History Main / UnderwaterBase

* In the first two seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', The Decepticons' second ship, after crash-landing in the ocean from a failed attempt to leave Earth, is used as their base, complete with a giant telescoping elevator used to exit to the surface. Naturally, the base gets flooded a couple times during the Transformers' many battles.

* The Decepticons' ship in the first two series of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''; likewise, Devil Z's base in ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce''.

[[caption-width-right:250:Think of it as your regular secret base. Except instead of birds, you have [[ThreateningShark sharks.]] [[note]]Art by Jacque Fresco from his book ''Designing the Future'', page 62[[/note]]]]

* ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': [[WingedHumanoid The Brahmins']] HomeBase on Earth was an underwater base served like their headquarters to launch attacks from.
* Boa's fortress in ''Anime/FlyingPhantomShip.''
* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'': The Gutsy Galaxy Guard's headquarters is an underwater "Harbor Reef Base" located [[spoiler:underneath the Japan Aeronautics headquarters.]] Later, [[spoiler:after the 31 Primevals trash both the Aeronautics headquarters and the base with their attacks]], they relocate to an orbital space station base.
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': TheDragon Baron Ashura was commander of Dr. Hell's sea and submarine fortresses and had two underwater bases: Salude and Bood.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': Marquis Janus HomeBase was an IslandBase could submerge.
* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' has had a few, and thus by extension, so did ''Anime/EagleRiders'' and ''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets''.
** The most noteworthy is Crescent Coral Base (Center Neptune in [[Anime/BattleOfThePlanets BotP]]) which had thrusters on the bottom allowing it to physically move and change locations if discovered and projected a fake coral reef above on the water surface to fool people.
** ''Gatchaman II'' had G-Town, a huge mobile base (more like a city) at the very bottom of the ocean.

** ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
*** ''[[ComicBook/Superboy1994 Superboy Volume 4]]'': The villainous Silicon Dragons' base is an elaborate underwater affair off the coast of Maui that gets flooded section by section as Superboy and the ComicBook/SuicideSquad infiltrate it.

* In the Pixar movie ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', the entrance to Syndrome's magnificent ElaborateUndergroundBase is under the sea, built for submersible aircraft to use.

* The movie ''Captain Nemo and the Underwater City'' puts the city of "Templemere" under a dome at the bottom of the ocean, where the submarine ''[[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Nautilus]]'' has its berth. And this is supposedly done during a time when the best technology is Steam powered.

* The 1966 film ''Destination Inner Space'' is about an underwater research station, being menaced by an [[FishPeople icthyoid]] alien.

* The monster-hunting coalition Monarch's flagship facility ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' is built into underwater bedrock, with its above-water facilities being disguised as a mundane oil rig. Monarch have another, more remote base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, which is shown in the novelization.

* [[spoiler:The two drilling rigs]] in ''Film/{{Underwater}}''. The reason why the spoiler is there is because [[spoiler:when the protagonists reach the second rig, lost some time prior to the film, they find more evidence that the company they work for is running [[CorruptCorporateExecutive on Weyland-Yutani rules]]: the stuff they drill is much more important to them than their lives and [[EldritchAbomination potentially those of the entire human race]].]]

* ''Literature/{{Sphere}}'' is primarily set in a US Navy deep-saturation underwater research habitat.
* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' alludes to the AncientConspiracy owning one.
** Also, [[spoiler:in ''The Penultimate Peril'', Hotel Denouement is actually a library under the water that reflects the hotel. Everything on the hotel is written backwards so that it's correct in the reflection.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The Rangers' base in ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue''. Deliberately chosen because water is the demons' WeaksauceWeakness; otherwise, they would have destroyed the base as early as episode 2.
** Series/RescueSentaiGoGoFive had Bay Area 55 (the mecha hangar) protected by magical symbols, providing an effective demon deterrent.
** Series/ChoujuuSentaiLiveman and Series/BattleFeverJ also had underwater bases.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsoftheDeep Warriors of the Deep]]" was set in an underwater base, from which nuclear weapons were controlled.
* The ''Series/UFO1970'' episode "Reflections in the Water" has an underwater alien base.
* The Looking Glass station on ''Series/{{Lost}}'', used by the Others to block all communications coming to the island.
* ''Series/LostInOz'' had a heroic version with Bellaridere's underwater palace.
* In the Australian series ''Series/OceanGirl'', the scientists live and work inside an undersea habitat called the Oceanic Research Centre of Australia, or [[FunWithAcronyms ORCA for short]].
* In the 1960s German television series ''Series/{{Raumpatrouille}}'' Spaceship Base 104, the military headquarters and that of the Galactic Security Service as well as the crew's private homes were all situated at the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

* ''Series/TotalRecall2070'': Farve the android's mysterious creator is hiding in a derelict underwater base inside a radioactive lake that hasn't been visited by humans in decades.

* Several new underwater territories have been added to the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture futuristic]] ''Risk 2210 A.D.'' board game, compared to its original, much better-known, incarnation.
* ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' features a wide range of established sub-aquatic operations; the most exotic are deep in the ice-covered oceans of Europa, a moon of Jupiter, where a miniature war is being fought for the future of the moon.
* The TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness book ''Blood Dimmed Tides'' features one of these in the form of Project Deepwater, an underwater laboratory built right on the edge of the Mariana Trench. The result of an ongoing alliance between [[EvilInc Pentex]] and the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Technocracy]], it was established for the purposes of harvesting supernatural resources from the ocean - and for continuing Pentex's efforts to ruin the environment.
** As discussed in the splatbook for [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension the Void Engineers]], there are several that are maintained by the Engineers, as their explicit aims are to explore everything, not just space or Umbral realms (plus, things learned with underwater exploration are frequently applicable for exploring space/other dimensions). However, prior to the Avatar Storm, this was given much less attention (and, consequently, much less budget than other Engineer programs). Post-Avatar Storm, their remoteness (particularly from the Sleepers) combined with the loss of bases in Umbral realms result in increased importance of these bases for the Technocracy as a whole; several even get upgraded to [[UnderwaterCity Underwater Cities]].

* The Pasadena Ocean Lab in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' was just an advanced research facility for the BigBad, and devoid of life[[labelnote:*]]''human'' life, anyway[[/labelnote]], but information there is vital to his plans, and TheDragon makes an appearance.
* The last mission of the WOPR campaign in ''VideoGame/WarGamesDefcon1'' have the players locating the last NORAD base, which is hidden in the Sea of Japan, by capturing a NORAD lab in Tokyo causing the base to rise out of the waters. They then send their units to destroy the base, leading to WOPR's TheBadGuyWins ending.
* The final location of ''VideoGame/WithinADeepForest'', and the setting of the ''VideoGame/KnyttStories'' level ''An Underwater Adventure'', which is an alternate version of ''Within a Deep Forest'''s story.
* There's an abandoned underwater base in ''VideoGame/{{EarthboundBeginnings}}'', which was originally used by [[spoiler:Ninten's great-grandfather]].
* The FinalBoss battle of ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG!]]'' Chapter One takes place in [[spoiler:Labtech X's]] Underwater Base.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' had the Catapult, an underground/underwater base of LostTechnology. Among other things, it features an airship docking bay, a teleporter and a ship-sized elevator to the sea surface. And the icing on the cake? It's ''[[PlayerHeadquarters yours]]'' now.
* Since ''VideoGame/XComTerrorFromTheDeep'' is basically ''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense X-COM]]'' '''UNDERWATER!''', these make up the bases of your organization. The alien bases, including [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon T'leth]], also apply.
** The final mission of ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' involves an assault on an ADVENT controlled underwater base.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Eggman has a few of these.
** Examples include [[VideoGame/SonicTripleTrouble Tidal Plant]], [[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy Ocean Base]] (which has surprisingly little in the way of underwater segments), and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Aquatic Base]] (SuperDrowningSkills here).
* The Ocean Palace of Zeal in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' [[spoiler:at least before it turns into the Black Omen]].
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has one owned by the Selkath on Manaan. "Owned" being in the past tense.

* The deep-sea military installation, NORAD VI in ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject'', where a robot was sent to launch a nuclear missile that would disrupt world unification.
* The underwater research facility, Pathos-II is this, in ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', It was primarily used for building satellites to be launched in a magnetic rail-gun, but [[spoiler: since [[CometOfDoom comet Telos]] scorched the Earth above, [[LastOfTheirKind only the base's inhabitants survived]].]]
* The future time zone of ''VideoGame/DarkFall II: Lights Out'' contains a submerged research facility close to where the lighthouse used to be; called D.E.O.S. (Deep Explorations Of Space). [[spoiler: It's where the sentient space probe, Malakai, was developed and launched from.]]
* Cycorp's Manufacturing Center in ''VideoGame/NetZone'' is a {{Cyberspace}} variant, accessed by a virtual submarine. Cycorp used it to construct their [[ArtificialIntelligence CY-11s]], but it's since been [[spoiler: taken over and altered by [[BigBad Walter Sayle]] for building and unleashing his [[ComputerVirus Cyberworm virus]].]]
* ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' had the second half of Dive Man's level. Mega Man finds it by using Rush Marine to dive down to the point where the background is black and heads right.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' the undersea base of the villainous team. Which team it is depends on what you're playing. In Ruby, it's Magma, in Sapphire and Emerald, it's Aqua (while Magma's base is instead hidden inside [[VolcanoLair Mt. Chimney]])..
* The Swedish game ''Djuphavsjakten'' ("The deep sea hunt") features this. The exact details are a spoiler: [[spoiler: it features this trope ''twice'', as it turns out -- once you capture the villain's first underwater base of operations, it turns out he has a larger underwater base deeper into the ocean, leaving the good guys to build up the captured base for their own underwater operations]].
* ''VideoGame/DeepFear'' is essentially "''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', [[RecycledINSPACE but in an underwater military base!]]", although it does make use of the setting update, mainly by adding the lack of oxygen and conserving it as major game mechanics. It also [[{{Deconstruction}} quietly acknowledges how]] incredibly expensive a facility would be to make, requiring civilian corporations to share parts of it for maintenance after the US Navy cut its funding -- one of which was an agricultural company breeding surface animals to become your enemies [[GoneHorriblyWrong when a mutating virus spreads around]]. Whoops.
* Rapture of ''VideoGame/BioShock'' of course is an underwater city, but the more utilitarian areas of it fits this trope.

* In ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'' you infiltrate an underwater base where the Chinese are trying to build a condenser portal.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'', you can make these using the Builder tool, the right blueprints, and raw materials. [[spoiler:You get most of these blueprints from scanning abandoned bases left behind by the survivors of another human spaceship that crash-landed on the planet years earlier. And then you find decidedly non-human installations built by the very same alien {{Precursors}} that are responsible for your predicament in the first place...]]
* Grineer MadScientist Tyl Regor from ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' owns several labs under the surface of Uranus' oceans[[note]]Yes, an ice giant. It has been {{terraform}}ed at some point into an ocean planet, complete with seabed and habitable surface.[[/note]], featuring Grineer Drekar units and water leaking from the ceilings.

* The sci-fi city builder game ''[[VideoGame/AnnoDomini Anno 2070]]'' requires you to build a few of these to harvest certain high-end resources. There's also an NPC faction, the Ebashi Trench Observatory, who may have a base in the region. You can trade with them, and they'll even sell you spare submarines.
* ''VideoGame/PsychonautsInTheRhombusOfRuin'' takes place in an abandoned underwater research station originally built by the Psychonauts to harvest and study Psilirium, a mineral that has [[GRatedDrug severely disorienting and mind-altering effects on psychics]]. The reason it was abandoned was that the Psilirium deposits were so big and powerful it overwhelmed nearly everyone working there, causing vivid hallucinations.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* [[http://www.villainsource.com/ Villain Source]] (Your Online Source For Everything Evil) naturally has one of these for sale. However you have to provide your own aquatic construction personnel. And avoid flooding the place from the [[BigRedButton obvious]] and [[NoOshaCompliance accessible]] control panels.

* ''Blog/HowToHero'' mentions that the superhero team Hero Force has an underwater headquarters where they host mahjong night for retired superheroes every Thursday at 3 pm.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': "The Depths of Cousin Fethry!" has Fethry Duck working in an undersea research base.
* The Decepticons' ship in the first two series of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''; likewise, Devil Z's base in ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce''.
* The bioborgs' base in ''WesternAnimation/SkysurferStrikeForce''.
* MAD in ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' used a few of these.
* So did Dr. Drakken of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''. He even had one in the show's crossover with ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries''!
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2020}}'', and by extension, ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}''.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centurions}}'' has one of their equipment and operations facilities, "Sealab", underwater.

* The LegionOfDoom had their headquarters beneath a swamp in the Saturday-morning cartoon series ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheSuperfriends''.
* Brother Blood designs one on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' after Cyborg destroyed his first headquarters. Cyborg destroys this one, too.
* Sandy's Treedome from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''.

* A villain in ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' has one that bears [[ShoutOut more than a passing resemblance]] to {{WesternAnimation/Sealab|2020}}. His StartOfDarkness came from [[CabinFever spending too much time on his own down there.]]

* The drilling rig in ''Film/TheAbyss''.

* [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman]] has a few of these.
** Examples include [[VideoGame/SonicTripleTrouble Tidal Plant]], [[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceSeries Ocean Base]] (which has surprisingly little in the way of underwater segments), and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Aquatic Base]] (SuperDrowningSkills here).

[[caption-width-right:250:Think of it as your regular secret base. Except instead of birds, you have [[ThreateningShark sharks]] [[note]]Art by Jacque Fresco from his book ''Designing the Future'', page 62[[/note]]]].

[[caption-width-right:250:Think of it as your regular secret base. Except instead of birds, you have [[ThreateningShark sharks]] [[note]]Art by Jacque Fresco from his book ''Designing the Future'', page 62[[/note]]]].]]

[[caption-width-right:250:Think of it as your regular secret base. Except instead of birds, you have [[ThreateningShark sharks]].]]

* [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman]] has a few of these.

While fictional heroes and villains like to keep their submarines in undersea bases, in RealLife, navies put their submarines in sheltered pens at the surface level. In RealLife, scientists build underwater habitats for oceans research. NASA uses some underwater habitats to train astronauts. This is a RealLife application of the "SpaceIsAnOcean" connection.

[[folder:Real life]]

While fictional heroes and villains like to keep their submarines in undersea bases, in RealLife, navies put their submarines in sheltered pens at the surface level.