History FantasyCounterpartCulture / Literature

* In ''Literature/AWizardOfEarthsea'', the Kargs have some striking similarities to Vikings, what with their habit of traveling around in longboats and doing the RapePillageAndBurn routine on helpless villages. They're also the only people in Earthsea with light hair and pale skin. However when, in ''Literature/TheTombsOfAtuan'', we get a look at Kargish culture, it doesn't bear much resemblance to that of the Vikings.

The FilmOfTheBook of ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'' plays up the Telmarines' difference from the Narnians by making Telmarine culture clearly influenced by that of medieval Spain, apparently supposing the original pirates to have been Spanish. Also invoking images of Conquistadors that are familiar to US viewers but wouldn't have occurred to Lewis or his English readers.

*** The Drasnians resemble a mixture of 16th/17th century Dutch merchants, with a side of inhabitants of the Swiss and the Italian city-states from the same era - sometimes flamboyant, obsessed with making money, with very disciplined infantry troops, living by giant fens - mixed with a bit of the Finnish, considering that the North of their country goes straight to the pole and is largely inhabited by reindeer.

** The Tolnedrans are essentially the Byzantine Empire, albeit with the military aesthetic of the late Roman Republic/early Roman Empire - a relatively small Empire that punches above its weight through an extremely well-trained army, canny diplomacy, and raw economic power, being a ProudMerchantRace that rather looks down on foreigners. It also serves as an intermediary between two major opposing forces (the Alorns and the Murgos), and is mistrusted by the former.

*** The above-mentioned Melcenes are very secular and closely resemble Ancient China in their bureaucratic rule, university education, and economic management.

* Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Bio of a Space Tyrant'': the Earth nations have colonized the Solar System - North and South Jupiter were colonised by N/S America respectively; Mars = Arabs; Saturn = Asia; Uranus = Europe etc. They develop [[SubspaceOrHyperspace Hyperspace]] travel and plan to [[ConstellationsAsLocations colonize the Galaxy by constellations]]: USA get the Eagle, Russia gets the Bear, China gets the Dragon.
* Cook's ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' novels start light while the Company is in the north, then runs with this trope when they get to Taglios. Gunni are copy-and-paste Hindus, Vehdna are close to Muslim, and the whole pluralistic, pacifistic culture is what could have happened if the two religions and smaller sects had to join together or die. Painfully. In the name of a demon-eating goddess their gods are afraid of. Even later on, Hsien (China) gets tossed in there, too.

** Ourdh is an ancient empire which has strong Middle Eastern influences in customs and clothing. High male officials wear turbans, with women wearing concealing veils and head coverings. Many ziggurats are there too. Gringo-La, an Ourdhi goddess, is also described like Kali from Hinduism with her death aspect.

** Ourdh is an ancient empire which has strong Middle Eastern influences in customs and clothing. High male officials wear turbans, with women wearing concealing veils and head coverings. Many ziggurats are there too.

** Ourdh is an ancient empire which has strong Middle Eastern influences in customs and clothing.

* Saladin Ahmed's ''Literature/TheCrescentMoonKingdoms'' does this with a variety of Middle Eastern and surrounding cultures, as it basically is a reimagining of MedievalEuropeanFantasy with the medieval Islamic world in place of Europe. The European counterpart is mentioned in passing as "The War Lands," and it is made clear that [[DarkAges nothing of much import is going on there]].
* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Eriador is pretty clearly a parallel for Scotland, with one of its famed heroes being one Bruce [=MacDonald=], who has the city Caer [=MacDonald=] named after him. Avon stands in England, with cities such as Newcastle and Carlisle which match actual English cities' names. Gascony is a clear parallel to France, not only with the pseudo-French names and having the name of a historical French province, but also its history in regards to people from there having invaded Avon (England) in the past. All three also share the same relative locations. An island near both may be the stand in for Ireland, though we don't get much information on it. Isenland stands in for Iceland, with its people being raiders like the vikings. Eriador and Avon also seem to follow a counterpart Christianity, though with no Jesus figure.

** The Republic of Hanover is a stand-in for Napoleonic France in the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] {{verse}}, but culturally has more in common with Bismarckian Prussia and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany (culturally and linguistically German, with a manifest destiny attitude towards rulership of mankind), with a dose of the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]].

* Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Bio of a Space Tyrant'': the Earth nations have colonized the Solar System - North and South Jupiter were colonised by N/S America respectively; Mars = Arabs; Saturn = Asia; Uranus = Europe etc. They develop [[SubspaceOrHyperspace Hyperspace]] travel and plan to [[SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay colonize the Galaxy by constellations]]: USA get the Eagle, Russia gets the Bear, China gets the Dragon.

*** The Dals, a very strange ProudScholarRace of {{seer}}s, have an obsession with star-gazing and ancient history of incredible advancement (that is ignored/disbelieved by the other races) that's reminiscent of ancient Babylonians, mixed in with the Jews (having had a metaphorical sign saying 'kick me' hung around their necks for most of the backstory).

*** The [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny People's Republic of Haven]] is France in the late 1700s. It starts off as essentially pre-revolutionary France with a veneer of democracy. Then it undergoes its own revolution, run by a Committee of Public Safety, which is led by a man named Rob S. Pierre. And its capital city is named Nouveau Paris. Eventually, [[spoiler:it becomes a genuine democracy modeled on the modern United States, and drops the "People's" part from its name]].

*** The Asturians are closer to the displaced Anglo-Saxon/Aragonese/Catalonian nobility, and speak much more contemporary language. They're also peerless longbowmen, prone to guerrilla warfare and/or petty banditry in the style of Robin Hood. However, they're NotSoDifferent from the Mimbrates, particularly in [[HonourBeforeReason their obsession with honour]] and their treatment of their serfs (i.e. barely recognising that they're human).

** The Angaraks are initially stereotyped as AlwaysChaoticEvil, though it transpires that they're mostly NotSoDifferent and have the misfortune to have had [[MadGod Torak]] [[GodOfEvil as their god]], with an active and magically powered hereditary priesthood, the Grolims, that indulges in regular human sacrifice.

** Naemenor, Tolkien's fantasy version of Atlantis, is not quite Ancient Egypt, but Adunaic again mirrors Semitic languages in its general structure, and their advanced culture and later obsession with deathlessness, embalming, and grand sepulchral architecture makes it hard not to think of that. They even had a valley of rock-hewn burial chambers for their Kings and Queens, and names like Ar-Pharazôn do the rest to cement that association.
* The men of Far Harad in the far south were described as "black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues"; that is also where the mumakil (elephants ) were captured and trained.

** The Southrons are dark-skinned horsemen and elephant-riders coming from regions in the south, while the Easterlings ride great wains or wagons. They do not correspond to any specific real culture and are meant to echo generalized outside threats to early medieval Europe, like the Huns.
*** Some [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]]-inspired fantasies portray dwarves as Scotsmen, though Tolkien himself did not. The closest Tolkien came to this was noting the dwarves tended to have harsh, guttural accents when speaking the common tongue. However, Tolkien's dwarvish language uses triconsonantal roots just like Semitic languages such as Hebrew or Arabic, and in fact he explicitly tried to portray some aspects of the Jewish diaspora and culture in a fantasy setting. However, all Dwarvish names are Old Norse. (Though those are not the "real" names in Dwarvish, which are never revealed to non-Dwarves, but rather Norse names from the human cultures around the Lonely Mountain.) Those in ''The Hobbit'' are taken from the names of the first dwarves ever created, in ''Literature/PoeticEdda''.

** Númenor, Tolkien's fantasy version of Atlantis, is not quite Ancient Egypt, but Adûnaic again mirrors Semitic languages in its general structure, and their advanced culture and later obsession with deathlessness, embalming, and grand sepulchral architecture makes it hard not to think of that. They even had a valley of rock-hewn burial chambers for their Kings and Queens, and names like Ar-Pharazôn do the rest to cement that association.

* Calormen, in Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', is Middle Eastern with Ottoman/Turkish influences, with a specific takeoff on the ancient Carthaginian religion as a plot point. Notably, the Calormenes are explicitly pagan, not monotheists -- their religion is ''not'' a fantasy counterpart of Islam. (The Calormens are descendants of European pirates-turned-castaways and their Polynesian wives/concubines/sex slaves, but how long they have been in Narnia is never stated.) The FilmOfTheBook of ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'' plays up the Telmarines' difference from the Narnians by making Telmarine culture clearly influenced by that of medieval Spain, apparently supposing the original pirates to have been Spanish. Also invoking images of Conquistadors that are familiar to US viewers but wouldn't have occurred to Lewis or his English readers.

* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/{{Chalion}}'' universe does this: Chalion, Ibra, and Brajar make up the analogue of the Iberian peninsula, Darthaca is France, the Weald is the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire (and used to be Gaul, or at least somewhere with Celts), Cedonia is Greece, and Roknar plays the role of North Africa (despite being an archipelago). To conceal this slightly, everything is set in the Southern hemisphere, with all the geography flipped north-for-south. Bujold even manages to have the Roknari's religion differ from that of the Chalionese despite this being a world with {{Physical God}}s.
** Well it's a heresy actually, although from the Roknari's point of view it's the other way around. The Roknari are actually more like traditional Christians in that the Bastard is their Satan while the other nations see him as performing a useful purpose.

*** The Aing-Tii are Tibetan Buddhists, with their idea that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality good and evil are just two extremes on a rainbow]].
*** The Massassi are Mayans.
*** Corellians are based on Americans, though their disproportionately powerful SpaceNavy has vaguely British trappings as well.
*** Coruscant is based on the Biblical Tower of Babel. It's even Vongformed rapidly because of the sheer blasphemy (in the Vong religion).

** The Toydarians especially Watto are often accused of being a GreedyJew stereotype.
** The Tuskens are loosely based on Bedouins and Native Americans, though they're given a more fleshed out culture than that seen in the films.
** The Neimoidians are Japanese.
** The Nightsisters of Dathomir are based on the Lamanites of Literature/TheBookOfMormon, with matriarchy thrown in.
** The Galactic Empire was originally SpaceRomans mixed with ThoseWackyNazis.
** The Nagai are based on the Japanese.
** The Nelvaan are {{Magical Native American}}s. Plains and Southwestern. Anakin even goes on a VisionQuest.
** The Yuuzhan Vong are based on the Aztecs. Hence, the self-inflicted BodyHorror. They have shades of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan as well, though, in terms of their [[MartyrdomCulture veneration of martyred heroes]] and occasional use of [[SuicideAttack kamikaze tactics]] in losing battles. Their status as TheHorde to the galaxy as well as killing a good chunk of the galactic population and clan-based structure make them akin to the Mongol Empire.

** The Aing-Tii are Tibetan Buddhists, with their idea that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality good and evil are just two extremes on a rainbow]].
** The Jedi were originally partially Jewish. The [[LukeNounverber Starkiller]] trusted the secrets of the Force to his 12 children. Over time, one tribe of Jedi fell in with the Sith pirates, and the Sith now kill Jedi. Also, they had a prophecy about a savior (Anakin) and when they didn't believe in him, he went and found someone who would believe in him (Palpatine) and killed them all off. Also, being a Jedi is punishable by death under [[ThoseWackyNazis the Empire]].
** The Massassi are Mayans.
** Corellians are based on Americans, though their disproportionately powerful SpaceNavy has vaguely British trappings as well.
** Coruscant is based on the Biblical Tower of Babel. It's even Vongformed rapidly because of the sheer blasphemy (in the Vong religion).

** Mandalorians waffle between Celts and Maoris, depending on how loyal to the films they are being.

** Watto is often accused of being a GreedyJew stereotype.

** Neimoidians are Japanese.
** The witches of Dathomir are based on the Lamanites of Literature/TheBookOfMormon, with matriarchy thrown in.
** TheEmpire was originally SpaceRomans mixed with ThoseWackyNazis.

** The Yuuzhan Vong are based on the Aztecs. Hence, the self-inflicted BodyHorror. They have shades of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan as well, though, in terms of their [[MartyrdomCulture veneration of martyred heroes]] and occasional use of [[SuicideAttack kamikaze tactics]] in losing battles.

*** Ancient Sith are [[AncientEgypt Old Egyptian]]? As this [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:LudoVsSadow.jpg pic]] shows.
*** Some instances, such as ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' has then take on some Cold War trappings, with the Sith in a vaguely Soviet-esque role.
** The Aing-Tii are Tibetan-like, with their idea that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality good and evil are just two extremes on a rainbow]].

** Glycon, a theocracy that fields [[SlaveMooks slave soldiers]], bears some similarity to the Egyptian Mamluk Sultunate. [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons With dragons.]]

** The Nyissans are

** The ''Literature/WarBetweenTheProvinces'' is a FantasyCounterpartConflict of the American Civil War, with geography flipped like in the ''Darkness'' series: the gray-clad Southron army fights to reunify Detina and free the serfs, while the blue-clad Northrons want to secede and keep serfdom around. The Mother Kingdom is Britain, which also controls the Sapphire Isle (Ireland), and there's a Russia-equivalent called Sorb.

* ''Literature/TheSilerianTrilogy'': Sileria has many similarities to Sicily-feuding clans, powerful crime syndicates which extort and murder people, plus a succession of foreign rulers. Valdania, meanwhile, has a resemblance to the Roman Empire, and it also has the same geographic relation of mainland Italy to Sicily, plus it's religion may be a vague Christian counterpart-it apparently involves "the Three" with a "sign of the Three" and believers say "Three into one!" On the other hand, its priests sacrifice goats. The Moorlands mirror Britain somewhat. Kinto, however, does not appear to have a counterpart, though it has vague similarities with some East Asian nations.

* ''Literature/TalionRevenant'': Some of the Uls live like stereotypical UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}, traveling around in colorful caravans and telling fortunes (although they aren't viewed or portrayed as thieves/child kidnappers). Temur has some resemblance to Afghanistan, with a tribal and clan-based society with a central government which has limited power beyond the city which is its capitol, plus the women [[NoWomansLand having low status]]. The Shattered Empire going by its description also was like the Roman Empire, the provinces becoming independent states after it fell apart, but many vestiges still exist from that era into the present (such as the Talions, who had been established by one of the Emperors but live on after). Sensoth is not actually shown, but it seems to be the equivalent of a medieval African kingdom from what's seen of its people.

** The Eskarans are a combination of the United States during the manifest destiny period of aggressive westward expansion across the North American continent, and the UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire. The Eskarne Theocratic Commonwealth has conquered and colonized land, forcibly converting people to the worship of Dalan. While their religion includes the heavily regulated use of magic (in this universe, either innate "Talents" or taught thaumaturgy), the general culture is very Protestant, evoking white American Christian fundamentalism (specifically Presbyterianism, Baptism and Methodism). The Eskarn-Iavaian dynamic ends up both subverting and reifying tropes like InjunCountry and BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins, in that while certain characteristics are present, the author (a white American man) is intentionally trying to illustrate the evils of colonialism and expansionism.

** The paperback edition of ''Literature/TheLastContinent'' has it as a foreword, adding that it "just happens to be, here and there, a bit... australian" [sic]