History Main / VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'': The villains live in benighted, inhospitable wastes in both the original movie and its sequel, contrasting the fertile savannahs of the Pride Lands where the heroic lions live and Timon and Pumbaa's green and idyllic jungle oasis. In both cases, the sky above the villains' lairs manages to be always dark and overcast.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}'' mentions in the prologue that thousands of years AfterTheEnd by way of nuclear war, the uncivilized areas of the Earth regained their greenery, whereupon elves and faeries reappeared. It is here that TheHero Avatar and TheChick Elinore reside. The irradiated wastelands are home to misshapen mutants who are the descendants of humanity, many of whom dwell in the WretchedHive called Scorch. There, the villain Blackwolf launches his EvilPlan to overrun the world.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': In "Fate's Journey", Percy recalls Whitestone under his parents' rule as a lush, green place, protected by the holy Sun Tree. When they see what Whitestone is now like after five years under the villainous Briarwoods, the tree and the town are both dark and decaying, to Percy's horror.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The villains tend to make their bases in decidedly unwholesome places, in contrast to the idealized farmland, green woods, pastoral towns, and shining castles of the main setting.

* Played with in ''TabletopGame/{{Mortasheen}}''. Wreathe is a futuristic shiny chrome utopia for humanity, while Mortasheen is a smog-covered WretchedHive, crawling with abominations and ruled by {{Mad Scientist}}s. However, in case the name didn't tip you off, '''Mortasheen''' is the playable faction, and ultimately the conflict between the two factions is [[GreyAndGreyMorality a morally grey affair]]. Mortasheen is a messed-up place, but that doesn't necessarily justify Wreathe's [[FantasticRacism xenophobia]], oppression and [[KnightTemplar obsession with wiping Mortasheen off the surface of the planet]].

* ''LightNovel/IAmTheEvilLordOfAnIntergalacticEmpire'': JustifiedTrope, for both sides. The protagonist, Liam, has to spend literal decades investing, lowering taxes, and purging corruption to build up his territory from the decrepit state his parents left it in. In contrast, TheMafia Berkeley Family drain [[PoweredByAForsakenChild the life from]] their worlds to produce [[{{Panacea}} Elixir]], as well as raising taxes and levies to compete with Liam's military forces in a SpaceColdWar.

** In the prequel trilogy the CorruptCorporateExecutive's of the Confederacy of Independent Systems use the desert planet Geonosis as their base of operations in the second film and the LethalLavaLand of Mustafar in the third film.
** The Hutt Cartel is run from Hutta, a polluted swamp planet and their main commercial center, Nar Shadda is a CityPlanet with a brown sky and UsedFuture buildings.
** In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', the Jedi Council is located on the lush planet of Tython, while the Sith Dark Council is on Korriban, a rocky desert filled with ruins.

* ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIVANewHope'' focuses on two planets.
** The first is Tatooine, whose whole environment is barren desert wasteland where Luke's uncle and aunt live as moisture farmers. While not actually home exclusively to villains, it exists in the Outer Rim of the Galaxy where civil laws are frequently are said not to stretch, and its main space port Mos Eisley is used by morally grey characters such as bounty hunters and smugglers. Obi-Wan even describes Mos Eisley as "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
** The second planet, Yavin IV, is a hospitable moon that is mainly forestry and green is home to the base of the Rebel Alliance and are more definitely good.
** The third major setting of the first film is the Death Star, the monochrome spherical battle station of the evil Galactic Empire that is presented as looking like a more conventional moon, barren and also cold in contrast to Tatooine which is visually warm, but similar in nature, both contrasting with Yavin IV.

* Subverted when it comes to ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}''. While the general feel of the map is the same, the conflict between the Radiant and the Dire has become GreyAndGrayMorality.

* ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'': On the lower left side is the Sentinels, considered the good guys and the terrain are marked with the much more fertile and environmental friendly green trees and plains, and the structures are based on the Night Elf faction. Meanwhile, on the upper right side is the bad guys' side, the Scourge, so the area terrain is darker and more barren, with structures based on the Undead faction.
** This is carried over to one of its SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'', where the Legion (good guys) takes the Sentinel side, and the Hellbourne takes the Scourge side.
** Subverted when it comes to the true successor ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}''. While the general feel of the map is the same, the conflict between the Radiant and the Dire has become GreyAndGrayMorality.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'': Most of DK's home island is unspoiled natural beauty (of various biomes) and the occasional [[RuinsForRuinsSake ruined temple]] or AbandonedMine that has been ReclaimedByNature. However, the villainous Kremlings have established Kremkroc Industries, a hellish EternalEngine, on the mountainside as their base of operations.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'': The northern Manster/Munster district is depicted as fertile farmlands, whilst Thracia is shown as a mountainous and barren region with infertile land.

Compare SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains and GoodRepublicEvilEmpire. This trope may come into play in works centered around DreamsVsNightmares. This can overlap with FisherKing when a specific land shifts between Arcadia and Badlands based on the personality of who rules it. For the same basic concept applied to individual characters, see BeautyEqualsGoodness. Subtrope of {{Shadowland}}. See also NatureVersusTechnology.

Compare SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains and GoodRepublicEvilEmpire. This trope may come into play in works centered around DreamsVsNightmares. This can overlap with FisherKing when a specific land shifts between Arcadia and Badlands based on the personality of who rules it. For the same basic concept applied to individual characters, see BeautyEqualsGoodness. Subtrope of {{Shadowland}}.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Tolkien's preference for the traditional English countryside shines through in how the heroic and villainous factions' homes are portrayed in the novels:

** Saruman's fortress in Orthanc is a heavily industrialized waste, filled with smoke, burning forges constantly churning out weapons, and military camps packed with orcs.

Compare SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains and GoodRepublicEvilEmpire. This trope may come into play in works centered around DreamsVsNightmares. FisherKing is a SubTrope, where the land will shift between Arcadia and Badlands based on the personality of who rules it. For the same basic concept applied to individual characters, see BeautyEqualsGoodness. Subtrope of {{Shadowland}}.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FerngullyTheLastRainforest'', being an unsubtle GreenAesop, plays this very straight. Ferngully, as expected from the name, is a lush rainforest, while the tree wherein the [[BigBad spirit of destruction Hexxus]] is [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in]] is black, twisted, bloated, dripping with oily vileness and sitting in the midst of a patch of completely barren land. The Leveler, a man-made machine possessed and used by Hexxus to do his foul bidding, also leaves a trail of devastation in its wake.

* ComicBook/{{DIE}}: The comic plays with the trope and fiercely deconstructs it. In general on the world of Die, the more pleasant-seeming lands seem to be run on more moral lines, and oppose the badland areas; in particular, the rural, quasi-Arcadian Little England is in perpetual confrontation with the hellish Eternal Prussia. However, this confrontation is based on UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, with all that implies; the rulers of Little England seem uncaring about spending the lives of their rustic subjects in an endless conflict.

* WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn's forest is rich with greenery explicitly due to her presence inside. When she and her companions arrive at the castle of King Haggard, there is no plantlife at all, being situated at the edgy of a rocky precipice bordering the sea.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TwiceUponATime'', dreams are created in Frivoli, a candy-colored land of whimsy, and delivered by Greensleeves and his Figmen of the Imagination. Nightmares, on the other hand, are produced in the Murkworks, a logics-defying spire cobbled out of dark, ominous architecture, and delivered via bombs by vultures.

* In Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', the Red Queen resides in Salazen Grum - a bleak, blighted, almost desert-like region of Underland with dead trees and no grass as far as the eye can see. Her sister the White Queen, by contrast, lives in Marmoreal, which is something of a fairy tale castle surrounded by lush vegetation (albeit in pale colors to match her personal aesthetic). No prizes for guessing which of the sisters is on the side of the hero.

* The first ''Franchise/StarWars'' film ''Film/ANewHope'' focuses on two planets.
** The first is Tatooine, whose whole environment is barren desert wasteland that Luke's uncle and aunt live as moisture farmers, that while not actually home exclusively to villains is known to exist in the Outer Rim of the Galaxy where civil laws are frequently are said not to stretch and its main space port Mos Eisley is used by morally grey characters such as bounty hunters and smugglers. Obi-Wan even describes Mos Eisley as "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
** The second planet, Yavin IV, a hospitable moon that is mainly forestry and green is home to the base of the rebel alliance and are more definitely good.

* In the nature documentary series ''Series/SavageKingdom'', the protagonist Marsh pride has a lush territory with an abundance of prey. The [[TheExile exiled]] lionesses live in the northern outskirts.
* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Earth is the capital]] of TheFederation and is a mix of lush wilderness and techno-utopian cities. Qo'noS, by contrast, is the homeworld of the [[TheEmpire Klingon Empire]] and seems to be perpetually covered by dark clouds. Subverted with the other main villain race; the Romulan homeworld is a [[SceneryPorn stunning]] SpaceRomans CitadelCity among rolling green hills.

* In ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'', the [[BigGood Radiant Queens]]'s Kingdoms are currently utopic places in a literal DreamLand, while [[TheDarkSide the All-Consuming Darkness]]' plane of origin, the DarkWorld, is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin- a warped, wasteland-looking version of the real world where [[EvilIsDeathlyCold everything alive freezes]]. Interestingly, there ''is'' a justification for the Dreamlands being like this- they were originally created by minions of the Darkness as a LotusEaterMachine where they could [[SealedGoodInACan trap the Radiants]], so it'd make sense they designed the place to be as pleasant as possible.

* In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', most of DK's home island is unspoiled natural beauty (of various biomes) and the occasional [[RuinsForRuinsSake ruined temple]] or AbandonedMine that has been ReclaimedByNature. However, the villainous Kremlings have established Kremkroc Industries, a hellish EternalEngine, on the mountainside as their base of operations.
** In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'', we go to the Kremlings' home territory of Crocodile Isle, which is a generally much less inviting environment, with a [[BubblegloopSwamp swampy ]] DerelictGraveyard and an [[LethalLavaLand active caldera]] along its coast, while higher up there's an AmusementParkOfDoom, and a [[LostWoods haunted forest]], all under the watchful glare of a [[EvilTowerOfOminousness sinister tower]].
** In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'', where the areas thematically tied to the MadScientist villain - the EternalEngine Mekanos and the {{Uberwald}}-like Kaos Kore - are full of pollution and [[DownTheDrain rusty pipes]], and even the forest areas are uninviting and sinister, while the rest of the game resembles a [[YodelLand Bavarian idyll]].
** In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', Donkey Kong's JungleJapes home is contrasted with the LethalLavaLand at the top of the mountain where the villainous Tikis have made their lair.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III'': Used for the Good and Evil factions (the Neutral ones don't quite fit the trope in morality or terrain), with the Good factions (the Castle of Erathia, the Rampart of [=AvLee=], the Tower of Bracada) hailing from grassy plains, thriving forests or pristine mountains (not exactly ''teeming'' with life, but peaceful, beautiful wilderness), while the Evil factions (the Inferno of Eofol, the Necropolis of Deyja, the Dungeon of Nighon) hail from volcanic wastelands, brown, dead dirtlands and dark, barren underground -- and in the case of the volcanic wastelands and the dead dirtlands, it is respectively outright stated and suggested they ''made'' previously more pleasant lands that way by their actions.

** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'' is set in a [[AfterTheEnd postapocalyptic]] Hyrule, where the good guys live either in [[HiddenElfVillage secluded communities]] that managed to dodge the calamity or else in spaces that have been ReclaimedByNature, while the more sinister areas are magically-polluted wastelands.
* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', the world at large is beautiful and green thanks to the influence of the goddess Althena. The Vile Tribe, who turned their back on her, are confined to corners of the planet which are craggy and barren, and in the UpdatedRerelease, [[spoiler:the villain's plan causes the world of Lunar itself to start being drained of Althena's magic, reverting it to its state prior to the games: the lifeless rock that is Earth's moon.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', ordinary grasslands and forests are the safest places to explore, with wilder biomes like jungle and desert a little worse. What ''isn't'' safe? The bare discolored stone wrapped with thorns that makes up TheCorruption. Played with, though, in that the hard-mode Hallow biome is a literal fairyland ... with EverythingTryingToKillYou.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Toonstruck}}'', the cartoon world features the land of Cutopia, a green and lush land inhabited by cute and cuddly characters, and the Malevolands, a land consisting of dark, cracked barren soil inhabited by villains and other unpleasant folks. The BigBad, Count Nefarious, uses a ray called the Malevolator to convert parts of Cutopia into more Malevolands.

* WebAnimation/DingoDoodles: Subverted with the Kingdom of Kylandria in the ''Fool's Gold'' series, which under the reign of [[EnfantTerrible Bouclaire]] became a [[PsychoPink pink glittery]] [[CrapsaccharineWorld nightmare]].
--> '''Erina:''' It didn't used to be like this! I don't know what happened.
--> '''Sips:''' Nine-year-old girl's glitter book exploded. That's what happened.
--> '''Gothi:''' Along with a [[PimpedOutDress 17th-Century French enthusiast]].

* ''WesternAnimation/FerngullyTheLastRainforest'', being an unsubtle GreenAesop, plays this very straight. Ferngully, as expected from the name, is a lush rainforest, while the tree wherein the [[BigBad spirit of destruction Hexxus]] is [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in]] is black, twisted, bloated, dripping with oily vileness and sitting in the midst of a patch of completely barren land. The Leveler, a man-made machine possessed and used by Hexxus to do his foul bidding, also leaves a trail of devastation in its wake.

--> '''Percy:''' ''(whispers)'' What have they done?
--> '''Scanlan:''' Uh, no offense, Percy, but your town's kind of creepy as shit.

** The Shire is very much an idyllic pastoral countryside, while the {{Hidden Elf Village}s of Rivendell and Lothlorien are closely intertwined with the natural setting around them -- Lothlorien itself is seamlessly integrated with the forest it's built into and out of.