Why do fantasy maps always put mountains in perfect rows?

I was looking at this old D&D module from 1982 and the mountain range just looked like a zigzag line with triangles on it... it bugged me so much. Then I started noticing it in modern fantasy maps too, like the ones in popular book series. Real mountain ranges form from tectonic plates and they're chaotic, not straight lines with neat little passes every 20 miles. I've been collecting geologic maps of the Rockies and the Andes to compare, and the difference is wild. Has anyone else noticed how made-up maps copy each other's mistakes instead of looking at real terrain? What's the weirdest geographic error you've seen on a fantasy map?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_hart1mo ago

The triangle zigzag is just fantasy map shorthand at this point. Everyone copies everyone else and never looks at actual geology. Most of these maps would have rivers flowing uphill too but nobody calls that out.

skyler_white1mo ago

Marking river directions with arrows on my first map stopped three people from correcting my flow direction.