Überwald: Difference between revisions

[[File:Castle_Frankenstein_by_PReilly_196.jpg|frame|[http://preilly.deviantart.com/art/Castle-Frankenstein-41035354 ''Through the valley travel the meek;<br />Something wicked awaits at the peak...'']<ref> Hey, at least it's nice to see that they have [[Lightning Can Do Anything|a green energy source...]]</ref>]]

 

 

You think you're in a nice little [[Ruritania]] somewhere in Eastern Europe. Only the black forests are even blacker than you expected, and even more full of wolves. Some of which seem to be [[Wolf Man|walking on their hind legs]]. When you finally get to the little town you were aiming for, the [[Roma|vaguely ethnic]] and primitive locals are huddling fearfully in the tavern, refusing to talk to you except to give vaguely-worded and [[Vampire Vords|heavily-accented]] warnings. So you go up to [[Haunted Castle|the castle]] in the hope of finding some civilisation. Bad move.

Congratulations. You are now in Überwald. Hope you survive -- er, ''enjoy'' your visit.

 

 

 

''Überwald'' (spelled with an umlaut or as "Ueberwald" for those lacking a German keyboard), named after the [[Discworld]] country, would be a direct and bad German translation of ''"Transylvania"'' (a.k.a. Transsylvania in some spellings), "trans silvania" being Latin for "beyond the forest". In real-world German, Transylvania is called ''Siebenbürgen'' ("seven castles/towns"); in the Middle Ages it was sometimes also called "Transsylvanien" or "Transsilvanien" in German-language documents. Since medieval times, Transylvania has been home to three major population groups - Romanians, Hungarians (Székely) and Germans ("Siebenbürgen Saxons"), and thus most towns and places come with a German, Hungarian and Romanian name attached. Up until World War I, the former principality was part of [[Useful Notes/Hungary|Hungary]], and in the treaty of Trianon it was transferred to [[Useful Notes/Romania|Romania]] (the Hungarian name of Transylvania is ''Erdély'', the Romanian is either the more traditional ''Ardeal'' or just ''Transilvania'').

* A ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' comic issue [[Did Not Do the Research|caused some offence to European fans]] by depicting modern Germany in this manner. It ''was'' specifically shown to be an out-of-the-way, not at all normal town, akin to a Sunnydale counterpart, but...

* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' comic strip "Universal Monsters" takes place in such a setting.

 

 

 

== Literature ==

** Even the people there know how to handle it. Nanny Ogg gives a handy list of how to handle being in vampire country:

{{quote| 1. Don't go near a vampire's castle, no matter how bad the weather<br />

 

== Music ==

 

 

* [[Eberron]]'s Karnnath used to be like this. In some places in the current era, the trope is played straight.

* The nation of Mauristatia in the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' gamebook and RPG universe is like this, with vampire lords lurking in castles and mad <s>scientists</s> alchemists trying to build monsters out of bits of corpses.

** The earlier ''[http://magiccards.info/query?q=%2B%2Be%3Adk%2Fen&v=card&s=issue The Dark]'' expansion was another attempt to embody this trope.

'' expansion was another attempt to embody this trope. -->

* The Blackmarsh in the ''Awakening'' expansion for ''[[Dragon Age]]''.

* The world in the first ''[[Blood Omen]]'' is a pretty straight Überwald. Less so in the following games.

* [[Rift]] has Gloamwood, a dark and spooky region of forest known for its giant spiders, werewolves, ghosts and walking dead, and an ancient Hag.

 

* Miir, The City of Shadows from ''[[The Tale of Gaven Morren]],'' has more than a few Überwald leanings.

* The [[Whateley Universe]] has Wallachia (note: Vlad Tepes Bessarab was Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia), which since the Iron Curtain fell has been ruled by a powerful mutant now known as Lord Paramount.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

** And more recently, planet [[James Doohan|Doohan 6]], the Scottish version of the trope.

** Out of all the states, though, Pennsylvania actually fits, outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The culture is heavily Central/Eastern European, especially German and Czech, and conservative. The population is largely farmers (many of whom maintain hex signs) including the Amish, and yes, there [[wikipedia:Grey Towers Castle|are]] [[wikipedia:Fonthill (house)|castles]].

** The Republican party headquarters is sort of like this.

* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' visited such a country (a top-secret police convention was being held there). Uniquely, he insisted throughout the episode that it was all for the tourists' benefit. There was even a haunted castle; unsurprisingly, it was Dr. Claw up to his usual hijinks.