Fantasy Counterpart Culture / Live-Action TV

• A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon)

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• The Grounders in The 100 are increasingly looking similar to the First Nations, especially in relation to the would-be colonizers from the Ark.
• Andor:
  • Aldhani has a strong dash of Scotland in space - sheep, "uncivilized" highlands, industrial and prosperous lowlands, and the significant use of the word "clearances" along with the forced relocation of people from the highlands clearing out many settlements and leaving them impoverished and unable to keep up their culture and way of life as they're forced into industrial areas to drive the similarity home.
  • Chandrillan fashion takes a lot of cues from traditional Japanese clothing, with some Korean influence as well. This is very evident in the outfits worn by Perrin, Leida, and Tay Kolma, but less so with Mon Mothma, who is a Cultural Rebel.
• Babylon 5:
  • Of the main races of Babylon 5:
    • The Earth Alliance are Space Americans, the unified World Government has a President, a Senate and a Supreme Court of Justice pretty much copied from the American political system.
    • The Centauri Republic are Space Byzantines/British Empire, Word of God described them outright as inspired by the period of decay of the British Empire and its complex relationship with its subject peoples. Their dressing however is more similar to that of Napoleonic France. On the other hand their culture is clearly Roman-inspired as their are religious polytheists, a patriarchal society, have an oligarchic republic ruled by a Centaurum (Senate) made mostly from the heads of the noble houses and an appointed Emperor selected by the Centaurum.
    • The Narn Regime are Space Muslims/Indians; the underdogs in a bloody conflict with a more powerful enemy, militaristic yet with a rich culture and spirituality who fought violently for their independence. Some fans had found them similar to the Palestinians, Kurds and, well, you get the idea.
    • The Minbari Federation are Space Elves. Some of their cultural traits are clearly influence by Eastern cultures. Their religion is pantheist, have a liking for meditation and ritual, and their society is divided in three castes; Warrior, Religious and Worker similar to the castes of India (Sakia, Brahman and Vasya/Sudra) and Japan (Samurai, Monks and Peasants) although unlike those caste systems the castes in the Minbari society are all equals and not piramidal.
  • The League of Non-Aligned Worlds, a collection of smaller and less powerful states with collective bargaining power, is the equivalent of the European Union in the early nineties or the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War.
  • There is a cross-species example in which the intergalactic Blood Sport called "the Mutai" is essentially a karate kumite, complete with gi, bowing, and an ancient master who speaks with a raspy Asian accent.^note Played by an Asian actor, incidentally. Ironically, humans seem to be the only species who have never taken part in the sport until the episode "TKO."
• In Battlestar Galactica (2003) the colonists from socially and religiously deeply conservative Gemenon and politically impotent, terrorist ridden, superstitious Sagittaron resemble the Deep South and Oireland respectively. If Gaius Baltar is typical of his countrymen, Aerilonians speak a thick Yorkshire accent. Caprica expands on it, introducing us to several Taurons, seemingly a counterpart to Mexicans, complete with their own sprawling, all-encompassing cartels and struggles with racism, plus an oppressive dictatorship at home, which Mexico along with other Latin American countries have suffered; their language appears to be based on Ancient Greek. They could also be likened to Italians. However, they have differences as well. Whereas most Hispanic/Mediterranean people are stereotyped as hot-blooded, Taurons are called a stoic people. Joel Watson possibly put it best:

  "So the Taurons in Caprica seem to just be an amalgam of all brownish people?"

  • Ironically true, in that the actors who portrayed Joseph, Sam, Willie and Tamara Adama are all members of different real-world ethnic groups, despite being immediate blood relatives on the show. For example, Esai Morales (Joseph) is Puerto Rican, and Sasha Roiz (Sam) is a Russian Jew.
• The Book of Boba Fett: Not only are the cyborg bikers equivalent to Scooter Riding Mods, the fact that they have clean clothes and shiny, colorful equipment while living in the dirt and poverty of Tatooine also makes them the Star Wars counterpart of the sapeurs and swenkas of modern-day Africa. Their name, the Mods, reflect not only the former but the fact they've "modified" themselves.
• Carnival Row: The Republic of the Burgue is clearly inspired heavily by the UK in the Victorian period, from most clothing to technology. Of course, there is the notable difference that they're a republic. Meanwhile, the Fae speak with Irish accents, plus their races seem drawn from Irish myth somewhat, but this isn't quite as close a parallel (especially as their land is independent of the Burgue, who are allies with them in war, rather than colonial rulers). However, the Fae immigration to the Burgue is much like the thousands of Irish people who came to England for work in the late 1800s, along with many Eastern European immigrants (many, like them, to flee from persecution-as Russian Jews did, for instance). Like the English and Irish, however, the two's relations are poor in this period, putting it mildly, while many Burguish hate the Fae, whom they want gone. The Burguish flag even looks similar to the Union Jack, albeit in darker colors. Philo even reads a "scientific romance" about people going to the moon, something that grew prominent in the late 1800s with books like From the Earth to the Moon. The Pharaonic people appear to be something like Egyptians (or maybe Roma), who also settled in the Burgue as refugees long ago.
• In Defiance The Spirit Riders are basically Plains Indians with motorcycles and ATVs instead of horses. The Castithans on the other hand are a Culture Chop Suey.
• Vega in Dominion is very much a copy of Republican Rome, albeit with a caste system.
• Firefly's planets appear to have numerous cultures that preserve old national traditions from Earth-That-Was. The whole show is colored by Chinese culture, including the dialogue. The Rim world settings where most of the series takes place are mainly, of course, modeled on The Wild West, right down to accents and about half the slang.
  • And the Civil War in the Backstory is a deliberate parallel to the American Civil War.
  • Prior to the release of Serenity, it could have been said that the Reavers were stand ins for the old blood thirsty stereotype of Native Americans (as seen in old cowboy movies, this seems a play on that trope).
  • Strangely, Russian appears to be a non-existent language, as a fairly common Russian idiom is used as a Trigger Phrase for River Tam in the movie.
• Kings is set in the kingdom of Gilboa, which is pretty much modern America run by an absolute monarchy fused with Biblical Israel/Judea with the capital, Shiloh, explicitly modeled on New York City. Gath seems to something of a cross of the Philistines with the Soviet Union.
• Logan's Run: In "Turnabout", the people of Zidor's culture is based on various aspects of Islam and Islamic tradition. The settlement operates under what is essentially an extreme form of Sharia law, which is harshly administered by Asa. Furthermore, the women of Zidor are forced to cover their faces at all times with veils resembling niqabs. The fact that Zidor is a desert community means that it is an obvious stand-in for The Middle East. To that end, the desert clothing worn by Zidor guards is vaguely Arabic in style.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The Harfoots are modeled after the Irish travelers. They speak with a pseudo Irish accent and have a Wandering Culture and live in carts.
• Once Upon a Time:
  • Mulan's people are based on ancient China while most of the Enchanted Forest is based on medieval Europe, though a majority of the English-speaking inhabitants possess American accents.
  • Even though Belle's kingdom looks as European as the rest of the Enchanted Forest, she, her lord father, and her former betrothed all speak with distinct Australian accents, though the area may be based on the equivalent of France in support of the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
  • Both Aurora and Cora's kingdoms seemed to be associated with Russia and Spain respectively.
  • Dr. Frankenstein's world is basically Überwald.
  • Alice's universe (the Alice from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, not the soft-reboot version) is a version of London that is continuously stuck in the Victorian era. Likewise, Cruella de Vil is from a London stuck in The Roaring '20s.
  • Agrabah is obviously a kingdom derived from pre-Islamic Arabic culture.
  • Arendelle appears to be inspired by medieval Scandinavia.
  • The bordering kingdoms of Camelot and DunBroch are, of course, England and Scotland.
• Shadow and Bone: Ravka is based on 1800s Tsarist Russia. Its closest neighbors are Fjerda to the north (a grim warrior culture that evokes Scandinavia) and Shu Han to the south (based on China). Kerch is modeled after the Dutch Republic, and Ketterdam takes some inspiration from Victorian London and New York City.
• Used, especially in the earlier episodes, on Stargate SG-1. This is justified as they mostly encounter humans who were "transplanted" from Earth, and un-justified in that few of them have seemed to culturally or scientifically evolved since then, and almost all of them randomly speak English.
  • Justified in at least some cases because they were deliberately kept stagnant by the Goa'uld.
    • The Goa'uld spoke English too, and it's probably easier to rule an interstellar slave empire if everyone's on the same linguistic page.
  • The audience would've gotten sick of the "Daniel needs to translate this language" subplot if it occurred in every episode. Especially if they didn't use subtitles.
• The races in Star Trek frequently have elements of this, though the pairings shift from portrayal to portrayal.
  • In the original series, the overall political placements were based on the 60s Cold War era. Hence, the Federation could be compared to the NATO powers, with humanity as the Americans and the Vulcans as the older allies who are considered smart and less Hot-Blooded — maybe Japan or Britain. The Klingons were the USSR, which Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ran with heavily — it's about peace with the Klingon Empire because peace with the Soviet Union happened a few years before. The Romulans were also mildly Soviet-esque, although their periods of isolationism and distinction from either the Federation or the Klingons suggest similarities to China or India in the 60s.
  • The Klingons also had Mongolian and Persian elements, then were later given Japanese-ish ideas about honor and a fair amount of superficial Norse trappings.
  • The Romulans were heavily based on the Romans (even to the name of the race, which plays on Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome).
  • The TOS episode "Plato's Stepchildren" has an entire alien culture modeled on Ancient Greece, which ironically, was said in a different episode of the same series to have been based on Ancient Astronauts. There were, of course, also the Space Nazis and Space Gangsters, and one time trip into a planet's ancient past had awfully Napoleonic trappings.
  • Upon their first appearance, one character notes that the Ferengi behave like "Yankee traders." Their name is derived from a slur for white people used in India. Their obsession with money, however, led to accusations that they were antisemetic stereotypes — this trope must be used with caution. It likely didn't help that the actors playing them were mostly Jewish as well.
  • On the other hand, the Vulcans' 'logic' resembles a 60s Western understanding of Chinese or Japanese philosophy, combined with a healthy dose of Jewish elements - Leonard Nimoy was Jewish, which is why the Vulcan salute is based on the Priestly Blessing of Orthodox Judaism.
  • Bajorans are explicitly a stand-in for any oppressed peoples in history, including, ironically, both Jews (the 1940s in Europe and the Israeli Wars of Independence) and Palestinians, along with "Kurds and Haitian boat people... terrorism and homelessness are universal problems". The Bajorans also draw influence from American red states, with a heavily agrarian society, a strong religious bent and mistrust of secularism (complete with an episode allegorizing creationism and evolution). The caste system which they once adhered to, combined with a colonial past that they are still recovering from, also draws parallels to India.
  • The Jem'Hadar were, according to Avery Brooks, modeled on negative stereotypes of young black men and gang culture- mostly kids and teenagers, addicted to drugs, violent, barely controlled and deeply loyal to each other while contemptuous of everyone else.
  • The Cardassians are Nazis early in Deep Space Nine, though once they ally with the Dominion they become more like a Nazi client state: Italy or Vichy France. They also have some aspects of Commie Land, with a figurehead "legitimate" government, show trials, and occasionally Russian names that don't match the sound of other names in their language.
    • They also share a great deal in common with Roman society: value service to the state above everything else save family; name their highest commanders Legate (albeit they use the bastardized pronunciation); Dukat and Garak even read a bit like Mark Antony and Cicero, the latter in each pair having caused the death of the former's father and consistently ridicule them. In Garak's case Dukat just exiled him, though then again some Romans would have considered exile to be worse than death.
    • The description given in "Chain of Command, Part II" of their rich spiritual life being abandoned in favor of a military dictatorship that fed a starving people sounds like a description of Mao's Cultural Revolution.
    • Which then makes the Bajoran (a deeply religious people annexed by force into a dictatorial secular state) the Tibetans.
  • During the Dominion War arc, each of the major powers in the series had a World War II analog:
    • The Federation = United States. A democratic, racially diverse federal system of government, that often fails to live up to its own ideals.
    • Klingons = British. A longtime ally of the Federation. An old decaying empire, whose noble class is losing political importance.
    • Romulans = Russians. An untrusted dictatorship. It was said that after the Dominion war, the Federation and the Romulans would be the only powers left to compete for control of the Alpha Quadrant (cold war analog).
    • Dominion = Nazi Germany. A totalitarian dictatorship with mindlessly obedient soldiers led by a homogenized (literally, they’re liquid) race that views itself as superior to all other races.
    • Cardassians = French. Collaborated with the Dominion and eventually formed an organized resistance.
    • Cardassians also work as Italy, as Italy was basically a Nazi puppet government at the time, it had a fascist government long before the war and had a very fearless Resistence known as the Partisans.
    • Breen = Japanese. The attack on Earth could be seen as an analog to Pearl Harbor. It was implied that their primary reason for aligning with the Dominion was a long-standing conflict with the Romulans (Japan and Russia fought a war in the early 1900s)
    • Orions = Italians. Worked for the Dominion during the war. Once a world-class power on par with any other, now primarily associated with organized crime.
    • Ferengi = Swiss. They didn’t fight in the war, but were more than happy to profit from it in any way they could.
  • The Kazon of Star Trek: Voyager were explicitly based on Los Angeles gang culture, as demonstrated by both loyalty to one's sect and by the various sects fighting each other as much as they fought everyone else.
• The Wheel of Time:
  • The Tuatha'an have a lot in common with the real life Irish Travellers (getting called Tinkers like the Travellers were in the past) and Roma, being nomadic people who are harshly stereotyped as thieves. It's malicious slander however, because they're actually kind people who offer unlimited hospitality to outsiders. They also have a tradition where those born Tutha'an leave their wagons at age 20 to go and experience the rest of the world, only to come back once they knew that this is where they belong (obviously inspired by the Amish's Rumspringa).
  • The Children of the Light: their conduct is based on the Spanish Inquisition (and other inquisitions of the same historical period), combined with the witch hunts, since the ones shown are specifically focused on hunting Aes Sedai. Their costume design is based partly on the Knights Templar and the Ku Klux Klan.
• Xena: Warrior Princess mixed up Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Classical Mythology, The Bible, Time Travel and whatever else the writers could think of and set it all in some vaguely ancient era. Rule of Drama alternated with Rule of Funny depending on what was needed at the time.

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