (or other surface) to help prevent people from getting lost.
They also manifest in fiction in a variety of ways and serve a variety of purposes:
Maps in general
- Connect the Deaths
Put a pin in every disaster, and find who caused it all. - Fantasy World Map
No Fantasy setting is truly complete without this handy visual aid. - Fool's Map
A map that leads you on a Wild Goose Chase. - Here There Be Dragons
"Filler" as it applies to otherwise blank and/or unknown areas of maps. - Law of Cartographical Elegance
All relevant landmasses will conveniently fit into a rectangular containing area. - Left-Justified Fantasy Map
Why is the ocean always on the left? - Magic Map
A map that does more than just show roads and towns. People, objects, or supernatural things may also be shown. - Map All Along
A previously misunderstood object is suddenly recognized as a map. - Map Stabbing
Sharp objects are forcefully driven into maps.
- Space-Filling Empire
Maps are drawn with a small number of superstates for easier political relations. - Spreading Disaster Map Graphic
Maps provide a vivid illustration of the scope of a looming or ongoing disaster. - Travel Montage
Travel between multiple locations, with maps used during the cuts to represent distances traveled. - Treasure Map
X marks the spot after you take fifty paces east of that palm tree between the rocks! - World Tour
Characters travel to multiple destinations, with maps used to identify the location. - "X" Marks the Spot
This is where you'll find the buried gold!
Maps in Video Games
- Alternate World Map
Video Games, especially RPGs, may utilize more than one world map for assorted reasons. - Cartography Sidequest
The game draws and fills in level maps as you actually explore them. - Crow's Nest Cartography
Find a high point and use it to fill in a swath of the map. - Level-Map Display
Shows your position inside a Video Game level, and may update in real-time. - Overworld Not to Scalenote
An interactive "map" or small-scale view of the world that the player can freely travel upon between distinct areas. - Patchwork Map
Biomes may not match latitude and climate, but are simply placed here and there like provinces. - Point-and-Click Map
Map screen that lets you point and click to instantly travel between discrete levels/areas, Warp Whistle style. - "Risk"-Style Map
Used in a Strategy Game setting to indicate who controls which territories.
