Fantasy Counterpart Culture / Warcraft

The Warcraft Universe has a lot of these.

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• The human/undead towns and cities resemble 17th century and/or medieval Europe. They seem for the most part to emulate Britain, with many towns names ending in "shire", like Darrowshire, Goldshire etc. Stratholme breaks this naming convention appearing Germanic in origin, although being architecturally identical to Stormwind.
  • The different regions of human culture appear to be based on different regions of Europe as far as the names of areas go. Most have British (those ending in -shire or being made of English words), French (Brill, Tirisfal), or German-sounding (Stratholme, Stromgarde, Andorhal) names. The most obvious is Stormwind being based on England and to some extent France during the Late Middle Ages while the Northern areas of the continent are mostly either fully French or German with a few exceptions, such as Darrowshire.
    • Alterac, a kingdom settled on the mountains which attempted to remain neutral during the Second War appears to be modeled after Switzerland, with an in-game foodstuff called "Alterac Swiss" making it more apparent. Unfortunately, as a smoldering ruin (they attempted to maintain neutrality by betraying the Alliance), it is no longer apparent what architectural style it had prior to destruction, though what remains is similar to other human nations.
    • Gilneas, home of the playable Worgen, resembles Victorian England in both architecture and fashion, they are also more modern than the medieval based nations as they use gunpowder based weapons and speak in cockney English accents and speak in stereotypical English mannerisms.
    • Kul Tiras is an interesting nation. It is a maritime sailing kingdom whose main industry is fishing, whaling, and naval activities. The people who live there speak in sailor-like Cockney English accents while their architecture seems to be based on the 17th century buildings in Britain and America during colonial times.
  • From Cataclysm to Battle for Azeroth, the Forsaken began using chemical weapons, have begun hating other races with a passion, and creating concentration camp-like settlements. This seems to be on the way out following Sylvanas being ousted.
• Tauren culture is inspired by Great Plains Native American tribes such as the Cheyenne and Dakota. Their buildings are made of animal hides, and many of their cultural aspects are directly lifted from Plains Natives, such as the dead being cremated, and one quest involves helping a young man gather feathers for a ceremonial headdress. But as with most of the player character cultures it isn't totally one-to-one. There's also a lot of elements from ancient Central Asian cultures (such as sky burials, writing, highly developed water management technology, and a monotheistic religion). The architecture of Thunder Bluff also recalls the West Coast tribes, more so than the Plains tribes: with totems (of course) and two-level wooden structures that connect to each other with bridges. Their canoes are also based on the West Coast tribes.
  • The Highmountain Tauren on the other hand draw more inspiration from the Pacific Northwest Native Americans compared to their cousins in Mulgore.
• The orcs were originally a mix of Huns and Mongols. However, after the retcon about them being good instead of evil, they've gotten more and more of the positive cultural and architectural motifs connected to barbarians, their main city being a glorified camp site in a ravine, everything made out of animal hides and with spikes. There are also elements of Samurai Bushido in their battle culture, particularly in their "Victory or Death" philosophy. Essentially, orcs owe more to Star Trek's Klingons than to any real culture.
  • The Orcs actually retain a lot of parallels to the Mongols/generally the Russian Steppe. The history of Orgrimmar is quite similar to the history of Karakorum and their concept of honor is not dissimilar to that of the Mongols. Also, they have shamans who are greatly respected in their culture. Also, prior to settling on Azeroth they were nomads.
    • The Bleeding Hollow Clan appears to draw heavy inspiration from South American tribes.
• Jungle trolls speak with Caribbean accents, practice voodoo, do capoeira, and live in huts, while building giant Mesoamerican-style Temple cities and practicing human(oid) sacrifice.
  "What do ya mean what kind of accent is dis? It's a Troll accent! I swear ja-makin' me crazy."
  • Forest trolls speak with Hispanic accents, build giant Mesoamerican-style pyramids and have human(oid) sacrifice.
  • Ice trolls use floating weapons, Zulu shields and tiki masks to guard their houses, and build giant Mesopotamian-style/Babylonian Ziggurats, while worshipping/killing animal gods, and practicing human(oid) sacrifice.
  • Sandfury trolls seem to be based on a mix of ancient Egypt and the Aztecs. Their dead are mummified, but a couple of pyramids in the Zul'Farak dungeon are Aztec style. And they practice human(oid) sacrifice.
  • Zandalari Trolls, which are the progenitor race that all other Troll subspecies evolved from are also Mesoamerican in architecture and unlike the above list, they speak in more continental African accents and don't seem to practice human(oid) sacrifice.
• The Qiraji and some Silithid have a sort of amalgamation of Egyptian and Mesopotamian architecture (most of the Silithid live in enormous hives).
• The night elves and nightborne are an unholy mashup of Classical Greece and Feudal Japan, with some Nordic and Celtic elements as well. Fluted columns stand side by side with torii in many parts of their lands. Also, the style of dress of night elf male aristocrats greatly resembles Japanese court robes: but, being elves, their fashion sense is more androgynous than any real-world culture aside from the Babylonians and/or Byzantines.
• The blood/high/void elves, on the other hand, have influences from the Middle East. Their buildings often are adorned with geometric archways, rugs and floor cushions, and hookah pipes. Their voices and mannerisms, however, resembles the 20th Century American stereotypes of valley girls for the females and effeminate men for the males.
• The dwarves' use of runes and their hairdos and braided beards seems inspired by the Vikings. They talk with very thick Scottish accents and can do the Cossack dance, however. There are also a lot of parallels to Scotland in their uneasy relationship to the Stormwind humans, and their feuding tribes. This combination of cultures is less ahistorical than one might think because for quite a while Vikings actually ruled parts of Scotland.
  • Wildhammer dwarves have even more pronounced Celtic influences, with their orange hair and dying their skin with blue tattoos.
• The Draenei are a bit all over the place, with eastern European accents, Crystal Spires and Togas architecture, some Southern Asian and Middle Eastern influences, and Greek-sounding names (and their accent is probably supposed to be Greek, but the way some of the actors do it it sounds more Russian). They also have a sliver of ancient Biblical Jewish traits in them as they are a Proud Scholar Race and their history is based on being exiled of their homeland and wondering to different lands to find a new home while being persecuted. Their space ship is named the Exodar (let that sink in) and had suffered a terrible genocidal attempt while they have an unshakable devotion to their religion of the Holy Light even in their darkest hours. They also use some Persian-Indian music as their theme as the places they populate tend to have some semi-Hindi-sounding music.
• The Pandaren have a pseudo-Chinese culture. They were originally styled as samurai, but this offended Chinese players since pandas are their national animal (for that matter, China is the only place in the world where they're found in the wild, and they do NOT get along with Japan with historical grievances). With the namesake continent of Pandaria becoming available in World of Warcraft, this has been expanded greatly, along with other races inhabiting the continent that tend to also draw on Chinese/Asian culture. For example, the Mogu, whose very name in Chinese roughly translates as "devil ancient" (and indeed most new races and creature are named more or less after Chinese words). The local demigods resemble the four Chinese mythological symbols for cardinal directions, except for the Tortoise being replaced with an Ox. And Pandaria has a Great Wall of its own, with the insectoid Mantid presumably representing a threat akin to the Mongols with their warrior culture.
  • The Ankoan, a subspecies of Jinyu found in Nazjatar, have an obvious Japanese inspiration given how their warriors resemble Samurai.
• The Tuskarr, who live in the cold north, seem to be the walrus-ified version of the Inuit with heavy Maori and Samoan influences.
• The Vrykul are clearly inspired by the old vikings, complete with giving their leaders Swedish/Norwegian names.
• The centaurs seem to be inspired by the Mongols: They're barbarian nomads, they live in tents, the males have Asian-looking facial hair, and many fight with bows, evoking Mongolian mounted archers with the horse and archer rolled into one. Their tribal leaders are even called Khans. Since the original centaurs may be East European mounted archers with the horse and archer rolled into one, it's a reinvention of an Older Than They Think archetype. However, female centaurs cover their faces Middle Eastern style.
• Goblins and Gnomes are unique as being the only two races without a direct real-world counterpart. While the gnomes are, well, gnomes, the goblins are extremely materialistic and Mafia-esque. They bear the strongest resemblance to a parody of modern American culture, complete with the thick New Jersey accents and having a time period that resembles the period of Americana from the 1920's to the 1960's with garden flamingos in decoration in their yards and using Jazz as their theme of music.
  • It's been theorized that, each in their own way, both goblins and gnomes represent stereotypical Jews. The gnomes are the positive depiction of Jews, having lost their original homeland (and only very recently recovered and must still fight for it), forced to live among other races (who appreciate them for their academic skills, craftsmanship and intelligence while disliking them otherwise), and keeping their own culture hidden while having a strong focus on scholarship, science and mysticism. Goblins are the negative Jewish stereotypes, being greedy, manipulative, and amoral, and having large noses but also being scientific and mercantile geniuses. Goblins also have been given elements of modern Americans, spefically New York City and New Jersery, in later expansions.
• The Tol'vir are feline centaurs are yet another NPC race based on ancient Egypt; they have pyramids and obelisks, statues depicting humanoids with various animal heads, and they live in a desert with a large river in the middle of it.
• Warlords of Draenor introduces a large ogre empire that had once conquered most of the known world of Draenor, but has since come into rapid decline as the barbarian orc tribes push it back to its center of power in Nagrand while the outer reaches fall into ruin. In other words, the ogres of all races have been turned into Rome, which is an inspiration specifically pointed out by Blizzard developers. Word of God says that the southwestern continent just barely visible on the Draenor map is the ogre homeland, so theoretically that could have a much more powerful ogre empire, the Eastern Roman Empire equivalent. Interestingly, this can be traced back to Warcraft III, where the ogre units are all referred to as part of the "Ogre Legion".
• The Vulpera draw inspiration from Bedouin tribes, being a race of nomadic desert-dwellers.
• Several of the realms in the Shadowlands are very strongly based on real-world mythology:
  • Bastion is based off Greek mythology, i.e. Mount Olympus and the Elysian Fields. Most of the characters and places have Greek-inspired names, and the whole aesthetic is very strongly Ancient Greek.
  • Ardenweald is most recognizably inspired by the Celtic mythology of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's an enchanted, mystical forest populated by light-hearted fauns, centaurs, and fairies whose childlike demeanor nevertheless belies their great power. They are ruled over by a fairy queen who presides over a royal court.
  • Revendreth is based off stereotypical vampire mythos, i.e. Dracula, etc. It's a dark realm of shadowy forests and cemeteries. At the center is a giant castle called Castle Nathria with towering gothic spires and bat-like architecture. Among its denizens are gargoyles and gremlins, as well as the venthyr - grey-skinned, fanged humanoids who drain souls of their life force, but are otherwise outwardly elegant and sophisticated beings.