Astral Checkerboard Decor

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A subtrope of Chess Motifs. Somewhere "else" has this checkered motif on the floors, walls or both. It could be a Mental World, a Layered World or just an Eldritch Location.

Not necessarily Human Chess, but who knows?

Also known as the Mason Checkered Floor. Compare White Void Room. See also Cosmic Chess Game.

Examples of Astral Checkerboard Decor include:


Anime and Manga

Comic Books

  • Gideon Gordon Grave's battlefield in Ramona's mind in the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels has a checkered floor.

Film

Live Action TV

Music Videos

  • Tom Petty's video for "Don't Come Around Here No More".

Video Games

  • Tartarus in Persona 3
  • In a similar vein, the Collective Unconscious in the Persona series.
  • The heart of the Amala Labyrinth in Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne where Lucifer resides has a checkerboard floor.
  • Interestingly, quite a bit on the Mario games. Given the Alice in Wonderland roots, little wonder.
  • The Temple of Time in Ocarina of Time.
    • The Forest Temple has rooms with this pattern as well.
  • Sonic 3 and Knuckles features them quite prominently in the Blue Sphere special stages. Green Hill Zone doesn't count, however, since despite featuring a prominent checkerboard pattern, it's not actually otherworldly within the context of the series.
  • Touhou: In Fanworks, Sikieiki's Court has a chessboard floor, somewhat justified, given her ability to judge things black and white.
    • The Background in the final battle of Lotus Land Story uses a Blue and black checkerboard background.
    • Also the Palace of the Earth spirits has a Checkerboard floor
  • Yume Nikki has a checkered pattern on Madotsuki's shirt. The Fangames took that and carried on with it, ending up with this trope.
  • Chessboard Land in King's Quest VI.
  • Quake has levels with this style of decor.

Web Animation

Western Animation

Web Comics

  • Skaia in Homestuck is a Checkerboard PLANET after prototyping enough times.

Real Life

  • The black and white checkerboard floor found in all Masonic lodges.

Other

  • Due to the ease of generating a checkerboard pattern on an infinite plane, this is a common aspect of early computer-generated images. Compare the classic mirrored sphere on a checkerboard floor.
  • Commonly used to represent transparency in images being edited. Used in Paint Shop Pro, Paint.NET, The Gimp, and others.