History Main / DaysOfFuturePast

*** The space dogfights were explicitely based on the real thing from WWI, the death star could arguably be compared to things like the impossibly big tank projects Germany had running during both world wars (the K-wagen during the first, the Maus, Ratte and Monster during the second).

* ''[[RuleOfThree Star Wars]]'', Mos Espa has the theme of a typical western town.

A setting in which societies with futuristic technology have reverted to patterns from earlier time periods (e.g., medieval Europe, feudal Japan, nineteenth-century America) while remaining at a futuristic technological level (e.g., starships, HumongousMecha, {{Energy Weapon}}s). This can be either the result of relating historical metaphors to a future society, or an excuse to do a period piece [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]].

* ''Film/DarkCity'', ''Film/{{Brazil}}'', and ''{{Gattaca}}'' all show a particular kind of this trope, focusing on a 20s and 30s FilmNoir look, inspired by GermanExpressionism.

** Arcturus Mengsk even wears ceremonial uniforms not unlike those from the time of the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar. He's basically clad as a fusion of Robert E. Lee and a Union officer.

Despite the title of this page, this trope has nothing to do with the 1967 Moody Blues album ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Future_Passed Days of Future Passed]]'' (where the title refers to, well, the ''present'', specifically the course of a single day in a person's life), nor the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' TimeTravel story arc 'ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast' (although in the original run of the X-Men story, some of the background details imply a degree of technological regression, such as horses pulling a bus, and that timeline had certainly regressed in terms of social equality into an extreme level of segregation and eugenics).

* Several societies in SMStirling[='=]s ''{{Emberverse}}'' fulfill this trope although it also has a foot in FantasyCounterpartCulture as supernatural elements creep in during the second trilogy. The Clan [=MacKenzie=] is based on a New Age interpretation (much against the liking of its founder) of a Celtic clan, while the Portland Protective Association was deliberately created by an SCA member as a copy of a medieval feudal society with trappings of [[LordOfTheRings Mordor]]. The oddest example are the Dúnedain Rangers founded by a mildly insane Tolkien fangirl who has a quasi-religious reverence for his books. There are also several "Indian" tribes many of whose members have, at best, only nominal amounts of First Nations ancestry and Norrheim, a Viking style nation founded by Asatru. Meanwhile over in England "Mad King Charlie" tries to turn what remains of his nation into something of a vast Rennaisance Faire, although his subjects draw the line at Morris dancing.

** Arcturus Mengsk even wears ceremonial uniforms not unlike those from the time of the AmericanCivilWar. He's basically clad as a fusion of Robert E. Lee and a Union officer.

** ''StarWars'' counts as all three. The western influence comes in location. Young Luke lives in the middle of a desert on a farm[[note]] A moisture farm, but a farm nonetheless.[[/note]], later meeting up with gunslinger Han Solo in a saloon-style cantina. The designs of the Jedi and Sith are heavily-samurai based, clothes resembling kimono and swords like katana. However, their behavior is medieval-based[[note]]As well as their monk-like robes.[[/note]] having a monastic lifestyle and parallels to wizards, especially in Palpatine and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jedi Code is a combination of both Bushido and Chivalry, both being similar to each other.

* On ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'' The Enterprise visited a few worlds that paralleled Earth's history. Strangely, each time they found a different explanation for that world's existence. In "Bread and Circuses" they encountered a world that mirrored a 20th Century [[HolyRomanEmpire Roman Empire]] with Christianity beginning to emerge (Kirk mentioned a theory of "parallel evolution"). "A Piece of The Action" had a planet re-enacting TheRoaringTwenties (previous Federation visitors left a book about Chicago mobs behind, and the locals made that their bible). "Patterns of Force" had a world modeled after NaziGermany (a historian tried to restore the world's collapsing society, hoping to avoid the evils of the Nazis, which went about as well as can be expected).

* The setting of the ''IronGrip'' games is a [[PlayingWithATrope mostly]] [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy feudal]] SteamPunk LowFantasy world, but it's generally hard to pigeon-hole one or even two single historical eras it resembles the most. In broad terms, it has a blend of culture, architecture, tech and overall atmosphere that wouldn't look out of place in eras as varied as TheMiddleAges, TheRenaissance, the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, the NapoleonicWars, VictorianBritain, TsaristRussia, WorldWarOne, WorldWarTwo, [[GenteelInterbellumSetting the decades between them...]] Not only CultureChopSuey, but full-blown [[AnachronismStew Era Chop Suey]] [[RuleOfCool as well]]...

* TruthInTelevision: Many social reformers have deliberately attempted to re-create the past (as they saw it). Notable examples include the HolyRomanEmpire (an attempt to restore the Roman Empire - "Kaiser" and "Czar"/"Tsar" are derivatives of "Caesar"), Imperial Japan after Perry's arrival (an attempt to recreate the older Imperial Japan), and the Amish (an ongoing attempt to recreate the "simple" world that existed before the decadent, technological 16th century).

* At any rate, NaziGermany and fascist Italy did try and emulate Rome ([[TheRomanEmpire Imperial]] rather than [[TheRomanRepublic Republican]]), in a fashion.

* CrossGen's MythArc spanned many series and worlds, some futuristic and some seemingly archaic, but all with humans. Meanwhile, back on Earth in ''Crux'', Geromi explains that humanity spread through the universe and colonized a lot of worlds. Which means that every other world we see, from steampunk-Victorian ''ComicBook/{{Ruse}}'' to medieval-fantasy ''ComicBook/{{Sojourn}}'' to feudal-Japanese ''The Path'' to Roaring-Twenties ''Mystic'' (to the ones that actually are sci-fi-ish), is actually in the distant future and was once colonized by spacefaring humans.

* ''ZombieRanch'' shows a world where, in the wake of a ZombieApocalypse, the reaches of the Southwestern U.S. seem to have reverted to an [[TheWildWest Old West]]/frontier model of society. Even the Safe Zones seem to have adopted variations on old-time fashion and accessories alongside more modern ones.

* The urban areas of the Mars of IanMcDonald's ''Desolation Road'' and ''Ares Express'' have a very Jazz Age feel to them, including the planet's most popular musician being [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Glenn Miller, who is inexplicably alive in the 28th century]] and [[{{Zeerust}} the music of the revolution being swing jazz, salsa and samba]].

* ''{{Nier}}'', which takes place 1,400 years after the ending in {{Drakengard}} in which Caim and Angelus end up in Shinjuku, takes place in a dying world where humanity is on the brink of extinction and society has since devolved mostly into a pseudo-medieval hellhole, though there are LostTechnology abound.

* The culture of Nostrilia, from the CordwainerSmith novel of the same name, takes its name, language and many of its customs from the North Australia of the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

* ''[[RuleOfThree Star Wars]]''

* ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' followed ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'' in making its futuristic society look like 1950s or early 60s USA in terms of fashion and product design. Officially, this was because ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' had used 2000s USA fashions and ''Caprica'' was set a few decades before.

* ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' followed ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'' in making its futuristic society look like 1950s or early 60s USA in terms of fashion and product design. Officially, this was because ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica'' had used 2000s USA fashions and ''Caprica'' was set a few decades before.

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* The setting of the ''IronGrip'' games is a [[PlayingWithATrope mostly]] [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy feudal]] SteamPunk LowFantasy world, but it's generally hard to pigeon-hole one or even two single historical eras it resembles the most. In broad terms, it has a blend of culture, architecture, tech and overall atmosphere that wouldn't look out of place in eras as varied as TheMiddleAges, TheRenaissance, the ThirtyYearsWar, the NapoleonicWars, VictorianBritain, TsaristRussia, WorldWarOne, WorldWarTwo, [[GenteelInterbellumSetting the decades between them...]] Not only CultureChopSuey, but full-blown [[AnachronismStew Era Chop Suey]] [[RuleOfCool as well]]...

* ''The DragonridersOfPern'' series by Anne [=MacCaffrey=]. Pern was settled in Earth's future, but reverted to a technologically inferior mostly feudal society, partly due to the intent of the colonists, and partly due to the scourge of Thread. Most people live in natural and man-made cave systems carved out of cliffs[[hottip:*:Thread can't consume non-living material, and they had neither the resources nor the infrastructure to build metal buildings]] called Holds. The Lord Holders are in charge of protecting and caring for the people under them, and the position is hereditary. Skilled workers live separately, in Crafthalls, similar to Guilds. The eponymous Dragonriders also live apart from Holders, and have their own system of governing themselves.

** ''StarWars'' counts as all three. The western influence comes in location. Young Luke lives in the middle of a desert on a farm[[hottip:*: A moisture farm, but a farm nonetheless.]], later meeting up with gunslinger Han Solo in a saloon-style cantina. The designs of the Jedi and Sith are heavily-samurai based, clothes resembling kimono and swords like katana. However, their behavior is medieval-based[[hottip:*:As well as their monk-like robes.]] having a monastic lifestyle and parallels to wizards, especially in Palpatine and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jedi Code is a combination of both Bushido and Chivalry, both being similar to each other.

* As with ''Firefly'', the setting of ''Serenity'' is basically just cowboys in space. With zombies.

* CrossGen's MythArc spanned many series and worlds, some futuristic and some seemingly archaic, but all with humans. Meanwhile, back on Earth in ''Crux'', Geromi explains that humanity spread through the universe and colonized a lot of worlds. Which means that every other world we see, from steampunk-Victorian ''{{Ruse}}'' to medieval-fantasy ''Sojourn'' to feudal-Japanese ''The Path'' to Roaring-Twenties ''Mystic'' (to the ones that actually are sci-fi-ish), is actually in the distant future and was once colonized by spacefaring humans.

*** Well, yes and no. The original Articles of Confederation were more-or-less openly based on the constitution of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (aka the Dutch Republic of the Seven United Provinces and--most tellingly--the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything United Provinces of the Netherlands]]). However, this didn't really work: the Netherlands is small and was dominated by a single member state--Holland, and particularly the city of Amsterdam--whereas the United States is large and no one state dominated the others. The 1787 Constitution was [[TheNotSecret not-so-secretly]] modeled on the British constitution as it stood at the time (as soon as the Framers had the brainstorm that the states serve the same role in a federation as the Lords did in Britain, things just kind of fell into place). However, there was a definite Roman influence in everything from the names of institutions (most conspicuously the Senate) and certain institutional arrangements: the presidential vs. the tribunal veto (although that one is also similar to British Royal Assent) and the elaborate system of checks and balances (as opposed to the British system, which any clear-eyed observer recognized basically made Parliament a collective absolute monarch) are the clearest examples.

* ''The DragonridersOfPern'' series by Anne [=MacCaffrey=]. Pern was settled in Earth's future, but reverted to a technologically inferior mostly feudal society, partly due to the intent of the colonists, and partly due to the scourge of Thread.

* Several societies in SMStirling[='=]s ''{{Emberverse}}'' fulfill this trope although it also has a foot in FantasyCounterpartCulture as supernatural elements creep in during the second trilogy. The Clan [=MacKenzie=] is based on a New Age interpretation (much against the liking of its founder) of a Celtic clan, while the Portland Protective Association was deliberately created by an SCA member as a copy of a medieval feudal society with trappings of [[LordOfTheRings Mordor]]. The oddest example are the Dunedain Rangers founded by a mildly insane Tolkien fangirl who has a quasi-religious reverence for his books. There are also several "Indian" tribes many of whose members have, at best, only nominal amounts of First Nations ancestry and Norrheim, a Viking style nation founded by Asatru. Meanwhile over in England "Mad King Charlie" tries to turn what remains of his nation into something of a vast Rennaisance Faire, although his subjects draw the line at Morris dancing.