History FantasyCounterpartCulture / Literature

** Olorum is based on a mix of {{Ancient Africa}}n kingdoms such as Kush.

* Nyumbani, the setting for ''Literature/{{Imaro}}'', is full of counterparts to tribes, kingdoms, and empires of AncientAfrica. Most notably, the [[ProudWarriorRace Ilyassai]] people that the hero hails from is based on the Maasai.

** ''Literature/TheSarantineMosaic'': the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Justinian, with some scenes set in an equivalent of the Sassanid Empire just prior to the rise of Islam
*** The sequel novel, 'Literature/ChildrenOfEarthAndSky'', contains thinly-veiled versions of the Republic of Venice, Ragusa, the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire shortly after the fall of Constantinople.
*** In the same universe, ''Literature/TheLionsOfAlRassan'': Spain during the ''reconquista''
*** The FantasyWorldMap also shows the outlying nations of "Anglycyn" and "[[GloriousMotherRussia Moskav]]"
** ''Literature/TheLastLightOfTheSun'': Denmark and Britain, around the reign of Canute

*** ''River of Stars'': China during the Song dynasty.

* ''Literature/TalesOfTheMagicLand'': the culture of the Miners/Ore-Diggers is based on (the Soviet idea of) Renaissance Europe, seen in their overly-elaborate monarchical system and half-Hispanic, half-Italian names. The "canon" illustrations, developed with the author's help, reflect that in their outfits.

* The shared universe of Leigh Bardugo's ''Literature/TheGrishaTrilogy'' and ''Literature/SixOfCrows'' features several. The most prominent is Ravka, based on Czarist Russia. There's also Shu Han, based on China, Fjerda, based on the Nordic countries, Kerch, based on the Netherlands, and the Wandering Isle, based on Ireland. The Suli people are equivalent to Romani. Novyi Zem is harder to pin down, and the never-visited Southern Colonies are used only as a generic "exotic" location.

** The Nadir, especially their portrayal in ''Literature/{{Legend}}'', are basically Mongols and their leader a Genghis Khan {{Expy}}.

** Skellige Islanders are shameless Viking expies.
** Nilfgaard seems to be some cross of AncientRome (expanding city-state, speaks language of scholars as native language, calls army units "legions"), [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn The Soviet Union]] (heavy use of secret police) and [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany the bad side of Germany]] (predilection for wearing black, sun-associated imagery, policies of ethnic and cultural purity, disdain for "degenerate" outsiders).
** The Elves seem to be inspired by ''something'', but the fandom is not sure whether it's the Celts conquered by Rome or Rome conquered by barbarians.

* ''Literature/BioOfASpaceTyrant'': The Earth nations have colonized the Solar System -- North and South Jupiter were colonised by N/S America respectively; Mars by Arab nations; Saturn by Asia; Uranus by 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.

** 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.
* It's also fun to go through Pierce's ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' series trying to determine what each culture is based on. For example; Imagine Tris as an English girl. Good luck imagining her habitual snark in anything other than an upper-class British accent. Emelan itself is probably based more on Italy than England, given its Mediterranean climate, focus on trade, and diverse population (Italy having handy trade routes with Africa and the Middle East).
*** The Yanjing Empire is definitely based on ancient China, and the Namorn Empire is based on Russia. Also, the city-state of Tharios has a government like AncientGrome, while the caste system there is based on Japan, with the ''yaskedasi'' (entertainers) similar to the geisha of Japan and the ''prathmuni'' based on the burakumin. The food and weather that Emelan and some of its neighboring countries have is Mediterranean, and Chammur is more Middle Eastern/Arabic.

* The Truwa tribe from Danish author Josefine Ottensen's ''Mira Trilogy'' are pretty blatant HighFantasy Jews. Mira's father is Truwa, and while you only become Truwa through the mother(Mira's mother is very middle-class and very white), Mira identifies strongly with the Truwa people. She eventually goes through a ceremony similar to a bat mitzvah, enraging her mother and putting her in grave danger, considering that the monarchy is planning to destroy all Truwa people (think the UsefulNotes/SpanishInquisition).

*** One fan theory is that this is because the series is set AfterTheEnd, and InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace.

** Solothurn is inspired by Slavic culture and mythology.
*** Their Grand Prince, for example, is called [[OurLichesAreDifferent Koschei the Deathless.]]

*** Also, given their monotheistic fanaticism and penchant for torture, Spain during the Inquisition.
** Tyris is a distant tropical continent that is currently being colonized by the Glyconese, who are enslaving its [[BarbarianTribe tribal]] inhabitants and forcing them to labor in plantations and mines. Sound familiar?

* Franchise/TheWitcher:

* John Norman's ''Literature/{{Gor}}'' series actually explains this in the {{backstory}}: the humans are literally descended from ancient people from various Earth cultures brought to the eponymous planet by aliens. Specifically the main human culture is based on Greco-Roman and there are knockoffs of Vikings, Inuit, Sub-Saharan Africans, Arabs, and others around the fringes.

** The Teetol are a tribal people who seem similar to Native Americans with their names, specifically Algonquin as their men have their heads shaved except for top knots while having a strong honor-bound warrior culture.

** The Dwarves of Discworld are a partially-unintentional neutral-to-positive version of SpaceJews (see that page for a more detailed exploration of how some Jewish fans may have realized it before Pratchett himself).

** 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]

* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Eriador is pretty clearly a parallel for Scotland, with one of its famed heroes being Bruce [=MacDonald=], who has the city Caer [=MacDonald=] named after him. Avon stands in for 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.

* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': Novaria is made up of twelve city states akin to Ancient Greece or Italy until 1870, having a shared culture, language and religion despite being separate, with different government systems. Shven is home to nomadic warriors modeled on the Mongols or similar cultures (although described as white). Fedirun contains another culture that resembles the Bedouin Arabs. Mulvan is an empire with a strict caste system which closely resembles ancient India's, although it has features of Persia and China as well. Iraz, dividing Mulvan from Fedirun, is a lot like the Byzantine Empire. Salimor, in the Eastern Ocean, resembles Japan and the Philippines. Kuromon is based on China and Japan, too.

** The world of the Literature/{{Sulien}} novels features fantasy parallels of a whole bunch of [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian legend]], with the island of Tir Tanager standing in for England and going on from there, down to Saint Patrick, Jesus and Arthur himself. Figuring out what the real world equivalents are is a great deal of the fun.

** Even New Zealand gets a look-in, recast as the Foggy Islands, and to add to the list of British Empire And Commonwealth Dominions, there are several vague but cumulatively telling hints here and there in the Discworld canon that point to there being a "South Africa" on the Disc, no doubt turned UpToEleven with biltong occupying the dwarf bread culinary niche and memories of a past war involving Welsh soldiers and a people not completely unlike Film/{{Zulu}}s (a Llamedosian regiment is said to have distinguished itself at a battle of "Lawkes' Drain"...)
** So far, the only distinctly recognizable part of the United States to have made it into Discworld is the Mississippi River (The River Vieux) and the Delta, serving as an all-purpose Deep South/Louisiana, with creole language and cuisine, riverboats, voodoo, and witch-queens overlying a superficially-Disney magic kingdom called Genua. UpToEleven, naturally.

* The eponymous nation of Jackals in Creator/StephenHunt's Literature/JackelianSeries is a SteamPunk version of Victorian England, although they have a much less reverent attitude towards their royalty (this is because they went through their version of the English Civil War - complete with "Isambard Kirkhill" and his "New Pattern Army", instead of Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army - only the democracy stuck), and the old druidic polytheism was also thrown out and replaced with the Circlist Church, which has Christian trappings but explicitly disavows all gods in favour of venerating an abstract cycle of life and reincarnation. Its hostile neighbor, Quatérshift, is a take on Revolutionary France with the Terror turned UpToEleven (its former monarch was even known as the Sun King). Cassarabia is an Arabian caliphate, with the worship of an immortal god-king replacing Islam and a love of bio-engineering. Catosia, with its warm climate and warring city-states, suggests a matriarchal Greece (and in particular Sparta), the Lashlites vaguely resemble Native Americans despite living in the equivalent of the Scottish highlands, Mechancia has the location and geography of Switzerland but is a kingdom inhabited by steam-powered robots with a religion that resembles Vodoun, Kikkosico, the vast and cold empire to the east of all those countries, seems to be Russia. The Southern Forests serve as DarkestAfrica, Concorzia and Isla Verde seem to be Latin America, the Polar Barbarians are probably Vikings, and the Black Oil Horde seem like DieselPunk Mongol hordes. [[spoiler: There's also an extinct {{Mayincatec}} civilization that's dominated by a ReligionOfEvil worshiping monsters that turns out not to be not so extinct after all]]

* Justified (or perhaps averted) in the ''{{Literature/Deverry}}'' novels by Katherine Kerr, where the main society isn't a counterpart to Gaul; they ''are'' Gauls, transported to a fantasy world to escape the "Rhwmanes".

* ''Literature/HarryPotter''[='=]s [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]] are pretty similar to Jews, and especially to their status in medieval European society; the often-mentioned [[NoodleIncident Goblin Rebellions]] seem to indicate that they were not always submissive to the human Wizarding government, and they are an oppressed but proud people who, denied magic (which means they are denied all common jobs in wizarding society), have become merchants and bankers.

* ''Literature/ThePrioryOfTheOrangeTree'' has fairly transparent ones. Inys is England as a matriarchy, Mentendon is the Netherlands, Seiiki is Japan, the Empire of the Twelve Lakes is China, and Hroth is Scandinavia.

* The titular nation of Jackals in Creator/StephenHunt's Literature/JackelianSeries is a SteamPunk version of Victorian England, although they have a much less reverent attitude towards their royalty (this is because they went through their version of the English Civil War, only the democracy stuck). It's hostile neighbor, Quatérshift, is a take on Revolutionary France with the Terror turned UpToEleven. Cassarabia is an Arabian caliphate, with the worship of an immortal god-king replacing Islam. Catosia, with its warm climate and warring city-states, suggests a matriarchal Greece (and in particular Sparta), the Lashlites vaguely resemble Native Americans despite living in the equivalent of the Scottish highlands, Mechancia has the location and geography of Switzerland but is a kingdom inhabited by robots, Kikkosico seems to be Russia. The Southern Forests serve as DarkestAfrica, Concorzia and Isla Verde seem to be Latin America, the Polar Barbarians are probably Vikings, and the Black Oil Horde seem like DieselPunk Mongol hordes. [[spoiler: There's also an extinct {{Mayincatec}} civilization that's dominated by a ReligionOfEvil worshiping monsters that turns out not to be not so extinct after all]]

*** 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''.

* 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 nation of Jackals in Creator/StephenHunt's ''The Court of the Air'' and ''The Kingdom Beyond the Waves'' is a SteamPunk version of Victorian England, although they have a much less reverent attitude towards their royalty (this is because they went through their version of the English Civil War, only the democracy stuck). It's hostile neighbor, Quatérshift, is a take on Revolutionary France with the Terror turned UpToEleven. Cassarabia is an Arabian caliphate, with the worship of an immortal god-king replacing Islam. Catosia, with its warm climate and warring city-states, suggests a matriarchal Greece (and in particular Sparta), the Lashlites vaguely resemble Native Americans despite living in the equivalent of the Scottish highlands, Mechancia is something like Switzerland but inhabited by robots, Kikkosico seems to be Russia. The Southern Forests serve as DarkestAfrica, Concorzia and Isla Verde seem to be Latin America, the Polar Barbarians are probably Vikings, and the Black Oil Horde seem like DieselPunk Mongol hordes. [[spoiler: There's also an extinct {{Mayincatec}} civilization that's dominated by a ReligionOfEvil worshiping monsters that turns out not to be not so extinct after all]]

* ''Literature/TalesOfMU'' is set in the Imperial Republic of Magisteria, which is America mixed with the Roman Empire in a DungeonPunk world. The island of Yokan is a version of Japan populated by LittleBitBeastly [[OurDemonsAreDifferent yokai]]. Members of [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent a totally original race of little people who live in cozy holes in shires]] have a rural English-type culture. The forest-dwelling elves have Ancient Greek names and [[YaoiGuys culture]]. The dwarves are basically German.