History Main / CultureChopSuey

* ''LightNovel/{{No 6}}'' is a bit tricky. It's unknown what culture the titular city, No. 6, is, but the ghetto shows remnants of Chinese signs while a character has a collection of what was left of Shakespeare while a few characters have Japanese names (Shion, Rikiga) and at the same time odd names (Safu). Did we mention this takes place in a dystopian future where a bad enough world war destroyed all the superpower nations?

** In the ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'' setting, the Flan people are primarily based off of North American indigenous cultures, with some sub-Saharan African and even Celtic elements thrown in. Furthermore, the Flan once ruled a magically advanced empire that spanned much of Eastern Oerik.

** The seventh generation is essentially based in Poké!Hawai'i, so HulaAndLuaus abound.

* In ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'', Mars is shown to be a mix of (Predominantly) German and Japanese culture, with in-universe rumors saying that the first Martian colonies were built by Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. While the German influence is fairly obvious with German names for people and concepts, such as Alita's martial arts style Panzer Kunst, the Japanese influence is less obvious and is mostly seen in the names of certain characters, such as [[spoiler:Altita herself, who's real name is the very Japanese Yoko]]. There also tends to be a vaguely Middle Eastern cultural influence on Mars as well, with certain members of the government wearing Middle Eastern i[nfluenced dress.

* ''WesternAnimation/Aladdin'' is set in the kingdom of [[ArabianNightsDays Agrabah]], which is an amalgam of Arabic, Persian, North African, Turkish and Indian cultures.

* SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' jumps seventy years forward, where the established FarEast blending now adds elements of TheRoaringTwenties and TheGreatDepression to its cultural milieu, with [[CityOfAdventure Republic City]] itself as a blend of UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}}, UsefulNotes/HongKong, [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity Manhattan]], and UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}}.

* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}''s Empire of the Isles is an archipelago representing Europe split between the 15th and 19th centuries with plenty of {{Steampunk}}, with the English-based Gristol as the center of power. Serkonos, homeland of the first game's protagonist Corvo Attano, is established to be a counterpart for Greece and Italy and perhaps a bit of Spain. [[VideoGame/Dishonored2 The sequel]] keeps this, but decides to double down on the "tropical colony" theme by including aspects of Roman Egypt (a direct reference to the scholars of Alexandria) and a lot of UsefulNotes/TheRaj (guard uniforms and most notably a terrible disease spread by aggressive mosquito-things like malaria).

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Numenor incorporates many cultural elements from different civilizations across the Mediterranean. Tolkien based Númenor on Plato's legends about Atlantis, what with them both being island-based, superior civilizations. The city-state has Venetian and Greco-Roman aesthetics, like paved roads, stuccoed buildings painted with blue accents, mosaics, and gilded domes. The temples and other large buildings are Byzantine in design, clearly inspired by the Hagia Sophia. Them being a maritime suggests the Phoenicians, who were amongst the first people to master sailing. The rocky corridor that leads to the city and the city itself is filled with massive statues carved in rock, in Egyptian fashion.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Numenor incorporates many cultural elements from different civilizations across the Mediterranean. Tolkien based Númenor on Plato's legends about Atlantis, what with them both being island-based, superior civilizations. The city-state has Greco-Roman aesthetics, like paved roads, stuccoed buildings painted with blue accents, mosaics, and gilded domes. The temples and other large buildings are Byzantine in design, clearly inspired by the Hagia Sophia. Them being a maritime suggests the Phoenicians, who were amongst the first people to master sailing. The rocky corridor that leads to the city and the city itself is filled with massive statues carved in rock, in Egyptian fashion.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': In ''Best Wishes'', it shows the residents of Unova eating rice balls and other Japanese dishes as if it were the norm, though there are Western dishes as well. In the games that the anime is based on, Unova is based around New York City and parts of New Jersey.

* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'': The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Methuselah]] are an amalgamation of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires if ruled by vampires. Their capital is called Byzantium, their language is a mix of Russian and Romanian (fitting for the origin place of vampire myth), their noblemen are referred to as ''boyars'' like Eastern European nobles, and they dress like Turks. The backstory also references Medieval Islamic conquests since they initially attempted to invade Europe before being purged by the Church, with the last of their presence being stamped out with the fall of the vampire kingdom of Granada, mirroring the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada_War same event]] that concluded the UsefulNotes/SpanishReconquista.

** Grayson is a funny mix of Idaho with [[RecycledInSPACE Space Mormons]], and just enough of [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Meiji Japan]] for it to be noticeable.

* The Klingons as portrayed from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' onward combine about 50% each of Viking and Japanese Samurai culture. Essentially, they are Viking Samurai InSpace. With [[RubberForeheadAliens forehead ridges]]. (In the original series they appeared to be about 50/50 Russian and Persian stereotypes, although there was little to no cultural exploration at all.)

* Though you'd see a handful of straight-up [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Fantasy Counterpart Cultures]] in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Contemporary Equestria blends Ancient Greece with a considerable helping of both Medieval and continental Europe, then adds some 19th century Britain, a bit of TheWildWest, and just a pinch of [[TheEighties the 1980's]] - all of it wrapped up in contemporary Midwestern North America.

* In ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'', Mars is shown to be a mix of (Predominantly) German and Japanese culture, with in-universe rumors saying that the first Martian colonies were built by Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. While the German influence is fairly obvious with German names for people and concepts, such as Alita's martial arts style Panzer Kunst, the Japanese influence is less obvious and is mostly seen in the names of certain characters, such as [[spoiler:Altita herself, who's real name is the very Japanese Yoko]]. There also tends to be a vaguely Middle Eastern cultural influence on Mars as well, with certain members of the government wearing Middle Eastern influenced dress.

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

* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'': [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist The manga]] 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. An early episode of [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] has Edward eagerly eating several bowls offered to him during an interrogation by the local police. While names in Amestris are mostly English with a smattering of other European languages (the author shows herself in a supplementary comic choosing names at random out of a dictionary of European names), there are Japanese ones mixed in like Izumi. In both versions, 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 (an Eastern island). The manga has an Asian counterpart in Xing, which is a China counterpart with some Japan mixed in.

* ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'': Koriko, the main setting of the film, is a coastal city that clearly takes influence from several European cities but doesn't appear to be any one in particular. A lot of the architecture is based on real locations in Sweden (specifically Stockholm and Visby), but the signage uses an eclectic mixture of languages in a ForeignLookingFont that resembles blackletter. Aside from that, Osono's bakery is based upon a real bakery in Tasmania; all of the vehicles are LHD, which is the standard in Sweden; there's a UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco-style cable car system;, and the names of the inhabitants are [[MeltingPotNomenclature a mix between Japanese and European]].

*** The [[CatFolk Khajiit]]: Their caravans, nomadic lifestyle, and propensity for stealth recall medieval views of the Roma. Like the Redguards, they also take a lot of cues from various "desert" cultures, including north African and Middle-Eastern cultures. Their cultural ties to the drug Moon Sugar are also reminiscent of the Chinese Opium culture.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The Craftworld Aeldari combine influences from many world cultures with typical Tolkienesque elfishness. Take your pick honestly: Biel-tan (a strict ProudWarriorRaceGuy Craftworld with lots of Aspect Warriors) plays up the feudal-era Japan angle of the race's design, Saim-hann (a craftworld of tribal {{Badass Biker}}s) plays up their Celtic influences, and Iyanden (which relies largely on [[{{Golem}} semi-undead Wraith constructs]] to bolster its diminished military) is almost Hebrew in character.

** The Agatean Empire, as featured in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', is itself a mixture of various FantasyCounterpartCulture 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 Literature/{{Discworld}} we're talking about, [[RuleOfFunny Funny reigns supreme]]. Later writings added Thai and Korean elements to the stew. ([=BhangBhangDuc=] and the fermented cabbage condiment "Grimchi"). There's also the abovementioned McSweeneys, who are a LampshadeHanging of this trope and a joke about how any clan of sufficiently successful murderous bastards can eventually become a respected part of a country's national identity.

** The Agatean Empire, as featured in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', is itself a mixture of various FantasyCounterpartCulture 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 Literature/{{Discworld}} we're talking about, [[RuleOfFunny Funny reigns supreme]]. Later writings added Thai and Korean elements to the stew. ([=BhangBhangDuc=] and the fermented cabbage condiment "Grimchi")

As with an AnachronismStew, the reasons for this can vary from case to case. It can stem from the writer's ignorance on the subject: they simply might not realize that these cultural elements are alien to one another. Likewise, it can be a case of CreatorProvincialism, 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 ArtisticLicense, blurring the lines for unique WorldBuilding, or just playing to the RuleOfCool or RuleOfFunny.

* The whole ''VideoGame/IronGrip'' series lives and breathes this trope, in addition to being chock-full of PunkPunk SchizoTech. Example: The Fahrongi are a nation that has many similarities to the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire, the Byzantine empire ''and Napoleonic France''. As if this wasn't enough, they have an UpToEleven CrystalDragonJesus ChurchMilitant with KnightTemplar attitudes and [[AcheyScars medieval-esque flagellants...]] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything 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_Church Byzantine emperor]] and an Islamic calif.

* ''Film/OnlyGodForgives'':
-->'''Creator/NathanRabin''': "It’s a contemporary neo-noir (although in this case, the word “noir” [[TooBleakStoppedCaring somehow doesn’t seem dark enough]]) written and directed by [[Creator/NicolasWindingRefn a Danish filmmaker]] with [[Creator/RyanGosling an American star]], a British female lead[[note]] Kristin Scott Thomas [[/note]], and a Bangkok setting, resulting in a film without a country or a home about protagonists who are outsiders wherever they go."

[[folder:Film - Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RayaAndTheLastDragon'': Kumandra is based on various Southeast Asian cultures, including that of the Philippines, the Indochina region, and so on.
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** The world is basically a mashup of Japan and the US (or at least Japan's view of the US). Not surprising, given the fact that many of the original employees on the first Pokémon game had worked on ''Videogame/EarthBound'', which was a similar mash-up, albeit a bit more US-centric than Pokemon's world (which is more like Japan with some American flairs and cues added in).