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Floating cities and islands in fiction

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+#REDIRECT [[Floating cities and islands in fiction]]
-[[Image:Themyscira-floating.jpg|thumb|right|The floating islands of [[Themyscira]] in [[DC Comics]]' book ''[[Wonder Woman]]''.]]A '''floating island''' in fiction (sometimes called a '''flying island'''), is a fictitious landmass that either floats in a body of water (such as Vadanis in ''[[The Guardian Cycle]]'' of novels) or flies above the surface of the earth (or in some cases through the depths of [[outer space|space]]), defying [[gravity]]. These islands are usually free-floating and can be directed by the whim of their inhabitants, although some may be permanently anchored. They are usually propelled and/or held aloft by one or more of the following means:
-*[[Helium]], [[hydrogen]] or some other lighter than air gas.
-*A [[lodestone]] or [[magnet]], such as with [[Laputa]], from [[Jonathan Swift]]'s ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''.
-*[[Magic (paranormal)|Magic]] of some kind.
-* Advanced science/technology — [[anti-gravity]], propellers/balloons, or some other form of non-paranormal [[levitation]], as in [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s ''[[Castle in the Sky]]''.
-==Uses in media==
-===Literature===
-*The first floating encountered in literature is the home of the four winds, [[Aeolia]], as recounted in Homer's ''[[The Odyssey]]''. However, it is unclear whether this island floated in the water or in the air.
-*The second book in [[C. S. Lewis]]' [[science fiction]] trilogy, ''[[Perelandra]]'', features floating islands on the surface of [[Venus]], which play a prominent role in the storyline.
-*An older example of a floating island is Scotia Moria, from the novel ''The Floating Island'' by [[Richard Head|Frank Careless]].  This may or may not be the same island referred to as Spidermonkey Island in ''[[The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle]]'' by [[Hugh Lofting]] (renamed Seastar Island in the film ''[[Doctor Dolittle (film)|Doctor Dolittle]]'').
-*The book ''[[Life of Pi]]'' contains a floating island. At one point during Pi's time on the boat, he encounters a floating island inhabited by a kind of meerkat that feeds on fish stunned by the fresh water in the ponds on the island (the fish being salt water species).
-*For a short period the island of [[Themyscira]] (Paradise Island) became a series of floating islands as part of the [[DC Comics]] book ''[[Wonder Woman]]''.
-*In the book "Gulliver's Travelers" by Jonathan Swift.
-===Television===
-*A well-known floating island in popular culture is [[Mount Flatten]] in ''[[The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show]]'', which hovered above Earth's surface due to its rich deposits of the gravity-defying mineral [[Upsidaisium]].
-*In the [[anime]] series ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', the planet Venus had been [[terraformed]] using enormous floating plants that also functioned as habitable floating islands in the sky.
-*References to floating islands can be found in the [[science fiction]] TV series ''[[Star Trek]]'' (original; 1966) episode "[[The Cloud Minders]]", and in the ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' episode "[[Trash (Firefly)|Trash]]."
-*Several floating islands are present in episodes of the first season of ''[[Beast Wars|Beast Wars: Transformers]]''.
-*[[Noahs Island]] is a cartoon in the late 90s about a collection of animals which navigate the sea on a volcano-powered floating island.
-===Film===
-*[[Cloud City]] in ''[[Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back]]'' is a floating island.
-*Many works by artist [[Roger Dean (artist)|Roger Dean]] depict floating islands, such as those featured on the covers of some albums by the band [[Yes (band)|Yes]]. A movie entitled ''[[Floating Islands (film)|Floating Islands]]'' is planned by Dean and is said to be based on the story of this album art. The film will feature several songs by Yes.
-*In [[Flash Gordon (film)]], Arboria appears as a concave floating jungle continent above Mongo.
-===Video games===
-* ''[[Stratosphere: Conquest of the Skies]]'' is based around combat between mobile floating islands.
-* The entire world of ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is a series of islands in the sky, with the ground being a sea of fog and mud. The world of ''[[Baten Kaitos]]'' is also made up of floating islands.
-* A large floating island named Angel Island makes frequent appearances in the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series, and is home to the [[Master Emerald]] and [[Knuckles the Echidna]].
-* A level in ''[[Tomb Raider II]]'' is named Floating Islands.
-* ''[[Cave Story]]'' is set in a giant floating island, visible in the end credits.
-* An entire floating [[continent]] is present in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''.
-* The city of Anemos in the ''[[Golden Sun (series)|Golden Sun]]'' series is a floating island that stays in the air by use of magic.
-* The Kingdom of Zeal in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' is a nation made of floating continents.
-* Vane and Neo-Vane in ''[[Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete|Lunar: Silver Star Story]]'' and ''[[Lunar: Eternal Blue]]'' are floating cities.
-* In [[Breath of Fire II]], one of the endings includes "Township" being able to fly.
-* In [[The Granstream Saga]] there are many floating islands.
-* In the [[World of Warcraft]] expansion pack [[Wrath of the Lich King]], the [[Magocracy|mage-governed]] city of Dalaran levitates over the region of Northrend.
-===Other===
-*The music video for "[[Feel Good Inc.]]" by [[Gorillaz]] features one of the band members on a windmill-powered floating island.
-*Ancient High [[Netheril]] in the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' setting of the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' universe contains airborne cities kept aloft by magic.
-==See also==
-*[[Floating city (science fiction)]]
-[[Category:Science fiction themes]]
-[[Category:Fictional islands| ]]