Tons of speculative fiction stories feature humans living side-by-side with people of other species. Fantasy and sci-fi stories depict plenty of beings that don’t possess human-level intelligence, and they can be a bit more complex. Aliens or strange creatures may need a place to call their own, where both they and the native populations can live in peace. The Fantastic Nature Reserve fits the bill perfectly.
Some writers come upwith animals to fill roles, but others find themselves imagining a massive catalog of fun fictional creatures. If there are simply too many to naturally work into the story, the author may send the audience on a walking tour through a few clever zoo exhibits packed with fantastical beings.
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The Fantastic Nature Reserve is a simple concept with some substantial implications. Something exists that can’t easily survive alongside thetraditional (usually human) inhabitantsof a location. To keep the locals safe from their unique abilities and/or the creatures safe from human hostility, someone grants them a safe location. Some examples are carefully hidden areas that exist somewhere apart from normal society. Others are zoos that can serve as popular tourist attractions. The goal tends to be altruistic. Either the creatures and their hidden allies have agreed to team up and fend off humanity or a generous benefactor has agreed to keep them safe. The concept could also be set up by a collector, whowants to catch them allfor more selfish reasons. Either way, the Fantastic Nature Reserve serves a valuable purpose in any speculative fiction world.
One of the first and most prevalent examples of this trope comes from DC Comics. Superman’s Fortress of Solitude first appeared in its proper form in 1958. Theterm predates Clark Kent, and he had a previous secret sanctum before his Arctic home, but the Fortress is his most famous domain. The ice palace holds a wide variety of different strange treasures and systems. He had an army of Superman robots, a projector that led to the Phantom Zone, the tiny bottle city of Kandor, and a great gallery of classic superhero statues. Among his collection, Superman has a zoo in which he keeps a ton of endangered alien species. Different creatures have popped up in brief glimpses at his reserve, and the look of the exhibits has gradually evolved from cages to fully contained environments. It’s clear that he treats his animal friends with all the respect they deserve, keeping them happy and healthy in a world they couldn’t otherwise inhabit.
One of the funniest examples of this trope is the classic Dreamworks filmShrek. Those who only rememberall the great memesand songs about the film may forget the inciting incident. The big green ogre Shrek is very dedicated to being alone, so he lives in a remote swamp and scares off anyone who dares to approach. Unbeknownst to him, the kingdom of Duloc has instituted an aggressive policy of forced exile against all fairy tale creatures. Lord Farquaad seeks to turn Shrek’s swamp into a Fantastic Nature Reserve. He evidently figures that if one fantasy creature lives there, it’ll serve as decent housing for everyone else. Shrek’s motivation at the beginning of the film is preventing all the other talking animals and magic puppets from taking up residence in his home. He just wants the reserve to be placed somewhere else. That element of the story is largely resolved by the end, as the sequels depict fairy tale creatures living among everyone else.
Though building and maintaining a Fantastic Nature Reserve is usually a good-natured endeavor, it can exist in service of evil too. Dracula’s eponymous Castle intheCastlevaniafranchise soundslike a traditional home for things that can’t live anywhere else, but it’s a bit darker than that. Most games in the franchise take place on the vampire lord’s gargantuan estate, and it’s almost always packed with zombies, werewolves, and all manner of other monsters. This primarily serves to give players countless enemies to slay, but it also suggests that evil creatures simply flock to Dracula’s home. Several games mention that themonsters in Dracula’s Castleall died out. The monsters that are slain by Alucard or the Belmonts are often the last of their kind. Not to suggest they aren’t evil, but at least Dracula is protecting endangered species.
The Fantastic Nature Reserve can be a wonderful background detail or the main setting of a setting. It provides an endless vector for creativity. There’s no limit to the strange creatures hidden away in a comfortable hidden home.Urban Fantasy stories oftenhide other species away in plain sight, the Fantastic Nature Reserve applies the same basic concept to a wonderful zoo. Some creatures just need a bit of special care to survive, even if they’re far away from their home.
