Culture Chop Suey: Difference between revisions

[['''Culture Chop Suey]]''' is a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] cobbled together from multiple real-world cultures.

The reasons for this can vary from case to case. Like with [[Anachronism Stew]], it can stem from the writer's [[Did Not Do the Research|ignorance on the subject]], and they may simply not realize that these cultural elements are alien to one another. Likewise, it can be a case of [[Creator Provincialism]], when the writer uses aspects of their own culture in the fictional one, either because they aren't aware that they would seem out of place, or because they want to make it more familiar for their audience. Of course, when they're completely aware of the differences, they may be taking [[Artistic License]], blurring the lines for unique [[World Building]], or just playing to the [[Rule of Cool]] or [[Rule of Funny]].

These are cases where elements are of a contrasting culture, elements of technology from a contrasting time period are [[Schizo -Tech]]. When ninjas show up as part of a [['''Culture Chop Suey]]''', that is also a [[McNinja]]. A [[Ruritania]] is usually constructed using this trope. A character from one of these cultures may sport a [[Multiethnic Name]] just to drive things home.

Some cultural mash-ups are common enough to warrant their own pages: [[Ancient Grome]], [[Far East]], [[Mayincatec]], [[Scotireland]], [[Spexico]], and some versions of [[Norse Byby Norsewest]].

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' has at least one scene where Ed is shown to be eating rice out of bowls with chopsticks in what is otherwise based on early twentieth century Europe.

** May simply be something he picked up from his Japanese (well, with a name like Izumi, she's certainly not a full Amestrian) alchemy teacher. In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|the 2003 anime version]] and the manga, a Japan analogue is shown to exist; Breda is once shown playing shogi and is able to answer when someone asks where it came from.

* In ''[[WolfsWolf's Rain]]'', all of the writing is in Russian, yet there are Native Americans. With tepees, of course...which they reach after crossing a frozen strait and passing through what looks a lot like the Pacific Northwest. Funny how that actually works with real life geography (the teepees should be in the Plains, not the Southwest, though).

* An early episode of ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'' had Rice Balls (edited out by 4Kids to be cookies), even through the pirates are somewhat based on Western fictional depictions of pirates. The characters also drink sake, wield katanas, make Japanese-language puns, etc.

* ''[[So Ra No woWo To]]'' is a very deliberate version of this. Most everyone has Japanese names, the writing is French, the country is named for Switzerland but is modeled on a Spanish city, the uniforms are German, and so on. What makes this especially interesting is that it appears to be in the future of our world.

* ''[[Turn aA Gundam (Anime)|Turn a Gundam]]'' takes place in what appears to be [[Sweet Home Alabama]], but aspects of the culture and technology are closer to [[World War OneI]]-era Europe and their religion seems to be some weird kind of Native American shamanism or animism, possibly similar to Shinto. And let's not even get started on the parralels to the [[Arab -Israeli Conflict]] with the Moonrace...

* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series. A[[lampshades]] this trope during a discussion amongst the gods about the empires on the Counterweight Continent:

{{quote| "They are five great families feuding. The Hongs, the Fongs, the Sungs, the Tangs, and the McSweeneys." <br />

"''McSweeneys?''" <br />

** The Agatean Empire, as featured in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'', is itself a mixture of various [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] elements, borrowed mainly from Japanese and Chinese history: We have both samurai and a thinly-veiled Terracotta Army taking part in the climactic battle. Needless to say, as this is [[Discworld]] we're talking about, [[Rule of Funny|Funny reigns supreme]].

** Uberwald is, well, [[UberwaldÜberwald]], but Bonk's chocolate museum and mad fretwork that make the buildings look like cuckoo clocks sounds more like the Black Forest. Fat soup was inspired by a signing tour in Poland, and the Unholy Empire's crest parodies that of the Russian Empire andwhile its name parodies that of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Basically, anywhere east of France where [[Vampire Vords|v and w are the same letter]].

* All over the place in the [[HonorverseHonor (Literature)Harrington|Honorverse]], but [[Justified]] by the peculiarities of a humanity's Diaspora to the stars.

*** The most amusing example of this would be [[The Determinator|Commodore Sir Aivars Alexovich Terekhov]], who has a) Russian surname and [[Patronymic]], b) Latvian given name and c) [[Fun Withwith Foreign Languages|apparently could not decide]] conventions of which language to use.

** [[Cult Colony]] went bad? Ok now you've got a planet of Atheists. Racial Colony go bad? Now you've got a planet of Albino Zulus. There are examples in some of the short stories of what happens when different colonies hit the same planet and it gets ugly.

* Most cultures in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''. The Aiel have a nomadic desert culture mixing Native American, Bedouin and Zulu influences, but they look Irish and speak with Slavic accents. The Seanchan are a Imperial Chinese/Japanese/Persian/Hellenistic melange that were founded by an [[Expy]] of King Arthur, while [[Word of God]] says they have Texan accents.

** The planet of Statios has several nations, but only three of them are ever mentioned as being plot-relevant. These include [[Commie Land|the Grimplite lands]], [[Ruritania|Inkraine]], and Stato. Stato is a weird combination of [[Magical Native American|Navajoland and Apacheland]] with [[Magitek]] and modern-day southern California / Arizona, with villains who are very [[The War Onon Terror|Afghani]].

** Whixtitout: a planet-sized [[Hidden Elf Village]] that combines [[The War On Straw|1990s American public school sex ed politics]] (like the kind discussed in Berit Kjos' book ''Brave New Schools'') with what appears to be Japan, or China, [[As Long Asas It Sounds Foreign|or something]]. It's a place where [[Supernatural Martial Arts|Mikloche]] is very special, with specialists [[Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting|training for their art]].

** Drizad is mostly farms on the surface, and a combination of [[Commie Land]] and [[Mordor]] underneath.

** Mantith perhaps averts this trend, given that all the nations on it are direct parallels to real Earth cultures, just heavily stereotyped around those nations' [[The Seventies|Seventies cultures]], albeit, [[Schizo -Tech|with some 21st century anachronisms]]. Even so, caves feature [[Commie Land]] and [[UberwaldÜberwald]] cultures of [[Our Vampires Are Different|Mosquatlons]] and [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Aviatets]].

* ''[[Dune]]'' is a completely justified example - while it is less chop suey and more cultural broth, it is reasonable to assume that after so long in the stars, all the cultures that have been subsumed into the Sublime Padishah Empire will mingle - although there is a heavily pronounced islamicIslamic strain, suggesting some sort of Islamic or neo-Islamic period.

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' loves this for the non-European based areas of its settings. The "Middle East" tends to be a blend of Turkish, Persian and Arabic influences, and the "[[Far East]]" Japanese and Chinese.

** Hey, the [[Medieval European Fantasy|the European areas are usually no exception either]].

* ''[[Big Eyes, Small Mouth]]'' actually spells this out for the world of Ikaris: the Seven Stars are described as a fusion of ancient Greece and samurai-era Japan.

* ''[[Exalted]]'' has many of these -- alwaysthese—always done very deliberately. The one described in the most detail is the Realm: it's mostly a blend of [[The Roman Empire|Imperial Rome]] and [[Dynasties From Shang to Qing|various Chinese dynasties]], but there's also hints of Tokugawa Japan, Achaemenid Persia, and pretty much any other premodern Old World empire you could name.

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', especially in the earlier games, has largely had the feel of being based around [[Medieval European Fantasy]]. It varies in later games, but not in a way that makes Link using a boomerang ever seem to fit.

* The ''[[Ever QuestEverQuest]]'' series has the monk guilds in the human cities, which seem Asian-influenced, in what is otherwise largely [[Medieval European Fantasy]].

** In the second game, while the city of Freeport maintains a largely medieval feel, the Freeport Militia have gained a distinctly [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] aesthetic.

* ''[[Jade Empire]]'', which is based on Ancient China, includes creatures specifically identified as [[Golem|golemsgolem]]s, which are from Jewish folklore.

* Most ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' races are a hodgepodge of many different bits and pieces from real world cultures. For instance, Night Elf architecture is based in equal parts on Japanese and Northern European styles. The Draenei speak with an Eastern-European accent and are inspired in equal parts by the Roma and some South Asian cultures, but use a lot of Greek sounds in their names. Goblins are infamous for both their gold smarts (a Jewish stereotype) and the pervasiveness of the Mafia in their culture (an Italian stereotype, with a matching accent to boot).

* The whole ''[[Iron Grip]]'' series lives and breathes this trope, in addition to being chock-full of [[Punk Punk]] [[Schizo -Tech]]. Example : The Fahrongi are a nation that has many similarities to the [[Holy Roman Empire]], the Byzantine empire ''and Napoleonic France''. As if this wasn't enough, they have an [[Up to Eleven]] [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] [[Church Militant]] with [[Knight Templar]] attitudes and [[Achey Scars|medieval-esque flagellants...]] [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|who serve as volunteer suicide bombers...]] The ruler of the country is something like a cross between a [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Caesaropapism#Caesaropapism_in_the_Eastern_ChurchCaesaropapism in the Eastern Church|Byzantine emperor]] and an Islamic calif.

* The ruins of ''[[La Mulana|La-Mulana]]'' have design motifs that echo those of numerous ancient real-world cultures.

* The ''[[Pokémon (Franchise)|Pokémon]]'' world is basically a mashup of Japan and America (or at least Japan's view of America). Not surprising, given the fact that many of the the original employees on the first Pokémon game had worked on [[EarthboundEarthBound]].

* In ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]]'', Academy/Wizard faction at different points has Greek [[Shock and Awe|Titans]], Indian [[Petting Zoo People|Rakshasa]] and [[Multi-Armed and Dangerous|Nagas]], Middle-Eastern [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|Djinns/Jinni]], European [[Our Gargoyles Rock|gargoyles]], English [[Griping About Gremlins|gremlins]], and Jewish [[Golem|Golems]]s. ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] V'' also gives them an [[Arabian Nights Days]] style.

* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Order of the StickThe (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' in the backstory strips during the trial sequence. When the gods are creating the world again they have to take turns to prevent the Snarl from forming and one of the 12 gods of the Southern pantheon (The Monkey) puts in ninjas 'cuz its his turn.

** Some of the individual cultures play the trope straight: Azure City is a mix of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean elements, while the Western Continent has Arabic, Babylonian, and African pieces mixed together (along with lizard-people).

* [[Lampshading|Lampshaded]] in an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', where Lisa is playing a video game based on the [[Theme Park]] version of [[Land Down Under|Australia]]. She is killed by a group of koalas dressed as ninjas, leading her to remark "Ninjas? But those aren't even Australian!"

* Sokka from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' carries a boomerang, despite his Water Tribe culture being largely based off of the Inuit people.

** The Foggy Swamp Water Tribe, based on Vietnamese tribes in style and culture... and sounding exactly like Southern rednecks.

** Season two has the cast lost in the deserts of the Earth Kingdom, which were largely based on the Gobi Desert, however Sokka has a [[Mushroom Samba]] after eating a strange cactus, [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyote |which are native to North America.]]

* [[Sequel Series]] ''[[The Legend of Korra (Animation)|The Legend of Korra]]'' jumps seventy years forward, where the established [[Far East]] blending now adds elements of [[The Roaring Twenties]] and [[The Great Depression]] to its cultural milieu, with [[City of Adventure|Republic City]] itself as a blend of [[Shanghai]], [[Hong Kong]], [[New York City|Manhattan]] and [[Vancouver]].

[[Category:Fictional Culture Chopand Nation SueyTropes]]