History Main / AllNationsAreSuperpowers

** Wakanda, a tiny African nation long hidden from the world, has had the cure for cancer for centuries and possesses the world's major source of [[{{Unobtanium}} Vibranium]]. Currently it is ruled by EmperorScientist and all-round BadAss King T'Challa, aka the ComicBook/BlackPanther, who serves on the world's premiere superhero team, and his [[PowerOfTheStorm weather manipulating]] Queen Storm of the ComicBook/{{X-Men}}, and has favourable ties to the ComicBook/FantasticFour. This has changed in later years when Doctor Doom stole the stores of Vibranium and an attempt to retrieve it with the aid of the Fantastic Four, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, Colossus, Nightcrawler and SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} forced T'Challa to render a good 95% of it inert, followed by the events of ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'', which saw Wakanda ravaged by a Phoenix Force-empowered [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] and T'Challa annulling his marriage to Storm

*** One story hinged upon the fact that the only reason the US didn't officially recognise Latveria as a fellow superpower was Latveria's lack of ''political'' influence -- both the US and the USSR (the story was written during the Cold War) were massive [[TheFederation Federations]] with lots of alliances on their side and a stake on the UN pie, while Latveria was a single independent nation about the size of Singapore, albeit a single micronation capable of wiping out both federations from the map. Then Doom arranged things to establish an alliance between [[SubMariner Atlantis]] and Latveria...
** The tiny African island nation of Genosha ''used to'' be this, at least under {{Magneto}}, due to it being an open haven for the [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} mutant species]], meaning the vast majority of its population was comprised of superhumans, a bit of LaserGuidedKarma given that Genosha was formerly home to the worlds largest market for [[FantasticRacism mutant slavery]], and bear in mind Magneto obtained the island because he managed to single-handidly take the entire planets magnetic field hostage and could have caused global catastrophe ''on his own''- the world ''offered it to him''. We say ''used to'' because another ComicBook/{{X-Men}} villain, Xavier's AxCrazy EvilTwin Cassandra Nova, sent an army of Sentinel's to massacre 99.9% of the population, and it is currently an apocalyptic wasteland not really any good to anyone.

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' has the known galaxy divided between TheEmpire and TheAlliance. Two minor factions of note ''do'' exist, but even then, one (Fezzan) is the planetary equivalent of a MerchantCity that can punch above its weight class on defense thanks to its stranglehold on the galactic economy, and the other (the Earth Cult) is an NGOSuperpower that specializes in causing chaos through infiltration, sabotage, and assassination.

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' has the known galaxy divided between TheEmpire and TheAlliance.

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, [[LawOfConservationOfDetail there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved,]] and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but many other countries had a stake in the outcome (e.g. nations along the Iron Curtain, and places like Latin America and Southeast Asia where communism was making headway). If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheFederation or TheAlliance or TheRepublic, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't sovereign nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* In the [[NintendoWars Advance Wars]] games there are four nations who live in relative peace with each other (Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, Green Earth). The presence of an apparently space-faring Black Hole nation disrupts this balance of power.

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, [[LawOfConservationOfDetail there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved,]] and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but many other countries had a stake in the outcome (e.g. nations along the Iron Curtain, and places like Latin America and Southeast Asia where communism was making headway). If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheFederation or TheAlliance or TheRepublic, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't sovereign nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* ''LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'' has the known galaxy divided between TheEmpire and TheAlliance.

* ''LastExile'' also has two Superpower factions.

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved, and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but many other countries had a stake in the outcome (e.g. nations along the Iron Curtain, and places like Latin America and Southeast Asia where communism was making headway). If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheFederation or TheAlliance or TheRepublic, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't sovereign nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'': World map is split between several FunWithAcronyms-named superpowers ("Pronounced as a word" type: S.M.A.S.H., H.A.M.M.E.R., etc.; what letters stand for -- is not explained). They have separate "heat" (grudge gauges), each has its own superagent, and part of villainous ascension involves sowing enough dissent for agents of different superpowers to start attacking each other on sight. Hierarchy of power is present, with geographically-based in Africa and South America superpower being the weakest and spoof Britain with its colonies being the strongest (complete with the peskiest, JamesBond-ripoff superagent).

* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'': World map is split between several FunWithAcronyms-named superpowers ("Pronounced as a word" type: S.M.A.S.H., H.A.M.M.E.R., etc.; what letters stand for -- is not explained). They have separate "heat" (grudge gauges), each has its own superagent, and part of villainous ascension involves sowing enough dissent for agents of different superpowers to start attacking each other on sight. Hierarchy of power is present, with geographically-based in Africa and South America superpower being the weakest and spoof Britain with its colonies being the strongest (complete with the peskiest, JamesBond-ripoff superhero).

*** Magneto seems somewhat fond of this- he also created Avalon / Asteroid M, an [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin asteroid]] above Earth that also was offered as a haven for the mutant race, this time backed up by Magneto stealing a whole bunch of nuclear weapons in case the world objected. Once again, this project failed due to the actions of another evil mutant.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', of course. All the world belongs to the three "superstates," Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. All three are evil, and there's nothing to choose between them politically. Given that Oceania very rapidly switches which one it's fighting against and which one it's allied with, and the similarities between the supposedly opposing political systems, it is implied that the other two may not exist, or at the very least that the war between them is a sham. With the control that Oceania's government has over information, it's impossible to say one way or the other.
* The post-UsefulNotes/WW2 world in Sterling's [[Literature/TheDraka Draka-verse]] is divided between the American-led [[TheAlliance Alliance for Democracy]] and [[TheEmpire the Domination of Draka]].
* While not a political example, in SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/TheStarsAreColdToys'', it's off-handedly mentioned that, after the invention of the [[FasterThanLightTravel jumper]], most nations had working space programs. Just check how much even a single unmanned launch costs, not to mention all the R&D, equipment, and trained personnel that goes into a functional space program, and you'll know how ridiculous that sounds.

** Wakanda, a tiny African nation long hidden from the world, has had the cure for cancer for centuries and possesses the world's major source of [[{{Unobtanium}} Vibranium]]. Currently it is ruled by EmperorScientist and all-round BadAss King T'Challa, aka the ComicBook/BlackPanther, who serves on the world's premiere superhero team, and his [[PowerOfTheStorm weather manipulating]] Queen Storm of the ComicBook/{{X-Men}}, and has favourable ties to the ComicBook/FantasticFour.

* The post-WW2 world in Sterling's [[Literature/TheDraka Draka-verse]] is divided between the American-led [[TheAlliance Alliance for Democracy]] and [[TheEmpire the Domination of Draka]].

* The post-WW2 world in Sterling's [[TheDraka Draka-verse]] is divided between the American-led [[TheAlliance Alliance for Democracy]] and [[TheEmpire the Domination of Draka]].

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has the world mostly divided up Literature/NineteenEightyFour-style between the EU, the Chinese Federation and the Holy Britannian Empire.
** Except Australia, for some reason...

** Wakanda, a tiny African nation long hidden from the world, has had the cure for cancer for centuries and possesses the world's major source of [[{{Unobtanium}} Vibranium]]. Currently it is ruled by EmperorScientist and all-round BadAss King T'Challa, aka the BlackPanther, who serves on the world's premiere superhero team, and his [[PowerOfTheStorm weather manipulating]] Queen Storm of the ComicBook/{{X-Men}}, and has favourable ties to the ComicBook/FantasticFour.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has the world mostly divided up between the EU, the Chinese Federation and the Holy Brittanian Empire.

* In the MarvelUniverse, several tiny fictional nations (as in, ''really'' tiny) are considered superpowers due to their extremely advanced science and technology and resident superhero / villain heads of state. Other nations do not miss out either and several have their own secret research programmes designed to [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke create or upgrade superhumans]] and their own resident team of superheroes.

** The tiny East European country of Latveria goes even further- it is considered a superpower pretty much because of the fact it is ruled by DrDoom, an even greater EmperorScientist than T'Challa, as well as a SorcerousOverlord, which is so advanced that crime, poverty and disease have been totally eradicated and the country is policed by super-advanced robots of Doom's own design. It is so ridiculously advanced that [=VR=] simulations of a hypothetical war between Latveria and the United States- which bear in mind is even more advanced than its real-life counterpart thanks to a monopoly on superhumans amongst other things- has Lateria win ''every single time''. This might have something to do with the fact that Doom has succesfully conquered the world already. Thrice (at least). And he surrendered it out of ''boredom''.
*** One story hinged upon the fact that the only reason the US didn't officially recognise Latveria as a fellow superpower was Latveria's lack of ''political'' influence -- both the US and the USSR (the story was written during the Cold War) had significant alliances across the world, while Latveria was a single nation, albeit a single nation capable of wiping the US from the map. Then Doom arranged things to establish an alliance between [[SubMariner Atlantis]] and Latveria...

[[folder: Anime ]]

* Most iterations of ''Anime/{{Gundam}}'', sometimes there are smaller neutral powers involved, but even they tend to be a collection of neutral powers allied together.

** The tiny African island nation of Genosha ''used to'' be this, at least under {{Magneto}}, due to it being an open haven for the [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} mutant species]], meaning the vast majority of its population was comprised of superhumans, a bit of LaserGuidedKarma given that Genosha was formerly home to the worlds largest market for [[FantasticRacism mutant slavery]], and bear in mind Magneto obtained the island because he managed to single-handidly take the entire planets magnetic field hostage and could have caused global catastrophe ''on his own''- the world ''offered it to him''. We say ''used to'' because another XMen villain, Xavier's AxCrazy EvilTwin Cassandra Nova, sent an army of Sentinel's to massacre 99.9% of the population, and it is currently an apocalyptic wasteland not really any good to anyone.

** The tiny African island nation of Genosha ''used to'' be this, at least under {{Magneto}}, due to it being an open haven for the [[XMen mutant species]], meaning the vast majority of its population was comprised of superhumans, a bit of LaserGuidedKarma given that Genosha was formerly home to the worlds largest market for [[FantasticRacism mutant slavery]], and bear in mind Magneto obtained the island because he managed to single-handidly take the entire planets magnetic field hostage and could have caused global catastrophe ''on his own''- the world ''offered it to him''. We say ''used to'' because another XMen villain, Xavier's AxCrazy EvilTwin Cassandra Nova, sent an army of Sentinel's to massacre 99.9% of the population, and it is currently an apocalyptic wasteland not really any good to anyone.

** Wakanda, a tiny African nation long hidden from the world, has had the cure for cancer for centuries and possesses the world's major source of [[{{Unobtanium}} Vibranium]]. Currently it is ruled by EmperorScientist and all-round BadAss King T'Challa, aka the BlackPanther, who serves on the world's premiere superhero team, and his [[PowerOfTheStorm weather manipulating]] Queen Storm of the XMen, and has favourable ties to the ComicBook/FantasticFour.

* In the earlier seasons of ''Series/StargateSG1'', only the most powerful countries are ever shown to know about the Stargate program. Russia learns about the American program first, soon followed by France, Britain, and China. Those five nations happen to be the five permanent members of the UnitedNations Security Council, but they appear to learn about (or suspect) the program independently. By the time of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the Atlantis outpost is found in Antarctica, and all 46 signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty learn the secret. The Atlantis Expedition is thus a truly multinational one, with representatives from nations such as the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Japan.

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* In the earlier seasons of ''StargateSG1'', only the most powerful countries are ever shown to know about the Stargate program. Russia learns about the American program first, soon followed by France, Britain, and China. Those five nations happen to be the five permanent members of the UnitedNations Security Council, but they appear to learn about (or suspect) the program independently. By the time of ''StargateAtlantis'', the Atlantis outpost is found in Antarctica, and all 46 signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty learn the secret. The Atlantis Expedition is thus a truly multinational one, with representatives from nations such as the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Japan.