History Main / CultureChopSuey

* The United States is the UrExample thanks to its UsefulNotes/MeltingPot status. There are many large areas in cities (and even some suburbs) that blend elements of various cultures. In fact, states as close as Virginia and Maryland can be miles apart culturally. Many cities have a Chinatown or Little Italy, which were developed from immigrant communities settling in those neighborhoods. Of course, it is the home nation of Chop Suey, which is a blend of Chinese cooking for European taste. It's not uncommon for regional foods to have found a happy home in a state or two because of the culture that settles there.

* The entire setting of ''Manga/OnePiece'' is essentially classic swashbuckling western pirate aesthetics mixed with Japanese aesthetics and symbolism: 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 as much as sabers and cutlasses, make Japanese-language puns, etc. The Marines are a notable example; almost all of their high-ranking members have distinctly Japanese names and titles,some of them are even styled after Japanese actors, and their headquarters is essentially a huge, fortified pagoda. No explanation is made, the world is [[RuleOfCool just like that.]]

* During ''WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera''[='=]s ''Series/FamilyMatters'' Disney World review, he wonders why Winnie-the-Pooh is dressed as a [[CanadaEh Mountie]] in the ''Italian'' Pavilion of Epcot, which then leads him to wonder why a ''British'' character is even dressing like a Canadian in the first place. [[spoiler: Possibly because Winnie-the-Pooh was inspired by an actual bear in the London Zoo that was originally from Canada, "Winnie" being short for "Winnipeg".]]

* The ''Creature Court'' novels take place in the city of Aufleur, a bizarre and compelling conflation of 1920s America and ''Ancient Rome''.

* All the Tribes in ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' do this. It is implied to actually be an InUniverse example, given that the game is set on Earth AfterTheEnd; the factions are confused mixes of assorted cultures because the tribal inhabitants are [[FutureImperfect cluelessly mimicking fashion and concepts they see amongst the ruins of the Old World]]:

** The Carja Sundom and their neighboring tribes (the Utaru and Tenakth) are all {{Mayincatec}} in general, but the Carja in also mix in elements of AncientGrome, the Middle East, Imperial China, and even ancient Babylonian architecture.

* 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.

These are cases where elements are of a contrasting culture; elements of technology from a [[AnachronismStew contrasting time period]] are SchizoTech. When ninjas show up as part of a Culture Chop Suey, that is also a McNinja. A {{Ruritania}} is usually constructed using this trope. A character from one of these cultures may sport two ethnic names just to drive things home.

These are cases where elements are of a contrasting culture; elements of technology from a [[AnachronismStew contrasting time period]] are SchizoTech. When ninjas show up as part of a Culture Chop Suey, that is also a McNinja. A {{Ruritania}} is usually constructed using this trope. A character from one of these cultures may sport a MultiethnicName just to drive things home.

* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', Academy/Wizard faction at different points has Greek [[ShockAndAwe Titans]], Indian [[BeastMan Rakshasa]] and [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Nagas]], Middle-Eastern [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Djinns/Jinni]], European [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]], English [[GripingAboutGremlins gremlins]], and Jewish {{Golem}}s. ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic V'' also gives them an ArabianNightsDays style.

** The Mandalorians started out as ancient Celts, then took on elements of Polynesian culture (with Maori actors Temeura Morrison playing Jango Fett and the young Boba Fett) and Vikings. Then ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' established that the warmongering old government of Mandalore was overthrown and replaced with a pacifist democracy (paralleling Germany after World War I), with the evil Death Watch being a mix of Islamic fundementalists and Neo-Nazi biker gangs. ''Series/TheMandalorian'' made them into SpaceJews (more specifically, the warrior Hebrews of the Old Testament) with a diaspora caused by the Empire

** The desert planet of Tatooine mixes TheWildWest (hardscrabble settlers SettlingTheFrontier getting into conflict with indigenous Tusken Raiders) with 19th-century cliches about Qurac (nomadic indigenous peoples similar to Bedouin, street markets and Jawa peddlers, slavery) and a little bit of the Antebellum South (''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' establishes that it's the last planet in the Republic to still have slavery)

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has a lot of these, in both the films and the ExpandedUniverse (and [[Franchise/Star WarsLegends the old EU]])

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has a lot of these, in both the films and the ExpandedUniverse (and [[Franchise/Star Wars Legends the old EU]])

* The entire setting of ''Manga/OnePiece'' is essentially classic shashbuckling western pirate aesthetics mixed with Japanese aesthetics and symbolism: 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 as much as sabers and cutlasses, make Japanese-language puns, etc. The Marines are a notable example; almost all of their high-ranking members have distinctly Japanese names and titles,some of them are even styled after Japanese actors, and their headquarters is essentially a huge, fortified pagoda. No explaination is made, the world is [[RuleOfCool just like that.]]

*** The Baklunish diaspora has a very Middle Eastern influence, primarily Arabic and Persian. Mixed Baklunish-Oeridian tribes of horsemen such as the Tiger Nomads, or Chakyik Horde, are very clearly influenced by Mongloic as well as Turkic peoples.

* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' takes place in an fictional equivelant of [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII World War II]] Europe, with influences from the surrounding periods. Most notably, are TheEmpire. The Imperials are a mix of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, [[UsefulNotes/SovietUnion Soviet Russia]], UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia, and UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany. Their tactics and devotion to their nation and Emperor, as well as their uniforms, fall mostly into Nazi Germany. Their tanks seem mostly Soviet Russia influenced, with their firearms seeming to be mostly Nazi Germany influenced, and using mostly [[GratuitousGerman German designations]]. Imperial naming conventions seem to be a mix of German and Russian (with more German influence). Their political system seems mostly Imperial Germany and Imperial Russia mixed together. Tanks and other armoured vehicles tend to be named after animals (either in German or Latin), with the Vulcan from the fourth game being an exception.

* Many real-life cultures adopted aspects from their neighboring cultures, as well as from foreign conquerors. Let's take the English culture as an example. Modern English culture is a mix of the old Celtic settlers native to the island who got Romanized, just to get later conquered by the Germanic Angles, who in turn got conquered by the Saxons. During the Viking Age, Viking lords carved out many small jarldoms and kingdoms on the island and mixed with the native people. Then finally, the Norman invaders conquered the island one last time, with the Norman culture actually being a mix of the Norse Vikings and the Northern French culture. And only then can you speak of these people as Englishmen.
* No culture in recorded history has ever been free of foreign elements or influences. Archeologists are still not in agreement just how often writing and agriculture were invented and how often they were taught to one culture by another. A letter based alphabet seems to have only arisen once, which means every single person reading this has some Semitic people in the Mediterranean to thank. The Romans used to think of soap and trousers as barbaric and wore socks in their sandal-like shoes -- all of those would come as a surprise to most meticulously groomed suit-wearing Italians of today. And that's just the surface of it.

* The United States is the UrExample thanks to its UsefulNotes/MeltingPot status. There are many large areas in cities (and even some suburbs) that blend elements of various cultures. In fact, states as close as Virginia and Maryland can be miles apart culturally. Many cities have a Chinatown or Little Italy, which were developed from immigrant communities settling in those neighborhoods. And of course, it is the home nation of Chop Suey, which was a blend of Chinese cooking for European taste. It's not uncommon for regional foods to have found a happy home in a state or two because of the culture that settles there.

* Pops up a bit in Lyra's world in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', to emphasize the AlternateHistory. For instance, the gyptians (their equivalent of gypsies) have Dutch names and take to the seas like the real-life Moken or Bajau. Meanwhile, there's hints of extensive North Europe or Central Asian influence in the Americas, but things originating in the New World still have Nahuatl names.

* Most of the cultures depicted in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' trilogy are [[FantasyCounterpartCulture obviously based closely on real-life cultures]] -- the Rohirrim are Anglo-Saxons with a major horse theme, the Shire resembles Romantic-era rural Britain and Ireland, Gondor looks a lot like late Medieval Italy, and so on. However, the human bad guys tend to be more CultureChopSuey, presumably to avoid the impression of "[[UnfortunateImplications X culture is evil]]".

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''Avatar'' 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}}.
** The soundtrack, as per the Track Team, is "[=1920s=] UsefulNotes/NewOrleans {{jazz}} but if it were invented in China".

** The Zandalari Empire is equal parts AncientAfrica and {{Mayincatec}} (with an additional naval focus that neither of its primary inspirations had).