![]() ![]() ![]() See Neutral No Longer for when the people in this village can no longer stand by quietly. Japan, for instance, was mostly cut off from the rest of the world by government policy, as were Burma, Tibet, and the whole peninsula of Korea at different times. This is Older Than Radio: it was well enough known in the 18th century that both Swift and Voltaire could satirize it (the island of the Houyhnhnms in Gulliver's Travels and El Dorado in Candide, respectively). Not to be confused with Vanishing Village, although the inhabitants thereof usually turn their town into one if they have the phlebotinum to pull it off. In video games, this usually happens just as one of the villains burns down the village after its defenses go to pot. Expect the inhabitants of the village to turn around their opinions and slowly reintegrate themselves into the surrounding culture. Other times it's An Aesop about evil happening when good men do nothing. Sometimes the moral is about respecting other people's opinions and pacifist approaches to violence. There's also a chance that a reformed villain might shack up here in the epilogue, as he'd be rejected elsewhere. ![]() If the village is planned by the writers, there's a good chance that someone in the main cast is a member of this group (such as The Exile). Cynicism, The Protagonist may choose to Must Make Amends or shrug. Depending on where the story is on the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. In this case, expect much in the way of What If? angst and a running debate of My God, What Have I Done? vs I Did What I Had to Do. May be justified if the setting is Post Apocalyptic and hiding out allowed them to escape The End of the World as We Know It. On the flip side, the rest of the world will judge you by the few they encounter: those you cast out. Just as often, they manage to become a fantastically rich City of Gold, harmonious Ghibli Hills, or at the least a decent place to live (just mind the dark secret). Especially isolationist villages may even consider outsiders to be "Not Of the People". If the villagers aren't outright xenophobic, they're only as polite as they need to be once they suggest you not stay very long. This is a Small, Secluded World populated by a tribe or group who comes to the pragmatic decision that what goes on outside their borders no longer is or has never been their problem and choose to hole themselves up in some distant or inaccessible location because of some ancient evil or out of general disgust of others. ![]()
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