Prisons
Prisons are locations that hold dangerous criminals, the political opposition, enemy combatants, and anyone that may find themselves unfortunately on the wrong side of the law or current regime. Fictional prisons are often located in remote and inaccessible places such as islands, cliffsides, the frozen wastelands, and deserts. In more fantastic worlds prisons may be found underwater, above volcanos, deep underground, or in other dimensions. They contain cells, guard’s barracks, prison towers, yards, libraries, solitary confinement quarters, nurse stations, and mess halls. They are home to inmates, evil masterminds, guards, prison wardens, and people making daring escapes.

Synonyms: jails, gaols, penitentiaries, detention centers, correctional facilities |
Example Mythonyms: Darkwater Penitentiary |

Designing Fictional Prisons
Archetypes
Overview
Often the prison population is put to work. If this is the case, the prison will house a manufacturing center for whatever job is being performed or will provide transportation to the work site if the prison is not located in the same area.
For worlds that contain magic, superpowers, or psychic abilities, prisons should have some mechanism to nullify these talents so they cannot be used for escape. If your world contains fantastic beasts or alien species that may be imprisoned, their unique capabilities and how to counter them should also be considered. In superhero worlds or worlds with a plethora of different superpowers, the ability of each inmate may need to be individually accounted for.


Think about how you could escape from your own prison and then design safeguards against that.
