History Main / WhereItAllBegan

* 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 Shooting 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]], saved from death by a benign wizard. (Of course, this only counts if the cinematic opening sequence at the start of the game is considered the beginning.)

* In ''Literature/MaleRising'', Paulo Abacar the ex-slave lived in a house at Oyo Square, Sokoto. [[spoiler: 177 years later, his great-great-great-granddaughter Laila Abacar visits the house - now a museum and shrine - in the epilogue. She considers moving her family there at the end.]]

* The movie ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'' essentially does this for the entire ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' franchise; the third act is set in "Turtle Prime", the world of the original Turtles comic books.
* "Awakening," the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', begins with the Wyvern Clan waking up from their stone sleep in Castle Wyvern. "Hunter's Moon," the final episode, ends with the Manhattan Clan going into stone sleep in Castle Wyvern.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Return of Harmony Part 1", Discord tells the main characters that they can find the Elements of Harmony back where they began. In the next episode, Twilight Sparkle finds the elements in the book that she is reading at the beginning of the pilot episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Mr. Mojo's Rising" is in effect a "where it all began" episode. [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie The movie]] is essentially an inflated extension of the episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' episode "Paperback Writer" has the head of publishing firm Dot, Clot and Blot telling each of the boys to submit a book telling how the group came together. The boys' individual takes are rather far-fetched (Ringo a Shakespearean actor, Paul a scientist, George a secret agent, John a World War I pilot, and each scenario with the others in supporting roles). They're so outlandish that the publisher kicks them out of his office.
-->'''John:''' Say, how ''did'' we meet, anyway?\\
'''Ringo:''' Same as now. We just sorta bumped into each other!
* Basically, this is how ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' concludes. When the Nibiru curse is destroyed, it reset everything in Crystal Cove as if 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 Creator/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.
* The conflict in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' begins when Jack, in feudal Japan, fights Aku in his lair, only for Aku to open a time portal and fling Jack into the far future. After spending almost the entire series in the future, Jack is ''finally'' able to return to feudal Japan and finish Aku off once and for all in that very same place, and quite fittingly, shows up ''immediately'' after Aku had sent Jack into the future.

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[[quoteright:256:[[VideoGame/BreathOfFireII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/svscmvu.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:256:It took 10 years and 38 levels [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence to get that door open.]]]]

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* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', the eponymous 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).
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' the 2003 series had Liore. also lampshaded in ep 41 with a bar in liore called Motherland.
* Kagome, from ''Manga/InuYasha'', was first sucked into Feudal Japan via the Bone Eater's well. This is where Naraku's ([[spoiler:and the Shikon Jewel]]'s) final destruction takes place.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the final duel between Naruto and Sasuke takes place at the Valley of the End, where they both fought once before as children [[spoiler:and where their past incarnations Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha also battled long ago]].

* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' ends in Clow Country, where it all began. Specifically, at the eponymous reservoir, where [[PurpleProse the wheels of fate were torn asunder by the foolishness of love gone astray]] in the backstory.
* In the manga version of ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', the final battle between Chrono and Aion takes place in the demon world of Pandaemonium--the place Chrono first decided to join Aion over 50 years ago.

* In ''Manga/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.
** The final story arc of the manga (which went beyond the Shura story arc the anime adaptation concluded the series with) is set at the same village where Kenshiro met Bat and Lin.
* In ''Anime/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 ''Manga/{{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 ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' begins and ends in the very same space colony: Industrial 7.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', the city of Shighanshina is where the Colossal and Armored Titans first appeared and breached the Walls. Five years later, both are defeated in battle against the Survey Corps. Notably, Eren and Armin are the ones to bring down the Colossal Titan, while Mikasa strikes the final blow to defeat the Armored Titan. [[spoiler: Reiner narrowly escapes thanks to his superiors, while Bertolt is abandoned to his fate. He's later EatenAlive, allowing Armin to inherit the power of the Colossal Titan]].
* The FinalBattle of ''Manga/FairyTail'' between Ishgal's wizards and Acnologia takes place in Hargeon, the same PortTown where Lucy first met Natsu and Happy at the beginning of the series. [[LampshadeHanging She makes note of this to Happy]], since part of the reason for the battle is to [[spoiler:save Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers from the [[PrisonDimension Space Between Time]], essentially "meeting" Natsu again.]]
* Subverted in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' when, just as Mithril is making its final preparations to recapture Merida Island, Amalgam seizes a Soviet nuclear missile base in Badakhsha, Afghanistan, and threatens to launch its arsenal. Having basically grown up in the middle of the UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan, Sousuke considers the location to be utterly life-defining... which leads him to realize that Amalgam chose the location specifically to lead Sousuke ''away'' from the actual battle he's needed for so that Leonard can enact his plan without Mithril's trump card, the Laevatein, around to counter him. Thus, Sousuke decides to let the rest of Mithril's SRT handle Afghanistan while he and Tessa themselves confront Leonard at Merida.

* ComicBook/RedSonja's ''Queen of Plagues'' arc opens with Sonja and Annisia in the fighting pit of the King of Zamora and stages the climactic fight in the same place under similar circumstances.
* "Everything You Know About WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls is Wrong" (DC run) has the kids of Pokey Oaks Kindergarten swapping stories of how the girls first came about, using the origins of ComicBook/{{Superman}}, [[Franchise/{{SpiderMan}} Spider-Man]] and ComicBook/TheFantasticFour as parallels. When the girls themselves interject how the really came about, they get a failing grade as the kids were taking part in a creative writing lesson.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'', Kubo fights the BigBad, the Moon King, in [[DoomedHometown the ruins of the village where he used to spend his days]]. The battle actually ends at the nearby graveyard, however--which also happens to be where the Moon King's forces first go after Kubo.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'', the final battle takes with the BigBad takes place on the same farm that the Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway all left at the start of their adventure.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** The first movie of the Original Trilogy, ''Film/ANewHope'', begins on Tatooine, and the last movie of the Prequels ends there, so that probably counts, if you look at the films in order of production rather than in terms of in-universe chronology. Of course, the fact remains that we end up going to this desert middle-of-nowhere in five out of the six movies means we ''keep'' going back to where it all began.
** It doesn't conclude the movie, but Luke returns to his home planet of Tatooine for ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.
-->'''Luke''': I used to live here, you know.
-->'''Han''': You're going to die here, you know. Convenient.
** ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' brings the whole Skywalker Saga full circle, as in its last scene, Rey returns to the moisture farm on Tatooine to [[spoiler: bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers]], with the very last shot being her and BB-8 looking out at the setting suns just like Luke did back in the original film.
* Both versions of ''Film/TheButterflyEffect''. The original does it well when the main character [[spoiler:goes back to the birthday party where he first met the love of his life and gets her to not want to see him again effectively erasing her from his life]], but the director's cut takes it to the ultimate extreme where the main character [[spoiler:commits suicide by strangling himself (in utero!)]]
* In a cruel twist of fate, the test subjects in ''Film/{{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]].

* Film/JamesBond film ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' begins in Gibraltar and after much business in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Afghanistan and Pakistan ends in Tangier, just three dozen miles southwest.

* ''Film/TheFugitive'' starts out at a hospital benefit at a swanky Chicago hotel, and ends at a similar conference at another one.
* ''Film/TheSecretOfMoonacre'''s climax takes place at the clifftop where the Moon Princess married Sir Wrolf Merryweather.
* The film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' has its climax and ending in Arthur's home.
* ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' ends with Connor returning with Brenda to Scotland, where he was born.
* 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."

* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' opens with the Avengers attacking HYDRA at Sokovia. [[spoiler: The final battle with Ultron also takes place in Sokovia.]]

* ''Film/ResidentEvilTheFinalChapter'' sees Alice return to the Hive underneath Raccoon City, [[Film/ResidentEvil where the series started]].
* ''Film/TheLastSharknadoItsAboutTime'' 's last scene takes place [[spoiler: in Fin's bar from the first film, but because they've been erased from history, there's no sharknado this time around]].

* The One Ring in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' can only be destroyed in the same place it was created.
** Also, the Scouring of the Shire (for the books only), in which Saruman is defeated for good in the hobbits' homeland.
** Sam speaks the very last words of the story in Bag End, where Bilbo was right at the beginning of ''Literature/TheHobbit''.

* In Creator/JamesSwallow's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Faith & Fire'', Vaun's BackStory brings him back to where it all began; he explains, early in the novel, that he has been brought back to his birth place to deal with unfinished business.
* ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' starts out in the Louvre, and [[spoiler:we end up back at the Louvre only to discover that the museum is the final resting place of Mary Magdelene]].

* In the first ''Literature/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.
** In the third series' last book, ''The Sister of the South'', Lief and co. came back to Del once they figured out the [[KillEmAll last deadly Sister]] was inside the capital.
* Happened in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series. In the first book, Tavi is a young, powerless shepherd who takes shelter from a storm full of angry [[ElementalEmbodiment air elementals]] in a prince's tomb. In the final book, [[spoiler: he has now learned to use his vast power and learned his true identity as the son of that very prince, and he pursues the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Vord Queen]] across the landscape, finally killing her at his father's tomb, using two immensely powerful elementals to weaken her.]]

* T. S. Eliot's poem "Little Gidding" (the last of his ''Four Quartets'') includes these lines:
-->We shall not cease from exploration\\
And the end of all our exploring\\
Will be to arrive where we started\\
And know the place for the first time.
* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, "where it all began" is [[WizardingSchool Hogwarts]]. For both Harry and Voldemort it's the place where they first felt at home and free from their confining upbringings. Of course, Hogwarts is where 90% of the series takes place, but Harry spends the last book, ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', away from school on a MacGuffin hunt, only to eventually realize he must return there for the last one. Voldemort figures out what he's up to at the same time, and events snowball into a GrandFinale BattleRoyale.
** When Harry is hit by [[spoiler: Voldemort's killing curse]] in the Forbidden Forest, he finds himself in King's Cross Station, where his new life truly began.
* Two of the books in the Shatnerverse of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novels end this way. Star Trek: Avenger goes back to Tarsus IV, where a very young James Kirk survived the purges of Kodos. Star Trek: Preserver is the ending of the "Mirror Universe Sage" and ends at Halkan, the planet where Kirk first encountered the Mirror Universe.
* ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'', the last Literature/HerculePoirot novel, is set in Styles Court, where the first novel, ''Literature/TheMysteriousAffairAtStyles'', took place.
* [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in ''Literature/TheSevenCitadels''. The final sorcerer Kerish needs to find is in his homeland of Galkis -- but living deep in an unexplored jungle, nowhere near any place Kerish has been before.
* This happens twice in ''Literature/SoulMusic''. Susan goes back to the mountain road where her parents died in a coach accident in the prologue of the book: the first time using TimeTravel to witness the crash and confront [[TheGrimReaper Death]] (her maternal grandfather) about his letting her parents die; the second time to save Buddy and his band from going over the edge in the same spot.
* Lampshaded in-universe in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''SpaceCadet'', when Matt and Tex return to the academy ship PRS ''Randolph'':
-->Matt and Tex showed their orders to the officer of the watch and left with him the inevitable copies. He gave them their rooming assignments—in Hog Alley, in a room with a different number but otherwise like the one they had had. "Seems like we never left it," remarked Tex, as he unpacked his jump bag.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The first season centers around The Master attempting to open the Hellmouth. From then on, no seasonal BigBad cared about the Hellmouth itself until the last one, who once again attempted to open it. The high school was even rebuilt on top of it at the beginning of the season, allowing the heroes to return there as well.
** Buffy also had one other WhereItAllBegan with the same location; in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E11Doomed Doomed]]", a trio of one-episode baddies tries to open the Hellmouth, necessitating a return to the ruins of the original high school. All of the characters comment on the memories, mostly painful, this evokes.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The season 6 finale "Full Circle" was originally envisioned as a series finale. The series was renewed, so the plot was altered. It still however featured a showdown between SG-1 and Anubis on Abydos, the planet where both the pilot episode took place, as well as the movie.
** "Moebius", which was also meant to be the series finale, revisited Ancient Egypt under Ra's rule, and Apophis's prison on Chulak from the pilot episode -- the alternate timeline SG-1 even got to recruit Teal'c again.
** Also the climax of ''Film/TheArkOfTruth'' takes place in the City of the Ori, a place that Daniel and Vala visited early on in the ninth season. While not the start of the show itself, it was the start of the Ori storyline.
** Within the show's story, when the Jaffa kicked the Goa'uld's asses once and for all, the final battle took place on Dakara and they chose Dakara as the capital of their new country; for the express reason that it was also the place where they first became slaves. It was also a significant religious site like Mecca is to Muslims.
* Series/ThePrisoner1967 finale
* The final showdown of ''Series/TheFugitive'' takes place in Kimble's home town of Stafford, Illinois.
* Bryce's storyline on ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' ended the second season finale WhereItAllBegan in the pilot: jumping into an Intersect control room to implant a powerful computer in Chuck's brain to keep a NebulousEvilOrganization from doing it to their own people first.
** The series finale also ends on the same beach where Chuck and Sarah ended their first date, only this time [[spoiler: Chuck is telling an amnesiac Sarah to trust him, rather than her telling him]].
* The series finale of ''Series/{{Alias}}'' involves a return to Mount Subasio, which was last featured in the first season when it played a significant role in launching the series' MythArc.
* ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'''s FinalBattle occurred at the mountain where the Grongi were originally sealed.
* The 20th anniversary episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The Five Doctors," notes at the conclusion, after the newly-appointed president of Gallifrey--the Doctor--bug off in the TARDIS with Tegan and Turlough:
-->'''Tegan:''' You mean you're running away from your own people in a dilapitated old TARDIS?
-->'''Doctor:''' Why not? After all, that's how it all started.
** This seems to have happened in all 10th anniversary specials. "The Three Doctors" ends with the Doctor regaining his freedom to travel in time and space. In the 30th anniversary story for Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine the First Doctor and Susan are shown leaving Gallifrey. The 40th anniversary story "Zagreus" from AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho has the Doctor again leaving Gallifrey, for new adventures in the Divergent Universe. For the 50th anniversary, "The Name of the Doctor" shows the Doctor leaving Gallifrey, while "The Day of the Doctor" reverses this with the Doctor departing to find Gallifrey and saying he has always been going "Home. The long way round." And in the story that started the 25th season "Remembrance of the Daleks" the Doctor returns to Totter's Yard and Coal Hill School where the series began. Also "The Day of the Doctor" begins with a Policeman walking past the Totter's Lane sign and Clara being a teacher at Coal Hill School like the Doctor's earliest new companions. Also a clock she passes at the beginning says 17:16, when the first episode aired.
** The RTD era of Doctor Who (2005-2010) basically began with the Doctor meeting Rose in the Powell estate in 2005. It ends roughly with the Doctor [[HaveWeMetYet meeting Rose]] in the Powell Estate earlier in 2005, though only briefly to prevent her recognising him later.
** Amy Pond's time on the show began with her meeting the Doctor in her garden at the age of seven. At the end of her final episode, the Doctor goes back to meet the young Amy just after he left and she is shown waiting in the garden for him.
** After nine series, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]. Specifically, [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor the barn he lived]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen in as a child.]]
* ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy's'' "Journey's End" ends with the inhabitants of space-station Terra Venture escaping from it to the planet [[spoiler:Miranoi, where the Rangers escaped from in the premiere.]]
** The ending of ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' has Dillon revisit the lone flower he passed on the way to Corinth [[spoiler: now part of a beautiful garden in a healing world.]]
* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' opens with the protagonist sheriff and his daughter driving into town and seeing themselves driving out of town. In the last scene of the last episode, as they drive out of town, they see themselves driving in.
* ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'': The VisionQuest Ash has halfway through the first season tells him that he needs to take the Necronomicon back to the cabin from the original movies and bury it there in order to stop the Deadites for good. The final episodes of the season take place there.
** The final episodes of Season 2 take this even further, as Ash and co. go back in time to the 80s, to the days before the events of the original movie, to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong try and prevent it all from happening]].
* Invoked in the Season 5 finale of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', as [[BigBad Prometheus]] kidnaps all of Oliver's loved ones and takes them to Lian Yu, the island Oliver spent most of his "five years in hell" on; Prometheus' plan is to kill Oliver where his journey towards becoming a hero began. The episode also brings the flashback storyline chronicling those five years to a close, by showing the events leading up to the series' opening shot of Oliver being rescued off the island.

* The stage adaptation of Music/AmericanIdiot has the two protagonists who left town returning in the second to last scene and each of the play's storylines finally coming together to reach the climax when they do. Specifically Johnny comes home from the city, apparently sober or at least attempting to be, Tunny returns from his military service [[spoiler: having lost his leg but with the Extraordinary Girl now his girlfriend,]] and Will and Heather [[spoiler: appear to finally reach a point where they can be friends and raise their baby together despite no longer being a couple]] when they welcome their friends home.

* A ''when'' variation occurs in ''Videogame/GhostTrick''. [[spoiler:Not returning to the start of the night at the junkyard, oh no, but to the event ''ten years prior'' that set everything into motion that culminated on the night in question]].

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** The final battle with [[spoiler:BigBad Ansem]] in the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' begins on (what's left of) [[DoomedHometown Destiny Islands]], the first stage, before switching to the standard AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', Ven's story ends at The Awakening. Not only is that where we first see Ven, but it's also a tutorial level that appeared at the beginning of near every game in the series. Later, [[spoiler:the final battle between Aqua and the possessed Terra occurs at Radiant Garden, where Terra had his true StartOfDarkness]]. [[spoiler:Vanitas was created from Ven at the Keyblade Graveyard]], bringing their battle full-circle as well.
** Inverted in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', where Hollow Bastion [[spoiler:/Radiant Garden]], the penultimate stage of the first game, is the new hub world since Leon and Sora's other allies took it back between games. Played straight with Twilight Town, the world the game begins in and that Sora returns to at the end of the game to find the portal to The World That Never Was, the lair of the Organization.
** ''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 Xion 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''.]]
** In ''coded'', this occurs across games -- the goal of the heroes is to find out the source and meaning of a mysterious message that's appeared in Jiminy's journal, and the final world ends up being Castle Oblivion, the very place Sora lost his memories and the journal was originally left blank back in ''Chain of Memories''.
** And once again occurring across games in ''Dream Drop Distance'' -- the final boss takes place in The Awakening once again, after which the environment shifts to Destiny Islands, and the player must answer questions mirroring the ones asked at The Awakening in the first game.
** A series-wide example in ''Kingdom Hearts III''. The final battle takes place in [[spoiler:Scala ad Caelum, which is heavily implied to be the ruins of Daybreak Town, the hub world for ''Kingdom Hearts χ'' and implied to be the very first world in the realm of light.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', The Reptid's Cave in Chapter 1. You return to this location again in Chapter 39, but named as The Reptid's Cave Revisited. [[spoiler: Chapter 40 is the final chapter in the main game.]]
* The final battle with Chairman Drek in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 Ratchet & Clank]]'' takes place on the first stage, Ratchet's home planet of Veldin.
** The final battle with Emperor Tachyon in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]'' takes place on [[spoiler:Planet Fastoon]], which isn't the first stage, but [[spoiler:Fastoon was where Tachyon destroyed the Lombaxes, marking the first conquest of his empire.]]
* ''Franchise/MegaMan''
** In ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'', the last level is the same as Magna Centipede's stage, even with all the secrets, but stops in the middle. If you select Magna Centipede instead, you still stop for the final battle.
** The first stage of ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' is an important location in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4''.
** The first stage of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' has Zero return to the first stage of ''VideoGame/MegaManX1''.
** The final battle in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 3'' takes place in the ruins of the underground laboratory where Ciel found Zero resting in ''Mega Man Zero''.
** The final battle in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' takes place in the Slither Inc. building, the very same building outside of which [[spoiler:Vent/Aile [[FightingYourFriend fought a brainwashed Giro]], watched him die from his injuries inflicted by them and [[BigBad Serpent]], and where the first [[TransformationSequence transformation into Mega Man Model ZX]] occurred.]]
** The final battle in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'' takes place in [[spoiler:the collection Model W fusion of]] [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Ouroboros]], [[spoiler:which heavily resembles the space station Ragnarok, the final stage of ''Zero 4'' and the original structure whose wreckage the Model Ws were created from]].
** ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' has the fight with Pharaoh Man, which starts out in the very first room of his stage.
* Only if you play as Albert in ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa'' the first dungeon in his scenario is the gate to the final dungeon. Turns out the monsters are stronger also when you enter the very first cave again due to the game's Event Rank system.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''/''Yellow'' comes close - nothing much happens in Pallet Town after the beginning of the game, but Viridian City, the first stop immediately thereafter, turns out to be the home of the last Gym Leader, who also happens to be [[spoiler:[[BigBad Giovanni]], the leader of Team Rocket]]. The dwelling place of Mewtwo, the BonusDungeon, is behind Cerulean City, the town of the second Gym.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver''/''Crystal'': The path to Indigo Plateau from Johto? Surf east from New Bark Town. ''[=GSC=]'' also lets you go to Kanto after beating the Elite Four, where you can collect the badges there and gain access to Mt. Silver; waiting at the end is [[spoiler: Red, the protagonist of ''[=RGBY=]'']] and the strongest opponent in the game.
** And in the anime, Ash tends to end up back in Pallet Town between tournaments. Gotta visit Mom after all.
** After beating the Elite Four and the Champion in most games, next time you load your save you'll be in your bedroom, where you also started the game, except for RSE as you started those games in the back of a moving van.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', your first battle with [[TheRival May/Brendan]] takes place at Route 103. In the remakes, after you become champion, you meet said rival at Route 103 for one more battle.
** TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Pokémon XD]]'' is located right off the coast of Gateon Port, the FirstTown.
** 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. Pokemon and XY also do this, with Victory Road being just off the first Gym town, and you can even access the entrance to it before getting a single badge!
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', Wes meets the TrueFinalBoss of the game at the Outskirt Stand, the first location he went to at the beginning after destroying the Team Snagem base.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', a significant chunk of the postgame is actually where the previous games started (the first two gyms and the Skyarrow Bridge, which were earlygame in Black and White but are locked off until the postgame in [=BW2=]), and you can even speak to the prequel player character's mother.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', you receive your Z-Ring as a stone from [[OlympusMons Tapu Koko]] just outside the Ruins of Conflict, which is also where you meet Lillie and Nebby. [[spoiler:After capturing Nebby yourself and becoming the Champion, Lillie takes you back to the Ruins, where you finally face off against Tapu Koko and prove that it was right to choose you. Tapu Koko itself even says "IT IS TIME" before the fight, which is extremely noticeable because Pokemon speaking human language is ''very very rare''.]]
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', you first enter the Slumbering Weald in the beginning of the game. Once encountered, you will face a ??? Pokemon, which becomes a HopelessBossFight. The gates are locked and you cannot enter until nearly the end of the game.
* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', the final level is the same part of town as the first level, [[spoiler:only with zombies and other assorted chaos occuring]].
* The first ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' game started and ended with the Angels launching from the White Moon and battling around it.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsDestiny'', The final battlefield is located in the South Pole; where you first get control of the Original Characters
* ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'' 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.
* The climax and ending of ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' is set in Mid-Ocean, the territory and home region of Vyse and his father's legion of Blue Rogue pirates and the starting point of the game. The finality is threefold: the climactic last stand against Galcian's world-dominating faction that splintered from [[TheEmpire Valua]] takes place in Mid-Ocean, [[spoiler:the lost continent of [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Soltis]] turns out to be sitting below the ominous Vortex that lingers in Mid-Ocean's lower sky and is bought back, and it is revealed that [[NoobCave Shrine Island]], the game's first true dungeon, used to be a part of Soltis and serves as its entrance.]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona2'': ''Innocent Sin'' begins at Seven Sisters High School. While the final dungeon - a massive, shrine-like spaceship called Xibalba - isn't there per se, the Narurato Stone, a small monolith that sits behind it, serves as the entrance to said dungeon.
* The entrance to the final dungeon of the normal ending of ''VideoGame/Persona4'' is in one of the first places you see in the TV world. The final dungeon of the true ending is the same place that the protagonist dreamt of at the beginning of the game and where the first fight took place.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has a variation: [[spoiler:the last dungeon of the game is the lowermost depths of Mementos, the same underground maze that you have access to right after the first major [[EldritchLocation Palace]] is destroyed. The variation comes in that Mementos is completely optional, as its main purposes are serving as a hub for all of the game's sidequests and for extra grinding. However, it is ''not'' recommended that Mementos be skipped, because if you did not delve into it throughout the game, you will have to do so during the Endgame, and once December 24th comes and you go in, [[PointOfNoReturn you cannot come back out]].]]
** Furthermore, the stairway and entrance to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon is in [[spoiler: a hellscape version of Shibuya Station Square]], where the protagonist first gets off his train in Tokyo, and one of the first areas the player character is given the ability to move around before entering any dungeon.
* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'', the gate to the final dungeon is on the same planet you started on, not too far away from the town you started in.

* The final dungeon in ''VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia'' takes place in the Heroic Mute's hometown... at least, where it USED to be before a giant monster consumed and assimilated it.
* In order to access TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', Ness and his friends not only have to return to Ness' hometown, but have to return to the crash site of the meteorite which set the entire plot in motion. The dungeon isn't there, though: the party needs a piece of the meteorite, which contains a rare mineral, to power the TimeTravel machine that will deliver them to the main antagonist's lair. It isn't easy though, as Ness' hometown has become over run with aliens in the meantime.
* Lara Croft tends to end up doing this in the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' games, generally after spending most of the game searching for a MacGuffin needed to activate something in the first location she visited.
* The final battle of ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' takes place on Liberty Island, the exact same place the first level of the original ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' took place. The map design is even incredibly similar, although alterations were made due to the limits of the console-based engine of ''Deus Ex 2''.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' the first dungeon in the game is Bowser's castle. However, after you defeat Bowser, the true villains of the game appear and take over the place. You return to the castle near the end of the game, as you must defeat a boss there in order to teleport to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
* Most of the VideoGame/{{Myst}} games do this for individual ages; the last puzzle to solve is usually in the first thing you saw when you came in.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'', the player's final action in the game is to activate a device that is right near the starting location. Especially effective because the device in question has been accessible since the beginning, but the player doesn't understand what it's for until after the story is nearly over; successfully beating the game relies on opening what doesn't look like a safe with what doesn't originally seem to be a combination lock, that has been sitting right in front of you from the moment you arrived.
** Also, the last area unlocked in ''VideoGame/{{Uru}}'' is [[spoiler: Myst Island]]. Note, however, that Uru was intended to be -- essentially -- a ''Myst'' MMORPG, so it's not really the end of the Uru storyline. It's kinda complicated...
** Subverted, however, in ''VideoGame/MystVEndOfAges''. [[spoiler: Even though you have the option to, you don't WANT to return to Myst Island. [[DownerEnding Trust me on this one]].]]
* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', 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. It's not nearly the end of the game, though.
* In ''VideoGame/StarTropics II: Zoda's Revenge'', the very last chapter of the game takes place on C-island, the first island of the original ''[=StarTropics=]''. And the game's ultimate dungeon? [[NostalgiaLevel A remix of the first game's first stage]], complete with music.
* The penultimate act of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' is set in the ruins of the Shadow Moses Island Nuclear Disposal Facility, where the entirety of the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' took place.
* In ''VideoGame/InFamous'', the final boss battle is fought at the site of the explosion that began the game.

* In ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', if you finish the higher difficulty mode, you end up fighting the TRUE final boss [[spoiler:Henry]], in the parking lot right outside your own home where you'd be after every Ranked Fight.
* In ''VideoGame/TimeShift'', the first level has the player being dropped into a dystopian alternate timeline where the Occupant resistance is being mercilessly crushed by the fascist Krone Magistrate, and the level ends in a HopelessBossFight against BigBad Krone's HumongousMecha. The game's last level takes place in the exact same neighbor and ''at the exact same time'' as the first level, except you've altered history so that the resistance is winning (i.e. in the original timeline a helicopter would mow down several resistance members on a rooftop, whereas in the altered timeline the resistance members have rocket launchers to shoot the copter down with). When you reach the final battle you end up in a better firing position than you were in the original timeline, such that you actually have a shot a the Humongous Mecha's weak spot, as well as a weapon capable of harming it.
* Very subtly done in ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]''. The game's first level is a non-combat tutorial where you search an abandoned building in a run-down neighborhood for the game's TheDragon. At the very end of the game, you emerge from an ElaborateUndergroundBase into a run down warehouse. If you look out the window, you'll see that you're in the very same neighborhood that the game's first level took place in.
** Also, the final "confrontation" with Alma takes place in a hallucination of the same building from the game's first level, which is revealed to be [[spoiler: the labratory where Alma gave birth to your character]].
* The final showdown in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' takes place in the very same castle you began the game in.
* After completing TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', the portal to the final boss opens up on Opassa Beach, which is just off the silent protagonist's hometown, and where he attempted to meet his girlfriend at the very beginning of the game.
* At the very start of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'', your character is dropped into the Abyss while standing in front of the door to Dracula's inner sanctum. The ''entire rest of the game'' is a quest to get the key to that same door, behind which is the final encounter with Dracula.
* ''VideoGame/MidnightClub II'': the last two races in Career mode take place in the first city. In a further example, the final race's finish line is the gas station where the entire game began.
* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' plays this trope for all it's worth. Near the end, Manny returns to the city where he began the game working as a travel agent, now a [[FilmNoir corrupted cesspool of sin and debauchery]]. He infiltrates the heart of the criminal conspiracy, where the BigBad unwittingly [[spoiler:''offers Manny his old job. In his old office.'']]
* ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' does this in a bit of a roundabout way. [[spoiler:While in the original, Citadel Station was destroyed, the very last section of the sequel dumps you into a still-forming recreation of Citadel's medical level, big blue tiles and all- said medical level being the place where the Hacker first woke up in the original. It's still-forming because SHODAN is rebuilding it ''out of her own memory''.]]
* In the [[MindScrew endgame]] of ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'', you can [[spoiler: emerge from a door on Melee Island, last seen locked in the original game]].
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/OracleOfTao''. WhereItAllBegan is some generic large town, that practically nothing happens (ever), much less an epic battle. However, in the PlayableEpilogue it does return to an origin place, the [[CosmicEgg Universe Egg]] where the world was created at the end of the first game.
* Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/{{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 because 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.]]
* In ''VideoGame/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.
* ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves''': The final battle ends in Paris, the area where [[VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus the first game]] begins Sly's quest to avenge his father and his family's name. Paris is also the first level of the second game as well. It comes full circle in ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', where the final level (also the tutorial level) takes place in Paris.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}''
** ''VideoGame/HitmanCodename47'' opens with the titular character breaking out of the lab where he was created, and finishes in the same building, when he kills his creator.
** ''VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin'' begins with 47 working in a church in Sicily, and features the final showdown in the same church, after which he leaves.
** ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts'' technically begins and ends in the same hotel room, but that's because he's been tripping the entire game on his near-deathbed.
* The final episode of ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' 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.
* The second to last story stage of ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'' involves returning literally to the same location and time as your visit to the first story level of the game, so you can assist your past self.
* In ''VideoGame/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/KirbysAdventure'' is a black-and-white homage to its UsefulNotes/GameBoy predecessor, ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'', with two rooms for each of that game's four stages.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' the main character [[spoiler: is born at the Jefferson Memorial, but is led to believe he/she was born in Vault 101.]] [[WideOpenSandbox Sooner or later]], the player storms that same place twice in the main storyline.
** It goes a lot further than that. If you pay close attention and find all the right logs, you'll realize that the player character (assuming you disregard the expansion) dies on the ''exact spot where he was conceived'' - in the reactor room, fixing the problem his parents missed because they were too busy having sex.
** In addition, one sidequest tasks the player with returning to their old home, Vault 101, to quell a dispute between the residents within concerning opening the vault and venturing out. At the quest's conclusion, the player leaves the vault again, [[YouCantGoHomeAgain for the last time.]]
* Examples in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Twice in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''--first, you rescue Zelda from the Hyrule Castle dungeons, then return to the castle after obtaining the Master Sword to climb its [[DiscOneFinalDungeon central tower]]. In the Dark World, after completing the final dungeon the final boss crashes through the top of the Dark Pyramid you entered the world on to reveal a chamber inside where the final battle is held. Just to top it all off too, the Dark Pyramid and Hyrule Castle are in the same place between the two works. There are two other instances, as this game is the TropeNamer for DarkWorld--the first dungeon for each of the two worlds is in the same place, and the final dungeon of the Dark World is in the same place as the final dungeon of the Light World.
** The eighth dungeon in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Ages]]'' is in the same location as the first dungeon, merely in the past rather than the present. It's not as simple as just warping to the past once you've got the Song of Ages, however.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', Link begins the second part of the game in the ruins of Hyrule Castle Town, and later returns to the town to infiltrate Ganon's Castle floating where Hyrule Castle once stood.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' the player starts off in Clock Town and has to wait until the end of the 3rd Day to climb up the clock tower and get their ocarina back from the Skull Kid to begin the game proper. Once the dungeons are complete you have to do the same and this time use the song you've learned to call the dungeon guardians to your aid.
** For ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', the game proper begins in Hyrule Castle's dungeons where you meet Midna, and the final dungeon takes you through the rest of the castle.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'', the final dungeon is once again Hyrule Castle.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', it is noted that the entrance to the Dark World is located not far at all from Link's hometown.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'', the two of the first rooms of Lorule Castle you see are the final rooms of the game. You can even use the first portal located between the two princess's studies to use Princess Zelda's study as a makeshift Fairy Fountain before the final battle.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', the entrance to the final dungeon is about ten steps away from the cave where Link rescues his bird at the beginning of the game. And then the final battle takes place in the same place Link first descended to the surface.
** In the Satellaview remake of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the original game]], the final fight with Ganon takes place in the first cave where you got the wooden sword.
** The Shrine of Resurrection where Link wakes up in the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' is revealed in the Champions' Ballad DLC to be the entrance to the final bonus dungeon.
** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'': After your journey across boundaries of time and space, you end up back in Hyrule Field to take on Ganon.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', the prologue begins in Chalphy with Sigurd setting out to save Edain. In the final chapter, the last stretch of the war begins in Chalphy with Seliph setting out to end a 20-year Holy War and save Julia in the process.
** A rather meta example in the Tellius duology: the very first thing you see when booting up ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' (after the Nintendo and Intelligent Systems logos) is [[http://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/fe9cg01.png an ominous-looking still image of the Tower of Guidance.]] Guess where the last few battles of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' are fought...
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' does this for the Hard Rain campaign where the finale takes place in the Burger Tank, which is where you started in the first map, except it is more wrecked and now flooded from the hurricane.
** And The Passing as well; the whole objective of that campaign is to get to the other side of a bridge and lower it so you can drive the escape vehicle from the first campaign over it.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'''s first battle is against Bowser at Peach's castle. The [[spoiler: second-to-last]] boss, Bowser, is fought in the same room where the first battle was. As if that wasn't enough, the post-game scenes almost directly mirror the opening sequence, including why Mario is going to Peach's castle.
* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', the last few missions take place in the city where the first few did. The final mission ends [[spoiler: on Grove Street]].
* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'':
** ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', the first and final missions of the Protoss campaign take place on Aiur.
** ''VideoGame/StarCraftIILegacyOfTheVoid'', the first and last mission chains both take place on Aiur. For bonus points, the penultimate mission takes place in the same location as the last Protoss mission of the first game.
* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', choosing the "Revenge" option takes you back to the ship you came in on.
* ''VideoGame/DigimonWorld3'', sort of. The final battle takes place in [[spoiler:an almost identical equivalent of]] the building where the player first arrived in the Digital World.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'', the final boss fight occurs in the Chamber of Fate. Although not technically where the game began, it is where your character is officially made a Hero, so it counts.
* ''VideoGame/DawnOfMana'' begins and ends with a chase through the same LostWoods... but the second time around, you're going after [[spoiler: the evil Sorceress after she's pulled a GrandTheftMe on UnluckyChildhoodFriend Ritzia]] and the monsters have all been corrupted by Echoes.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' briefly takes you back to the ninth test chamber (which is now a piece of cake, due to being able to fire two portals) before the final boss.
* ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' is a SpoilerTitle by that sense.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' DLC ''Claptrap's New Robot Revolution'' ends in Fyrestone, the place where the Vault Hunters met the Claptrap that would be the Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap and the place where they started the game.
* ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' brings you back to Fyrestone, the first area of the first game, in the penultimate mission of the main campaign.
* A fan sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}'', known as ''Necrologue'', has a level that bounces between all three games in one place, starting with the second level of Requiem, leading into a fan-made set of rooms that bridges between the end of ''Overture'' and the start of ''Black Plague''. Clarence and Philip lampshade all of this, saying that they've gone in a complete circle. You even get to relive how Overture ended if you go far enough.
* ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' begins with Ben and his gang riding motorcycles. During the ending sequence, Ben is stuck on a wrecked plane at the edge of a bridge, and needs to get off the plane before it falls, a feat that's impossible to do on foot. However, a conveniently placed bike sits BehindTheBlack.
* In the first two ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' games, the final remix ends with a Karate Man section. Karate Man was the very first mini-game in the first installment. (Which was [[NoExportForYou only available in Japan]])

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' does this in a way. The final boss battle takes place at the theater Bruce Wayne attended on the night of his parents' murder, bringing it back to where it began not for the events of the game, but for Batman himself.
** Just before that, you enter the very same chamber Bruce Wayne was imprisoned in in the beginning of the game en route to [[VeryDefiniteFinalDungeon Wonder Tower.]] After the scene in wonder tower, you head to the theater, which, of course, is near the spot where Bruce's parents were killed, which is supposed to be one of the first easter eggs the player finds as Hugo Strange leaves a tape there for you in the beginning of the game. "''It will end where it began''" indeed.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' also does this in a way with the Joker's makeshift lair, which is hidden in the extremely creepy Visitor's Center. The first time the player visits it, a cutscene plays where [[IShallTauntYou Joker taunts Batman]] and [[ItHasOnlyJustBegun foreshadows dangers to come]], and the player can continue to visit it throughout the game to hear him comment on events if they choose. The penultimate message the player can get is the Joker laughing at them on loop as a lead-up to the Joker boss battle. Additionally, the large Joker gateway over its entrance continues to be built throughout the game, only being fully completed by the end of the night, [[PointOfNoReturn and once the player enters the visitor's center at that point, the doors lock behind them]], a cutscene ensues, [[BookEnds and the game finally comes full circle]].
** Apparently, the Arkham series loves this trope, because in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' the final confrontation with [[spoiler:Bane and Joker]] takes place at Blackgate Prison, where the game began.
** And ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' does it twice during the endgame - first off, the final confrontation with Scarecrow takes place in [[spoiler:the ruins of Arkham Asylum]], and then a hallucination takes Batman to [[spoiler:Crime Alley]]. Furthermore, the game's opening cutscene takes place in Pauli's Diner, which can be seen during the opening cutscene of ''Arkham Asylum'' - where the series itself began.
* ''VideoGame/JetSetWilly'' ends with the scene depicted on the game's cover art; Willy's head down the toilet in "The Bathroom", the game's starting room. ''Jet Set Willy 2'' has the same ending sequence, only on reaching the toilet Willy is transported to "Oh [[SymbolSwearing $#!+!]] The Central Cavern!", the first room of the ''previous'' game in the series, ''VideoGame/ManicMiner''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' 5 has one if you join Ghaldring's faction. One of the final quests [[spoiler: but not the last one]] is to kill Shaper Rawal, who just happens to have his base in [[FirstTown Isenwood Spire.]] Even better is the fact that you can bypass most of his defenses by coming in through the [[NoobCave Foundry Core.]]
* 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 Shooting 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]], saved from death by a benign wizard. (Of course, this only counts if the cinematic opening sequence at the start of the game is considered the beginning.)
* In ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'', the final mission takes place in the Graybox, Alpha Protocol's headquarters and the site of the game's tutorial mission. This is heavily [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]: the final section of the game is entitled "Operation Full Circle" and the BigBad muses on how appropriate it is that the story's ending in the same place it began in the cutscenes preceding the mission.

* ''VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk'' sees the player heading into a dangerous mine at the start of the game to capture a criminal. Only it seems that the mine DugTooDeep and evil spirits have been released. So you're forced to go on a quest so you're powerful enough to go back into the mine to seal away the BigBad for good.
* ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' starts off at the Koryuujii estate. [[spoiler: The party goes back there twice, and the second time, it is revealed that the base of the enemy is ''underneath the fountain''.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Contra: Shattered Soldier]]'' one of the final stages is located Galuga Archipelago. The Stage Select screen even says, "This is where it all began before, and where we can put a close to this war."

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'': [[spoiler: The first game starts you landing on Lingshan, and the final cutscene other than TheStinger has you return to Lingshan.]]
* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' sets out on a quest to find out what happened to his pod after it is abducted from his home bay. [[spoiler: When he discovers they were abducted by aliens, his only decent way of chasing them is to use time travel to return to his home bay at the time of the incident and get abducted with them.]]
* After travelling all over the US and touring to Canada and Moscow, ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater Tony Hawk's Underground]]'' ends with a skate showdown with [[spoiler:Eric Sparrow]] across old neighborhood in New Jersey.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'', Cody has to return directly to Baba Village at the end of the second game in order to confront the Zeros.
* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' [[SubvertedTrope sort of]] does it. The very first true level of the game takes place in the mind of Coach Oleander. The very last level of the game, after beating the [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss Brain Tank]]]], takes place in a nightmarish hybrid of Coach Oleander and [[KidHero Razputin's]] minds. It could be argued that this is actually a double-dose of the trope, since Raz also revisits the environment that he grew up in and escaped from immediately before the game started.
* ''VideoGame/GhostHunter'' begins with two cops talking about the abandoned high-school they're checking out. It ends with them in the same place, talking about how they're going to report what happened.

* The final chapter of ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' takes place at Beacon Mental Hospital, where the first chapter was. You even pass through part of the sewer system you did back then, access a door you couldn't and even find a note in the same place you found one back then.
* ''VideoGame/{{Loom}}'' has the big showdown on the very island you grew up on and left at the start of the game. It also takes place in [[spoiler:the cathedral where the events setting off the plot took place, and the draft that caused it (still echoing in the Loom) is used to save the day]].
* ''[[VideoGame/DynastyWarriors Dynasty Warriors 8 XL]]'' makes reference to this during the final stage of Lu Bu's Hypothetical route, [[spoiler: Recapture of Chang'an]], when [[spoiler: Zhang Liao comments that Chang'an was where all of Lu Bu's troubles began, having been forced out of the city earlier in the story. Lu Bu replies that this is different; this time, he is free to do as he wishes on the battlefield.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': Remember the locked gate in Hunter's Dream? [[spoiler: This is the place where you put [[DeathSeeker Gehrman]] out of his misery.]]
* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'': After lots of time-travelling shenanigans in the previous worlds, the final world, Modern Day, takes place just before the start of the game when Crazy Dave was about to eat his Taco.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy''. Despite seeing Gol and Mia and Daxter undergoing his transformation on Misty Island, the FinalBattle takes place at Gol and Mia's citadel far away from Jak and Daxter's village.
* ''VideoGame/TheThing2002'': Blake fights the FinalBoss Thing at the excavated site of the UFO crash where it arrived on Earth.
* The final level of ''VideoGame/BlenderBros'' is your PlayerHeadquarters, the base of the Cosmo Keepers. The bad guys invade your base, and it's up to Blender to rescue his friends.
* The very last scenario of the Russian campaign of ''Videogame/EmpireEarth'' is not only at the exact same place as the first, but [[spoiler:at the exact same ''time'', as you have betrayed Grigor II and used TimeTravel to get there and stop him at the very beginning. Unfortunately for you, Grigor II has done the same to protect the original Grigor and his rise to power, and he's brought much more to bear than you]]. A Bad Case of Deja Vu indeed.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitness'': The GoldenEnding [[spoiler: is accessed by solving an environmental puzzle using the gate from the starting area. Of course, one of the first things the player does is turn the gate off, making solving it impossible; to turn it on again, they have to activate all of the lasers and complete most of the puzzles in the End to access the Caverns and find the gate's reactivation pattern. This journey clues the player in on the existence of environmental puzzles, which they'll need to find the ending, and, through audio logs, gives them backstory context they'll need to appreciate it]].[[note]][[spoiler: Of course, if the player just so happens to have figured out environmental puzzles within the first few minutes of the game, they can [[SequenceBreaking access the Golden Ending right away.]]]][[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' begins and ends the same way, with Sonic crashlanding on Windmill Isle after a massive fight as Super Sonic.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': In the Pacifist ending, [[spoiler:after the final boss fight with Asriel, Frisk wakes up in the ruins, where the game begins. In the playable epilogue you can find Asriel in the flower bed from the very beginning of the game. In the Neutral and Pacifist endings Frisk ends up in the surface world where they come from, in the former the objective of the game is to go home in the latter the monsters get to go home with you.]]
* ''VideoGame/RandalsMonday'': The finale takes place in the same place the story started on: Clayton's Cave.
* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', the titular Ravensword happens to be hidden in a tomb underneath the town's plaza, which is the first location you enter after the introductory sequence.
* Having kicked off with a tutorial mission sent in a psychic dream of the Tokyo subways, ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' brings players back to Filth-infested Tokyo in Issues #9 through to #11 - and though it's not the end of the game per se, it's meant to be the end of the first act. For good measure, the mission starts out in the Tokyo subways, and begins with the players meeting Sarah - the character they were "playing" as in the dream.
* In ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', the entrance to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon is located at [[spoiler:the ruins of Hornburg, Olberic's DoomedHometown]].
* Firelink Shrine serves as this to the entire ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' trilogy as this is the beginning hub where the Chosen Undead begins their quest in earnest in Lordran. Then, in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', the Ashen One must return to Firelink Shrine in order to reach the final battle. In another twist, the final battle is with the Lord of Cinders, who contains the soul of the Chosen Undead themselves, making it come full-circle in more ways than one.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'' is an unusual example given that it has a somewhat non-linear storytelling. However, Episode 1-1 shows that the plot for the game essentially starts on the shore overlooking the ruins of Terragrigia. It is here that Jill and Parker find the sample of the T-Abyss virus and they are told that Chris and Jessica have disappeared, prompting the rest of the game where they go to the Queen Zenobia to search for them. At the end of the game, O'Brian reveals that the third and final ship, the Queen Dido, is where they'll find what they need in order to end everything. Where is the Queen Dido? Underwater at the ruins of Terragrigia, where the plot started.
* The final boss battle of ''VideoGame/LittleTownHero'' goes all around the town, but the final phase is set in the neighborhood where protagonist Axe lives.
* The final mission of ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' is outright called "Where It All Began", as Joseph is waiting to offer his final deal at the church where you first tried to arrest him. [[spoiler:Unfortunatly, neither option really goes your way...]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' begins in [[WhiteVoidRoom White Space]], the place Omori calls home. [[spoiler:Sunny and Omori's BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, to determine whether Sunny either [[EpiphanyTherapy faces the future]] or [[DrivenToSuicide takes his own life]]]] occurs in the exact same spot.

Compare HereWeGoAgain, {{Bookends}}, GoBackToTheSource, FinalDungeonPreview and BrickJoke. SoNearYetSoFar is a variant where even the final climactic goal is known and likely even visible from the start, but you can't accomplish that goal until the finale. Not related to WhenItAllBegan; that is a chronology trope (although TimeTravel can cause them to overlap, specifically in cases of SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong).

Compare HereWeGoAgain, {{Bookends}}, GoBackToTheSource and FinalDungeonPreview. SoNearYetSoFar is a variant where even the final climactic goal is known and likely even visible from the start, but you can't accomplish that goal until the finale. Not related to WhenItAllBegan; that is a chronology trope (although TimeTravel can cause them to overlap, specifically in cases of SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong).

* ''VideoGame/WarioLand 3'': the final music box is conveniently located at the first level. Then you can visit the BigBad at the temple, as in the first place you ever visit.

* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' [[SubvertedTrope sort of]] does it. The very first true level of the game takes place in the mind of Coach Oleander. The very last level of the game, after beating the [[spoiler: [[DiscOneFinalBoss Brain Tank]] ]], takes place in a nightmarish hybrid of Coach Oleander and [[KidHero Razputin's]] minds. It could be argued that this is actually a double-dose of the trope, since Raz also revisits the environment that he grew up in and escaped from immediately before the game started.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The final mission of ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' is outright called "Where It All Began'', as Joseph is waiting to offer his final deal at the church where you first tried to arrest him. [[spoiler:Unfortunatly, neither option really goes your way...]]

* In ''Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer'' (manga only), Hikaru and Athena fight on a flat Layer, just like the one that Hikaru first fought on and the one that Athena used when she inspired Misaki to create Hikaru. This despite the fact that this entire TournamentArc used elaborate terrain layers.

[[caption-width-right:256:It took 10 years and 38 levels [[IndestructibleAdmantiumDoor to get that door open.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:256:It took 10 years and 38 levels to get that door open.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', The Reptid's Cave in Chapter 1. You return to this location again in Chapter 39, but named as The Reptid's Cave Revisited. [[spoiler: Chapter 40 is the final chapter in the main game.]]

** The final battle in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 3'' takes place in the ruins of the underground laboratory where Ciel found Zero resting in ''Mega Man Zero''.
** The first stage of ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' is an important location in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4''.

** The two battle on board the same ship yet again near the end of the third season premiere, though that's a looser fit for this trope.

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series, the Clans settle by a lake when their home is destroyed. Turns out that their ancestors (from way before the Clans ever formed) had lived in the exact same spot.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the final duel between Naruto and Sasuke takes place at the Valley of the End, where they both fought once before as children [[spoiler:and where their ancestors Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha also battled long ago]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The first season centers around The Master attempting to open the Hellmouth. From then on, no seasonal BigBad cared about the Hellmouth itself until the last one, who once again attempted to open it. The high school was even rebuilt on top of it at the beginning of the season, allowing the heroes to return there as well.
** Buffy also had one other WhereItAllBegan with the same location; in the middle of the fourth season (making it pretty much halfway through the show's run, how appropriate), a trio of one-episode baddies tries to open the Hellmouth, necessitating a return to the ruins of the original high school. All of the characters comment on the memories, mostly painful, this evokes.

** In the Witch Hunt DLC, the Dalish Warden returns to the broken mirror that tained him/her. You can literally reply to Ariane that it's the place where everything began.

* Subverted in ''LightNovel\FullMetalPanic'' when, just as Mithril is making its final preparations to recapture Merida Island, Amalgam seizes a Soviet nuclear missile base in Badakhsha, Afghanistan, and threatens to launch its arsenal. Having basically grown up in the middle of the UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan, Sousuke considers the location to be utterly life-defining... which leads him to realize that Amalgam chose the location specifically to lead Sousuke ''away'' from the actual battle he's needed for so that Leonard can enact his plan without Mithril's trump card, the Laevatein, around to counter him. Thus, Sousuke decides to let the rest of Mithril's SRT handle Afghanistan while he and Tessa themselves confront Leonard at Merida.

* Dynamite's ''Radio/TheShadow'' Girasol arc started in New York City, and after travelling the world, returns to NYC for the finale.

* This happens twice in ''Discworld/SoulMusic''. Susan goes back to the mountain road where her parents died in a coach accident in the prologue of the book: the first time using TimeTravel to witness the crash and confront [[TheGrimReaper Death]] (her maternal grandfather) about his letting her parents die; the second time to save Buddy and his band from going over the edge in the same spot.

* "Everything You Know About WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls is Wrong" (DC run) has the kids of Pokey Oaks Kindergarten swapping stories of how the girls first came about, using the origins of ComicBook/Superman, ComiBook/SpiderMan and ComicBook/TheFantasticFour as parallels. When the girls themselves interject how the really came about, they get a failing grade as the kids were taking part in a creative writing lesson.