History Main / LostWorld

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': The Known Universe is used by Creator/FrankHerbert to refer to the known areas of space inhabited by humans in an AbsentAliens setting. TheEmperor of the Imperium holds the title of Emperor of the Known Universe, the exact extent is never explain but Herbert refers to it as a "multi-galactic empire", yet when GodEmperor Leto II sees that humanity had stagnate, he arrenges for The Scattering to happen upon his death literally making humanity go out of its confort zone and explored the rest of the unknown universe.

* In ''Literature/BeyondThirty'', a group of shipwrecked American mariners in the 22nd century explore the savage lost continent of Europe. In this future history (the story was published in 1915), World War I never ended because eventually no organized government was left to make peace. The United States never entered the war, and in fact made laws forbidding any ship to cross certain lines of longitude (hence the title).

* The lost cave complex in the 1956 film ''The Mole People,'' in which the titular creatures live. They are enslaved by EvilAlbino Sumerians who arrived in the caves when escaping a flood thousands of years ago.

* The ChristmasSpecial ''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' features a few variations of this trope in the Archipelago of Last Years. Where the old AnthropomorphicPersonification of the year goes to retire, they choose an island to live in and TimeStandsStill for everyone in that island. The island where One Million B.C. lives is {{Prehistoria}} of course, and a YeOldenDays year lives on a MagicalLand.

* '50s BMovie and ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' feature ''Film/LostContinent'', starring [[Series/{{Batman}} Cesar Romero]]. [[LeaveTheCameraRunning And it sure took some finding.]]

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* The episode "{{Tarzan}} and the Knights of Nimmr" of the 1970s Saturday morning cartoon ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' is loosely based on the book ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' (the setting was largely retained, but the characters and story were replaced with original characters). The two cities were merged into the single city of Nimmr, which had just been discovered by a balloonist at the beginning of the story.

* Paradise Falls from ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' is a partial invocation of this trope. It's not particularly hidden, as Carl and Russell are able to find it with little more than a lot of balloons and a pocket GPS navigator. On the other hand, the film implies that it has remained unsettled because [[spoiler:AxCrazy Charles Muntz has been killing off any other explorers who've visited the area.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge3DawnOfTheDinosaurs'' used one to fit dinosaurs into the post-extinction ice age: the dinosaurs survived in an underground lost world.
* The Disney film ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' has the titular Atlantis.

* New Zealand. '''New Zealand'''. Up until about 600 years ago, it was the last major landmass on Earth still dominated by dinosaurs (albeit of the feathered variety): its largest herbivore was the 10-foot-tall flightless moa, while its top predator was the giant Haast's eagle. New Zealand is also home to real-life relics from the Mesozoic such as the Tuatara and the Pepeketua frogs. [[TheMagicGoesAway And then the Polynesians showed up.]]

* From a biogeographical viewpoint, the entire country of New Zealand probably comes closer to this trope than anywhere else. Up until about 600 years ago, it was the last major landmass on Earth still dominated by dinosaurs (albeit of the feathered variety): its largest herbivore was the 10-foot-tall flightless moa, while its top predator was the giant Haast's eagle. New Zealand is also home to the Tuatara, a real-life relic from the Mesozoic.

** Themyscira, also known as Paradise Island, home to Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Later retconned into being able to travel around the world and through time itself.

* The ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' films (a man-made example). The first sequel is actually titled ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' and its plot borrows a lot from Conan Doyle's novel.
** Also subverted by this series. Both islands can be found on maps, and Isla Sorna is accessible by boat.
** The islands are also explicitly made that way. They were normal tropical islands until dinosaur theme parks and a dinosaur breeding facility were built on them. They were only "lost" after the project was abandoned/dinosaurs are and killed everything.

** The Vaults of Orv, the deepest level of the [[BeneathTheEarth Darklands]] far below the surface of Golarion, consist of a series of enormous caverns, each with its own unique (and often quite hostile) environment. Unlike the rest of the underworld, they were made artificially by an advanced race far in the past to serve as arks or experiments of some sort. They’re quite varied, ranging from the nation-sized geode known as the Crystal Womb to the subterranean peaks of the Midnight Mountains to the enormous Sightless Sea. The closest match to this trope would be Deep Tolguth (once connected to the surface Tolguth by long since collapsed tunnels), a tropical cavern full of jungles and swamps home to giant insects, dinosaurs and other monsters, as well as orc and human cavemen and a city of hostile LizardFolk. [[http://pathfinderwiki.com/mediawiki/images/8/8e/Orv_monster_battle.jpg An illustration of it]] has a giant ''Tyrannosaurus'' fighting a tentacled monster in a jungle.

** The main plots of Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine and Series/StarTrekVoyager is the exploration of the other two unknown quadrants, the Gamma and Delta respectively. In the first case thanks to a newly discovered stable wormhole, in the second due to the ship getting lost in there. Of course for the natives of those quadrants is the other way around.

* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' the outer worlds in the edge of TheVerse (a groups of relatively close star systems, as the show has no FasterThanLightTravel) are basically this. Aside from abusive warlords, oligarchs and criminals, the most dangerous thing are [[TechnicallyLivingZombie cannibalistic homicidal maniacs known as Reavers]] who are said to [[GoMadForTheRevelation going mad]] after they went outside the Galactic rim into the "Abyss" of space. Although the truth is that [[spoiler:they're an experiment GoingHorriblyWorng]].

** In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and the PrequelSeries ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', most of what is called the Alpha Quadrant is still this.

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': The Known Universe is used by Creator/FrankHerbert to refer to the known areas of space inhabited by humans in an AbsentAliens setting. TheEmperor of the Imperium holds the title of Emperor of the Known Universe, the exact extent is never explain but Herbert refers to it as a "multi-galactic empire", yet when GodEmpedor Leto II sees that humanity had stagnate, he arrenges for The Scattering to happen upon his death literally making humanity go out of its confort zone and explored the rest of the unknown universe.

* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' the outer worlds in the edge of TheVerse (a groups of relatively close star systems, as the show has no FasterThanLightTravel) are basically this. Aside from abusive warlords, oligarchs and criminals, the most dangerous thing are [[TechnicallyLivingZombie cannibalistic homicidal maniacs known as Reavers]] who are said to [[GoingMadForTheRevelation going mad]] after they went outside the Galactic rim into the "Abyss" of space. Although the truth is that [[spoiler:they're an experiment GoingHorriblyWorng]].

[[TechnologyMarchesOn No longer popular (or even credible) with the arrival of satellite mapping and GPS]]. Most modern fictions that use this trope are set in the pre-satellite past or there's some sort of explanation as to why it hasn't been seen (either AWizardDidIt or there's a kind of EMP over the island). The Lost World has now been adapted to serve in even more mysterious places, such as outer space or deep underground. You are now much more likely to see a civilization thought long dead on an episode of Star Trek than on your modern action show.

* Subverted a bit in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' where the heroes find a Lost World region full of dinosaurs. However, not only do they escape it, but they have its location definitely recorded and make it an one of a kind of wildlife tourist attraction.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTarzan'' had Tarzan and his friends entering Pellucidar, the Lost World from Edgar Rice Burroughs's novels.

They are usually found in remote locations, such as the center of large and barely explored continents (usually DarkestAfrica), the polar ice caps, or mysterious islands. They are often home to [[AdvancedAncientAcropolis lost civilizations]] with amazing LostTechnology, or to [[LivingDinosaurs prehistoric animals that have managed to survive unchanged]] -- aside from the fact that they [[KillAllHumans suddenly find humans delicious]]. Some Lost Worlds are [[EverythingTryingToKillYou almost ludicrously dangerous]] and populated by fearsome monsters, and still others are {{Magical Land}}s where AllMythsAreTrue. Prone to being destroyed by [[ApocalypseHow volcanic eruptions, floods, quakes, and/or bombs]] [[CataclysmClimax at the end of the book/film/series]], with the protagonists barely escaping.

[[folder:TruthInTelevision]]
Lost [[InsistentTerminology Places]] discovered in modern days:
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movile_Cave Movile cave, Dobruja, Romania]]. Discovered in 1986, still only partially explored.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foja_Mountains Foja Mountains, Indonesian half of New Guinea island]]. First explored in 1979, first comprehensive research undertaken in 2005.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bosavi Mount Bosavi, Papua New Guinea]]. First explored in 2009.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island North Sentinel Island]]. Though known of since the 18th century by other inhabitants of the Andaman Islands and by other since the 19th century, very little is actually known about the island and its inhabitants, the Sentinelese people, who to this day remain one of the most isolated uncontacted peoples in the world. The Sentinelese are extremely hostile to outsiders, such that the Indian government (which has ''de jure'' control of the island, though in practice they are autonomous) arrests anyone who goes anywhere near the island for their own safety. Anthropologists have never been able to travel to the island to study the Sentinelese and their culture, and probably won't anytime soon.

* ''Literature/{{The Lost World|1912}}'' was also adapted as an A&E miniseries, in association with the ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' guys, starring Bob Hoskins, James Fox, and Peter Falk.