Hollow yet Hopeful? Sky Islands, Hubris, and Gravity in Video Games

Abstract

This article explores the symbolic significance of sky islands in gaming culture and beyond, framing them as critical dystopian spaces. Using the Queendom of Zeal (Zeal) from Chrono Trigger (1995) as a focal point, it examines how these floating landscapes function as both escapist fantasies and cautionary tales. Frequently represented as advanced ancient civilisations, sky islands offer players a vision of idyllic yet precarious utopias that challenge the norms of the world below. This article argues that the narrative and visual elements of Zeal highlight its paradoxical nature as both a utopian ideal and a dystopian reality. Drawing primarily on utopian and game studies, this analysis presents Zeal as a complex fictional world that is both merciless and inspiring. The discussion is then contextualised through queer theory, interpreting the defiance of gravity as a metaphorical challenge to normative structures. In doing so, it echoes queer theorists’ pursuits of utopian thinking as a means to challenge dominant norms and envision more inclusive futures. Ultimately, this study explores the idea that sky islands articulate queer hope and queer futurity even through their destruction. They are antinomic spaces, at once sites of unsustainable hubris, political voids, and imaginative possibility. In doing so, they invite players to reflect on progress, power, and the cyclical nature of time, capturing both the risks and the possibilities of envisioning new worlds.