History Main / WhereItAllBegan

** Appears somewhat in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'': [[spoiler:the gateway to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon turns out to be in the Mortuary where the game started, just a few feet from where the main character woke up at the beginning of the whole thing.]]

* The One Ring in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' was destroyed in the same place it was created.

* In the first ''DeltoraQuest'' series, Lief and co. traveled back to Del after they [[GottaCatchEmAll gathered the]] [[PlotCoupons seven gems of the Belt of Deltora]] to drive back the [[EvilOverlord Shadow Lord]] from their land with the power of the belt and heir, Dain.

** No mention of the obvious fact that Indigo Plateau and Victory Road (the place you battle the Elite Four and champion and hence FinalBoss) of the original games is just a bit left from Viridian City and hence right near the start of the game?

* Salmon, These fish are born in high mountain streams, at times hundreds of miles inland, past rocks and rapids atop the bodies of their dead parents. They travel downstream as they grow in size, some but not many(relatively speaking) dodging gauntlets of predators on their journey to the sea. The Survivors, the most fit whether by disease resistance, speed, strength or luck the only ones to reach ocean where they are further culled by mercilous mother nature. It is here they continue their growth and development for a few years, honing their skills and growing in strength for what lies ahead. At some point, they are called to the place where it all began, to spawn and join their ancestors in the hallowed halls of salmon valhalla. So they return, the only way they can, the hard way, swimming and leaping up the rapids and short waterfalls the entire route. Overwhelming their predators, man, bears and manbearpigs with sheer numbers and rock solid [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Determinator Determination]] and belly filling deliciousness, eventually enough of them make it back and engage in an orgy of death and babymaking before they shed their mortal shells ascend into the heavens.

* ''[[VideoGame/SlyCooper Sly 2]]'''s final battle ends in Paris, the area where the first game begins Sly's quest to avenge his father and his family's name.

* The final fight of Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters takes place right at the gingerbread house where the original story and the movie's prologue ended. The witch even uses the trope name when she comments on it. Hansel and Gretel react with an understandable "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

* Basically, this is how ''ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' concludes. When the Nibiru curse was destroyed, it reset everything in Crystal Cove as the curse had never existed, and the gang--once shunned by the townspeople--are now considered productive members of the community. But the reset means there are no mysteries to solve and Fred's van is a plain, white van. After getting a recorded message from HarlanEllison, who had jumped the same timeline as the gang had, they dress up the van as their now-iconic "Mystery Machine" and set out on a road trip to solve whatever mysteries come their way.

** Twenty-two years later, the protagonist Luffy arrives at Logue Town. He is captured and placed in a stockade, ironically on the very execution stand upon which the Pirate King died. There, he proclaims that he ''will'' be the Pirate King, and as Buggy's sword came down to end his life, he apologizes to his crew...and [[GoOutWithASmile smiles]], echoing the death of the previous Pirate King. This act spurns Smoker, a marine captain, who witnessed the Pirate King's execution decades before, to chase after him. Thus, WhereItAllBegan is where the adventure begins again, but this time, with a new Pirate King.

* Music/{{Sabaton}}'s "1648" mentions that Prague was both where the ThirtyYearsWar started (in the Defenestration of Prague, which kicked off the war) and where its last battle was fought.

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}:

** Super Metroid gets partial credit for the fact that the pathway to the final area is fairly close to your ship and the first places you visit on Zebes (Ceres Station, the very first area of the game, is destroyed) and there's even a secret path near your ship that's effectively a second pathway to the final area, meaning you're very likely to be passing by your ship (possibly grabbing a save and fill-up while there) when doing a 100% items run (depending on your route).

* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Fusion'' begins and ends in the shuttle landing dock of BSL.

** The original Metroid requires you to return to the first vertical shaft near the beginning in order to access Tourian. In a more literal sense, the final hallway with Mother Brain is just 2 screens above the start area. Also, if you beat Ridley before Kraid, you'll again be going through the area from the very beginning of the game to fight Kraid before heading up to Tourian. Metroid is just all about this trope.

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* The final battle of ''{{Gundam 00}}'' does this not with a ''location'', but with its HumongousMecha. It is not between overpowered machines and a culmination of the LensmanArmsRace. No, it is [[spoiler: Setsuna reclaiming his old Gundam Exia, his first machine he used, going up against Ribbons using Gundam 0, the first Gundam ever made using the first GN Drive. Made doubly more interesting since Ribbons is [[FanNickname Evil Amuro]] due to his voice actor and Gundam 0 is the spitting image of the original [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam RX-78-2.]]]]

* ''KamenRiderKuuga'''s FinalBattle occurred at the mountain where the Grongi were originally sealed.

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' takes this to a logical extreme. The almost final area is Twilight Town, which is where Roxas gets his name from Xemnas, where he met Axel, where his first mission with Xion was, and where he, Axel, and Zion meet up to hang out. Not only is it the final area, but [[spoiler:the clock tower is the setting for the final part of the fight with Xion, which also drags you to three other worlds you visited throughout the game. Then, you're taken to The World That Never Was, which is where your main hub has been for most of the game. You then reenact the secret ending to Kingdom Hearts, which means it loops all the way back to the ending of the ''first game''.]]

* The Hive, the heart of the Kreegan infestation of [[VideoGame/MightAndMagic Enroth]] during and before ''VI'' and one of the landing points during the Night of Falling Stars is located in the region of Sweet Water... [[DoomedHometown which is also your characters' home village, from which they fled during the intro of the game]].

* Salmon, These fish are born in high mountain streams, at times hundreds of miles inland, past rocks and rapids atop the bodies of their dead parents. They travel downstream as they grow in size, some but not many(relatively speaking) dodging gauntlets of predators on their journey to the sea. The Survivors, the most fit whether by disease resistance, speed, strength or luck the only ones to reach ocean where they are further culled by mercilous mother nature. It is here they continue their growth and development for a few years, honing their skills and growing in strength for what lies ahead. At some point, they are called to the place where it all began, to spawn and join their ancestors in the hallowed halls of salmon valhalla. So they return, the only way they can, the hard way, swimming and leaping up the rapids and short waterfalls the entire route. Overwhelming their predators, man, bears and manbearpigs with sheer numbers and rock solid [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Determinator Determination]] and belly filling deliciousness, eventually enough of them make it back and engage in an orgy of death and babymaking before they shed their mortal shells ascend into the heavens.

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* In ''Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung'', to save the world the Ring must be returned to the Rhine, from which its gold was stolen in the first scene of ''Das Rheingold''. The final act of ''Götterdämmerung'' begins on the banks of that river, and though the scene moves away, the river ultimately moves back in. Reprises of the earliest musical themes of ''Das Rheingold'' drive the point home.

* In ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'', the titular hero (and quite a few of his friends/rivals) first acquired his [[GenderBender curse]] at the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. The final arc involves returning to Jusenkyo to prevent the villains from draining it (and thus destroying a possible cure to the curses).

* In ''OnePiece'', Pirate King Gold Roger was finally brought to execution at his home town, Logue Town.

* In ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', the final battle between Kenshiro and Raoh over Yuria takes place at the Hokuto Renkitouza, which is the place where the three of them met as children.

* In ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', the secret behind the [[FlowerMotifs Rose Gate]] turns out to be [[spoiler: Anthy's resting place as the witch impaled by the million swords...which is where Utena first made her pledge to become a prince and save her as a child.]] Since the series is a bit of a MindScrew and full of CharacterDevelopment, even Utena doesn't remember the importance of it until about three episodes before the finale.
* In ''{{Claymore}}'' Raki returns to his hometown after the seven year TimeSkip as a [[FutureBadass badass Yoma-asskicking warrior]]. And yet they still talk shit about him. [[ShamingTheMob Raki sets them straight, though]].

* The WildGooseChase for [[MacGuffin Laplace's Box]] in ''{{Gundam Unicorn}}'' begins and ends in the same colony: Industrial 7.

* It doesn't conclude the movie, but Luke returns to his home planet of Tatooine for ''[[StarWars Return Of The Jedi]]''.

* In a cruel twist of fate, the test subjects in ''{{Cube}}'' [[spoiler:learn that the exit room was the very room they started out in, making their trek through the titular deathtrap dungeon a pointless waste of time and human life]].

** The teaser poster for the movies [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this. [[http://media.mugglenet.com/i//movie7/hp17postercompare.jpg Ruthlessly]].

* [[Music/{{Sabaton}} Sabaton's]] "1648" mentions that Prague was both where the ThirtyYearsWar started (in the Defenestration of Prague, which kicked off the war) and where its last battle was fought.

** In ''MassEffect'' You face the BigBad and Dragon on [[spoiler: the Citadel, the space station what was where you were at the end of the tutorial-linear opening of the game.]]

** In ''IcewindDale'' the heroes [[YouAllMeetInAnInn All Meet In An Inn]] in a little town. They leave on their quest, then return in the final chapter to discover the main villain has been making himself at home while they were gone.

* ''TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', the final level is the same part of town as the first level, [[spoiler:only with zombies and other assorted chaos occuring]].

* In [[SuperRobotWarsDestiny Super Robot Wars D]], The final battlefield is located in the South Pole; where you first get control of the Original Characters
* The first ''{{Suikoden}}'' game starts in what will become the final dungeon. Most of the endings of the second game involve the main character returning to WhereItAllBegan for a final confrontation with his NecessarilyEvil best friend.

* In ''PhantasyStarIV'', the gate to the final dungeon is on the same planet you started from.
* In ''BreathOfFireII'', the cave at the back of the hero's childhood hometown is the entrance to the final dungeon. Anything more would be spoilery.
* In the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' game, the final task of the Light Warriors, after killing the four elemental Fiends and [[CosmicKeystone reviving the power of the Crystals]], is to go back the ruined Temple of Fiends, site of their first quest. Using the power of the Crystals, they travel two thousand years into the past, to the true Temple of Fiends, in order to battle the four Fiends and their master Chaos on their own home turf. And to take it even farther, [[spoiler:the FinalBoss Chaos and the first boss Garland are the same person.]]

*** In the sequel ''The After Years'', the Mysterious Girl descends to Earth at Baron, and the party gathers their numbers and heads to Baron in the penultimate tale to confront her.

*** In the spin-off ''Crisis Core'', Zack finds out Genesis's base is under the ruins of Banora, which was bombed in Chapter 2 after the initial confrontation with Genesis.

* Lara Croft tends to end up doing this in the ''TombRaider'' games, generally after spending most of the game searching for a MacGuffin needed to activate something in the first location she visited.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}: Combat Evolved'' is fond of this trope; about halfway through the game, you end up backtracking through the levels you've previous been through, until the very last level which takes place on the very starship you began the game on in the first level.

** Likewise, in ''Halo 3'', the final battle takes place in the Halo Control Room, identical to the Halo Control Room in ''Halo 1''. [[spoiler: You even face off against the same enemy.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'' , Gordon Freeman arrives at the Combine-ruled City 17, passing through a block of flats and a trainstation, before reaching a friend's lab and then heading off to the coast, where he is later teleported back to the lab, except that resistence uprising has resulted in riots. This is most striking when the player escapes from some ruined apartments, to discover he is in the same courtyard has passed through earlier, and then goes on to find the train station exterior, now covered with Combine devices and walls.

* In the [[MindScrew endgame]] of MonkeyIsland2, you can [[spoiler: emerge from a door on Melee Island, last seen locked in the original game]].

* Near the beginning of {{Terranigma}}, you are sent through a portal from your hometown at the inside of Earth to outside. Near the end, this same portal is opened again and you visit your hometown. [[spoiler: However becouse of the changes you've made on the surface, it has subtle changes and right when you talk to anyone, they turn into spirits and attack you.]]
* [[SlyCooper Sly 2's]] final battle ends in Paris, the area where the first game begins Sly's quest to avenge his father and his family's name.

* In ''SecretOfEvermore'', the game begins in Omnitopia before you get shuttled down to Evermore's surface. The rest of the game is largely spent trying to figure out how to go back home, which the protagonist believes can be done by returning to Omnitopia. And for the final areas of the game, he does.

* The final episode of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|Absence of Justice}}'' takes place in the same location as the first episode (Though it's been remodeled from a fairly typical castle into a futuristic looking palace). The final battle of the Raspberyl story takes place in the same location.

* In ''LegacyOfKain : Blood Omen'' Kain receives his quest at the Pillars of Nosgoth, which is also where the final boss is fought. In ''Soul Reaver 2'', Raziel begins the same fighting his way out of the Sarafan keep, and the game ends with him fighting his way back in.
* [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Super Mario Advance 3]] takes you back to the Training Course in stage Secret 6, but not before getting though some of the hardest obstacles in this stage. The Training Course is the stage where you start a new game before entering World 1.

* The last stage of ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'s Adventure'' is a black-and-white homage to its GameBoy predecessor, ''Kirby's Dream Land'', with two rooms for each of that's games four stages.

* The jail cell in ''{{Purple}}'''s intro is actually located within TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. In fact, it's just steps away from final boss' chamber.

* In the original ''{{Transformers}}'' cartoon, the story began on the nearly drained Cybertron in "More Then Meet The Eye: Part 1". The final episodes take place on a recharged Cybertron in "The Rebirth: Part 3".