History Main / NorthIsColdSouthIsHot

* Averted in ''CivilizationIV'', the player can choose how the map is arranged and what temperatures go in which direction.

* Monkey D. Luffy in ''OnePiece'' seems to believe this, as which direction feels warmest/coldest is how he determines north and south.

* Averted in ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', there is a north pole and a south pole, and they're both cold. In fact, most of the first season is spent traveling from the south pole to the north. The Fire Nation is the hottest because most of it is near the equator.

* [[FlatWorld Weyard]], the setting of ''GoldenSun'', has icy areas in the far north and south.

* Played straight in ''WorldOfWarcraft'': in the south, you will find [[ShiftingSandLand Tanaris]], [[JungleJapes Stranglethorn Vale]] and the [[BubblegloopSwamp Swamp of Sorrows]]. In the north, you have [[GrimUpNorth Northrend]]

* ''{{RuneScape}}''

[[folder:VideoGame]]

* ''DwarfFortress'' works on the same system as Civilization IV, expect it is randomly chosen. With full maps though, there will be two cold poles and a hot equator.

* Averted in ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', there is a north pole and a south pole, and they're both cold. In fact, most of the first season is spent traveling from the south pole to the north.

* Averted in ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', there is a north pole and a south pole. In fact, most of the first season is spent traveling from the south pole to the north.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': Seal Clubbers, barbarians who "hail from [[GrimUpNorth the frigid Northlands]], because [[LampshadeHanging one character class always hails from the frigid Northlands]]" and who can summon seals so they can club them.

** Although the GrimOopNorth with all the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarves]] in it is... roughly equatorial. Sure, equatorial mountains are cold, but that doesn't change the fact that the middle of the world consists of frigid valleys, frigider peaks, and the Scottish -- err, Twilight Highlands. (Well, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Searing Gorge]].)

* Played straight in ''TheElderScrolls'' series: The northern regions of Tamriel are snowy mountain ridges, while the southern coasts are tropical jungles and marshes.

This is OlderThanDirt: {{Aristotle}} knew the world was round, and assumed that the south pole was just as cold as the north pole, but he believed the lands near the equator were so hot that they were ''impassable''. To be fair, his reference for "lands near the equator" was the Sahara Desert.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The ancient Greeks believed that a "torrid zone" at the equator was ''uninhabitable''; they speculated that lands with a temperate climate might exist in the Southern Hemisphere but assumed they were forever unreachable.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''TheYearWithoutASantaClaus'' has Snow Miser in charge of the North and Heat Miser the South. Much of the story revolves around reconciling the two so that they can allow a Southern town to have snow for Christmas.
[[/folder]]

* [[UrExample Ur-example]] is probably NorseMythology. From TheOtherWiki: "In the beginning, there were two regions: Muspellsheimr in the south, full of fire, light and heat; and Niflheimr in the north, full of arctic waters, mists, and cold."

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', the south is warmer than the north. In the continent of Westeros, the North is freezing, while the southernmost kingdom, Dorne, is Mediterranean. The southernmost continent in the known world is described as jungly, though the known world does not extend far from its northern coast.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The ancient Greeks believed that a "torrid zone" at the equator was ''uninhabitable''; they speculated that lands with a temperate climate might exist in the Southern Hemisphere but assumed they were forever unreachable.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', the south is warmer than the north. In the continent of Westeros, the North is freezing, while the southernmost kingdom, Dorne, is Mediterranean. The southernmost continent in the known world is described as jungly.
[[/folder]]

* {{Justified}} in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', since the main land is based on medieval England.

* Justified in ''TheWheelOfTime'', because the world map has the Land of the Madmen to the south, in the southern hemisphere. So whereas most stories just default to having a northern-hemispherical weather condition, TheWheelOfTime justifies it. Also, the north pole region is actually quite warm, rather than icy, due to the Dark One's influence.

In reality, it doesn't quite works this way. You have a cold north... and a cold south. The only "hot" part is in the middle. This representation probably comes from the fact that 95% of popular fiction comes from North America, Europe and Asia... all located in the northern hemisphere, where that trope seems true.{{P

In reality, it doesn't quite works this way. You have a cold north... and a cold south. The only "hot" part is in the middle. This representation probably comes from the fact that 95% of popular fiction comes from North America, Europe and Asia... all located in the northern hemisphere, where that trope seems true.

This is OlderThanDirt: Aristotle knew the world was round, and assumed that the south pole was just as cold as the north pole, but he believed the lands near the equator were so hot that they were ''impassable''. To be fair, his reference for "lands near the equator" was the Sahara Desert.

* [[UrExample Ur-example]] is probably NorseMythology. From [[Wikipedia the other Wiki]]: "In the beginning, there were two regions: Muspellsheimr in the south, full of fire, light and heat; and Niflheimr in the north, full of arctic waters, mists, and cold."

* Played straight in WorldOfWarcraft: in the south, you will find [[ShiftingSandLand Tanaris]], [[JungleJapes Stranglethorn Vale]] and the [[BubblegloopSwamp Swamp of Sorrows]]. In the north, you have [[GrimUpNorth Northrend]]

* Played straight in TheElderScrolls series: The northern regions of Tamriel are snowy mountain ridges, while the southern coasts are tropical jungles and marshes.

* {{RuneScape}}

* Averted in {{Dragonlance}}, where the bulk of the stories take place in a Southern Hemisphere continent.
* Averted in Literature/TheStormlightArchive, where the map indicates that the continent the story takes place on is in the southern hemisphere.
* Averted in the [[{{Chalion}} The Curse of Chalion]] and its sequels; the titular medieval-Iberia analogue is somewhere in the southern hemisphere; the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Roknari]], whose role in history parallels the Arabs, come from a desert archipelago to the north.

* ''DwarfFortress'' works on the same system as Civilization IV, expect it is randomly chosen.

* The world map of ''FinalFantasyII'' has a vast snowfield stretching on the northern part, while the southern part has two deserts and a tropical island.

* ''TheYearWithoutASantaClaus'' has Snow Miser in charge of the North and Heat Miser the South. Much of the story revolves around reconciling the two so that they can allow a Southern town to have snow for Christmas.