Editing Hollow Earth (section)

== In fiction ==
{{Main|Subterranean fiction}}

The idea of a hollow Earth is a common element of fiction, appearing as early as [[Ludvig Holberg]]'s 1741 novel ''Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum'' («''[[Niels Klim's Underground Travels]]''»), in which Nicolai Klim falls through a cave while spelunking and spends several years living on both a smaller globe within and the inside of the outer shell.

Other notable early examples include [[Giacomo Casanova]]'s 1788 ''Icosaméron'', a 5-volume, 1,800-page story of a brother and sister who fall into the Earth and discover the subterranean utopia of the Mégamicres, a race of multicolored, hermaphroditic dwarves; ''[[Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery]]'' by a "Captain Adam Seaborn" (1820) which reflected the ideas of John Cleves Symmes, Jr.; [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s 1838 novel ''[[The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket]];'' Jules Verne's 1864 novel ''[[Journey to the Center of the Earth]],'' which showed a subterranean world teeming with prehistoric life; [[George Sand]]'s 1864 novel ''Laura, Voyage dans le Cristal'' where giant [[crystal]]s could be found in the interior of the Earth; [[Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]'s novel ''[[Vril: The Power of the Coming Race]]'', published anonymously in 1871; ''[[Etidorhpa]]'', an 1895 science-fiction allegory with major subterranean themes; and ''[[The Smoky God]]'', a 1908 novel that included the idea that the North Pole was the entrance to the hollow planet.

In [[William Henry Hudson]]'s [[1887 in literature|1887]] romance, ''[[A Crystal Age]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hudson |first1=William Henry |title=A Crystal Age |date=1887 |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |location=London |url=https://literaryrescue.org/b/twpZh |access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref> the protagonist falls down a hill into a [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|Utopian]] paradise; since he falls into this world, it is sometimes classified as a hollow Earth story; although the hero himself thinks he may have [[Time travel in fiction|traveled forward in time]] by millennia.

The idea was used by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] in the seven-novel "[[Pellucidar]]" series, beginning with ''[[At the Earth's Core (novel)|At the Earth's Core]]'' (1914). Using a mechanical drill, called the Iron Mole, his heroes [[David Innes]] and Professor [[Abner Perry]] discover a prehistoric world called Pellucidar, 500 miles below the surface, that is lit by a constant noonday inner sun. They find prehistoric people, dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals and the [[Mahar (Pellucidar)|Mahar]], who evolved from pterosaurs. The series ran for six more books, ending with ''[[Savage Pellucidar]]'' (1963).<ref>

[https://web.archive.org/web/20000816193019/http://www.literature.org/authors/burroughs-edgar-rice/at-the-earths-core/ At the Earth's Core], by Edgar Rice Burroughs</ref> The 1915 novel ''[[Plutonia (novel)|Plutonia]] ''by [[Vladimir Obruchev]] uses the concept of the Hollow Earth to take the reader through various geological epochs.

In recent decades, the idea has become a staple of the science fiction and adventure genres across films (''[[Children Who Chase Lost Voices]]'', ''[[Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs]]'', ''[[Aquaman (film)|Aquaman]]'' and the [[MonsterVerse]]), television programs (''[[Inside Job (2021 TV series)|Inside Job]]'', ''[[Slugterra]]'', and the third and fourth seasons of ''[[Sanctuary (Canadian TV series)|Sanctuary]]''), [[role-playing game]]s (e.g., the [[Hollow World Campaign Set]] for ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', ''[[Hollow Earth Expedition]]''), and video games (''[[Torin's Passage]]'' and ''[[Gears of War]]''). The idea is also partially used in the [[Marvel Comics]] universe, where there exists a subterranean realm beneath the Earth known as [[Subterranea (comics)|Subterranea]]. The [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] (SNES) video game ''[[Terranigma]]'' features this concept in the opening and closing acts of the game.

The Hollow Earth is a key location in [[Legendary Pictures]]'s [[MonsterVerse]] franchise, being the point of origin of the [[Kaiju|Titans]] and the [[List of legendary creatures by type|strange animals]] of [[Skull Island (King Kong)|Skull Island]]. Initially being teased in ''[[Kong: Skull Island]]'' and ''[[Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019 film)|Godzilla: King of the Monsters]]'', a full expedition into the Hollow Earth is a primary focus of ''[[Godzilla vs. Kong]]'', its sequel ''[[Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire]]'', and the ''[[Monarch: Legacy of Monsters]]'' [[Television show|TV series]].