# Would Antarctica be a good place for my evil lair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948 "2004-11-28T02:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/41 "2004-11-30T05:49:06Z")
If you’re in the market for a “starter” evil lair, you could do worse than one of these [Atlas F Missile Silo Homes](http://www.silohome.com/index.htm). It’s not as cool as a large permanent antarctic base, but it should keep the government out of your hair until you’re ready to make your play for world domination. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/42 "2004-11-30T05:49:16Z")
> [@manhattan](#): > > Also: > > Deserted Pacific Island – unusually beautiful femme fatale wears bikini and lounges on beach. > > Antarctica – femme fatale is of unknown beauty on account of she’s wearing 10 layers of clothes under her parka. > > On the other hand, all the secret agents sent to foil your nefarious plans would be the ones who lost the draw – those with less seniority, bumblers who had pissed off the boss, etc. The top guys who would volunteer to parachute onto a Pacific island hideaway with an unusually beautiful femme fatale lounging on the beach would run from flying a Cessna onto Antarctica. Oh, I’m gonna have the best of both worlds. I’m planning on a massive dome enclosing a tropical paradise, think Ozymadas from _The Watchmen_. Every good lair needs some sort of dome. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/43 "2004-11-30T05:52:23Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > **(b) Recruitment**. You’re going to need an army of technicians for the death ray project, probably some nuclear engineers (depending on your power supply and suchlike), at least one femme fatale of international-class beauty and skill, and an army of thugs that Super Spy Guy will have to beat up on the way in, for purposes of stealing one of your stylish uniforms and getting a key-card, at least. > > Dr. No simply obtained an army of underpaid workers, relocated them permanently to his island base, and made them live there for the next twenty years; he saved money this way by not bothering to provide them with raises, and controlling the economy inside his island base. Note, however, that this situation was chronicled in the fifties, which means Dr. No started at some point in the 1930s; trying to do this THESE days could be tricky… and durned if I can think of any other way you’re going to get several hundred people – many of whom are degreed professionals, in demand in their given fields – to stay squirreled up in your Ice Station Zero for however many years the Beefaroni Laser project is going to take… One word, Fembots. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/44 "2004-11-30T06:06:40Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Feh, that was just fiction. I’d be more concerned about the [Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers](http://nac.tamu.edu/x075bb/discover/fool95.html). I was really hoping that the link would lead to angsty naked Alasken chicks. Damn you. > [@Sunspace](#): > > Extreme efforts were taken to hind the Blofeldt lair, but its location was ultimately betrayed by its supply missions: ships were unloaded somewhere in mid-voyage and rode higher in the water. Other corroborating evidence helped to narrow down the possible locations where such unloading took place. This shows one of the problems of a lair with significant operations activites: unless you can somehow create a self-sufficient economy within the lair, resupply missions _will_ be necessary. > > It would probably be more practical to ‘piggyback’ one’s Antarctican lair activities as innoucous ‘research’ activities accompanying existing expectitions. Only your inner circle need know the true purpose of your activites. This would seem to point towards a smaller command-and-control lair as well. My base will have tunnels extending to the artics ocean below. All resupply missions (which should not be to numerous as my tropical dome will furnish most of the needed food and oxeygen) will be hidden beneath the icy waves. > [@DrFidelius](#): > > The logistics of an Antarctic stronghold are daunting. > > Personally I preferred to move into the abandoned tunnels under great metropolitan centers. It is simple to tap into the power and communications grid, and there is an unlimited number of disenfranchised workers to form the core of your Legions of Terror. > > The old Pneumatic system beneath Manhatten provides access to a surprising number of centers of influence. With a small investment in waterproofing and a supply of hijacked electronics you could, dare I say it… Rule the World!!! Would you believe that I did think of this at first? Unfortunely the Crab People beat me to it, and those guys are a bitch to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/45 "2004-11-30T13:17:35Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > My base will have tunnels extending to the artics ocean below. All resupply missions (which should not be to numerous as my tropical dome will furnish most of the needed food and oxeygen) will be hidden beneath the icy waves. If you can do that kind of underwater construction, you might as well just build an underwater lair and dispense with the tunnels. 🙂 Underwater construction would be much more expensive and vulnerable to attack than surface construction in Antarctica. Unles your Evil Twisted Technology has given you a significant breakthrough in high-pressure construction techniques, your underwater docking facility–and the as-yet unbuilt fleet of cargo subs to serve it-- would be hundreds of times more expensive than a regular surface fleet and port. How big is your economy again? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/46 "2004-11-30T17:26:42Z")
Why do Evil Overlords call their hangout’s “Lair’s”? Why not **l Overlord Tiki Hut?** that has a nice ring too it. Plus, since I have the floor, Mr. MaubDib, will you be employing sharks with friggin’ laser beams attached to them to patrol the coastal waters? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/47 "2004-11-30T17:32:00Z")
Don’t know, but that’s the premise behind the classic novel “Genesis” by W.A. Harbinson. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/48 "2004-11-30T19:36:10Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Would Antarctica be a good place for my evil lair? No. Your moat filled with pirannah would freeze over. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/49 "2004-11-30T20:39:56Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > If you can do that kind of underwater construction, you might as well just build an underwater lair and dispense with the tunnels. 🙂 I’m telling you, Wyndham has the answers. Your underwater construction can be dirt cheap if your army consists of his creatures designed to live at that depth, and besides, most of them appear to have come from outer space anyway. They have real unemployment at that depth, and their youth are surly and severely lacking in role models. No wonder they spend their time dragging ships to their doom and terrorising remote islands. Also if you follow the plans laid out in The Kraken Wakes, you’ll already know exactly what kind of people are likely to pose a real danger to your plot (ie. heroic little-appreciated boffins who are mocked by the rest of the establishment), and before you begin construction you can use your vast wealth to round all these infuriating people up and shoot them in the head, so that when the earth is finally desperate enough to turn to them they can’t suddenly save the day. Only… there might yet be [one person to stand in our way…](http://www.eskimo.com/~tegan/ac/) ---
**Author:** ![Tio\_Gringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Tio\_Gringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tio_Gringo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/50 "2004-12-01T03:57:26Z")
Once you get your base location decided on, I would like to apply to be the evil scientist who heads up the Doomsday Device[SUB]TM[/SUB]. I have an extensive background in the mathematics and science fields, and several working prototypes for your immediate perusal. I must ask however, what sort of pay/benefit package do you offer? I am interesting in a profit sharing plan, a matching 401(k), and a generous vacation package. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/51 "2004-12-01T04:02:42Z")
**EvilAsh** , I would advise you to investigate the retirement package that Adrian Veidt provided for his contractors. ---
**Author:** ![Tio\_Gringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Tio\_Gringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tio_Gringo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/52 "2004-12-03T05:55:11Z")
…I would also need unfettered access to the aforementioned scantily clad femme fatale for…uh…research purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948/53 "2004-12-03T12:58:29Z")
> [@EvilAsh](#): > > …I would also need unfettered access to the aforementioned scantily clad femme fatale for…uh…research purposes. If you put that “demonstration” on Pay-Per-View, you gonna have a down-payment on that Evil Lair in no time flat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-antarctica-be-a-good-place-for-my-evil-lair/276948.md?page=2)