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Flavor #1
When viewed from the outside, the USA comes in two different flavors.
Flavor 1: A country full of proud super patriots who stick to tradition and reside in a nearly Utopian society. This version of America is based on the export of American media made during The Fifties, which portrayed the United States of America as a homey, almost saccharine place built on nuclear families, family values, love, and old-fashioned simple mindsets. As well as this, America was also the land of progress, wealth, and luck, where people would be able to leave the past behind to make new lives for themselves - in short, the American Dream.
Flavor 2: A country full of smug uneducated bullies who got real lucky and like to hide behind their inflated military budget. Americans come into your country either as tourists or invaders, thinking that they own the place and that they rightfully deserve everything. Not only are they less intelligent and less healthy than you because of their inferior education and health consciousness, but they also have the gall to look down and patronize you as well. They may also all be trigger-happy cowboys and from the Deep South, or all glamorous movie stars from Hollywood California. Very often views themselves as Flavor 1. Anime uses this one a lot when they need Evil Foreigners while playing up the historical Japanese perception of their own superiority, which just goes to show that foreigners can be every bit as bigoted and ignorant about America as Americans are about them.
Flavor #2
Some series decide to split the difference, treating America as the Boisterous Bruiser of nations — rude, crude, clueless, obnoxious, and vaguely psychotic, but still good-natured beneath it all. A famous Winston Churchill quote sums up this portrayal- "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."
Subtropes include:
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- Lt. Surge, the giant Gym leader from Pokemon is the stereotypical "American bully" from the second trope, taunting little children and having his bigger Pokemon beat up on them while he calls them "babies". This contrast in the game, where he appears to have the usual good sportsmanship required to be a gym leader and he is once said to be a war-hero (making him type 1 in games, type 2 in anime).
- Chibodee Crocket from G Gundam straddles the line. He's quite sympathetic due to his past as an orphan who raised himself for years, but still shown to be a bit of a coward who often can't live up to his own hype and only fights to satisfy his own pride, having to go through several hardships like being infected with the DG cells and being almost abandoned by his crew to learn to truly love fighting.
- The man has natural blue hair with a pink toot, and his mother was killed by clowns. What is Japan trying to say here?
- His mobile suit deserves mention, too. If Gundam Maxter's design is any indication, the Japanese believe that all Americans are surfing, football-playing boxer cowboys. And it'd be terrible to disappoint them.
- All the mechas are stereotypes, for example Neo Japan's mechas are all based off of Samurais, with the most infamous being Neo-Netherland's Nether Gundam which is a giant windmill.
- Then what does that say about Neo-Sweden's Nobel?
- General Patton: "STATUE OF LIBERTY CANNON, FIRE!"
- In Eyeshield 21, Leonard Apollo, the coach of the Nasa Aliens, is definitely an example of the latter type. His players are pretty nice guys, but Apollo is an overbearing blowhard who's bitter about his own failed dream of becoming a pro football player. This is actually a step down from the manga, as there Apollo is actually blatantly racist.
- He got better. He has softened up to Panther, the one he had despised so much, but also the one who admires him for his hardships and determination, to the point that he is willing to teach his trade in return for becoming a running back. It improves him so much.
- Also, Americans were portrayed rather variously here in this manga, from nice people like Patrick "Panther" Spencer, Homer Fitzgerald, Leonard Apollo, to people like Donald Oberman.
- It's also sort of subverted in Billy Horide, the coach of the Seibu Wild Gunmen, who, despite being Japanese as far as anyone can tell, is loud, rude, pushy, loves shooting guns and even runs his offense in a fast, high-powered manner. He's almost sort of a weird Japanese Texas-otaku.
- Let's not forget "Bandit" Keith Howard from Yu-Gi-Oh, both an American and a ruthless dirty cheater, who has a Stars and Stripes bandana. Or Rebecca Hopkins/Hawkins, American champion, a cute little girl with a teddy bear... whose Catch Phrase is "God damn".
- The German/Japanese Asuka Langley Soryuu of Neon Genesis Evangelion has American citizenship and lived there for a time, possibly just to hint at her loud showboating personality.
- In what has to be the pinnacle of a type 1 American in anime, or hell any medium, we have Roy Fokker from "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" who plays the role of Big Brother Mentor and The Lancer, though he is a bit of a skirt chaser.
- In the future of Ghost In The Shell, Deep South America has become the "American Empire", and is implied to have imperially conquered most of the Western hemisphere. Strangely enough, when some American bureaucrats appeared on the show, they were presented as looking stereotypically Japanese. To be fair, the entire series has a very cynical world-view, and most government in general, even Japan's, is depicted as corrupt.
- The anime series Konjiki no Gash Bell (Zatch Bell in the dub) contains a team of superheroes called the Majestic Twelve, who are portrayed as amazingly incompetent. The only female member is named Big Boing (Lady Susan in the dub) and her superpowers consist of having huge breasts, smelling like lavender and commenting every moment with the word "Yay!"
- But Apollo (and...that biker dude later in the series who's name escapes me) is the American character is the one we see most, and he is a definite type 1
- Aries of Mai-Otome and Mai-Otome Zwei has some definite parallels to the US, from a suspiciously Pentagon-like structure to the attitude of Brigadier General Haruka Armitage, a Determinator to the extreme who often charges in with little to no plan. Aries itself is mainly type 1 being one of the good nations with Yukino being a calm assertive leader who balances out Haruka.
- The Youre Under Arrest: No Mercy special had the two Lovely Angels of the show, already with a reputation in their traffic department back in Tokyo for excessive "enthusiasm", go on an exchange program of sorts to Los Angeles, where they are allowed to hunt down stolen car and gun dealers with shotguns. The other Nurse Jenny-esque members of the LAPD, for that matter, see nothing wrong with threatening to shoot a suspect for being "criminal scum".
- Shin Getter Robo Armageddon: After the apocalypse, the remaining nations struggle to survive against immortal aliens. A group of Americans come onto the Japanese base and start trying to rape and kill everyone. Their reason? They think the Japanese caused the disaster that drove them underground in truth, the UN over-reacted and launched a nuke at the, at the time, highly volatile Shin Dragon. Gai calls them out on this, asking why the Japanese would drop the bomb on themselves.
- They have a Heel Face Turn of sorts near the end of the OVA. One of the American pilots basically realizes he was being a jackass, and comments that using getter rays doesn't make someone evil. Later on the American pilots (along with everyone else) show up to defend a space station, so that the Getter Team can go on the offensive.
- In the original Getter Robo series and the Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo OAV, we get the Texas Mack robot unit shaped as a cowboy and its horse, piloted by the siblings Jack and Mary King.
- The Read or Die OAV has one of the superpowered villains waltz right into the White House and kidnap the President, easily dispensing with the Secret Service, and threatening the sniveling, cowardly President (who wets himself). Later on, he orders the army to attack the rising fortress of the Big Bad against the orders of the British Library Association On Steroids (and really, why shouldn't world leaders listen to librarians), of course to absolutely impotent effect. So he wets himself again. Then he gets blown up.
- Fortunately he survives, to wet himself again in the TV series. Which further humiliates him by changing his name to "Al Gore" while retaining the Bush character design.
- Several character also make reference to "unleashing the Americans" or "turning loose the Americans" on the I-Jin's headquarters (used as a threat).
- Since it was an early-2001 adaptation of a 2000 manga, it's hard to say whether the president was meant to be Clinton, Bush or an amalgam of the two. The cowardice aspect suggests Clinton, most likely in reference to the the cowardice that many Japanese perceived in his dealings with North Korea. (Who came this close to starting a shooting war with the Japanese, what with kidnapping their citizens and opening fire on one of the Japanese naval vessels.)
- Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro features possibly the pinnacle of type II Eagleland, ironically during a trip to a traditional Japanese Hot Spring. As well as ticking all the Phenotype Stereotype boxes (blond hair, blue eyes, large nose), and having a surprisingly plausible accent (until he has to speak English...), he whistles the "Star-Spangled Banner" to himself, hates Japanese culture, but pretends to love it just to get close to a woman, threatens to sue for the slightest slight, keeps a massive revolver in his pants, kills a woman for refusing to give him "her resources" (
oil her love), thinks that losing his pride is reasonable grounds for self-defense and is obsessed with working out to the point of walking around shirtless, dressed like someone from an L.A. street gang. Oh, and he calls America "a law enforcing Empire" which "raised [him] to have an emotionless heart".
- Gao Gai Gar is probably one of the most positive depictions of America by non-American properties. Swan White and her brother Stallion are kind, noble, and friendly—if a bit histrionic, tending toward cries of "Oh No!" or "Oh My God!" (or, once, "Jesus!"), as well as speaking in odd accents; Dr. Liger, who presumably emigrated from Japan, is a genius scientist well as a hoverboard-riding mohawked iconoclast; and the American Brave Robo Mic Sounders the Thirteenth, while speaking in gratuitous Engrish in his childlike Cosmo mode ("MAI FRENDZU" is a favorite phrase), is probably the second most powerful robot built by Earth. So, in general, Americans are smart, polite, friendly, a bit openly emotional by Japanese standards, and possessed of The Power Of Rock. Sounds about right, really.
- The Prince Of Tennis features the American arc, where a team of prodigy American players gathered by a money-hungry tycoon and coach (Richard Baker) come to Japan to play against a team formed by the best Japanese junior high players. Among the stereotypes found are:
- a cheerful red-neck and ex-cowboy who acts happy very happy-go-lucky (Billy Cassidy),
- an angry German immigrant who is disenchanted after the loss of his American dream (Arnold Igashov),
- two ultra-pretty and super close brothers raised in the Bronx and rescued from their abusive household (Tom and Terry Griffy),
- a Chinese American obsessed with perfection, taking it after an equally perfectionist family(Michael Lee),
- a huge bully specialized in lots of sports but seriously lacking sportsmanship (Bobby Marx), and
- the son of one of Nanjiroh's old rivals, who acts very violent and angsty because of his own convoluted backstory (Kevin Smith).
- In the third Slam Dunk OAV, the half-American half-Japanese Michael Okita is the ace of a new high school basketball team, and is said to have been scouted by the NBA itself. He's ruthless and efficient in the courts, but turns into a cheerful and laid-back flirt outside (just watch him shamelessly flirt with Ayako and make Miyagi go ballistic). And he's a blue-eyed blond on top.
- Principal Kuno from Ranma One Half, a truly bizarre character with a penchant for loud shirts and whose catch phrase is "Oh my God!" Not actually American, but a Japanese citizen who spent a few years in the States (specifically Hawaii) and went native. To be fair he was already insane before then, it's just that instead of dressing up as a shogun, he now dresses up as an obnoxious tourist.
- Magical Project S has a brief sequence at the White House, where it shows the President as some gullible idiot willing to dump 60 billion dollars into a satellite surveillance system created by a 12 year old Genki Girl Mad Scientist for "military purposes". It then suggests that the security there isn't just incompetent, but also unobservant as said scientist also converted the White House into a rocket launch pad while they were "out on their nightly business".
- "Ohhhhhhhh, I'm the president."
- The best part of all this is that the Americans actually portray former President George W. Bush like that as well.
- Then again, that selfsame 12 year old mad scientist was Washu, who is herself supposed to be an American in the same continuity. Besides, WASHU. Enough said.
- Subversion: In Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, the titular band was, according to the opening song, "made to hit in America," and the band trying to make it over there was the subject of much of the series. However, their idea of fitting in is wearing t-shirts that say "Jesus is Coming", and America is shown rather realistically (despite some pretty bad Engrish signage).
- The third episode of the 1990s OVAs of Black Jack features the "Federal Unites," complete with shots of the Statue of Liberty. This Eagleland is a corrupt, imperialist bully bent on controlling and oppressing weaker nations for the sake of their resources. This makes it very satisfying when Dr. Black Jack beats the crap out of the Vice President for murdering his patient.
- Black Jack is generally a very anti-establishment work anyway, so it's likely that this was just more of the "anyone with power is a corrupt dick" mindset than an anti-American one.
- Early '90s show Mad Bull 34 sends a Japanese policeman on exchange to New York's 34th precinct to be buddies with "Sleepy" John Estes, the most violent cop on the force, who cleans up the Big Apple's crime problem with shotguns, grenades, and a wanton disregard for legal procedure. The manga is even worse with some of the most racist portrayal of black people since The Birth Of A Nation.
- Episodes 10 and 11 of Genshiken Season 2. Angela is shown as riding roughshod over all cultural sensitivities in Japan, in an almost painful caricature.
- Lucky Star has Patricia Martin who is ostensibly an American gaijin otaku. She may represent America a bit better than most, because she speaks fluent Japanese, having learned the entirety of the language from watching anime... However, she's also depicted as being a bit air headed and somewhat undereducated in true Japanese culture outside of animeland.
- Anthony from Doki Doki School Hours is like a male version of Patricia. At one point he shows everyone a photo of his 14 year old kid sister - an large-busted (perhaps implausibly so for her age) blonde cheerleader.
- An episode of Excel Saga was set in Flavor 2 Eagleland, with a humongous New York that seemed to be nothing but Mafiosi and slums. Obviously Played For Laughs, though.
- Excel is able to immediately recognize that she is in America by landing "...in the very definition of a slum." Ouch.
- Any Lupin III episode set in the US, where the police are seen to be more heavily-armed than one would expect.
- Blood Plus: This one wins hands-down for Eagleland #2 in anime ( Condi and Rummy are raising an army of vampires. Well, not personally. Yes, this is seriously the anime's plot). The writers balanced this (somewhat) through the characters of George and the American members of Red Shield.
- America from Axis Powers Hetalia is a more benign blend of both flavors; his geography is terrible, he's loud, pushy, clueless, addicted to cheeseburgers and various sweets, and he's an Attention Whore (he calls himself the "World's Hero")—but he's also friendly and good natured, to the point of being a literal Friend To All Living Things and a serious Love Freak.
- This type of depiction is pretty much normal for this series. No country is not made fun of but most of the countries are also good at heart. (Except for Russia whose heart sometimes actually falls out of its place. But even he isn't completely and consciously evil.)
- Nevertheless, there's American fans who regard America as a overly positive and patriotic representation of the USA and basically turn him into Eagleland #1 in fanworks. There's even Japanese fanworks portraying America as Eagleland #1—and we're talking about World War II, when the U.S. was their enemy, though in this case it's only because they view him as just a manga character.
- Considering some of the other "America-tan" characters to come out of Japan (e.g. Meriken), Axis Powers Hetalia's take on America is actually pretty positive. That's even after factoring in the stereotypes.
- On the opposite end of Moe Anthropomorphism depictions from Japan, there's Meriken from the Afghanis-tan web series
 . Unlike Alfred (America) from APH, Meriken is very much Eagleland #2; her profile is one big Take That. She's first shown on the White House lawn, singing that the whole world was made just for her. The 9/11 attacks are shown as a stray cat of Afghanis-tan's barely scratching Meriken's skin. She goes marauding and bullying a helpless, terrified Afganis-tan in response, destroying her home while trying to catch the mischevious cat. The worst she deliberately gives Afghanis-tan, though, is a stern warning to take more responsibility for her house so this doesn't happen again.
- This troper always thought it was a giant Wall Banger that Afghanis-tan was portrayed as a female, considering that, at the time, the nation in question was ruled by the most anti-female regime in recent history. And making light of 9/11 with a straight face? Yikes. Imagine an American comic portraying the atomic bombings as nothing more than a yankee kid breaking into an old Japanese man's garden, and crushing two bonsai trees.
- Considering the whole Afganis-tan comic is supposed to be cute, it's hard to imagine how an event like 9/11 would be portrayed. A lot of the bad things that happened to Afgahnistan were given a cute light too, albeit while casting her as The Woobie (while Meriken is Played For Laughs).
- The Marmalade Boy anime has several characters who incarnated diverse variations of Eagleland #2. The one who shows up more often is Michael Grant, who started learning Japanese after watching several Japanese movies, acts like an overactive Genki Boy and is quite fixated on his host sister, Miki. Also, we have Yuu's American friends and schoolmates: a Hot Blooded semi Jerk Jock (Brian), a blonde Clingy Jealous Girl (Jenny), a sweet and homely Cool Big Sis (Doris) and young man who pretends to be sexually ambiguous to a degree (Bill)
- The depiction of Americans in the Gravitation manga is...odd. The country is represented in early volumes by a semi-realistic New York criminal underground and the gun-toting, very, very Texan (although good-hearted) K; this and some miscellaneous executives are all that made it to the anime. In later volumes, however, they actually go to New York, where we meet K's family and the even crazier Rage, who flies a giant robotic panda through cities and has a tendency to shoot people with a (non-lethal) bazooka. Notably, the escapades of the American characters get at least two bodyguards killed (one of Ryuichi's shot by Rage's and one of Judy's thrown out an airplane window by K) with no fanfare whatsoever. What takes the cake, however, has to be Yoshiaki's comment that she doesn't object to Yuki killing her brother, nor would most Americans...because gang rape is a capital crime in the US.
- Donald Curtis from Porco Rosso is an exceptional #2 example. "Make way for the American!" He plans to be a Hollywood actor and later president. Sound familiar?
- Kimagure Orange Road both subverts it (manga) and plays it straight (OVA). In the manga story, Kyosuke, Madoka, and a new girl Sayuri (not Hikaru) find themselves on vacation in Hawaii. One day, Sayuri disappears after going to her room to change. After unsuccessfully searching for her, they believe her to have been kidnapped. Later, they get a phone call in their hotel room, telling them to go to certain locations, ending in a yacht in the harbor. The owner of the yacht tells them to spend the night, and that he'll be back in the morning with their breakfast. Since neither of them know what "breakfast" means, they assume it is something rather sinister. After a night of drinking, the owner returns, brings them their food, and produces a gun...which happens to be a lighter for his pipe. Turns out they were mistaken for a newlywed couple who had ordered a honeymoon package of sorts, and told to go to their locations. And Sayuri had gone off to a bar to hunt guys, completely forgetting about her friends. The OVA, however, had Hikaru actually being kidnapped by crazy Mooks with guns, and ended with a final shootout, with the police (or any sensible Americans) nowhere to be seen.
- Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing isn't from America proper, but rather a space colony that belongs to America. Either way, he can be seen as a combination of both types, being boisterous, flirtatious, and a bit eager to reap first and ask questions later, but is also a genuinely nice and friendly guy. A lot of his more outgoing traits come because he acts as The Lancer to Heero, who is very much The Stoic; that said, Duo is also without question the single most popular character in the series.
- Zettai Karen Children has the thinly veiled nation of Comerica taking the place of America. The Comericans (mostly ESPer team The Liberty Bells) fall somewhere between the two types of Eaglelanders. They are brash and outspoken, but more than willing to help out BABEL.
- In the Anime Ping Pong Club the tall, hairy, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, extremely smelly Mitchell Tanabe is..you guessed it. American.
- The Ronin Warriors OAV "Gaiden" takes place mostly in New York City, although they manage to feature some action in Los Angeles towards the end for good measure. Apparently, the OAV's Big Bad carries out his attacks in Manhattan even though his base of operations is located in L.A. I guess the 3000-mile distance between the two cities doesn't mean anything to him...or to the writers. (To be fair, though, the Big Bad is a sorcerer.)
- In Mahoromatic, American meddling with the remains of a giant alien crab mech causes it to go wild and tear the bathing suits off of young teenage girls on the beach. Hmmm. Could be a mixed message in there.
- Somewhat to massively subverted in Elfen Lied, grandmaster of mixed themes, by the fact that, while American support for Diclonius research is noted, 90% of it seems under direct Japanese control, and 90% of that control has been foolishly yielded directly to Kakuzawa Senior. In fact, it is later revealed that Kakuzawa is directly responsible for Lucy being an orphan and being abandoned a fact that indirectly drives almost every other event in the series. So the half-baked pseudo-racial theories of a Japanese madman are what gets the world in a fix, with Americans far in the background.
- Carrie from Bamboo Blade is depicted as a somewhat stereotypical American type 2. She is obnoxious and in-your-face, extremely arrogant, and generally disregards the traditional rules of Kendo in favor of practices she thinks are more cool. However, by the end of the anime series, she and her rival Miya-Miya do seem to have a grudging respect for one another.
- Pluto's America expy "Thracia" is fairly benign, although its leader is quick to give power to the Machine Behind The Man.
- Aversion: the first episode of Eden Of The East is set in Washington, DC, and portrays it as nothing more than another town, with perhaps a surplus of fat policemen.
- In Full Metal Panic, the third novel (and thus the final story arc of the original anime) has an American submarine captain who's obsessed with hunting down the mysterious "ghost submarine" (the Tuatha De Danaan) because he's convinced it's part of a Japanese plot, at one point attempting to rouse his men by saying "Remember Pearl Harbor!" However, the rest of the crew is portrayed as level-headed, competent sailors who are frustrated with their skipper's Ahab act and either ignore him, or try to stop him when he tries to go too far.
- The historical manga about post-war girls' baseball, Tetsuwan Girl, plays this both ways with the type one being the matronly woman's coach who is the wife of a Negro League player and the type two being Mr. Banks, Connie and the rest of the American team. The Harley motorcycles and cowboy outfits almost seemed to take too long to show up. Did I mention the added layer of racism not only on the Japanese players, but the black people in the series? Yeah.
- Partial Adversion: the anime series Baccano! has tons of characters in Mafia-run Chicago/New York City and a runaway train running between the two. Some are silly, some are wimpy, some are batshit insane and the rest of them...
- In one of the earlier books in the manga version of Ah My Goddess, Keiichi races against two students from a California technical institute. They are shown as hypercompetetive, cheating, and, in the girl's case, obsessed with looks.
Comic Books
- Captain America. Type 1. That's basically what he exists for, but Sally Floyd reckons he should be Type 2, because she's an idiot. He's so Type 1 that finding out about Nixon(admittedly, an unnamed and untitled President who headed the Secret Empire) drove him to be one of the first heroes to abandon his long-held title. He took it back and then dropped it again later, when the government started giving him orders that went against his principles. Cap says himself that he's loyal to no one. Only the Dream.
- Ultimate Captain America is quite a bit less idealistic—he's a type 2 who thinks he's a type 1.
- One of the classic Ultimate Captain America quotes is (upon being asked to surrender) "Surrender? Do you think this A on my forehead stands for France?"◊ - super type 2 stuff. This was later commented upon during Ed Brubaker's run on regular Marvel Universe Captain America, where real Cap gives a speech about how much respect he has for France, whose people kept fighting the Nazis all through World War II, even after the government had surrendered. Real Captain America is awesome.
- Garth Ennis' Punisher run portrayed America as a glass half empty type 2, to the point where the military are launching terrorist attacks to justify war.
- Tintin in America is set partly in Gangsterland, partly in Injun Country.
- In the comic Jack Of Fables, there is a parallel world called Americana. This is a Fable world, made entirely of the myths and legends of America. In Americana, virtually every subtrope of Eagleland is an actual physical location. Interestingly, the community of Idyll, which is based on the 1950's Perfect Sitcom Family/Mayberry myth, is inhabited completely by zombies.
- Although in recent years he's become a bit more of a global hero who just happens to live in the Metropolis, Superman was/still is a shining example of Type 1. His original catch phrase was even to "Fight the never ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way". The "American Way" bit is usually left out nowadays (partly thanks to him being more Earth's No.1 Hero moreso than America's, and partly to not turn off those readers who had become a bit tired of the American Way's depiction in Real Life).
- Originally it was simply "a neverending battle for Truth and Justice" in the old Fleischer cartoons in the 1940s. "The American Way" was added later.
- A lot of the comic book writers from across the pond, even those that have written Marvel and DC books for years, tend to love turning our original superheroes on their ear, basically making them even more jingoistic, or just jerkasses, for shock value or to go Darker And Edgier. A handful of heroes still hold out as the fair-minded type one idealists, and ironically their scarcity makes them the more remarkable ones.
- Garth Ennis has a recurring interest in America, often playing off Type 1 (the national mythology of America and what the characters strive for) against Type 2 (what tends to be the reality in his strips) and the clashes thereof. Examples of this clash include Tommy Monaghan, Hitman, genuinely respecting and idolising Superman; and the views of British/Irish immigrants and visitors to the States, all of them noticing and decrying the Type 2 parts of America while simultaneously loving the place.
- All white Americans who appear in Spirou and Fantasio are Large Hams. They are typically fat (though in fairness, some of them are more buff than fat), and the only thing that's louder than their voices, are their shirts. Also, for some reason, they usually wear sunglasses and smokes cigars.
Film
- A montage in Godzilla: Final Wars shows daily life in various world cities being interrupted by daikaiju attacks. Apparently, daily life in New York consists of pimps pulling guns on cops in the middle of the street. Also, the two American main characters are a quite possibly insane Badass Normal (emphasis on the "Badass") and a self-important Nietzsche Wannabe, neither of whom, despite living in Tokyo, ever say one word in Japanese.
- Kazama only really spoke English in like two parts of the movie: during the Ebirah fight and the "Watch it, X Man!" line.
- The American president in Love Actually fits neatly into the second category, a combination of Bill Clinton (a sleazy womanizer) and George W. Bush (bullying behavior and accent). When England's prime minister (played by Hugh Grant, of course) tells him off, it is portrayed as his defining moment as a leader. It should be noted that the President here is played by Billy Bob Thornton, of Sling Blade and Angelina Jolie-dating fame.
- Seen in In Bruges with the overweight American tourists, and then subverted when Ray picks a fight with one couple over The Vietnam War and the assassination of John Lennon. He feels no remorse until he learns that they're Canadian.
- Pretty much the entire point of Talladega Nights is calling America out for being a Boisterous Bruiser and urging it to maybe take that "good natured under it all" thing and build on that for a change. You don't expect to see such things in a Will Ferrell summer blockbuster comedy about NASCAR, but there it is.
- The protagonist of Forbidden Kingdom has aspects of both parts of this trope. He's eager and idealistic, but despite his encyclopedic knowledge of Chop Socky movies, he has no clue how to properly behave in another culture.
- Bill Murray's character in The Man Who Knew Too Little is the "ignorant American" archetype.
- He's not ignorant of English culture, just the fact that he's not acting in a spy movie, but is actually involved in a conspiracy. He sort of comes off as a Boisterous Bruiser, but most of the negative traits come from his 'acting', with him being a pretty nice guy underneath it.
- The Best of the Best, where the American Tae Kwon Do team goes to Korea to take on their national team at the sport they invented, is a Flavour 2 film, even though it's certainly the opposite of what the filmmakers intended. Although supposed to have an "Americans triumph over any adversity" message, consider the following:
- The American team includes a prejudiced, ignorant redneck stereotype who continually insults their hosts' culture. In addition, they have their star Korean-American member as a symbol of assimilation into the greater American culture.
- The Koreans are shown as professional, sportsmanlike competitors, who train hard without complaint and treat their opponents with dignity and respect. The Americans complain during every minute of their training, consistently dwell on their personal conflicts instead of focusing on the tournament, and are mainly motivated by personal agendas (revenge, proving they're not too old for this shit, or showing up the foreigners).
- One of the American characters continues to fight injured instead of conceding defeat (in an athletic tournament! It's not a war for survival!), risking serious harm to himself.
- The Korean-American defeats his opponent, gets revenge for his slain brother, and doesn't deliver the deathblow. In return, his now-crippled Korean opponent shambles over to him, gives him his gold medal, apologizes for (accidentally) killing his brother while acknowledging them both as worthy competitors, and offers to be his new brother.
- And the filmmakers wanted me to root for the Americans?
- Considering that the film ends with the two teams embracing each other, one would hardly call the Korean team unintentionally sympathetic. Perceiving the American team as Designated Heroes, on the other hand, is pretty common.
- Played both ways in Team America, but mostly #2.
- To be fair, they mock the hell out of everyone.
- In the German film Kein Bund Fürs Leben the Americans (especially the commander) are mostly type 2 but with a subversion: The German soldiers are worse!
- In Trainspotting, an American tourist is brutalized by Begbie for being ignorant of Scottish culture. Far from stopping Begbie's assault, as they usually do, the rest of the gang joins in.
- Filled with strip malls and corny '50s diners (that don't even bother playing '50s music), the nameless town in Ghost World probably qualifies.
- Orvil Newton from Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (or How I Flew From London To Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes) is a classic Type 1: loud and rough around the edges, but the most honest, fair and likable guy you'll care to meet. He even throws the race (and the astronomical prize he needs to get home again) to save another pilot in distress.
Literature
- Many popular British authors, especially pre-1965 or so (PG Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle and Dick Francis) have real trouble rendering American characters accurately, providing a revealing look at common stereotypes of the era. The typical 'American' of these novels is described as taking things 'more free and easy', thus depicted as speaking in a sort of stylised gangland slang...which is nevertheless composed according to distinctly British grammar rules. The result can be a little jarring to say the least, especially if the character actually is a gangster, or supposed to be similarly menacing.
- In The BBS Jeeves And Wooster series the two defining features of America seem to be trigger-happy cops and Security Guards and businessmen who are obsessed with whatever industry they are in. Somewhat ironic, considering that Wodehouse spent the last twenty-odd years of his life living on Long Island. (And often used it as a location in his later novels.)
- Ditto for Ian Fleming's James Bond novels involving Americans (The Spy Who Loved Me, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever): No sentence is complete without at least one "buster", "buddy" or "...see?"
- The movie based on Terry Pratchett's novel The Colour of Magic has the character Twoflower as a completely oblivious American tourist complete with straw hat, Hawaiian print shirt, and camera. This is different from the book, however, as Twoflower is from the Agaetean empire, which is based on Roundworld's China/Japan.
- Dracula has a pretty good example of type 1 in Quincey Morris. One of Lucy's three suitors, he's presented as a cowboy-type from Texas, informal but friendly and honorable. Strangely, although repeatedly described by his friends as a man of action, he doesn't engage in all that much of it until he suffers a mortal wound fighting the gypsies that protect Dracula's coffin at the end and striking one of the fatal blows to kill Dracula.
- As shows the quote above, Rudyard Kipling saw both flavors at once, presenting them as best and worst sides of the same trait, which can be defined as "childishness". Though specific American characters in his books may or may not exhibit it.
Live Action TV
- The "special relationship" between the US and UK is not universally approved-of, something which comes through in depictions of the US government (although generally not its people) modern UK shows. Take the penultimate episode of Series 3 of the new Doctor Who, for example, where the President Elect arrives on UK soil to bullishly demand first contact with aliens take place under UN terms with the US in charge. The Prime Minister acquiesces. Prez sets up the meeting on a flying aircraft carrier, demanding his official seal in clear view during the proceedings and generally behaving like a bit of a dick. Of course, it turns out there's more going on than he realizes, and his hubris is cashed in when the PM reveals himself to be an Evil Genius and Magnificent Bastard, and vaporizes him. Oh, and the Reset Button of the final episode only erased the events immediately after the President's demise.
- In the same episode there is an example that is closer to the first stereotype. A trio of Buffalo Bills supporting teens watch the President Elect getting zapped live on TV, as they don't speak they are portrayed in Letterman Jackets/a Cheerleader outfit, eating fried chicken and pizza. The fried chicken tub has a star spangled banner on it, this probably meant to simply show that they are American to UK viewers.
- What, no cowboy hats nor six-shooters?
- Notably, the episode is presenting the President as a big prat who we want to see shot... while he's right that PM Saxon is a boob who's mismanaging the situation and not following protocol, and the President puts [[UNIT]], a United Nations group, in charge of the operation. Which is a wee bit of a disconnect.
- The first new series had the first Dalek captured by an American laboratory, populated by rich bastard Van Statten, Simmons, whose job largely consisted of torturing the Dalek, and an idiot security guard who didn't listen to the Doctor's advice.
- Yes, but the American women in that environment seem particularly strong and non-stereotypical, such as Van Statten's right-hand woman who eventually has him mind-wiped and put in some city beginning with "S" and the brave young female trooper who faces down the Dalek on the stairs long enough to buy Rose and Adam enough time to escape. As depictions of Americans in Doctor Who goes, it's actually one of the better ones.
- During the first Christmas special of the new Doctor Who series, 'The Christmas Invasion', after aliens are clearly involved, one of the characters informs the Prime Minister Harriet Jones "I'm getting demands from Washington, Ma'm. The President's insisting that he take control of the situation." to which she replies, "You can tell the President, and please, use these Exact words: He's not my boss, and he's certainly not turning this into a war."
- And then she later gives the order to fire a giant death laser, killing them after they are leaving. Granted, it looked cool and seemed reasonable, but would the Americans have done any different?
- She did get her own comeuppance, mostly because the Doctor doesn't approve of this brutish Americanized behavior. "Don't you think she looks tired?"
- Stephen Colbert demands to know why he is not the first example on this page!
- Specifically, the character demands to know why he is not the first type one example. The actor would like to know why the character is not the first type two.
- From the Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia episode "Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass":
I'm gonna to rise up, gonna kick a little ass
Gonna kick some ass in the USA
Gonna climb a mountain, gonna solo fly
Gonna fly on an eagle
I'm gonna kick some butt, I'm gonna drive a big truck
I'm gonna rule this world, I'm gonna kick some ass
I'm gonna rise up, I'm gonna kick a little ass
ROCK, FLAG AND EEEEEAGLE!
- Lexx in its Season Four is very much Type Two in its portrayal of the United States. Stupid moralistic rednecks, the prison industrial complex, crazy survivalists, suburban misery behind a facade of perfection, teenage druggies, criminals, heartless porn stars, reality TV... And the evil, crooked, and not-too-intelligent president is armed with nuclear weapons and is a puppet of a pure evil being. In comparison, the episode set in Quebec shows what looks like a genuinely nice place, until the US turns Quebec into radioactive wasteland and blames the whole thing on Cuba.
- More of a hilariously over-the-top parody; the episode set in Newfoundland does include Stanley getting gang-beaten because of mistaken identity, the episodes set in Transylvania aren't much better and include Dracula being real and an invincible, hot, evil chick, with the culture shown being more of a pastiche than anything else.
Japaneseland Japan is portrayed as even more ridiculous than most Americans tend to view it already. While most of season four is set in America, it would seem more like Type 2 traits are just very easy to take to an over-the-top extreme, which is basically the show's trademark. Surprisingly, the sentient alien carrots who control people by jumping up their butts aren't used as any kind of device for homophobia.
- Top Gear is particularly infamous for going over the top with the second flavor in its portrayal of US. Not only do the presenters joke about fat and lazy Americans with every mention of anything American, but the show proceeds to present mock evidence to all stereotypes, even the racing driver, "American Stig", that tested their cars at the end of the American special, was wearing stuffed overalls to appear obese. However in the American Challenge special (Series 9, Episode 3), where the presenters went to cross America, they almost got beaten up by rednecks, and the lawyer of a "charitable" organisation tried to extort money from them. The US state department retaliated to the bad publicity by revoking their filming visas.
- Jeremy Clarkson once flirted with an American audience member by saying "You can't be American. You're not nearly fat enough."
- Note that the reason the crew almost got "beaten up" by "rednecks" is that they were purposely and openly trolling people with stereotypical things Southerners weren't supposed to like painted on their cars. The people weren't pissed off because of the messages... they were pissed off that the Top Gear crew were being condescending assholes trying to get a reaction from them. Well, they got it, which made for good filming, but hard to say if they enjoyed it.
- They also finished off the episode with a condescending speech about how sad it was that America, despite its vast riches, hadn't restored New Orleans to their satisfaction. Then, to show that they were much better and more charitable, all three (who routinely buy cars and other equipment just for the fun of wrecking them) donated their beaten, ugly, barely-working, gas-guzzling, bought-for-under-$1000 cars to needy families. Yeah, all that really proves that we're the Type 2, guys.
- One thing this American Troper has noticed is that British television portrays Americans as much more likely to say "Goddamn" than anyone else. I'm sure it comes down to portraying Americans as brash and uncouth, but I wonder why they specifically choose "Goddamn" to convey this. (Possibly because M***rf***r is unacceptable?)
- During the Texas Revolution, the Mexican Army called Texan soldiers "Senores Goddamnes" because of their propensity to use that phrase in conversation.
- This (British) troper's experience is that "goddamn" used on its own has a distinctly American flavour to it. "God damn" is used more rarely here, and when it is, it's usually as an adjective. "God" and "damn" don't blend into each other so much, either.
- This American troper has noticed that when British people refer to the American fondness for "goddamn" (which is true to an extent), a lot of them seem to pronounce it "GOD-am," with the accent distinctly on the first syllable — maybe because of the way it's often written as one word and all lowercase? We don't really say it like that, we emphasize both syllables about the same, like in "downtown" or "worldwide." (And for the record, it's mostly an adjective over here, too — you might occasionally just say "God damn!" as an interjection by itself, but not that often.)
- Ironic, when during the Napoleonic Wars it was the British that were referred to as "Goddamns" by the French, supposedly because of their frequent use of the word.
- On an episode of What Would You Do, the crew planted two outrageous Type 2 Americans in Paris, just to test out that "snooty French" stereotype. It was pretty painful to watch. Oddly enough, the actual French citizens shown were all very patient and polite, if also mildly annoyed. It was actually the other American tourists who called out the actors, with one woman even scolding them like a mother and reminding them that they were guests in another country and should quit acting like a bunch of jerkasses.
- Someone should have given that massage to the Top Gear crew during their stay in the Deep South.
- An episode of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger features an American who's more eager than intelligent when it comes to learning the ways of the samurai.
- In all fairness, though, Super Sentai in the past has made all kinds of foreigners, including America, look bad and good. Abaranger gave us an eccentric black male basball player who kissed Yukito in gratitude while Magiranger cameoed a blonde girl who asked two of the Ozu brothers for directions in English and was given help by Makito who spoke surprisingly good English. Tsubasa, on the other hand, backed away nervously and said "I... can't... speak.. Englishu...". Richard Brown is actually a pretty positive example, as he spoke little English and wasn't a complete idiot. At worse, he's an "ascended fanboy". You can't tell me you wouldn't have acted like that in that situation.
- A Bit of Fry and Laurie used this trope more than once, most memorably in song form, when Hugh Laurie, wearing a plaid flannel shirt and a headband, sang a song that consisted only of the words "...America, America, America..." and "...the States, the States, the States..." and ended with Stephen Fry punching him in the stomach. (Use of the name "the States" falls under this trope, incidentally. We call it that way less than the British do. Honest.) See also the "Kickin' Ass!" sketch.
- The "Waldorf salad" episode of Fawlty Towers had an American guest staying at the hotel who wound up bullying Basil into submission. The portrayal isn't ridiculous, but this troper did get a kick out of hearing the expression "Hot dog!" used in total seriousness. (Oh, and the actor was Canadian.)
Music
- Kate Bush, Pull Out the Pin (with comments).
- Green Day's American Idiot album was all about calling attention to this trope.
- There's this band called Anti Flag. While they claim they just hate the US government, it's easy to get the impression they view the entire nation as a Type 2 Eagleland.
- Well, they don't hate the US government, they hate its policies, capitalism as it exists today, and the right wing in general; that includes all those who exemplify Type 2 of this Trope. They don't hate America, its just that the point of the band is to be inextricable from their politics, and a prominent part of that is their fierce opposition to the status quo and all who support it, as well as their ideals. So Yeah.
- What's the difference? There are those who claim that they "don't hate America', but, at the same time, say that the founding fathers got it entirely wrong, and believe the First Amendment to be a step too far. So, if one can be anti-free speech, anti-capitalism and anti-individualism, while claiming to "like America", what's left? It goes to show that everyone has a different idea of what America is supposed to be. So, at the very least, they hate America for what it is (and always has been), while the America they claim to like is a nation that has never existed.
- The song Amerika by the German band Rammstein basically is all about Type 2. Don't let the beat or cheery-sounding refrain fool you, the lyrics satirize this trope pretty effectively if you know (or, for that matter, are) German.
Theatre
- Freddie Trumper, the Jerkass American chess champion in Chess.
Video Games
- The Trope Namer is Eagleland, the setting of the Earthbound and Mother franchise, which is an affectionate homage to America that falls squarely in the bounds of the first trope. Though Mother actually flat-out called it "America".
- Mother 3 is an interesting example. It starts with a more rural version of Type 1. This gets twisted into Type 2 when the villains arrive and is unrecognizable by the final chapter.
- Paul Phoenix from Tekken is of the second variety. He is more of a mix, while he is goofy loud and arrogant he is generally a good guy, and is indeed and dangerous fighter, and one of the few non Mishima characters to beat both a Mishima and a Boss character. (Though he still lost the tournament somehow.)
- What about Julia Chang? In the third game's ending we learn she's from Arizona, she's an american indian who in the game's afterwards is trying to restore the forests from desert land and is constantly praying to 'spirits' to give her strength. Not sure which flavor she falls in though. Granted though she comes straight out of Injun Country so she might not belong here.
- She can safely be labelled as Type 1, a positive Indian American portrayal.
- One of the teams in the video game Rival Schools: United by Fate is three American exchange students, all of whom fit the second version of Eagleland; an arrogant bully (Roy), a ditzy cheerleader (Tiffany), and a religious fanatic (Boman). By the end of the game, all three become better people by interacting with the more cultured and honorable Japanese students, and bring their newfound tolerance back home. And Roy actually becomes the President of the United States some decades later, with Tiffany as his wife and First Lady.
- In Mega Man Battle Network 2, the main character visits a very thinly veiled Fantasy Counterpart Culture version of America. The first thing that happens to him? He gets mugged. Twice. And then has to go to the ghetto to get his things back. Netopia's Japanese name is "Ameroupe," a blatant contraction of America and Europe.
- Visual Novel Phantom of Inferno actually Lampshades this a bit during the Japanese chapter of the game, where a young girl finds out that the two American exchange students in her class are really gun totting assassins on the run. Later on when she witnesses another pair pulling weapons on each other over a disagreement she wonders aloud if ALL Americans are like this.
- Somewhat subverted in that Zwei is a native Japanese who had only spent a few years in America at most and Ein is from somewhere in central Asia. The assassin Drei (One of the pair mentioned) is the best example of the trope, a blond, big-breasted Psycho For Hire who engages on several long, obnoxious rants about how corrupt and pathetic the Japanese are. She�s contrasted with more sympathetic examples however, and given reasons for her unpleasant personality.
- Depending on whom you ask, Metal Wolf Chaos could be seen as a parody of the Patriotic Fervor that all Americans are assumed to have as well as an exaggeration of their supposed Boisterous Bruiser nature or the most awesome portrayal of the President of the Great United States of America (FUCK YEAH!!!) ever. Most tend to prefer the latter.
- The giant mecha and the portrayal of a president saving the country by destroying large swaths of it may influence the decision.
- Having any head of state personally fighting a one-man war to unambiguously defend his country's ideals makes the game fall into the "awesome" category. That the Japanese game designers chose America is simply flattering, even if it wasn't meant that way... though they did choose to slap him into the epitome of Japanese awesomeness, a suit of robot armor.
- Even Michael Wilson's Patriotic Fervor cannot match that of Fallout 3's Liberty Prime, a forty foot high, communist hating robot, who annihalates all in his path while screaming "COMMUNISM IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF FAILURE." and other such slogans. He pretty much embodies the Boisterous Bruiser portayal of America... without the Boisterous.
- Urban Chaos: Riot Response tends towards flavor one - loading screens tend to either have eagles or American flags, and the true heroes are shown to be firefighters and paramedics. (Plus the main protagonist, a cop with License To Kill - something that actually terrifies many hardcore gun-supportin' conservatives). The bad guys' ultimate goal? Show America how much they suck, and how they need to die.
- Disgaea has an odd example of this trope. Although not blatantly stated to be American, CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH! and his crew are an Affectionate Parody of the classic view of American scifi heroes and television shows from the mid-20th century, particularly Flash Gordon and Lost In Space. The rest of the Earth Defense Force seems to also be fashioned after classic American sci-fi as well. Interesting in that the two sets of characters seem to represent both of the above types, with the heroic Defenders of Earth crew portraying the first type, and the Earth's invasion army portraying the second.
- Jennifer, in the Japanese version, routinely blurts out incredibly stereotypical American things: "Jesus!", "Oh my gaw!", and "OH!", for starters.
- Turn the Greek Chorus on in the DS port, and when Gordon tells Carter to have a parade ready for his triumphant return, and the Prinny says "This is a typical American victory speech. And let's not forget the 'smart American' joke, either."
- The America of the Grand Theft Auto series is Flavor 2 to its (il)logical extreme. There are some who are, unfortunately, convinced it's some sort of Deconstruction, or even Truth In Television - it's all strawman, all-eagleland, all the time.
- The best bit? There are some people in the UK (its actual country of origin) convinced that Grand Theft Auto is an American game.
- This editor thinks most Americans think Grand Theft is an American game.
- To be fair, it's an easy mistake to make. Rockstar is based in NYC. It's the developer, Rockstar North, that's Scottish.
- Command And Conquer: Red Alert 3 seems to have the US going towards Boisterous Bruiser, with President Howard Ackerman, a bloodthirsty and batshit insane jingoist whose campaign slogan is "Screw 'Em All!" and "Vote for me if you want to live" (as well as apparently running on the Attack Dolphin party). The man's policy on illegal immigration is using Attack Dogs and cares more about bombing the crap out of those Dirty Communists more than any special interest groups. He's still generous enough to donate a pint of his blood every week to the uninsured to make them indestructible though.
- Though, if the Japanese campaign's most spoilerrific plot point is universally canon, he's an android spy set by the Empire to spy on the Allied command from within.
- In No More Heroes, the city where everything takes place, Santa Destroy, is cultureless, rife with crime, lower-class, crowded, and completely culture-free. Take a guess which of the two flavors Santa Destroy is. It's only crowded in supplementary materials though, in actual gameplay, it's nearly a ghost town.
- Subverted in Eve Online: the Gallente Federation is clearly modeled on the United States (more type 1). Everyone drinks their soft drinks and watches their entertainment, they bang on about freedom all the time, and their government has a Senate, President, and Supreme Court. The subversion? They're actually French.
- Street Fighter IV has Rufus, a fat, obnoxious and dim-witted American who spends the game as the Unknown Rival of Ken, wishing to prove himself as the greatest fighter of the US. Then there's Balrog, who's an idiotic boxer from Las Vegas who seemed to get less sadistic and a lot dumber as the series went on.
- Street Fighter II introduced Guile, however. Guile is a tattooed, buff military man, but he's a decent guy and is considered one of the good guys, even becoming the main character in some Western adaptations (I wonder why...). On the other hand, he's fueled by revenge over his friend's death.
- Destroy All Humans is about an alien tearing through a solidly type 2 1950's Eagleland killing people for their DNA. Every single person is either a hate filled redneck ready to shoot anyone he sees or a spiteful paranoid urban type who secretly wishes bad things to happen to everyone else. And that's BEFORE the government starts pumping hate-drugs into the population.
- Fallout's world was Flavor 1. Perhaps not anymore. Fallout's world is actually Flavor 2. The pop culture of the time was to cover up the fact that it was a violent, jingoistic police state. For example, news reports that the annexation of Canada was peaceful and well received were all false, and Canadian dissenters and protesters were brutally executed by the US military. Then there's the Vaults, the Enclave, the FEV virus...
- I don't recall the news reports trying to depict the Annexation as peacful, but I do remember there being a TV commercial depicting the execution of a Canadian partisan by two power armored soldiers, while saying 'Our boys keep peace in newly annexed Canada', in the first game.
- Interestingly in the original game you can find a holotape describing how the president was arrested and fined for jaywalking, as an indirect protest against his foreign policy. The country clearly wasn't half as unified or well-lead as the propaganda would like to make you believe. Incidentally, the reason for annexation of Canada was pretty bleak: the United States wanted to cut down its forests for fuel to keep its industry going after oil had practically run out from the world. But then, it clearly was a Crapsack World even before the bombs fell.
- Persona 2 has Mr. Tominaga, a chiropractor who is obsessed with American culture. He has patches such as NASA and FBI on his jacket, wears a red and white striped shirt and a blue with white stars tie, has an American flag in his office, and is convinced that his Goldfingeeeeers can cure anything. Interestingly enough, he's Japanese but studied chiropractic in America.
- Dead Rising falls neatly into Type 2. The zombie outbreak was accidentally caused by the government trying to create super-cows to feed a voracious America, with the zombies themselves being described by one character as creatures that "[just] eat, and eat, and eat. Growing in number...just like you good red, white and blue Americans". One of the survivors is an overweight slob who will refuse to follow you until you feed him, and later puts the entire group in danger if you don't feed him again. One of the boss fights is a family of snipers obsessed with the Second Amendment. Generally, the game portrays the US in a cynical light.
- Not to mention the fat, trigger-happy gunshop owner and the Vietnam veteran who was probably a type one before he became insane and paranoid after watching his granddaughter being devoured by the undead.
- In fairness the vet was probably played as a more disgruntled soldier than a take that against America, and some (some...there is no forgiving the too dumb to live survivors) could be interpreted as going mad in a zombie outbreak. Still there are subtle clues of type 2 America...if by subtle you mean sledgehammer.
- The original Mercenaries featured the Allied Nations, a supposedly international coalition (Though apparently staffed and equipped entirely by the US), attempting to stabilize the North Korean situation, and they were more or less the "good guys" (Type I), but the South Koreans forces were being advised by a burned-out CIA vet who was still thinking in terms of the Cold War (Type II). In the sequel, the Allied Nations were more directly connected to being just the US and a token few other countries, and were involved in Venezuela due to a desire for oil (even the basic troops will sometimes gleefully talk about getting the oil), definite type 2.
- From developer SNK we have Terry Bogard who tends to be a bit of a mix. On one the one hand he's boisterous, proud and wears stereotypical American clothes. On the other hand, he's largely self-sufficient, at least partially self-taught, and is not only a good guy, but is considered one of the most important characters in the games.
- In the anime, he's the main character and basically shown to be the most powerful martial artist alive, who earns the admiration of his allies and the respect of his enemies. He also defeats Ares, the God of War, in a one-on-one fight... which, if you think about it too hard, could push him back over into a Type 2.
Webcomics
Western Animation
- A Simpsons episode set in Japan has the family go to a restaurant called Americatown, where the waiters act out every negative stereotype imaginable. "I know nothing, I product of American education system!"
- A rare case of Flavor 1 punishing Flavor 2: When the Simpsons family goes to Australia and Homer learns that the Embassy is considered American soil, he acts like the typical Flavor 2 American tourist, jumping in and outside the Embassy, shouting "Australia! America! Australia! America!" The Marine at the gate, no longer able to take it, finally decks Homer across the jaw, shouting "IN AMERICA WE DON'T TOLERATE THAT KIND OF CRAP, SIR!"
- Kim Possible leans towards portraying America in a positive, type 1 light.
- Via Positive Discrimination of the other Planeteers, the arrogant and rash Wheeler of Captain Planet And The Planeteers is the only one in the group with any major personality flaws. In fact, half the time America is seen, it's either a nice, relatively pleasant place of small towns and green communities in danger of being ruined by the villains, or it's a polluted, corrupt hellhole where Eco-Villains like Verminous Skum or Dr. Blight are free to wreak havok.
- The German-language version of Cats Dont Dance subtly shifts a single line of evil child star Darla Dimple's dialogue to suggest a more cutthroat and purely-for-the-money version of Hollywood:
(original) Darla: Mister Pussycat, listen to me; you don't have to be good, but you had better be...Big and Loud!...
(German) Darla: Let me tell you my philosophy: you don't have to be good, just better than them!
- Futurama's Earth, as America IN SPACE, is generally Type 2, although it does have its moments of Type 1:
Zoidberg: That's why I love Earth! You can do what you want, and no one makes you feel guilty because no one cares!
Fry: We're not listening!
Zoidberg: That's what I'm talking about!
- The Americans in the original series of Captain Scarlet have a tendency to be of the former variety- strapping men, near-glowing skin etc. They're also more likely to get the cliche lines (something that also held true in the newer series).
- In Les triplettes de Belleville, all Americans seen in the background are grotesquely obese. Even the Statue of Liberty is a fat woman holding a cheeseburger.
- Flushed Away features a stereotypical American tourist (a Texan, to be exact) who teases the Royal Guards and complains how "these Brits don't know the first thing about football" while watching The World Cup.
- The Amazing Screw On Head:
Head: The World is counting on me Mr. President, and by the World, I mean America.
Real Life
- Anyone who's worked in the tourist industry anywhere outside of the States can tell you that while Flavor #2 is by no means universally true, there are certainly enough Americans who embody it to ruin your day. It doesn't help that the more unpleasant someone is the more likely you are to remember them, so those few that do fit the negative stereotypes are the ones that will stick out in your mind.
- A survey found that Americans are a mixed bag in other countries, roughly akin to the "split the difference" view mentioned in the introduction to this trope. Respondents found Americans to be loud and fussy—but they are also the most likely to try a new language, and are generous tippers. The worst tourists are apparently the French, who are seen as really rude and stingy; they only earned good marks in cleanliness and elegance.
- The tipping is explained by the fact that, in most other countries, 15% is insanely generous. Hence why European tourists in America are almost universally hated by waiters.
- And being the loudest and untidiest can be explained as simple stereotyping, like Britons being ranked top in behavior in everywhere but Europe.
- Well, yes. Hence this trope.
- Just visit any IHOP/Cracker Barrel/amusement park. It's enough to make any elitist, conservative American cynical about their fellow countryman. However, it is sometimes a case of oversimplification. In some cases Americans aren't trying to be rude, there are instances (even in this globalized society) where Values Dissonance occurs.
- It is the International House of Pancakes, and Cracker Barrel is supposed to have an Old-Tyme Countrie Feele. And there are plenty of foreigners in many amusement parks. In fact, This Troper once saw a group of Brazilians (in matching Brazil Flag shirts, even) at a self-serve restaurant in Disney World, and they were the only ones to leave their garbage at the table when they left. Therefore, the reverse is also true.
- While there are plenty of the rude, insensitive, loud tourists that give Americans a bad name, there are also plenty of the opposite- people who are legitimately interested in where they are, and who try to be as un-streotypical-American as possible.
- This is a case of cultural dissonance (Or obliviousness). Self-service restaurants in Brazil employ bussers or cleaning staff to take dishes and the like away from tables. Even food courts at many shopping malls have people who collect and return trays. Thus, it's likely they didn't immediately understand they were expected to dispose or return those things themselves.
- Type 2: "I want my country back!".
- On behalf of America, I'm so so sorry.
- Rick Mercer's "Talking to Americans" segment on CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes showed real-life Type 2 Americans in their native setting, including high-ranking politicians, weighing in on issues such as Canada switching to metric time or our prime minister Jean Poutine.
- In a survey America only was about the middle in being proud of your own country. The two countries made up nearly entirely of people who think their country rules? Australia and Canada. Naturally the Japanese got dead last, not even reaching 60%.
Other
- John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman's podcast The Bugle has "the American" (played by Rory Albanese, whom Oliver works with on The Daily Show), whose entire character is Flavor 2 of this trope. For instance, when told that the American dollar is neither the strongest currency in the world nor accepted in other countries: "I don't believe you."
- "The Arrow" from Arrow In The Head is the most obvious example of Type 2 on the Internet. He speaks like the the typical redneck, judges the movies he reviews on tits-and-ass and gore content, and hates things considered to be effeminate such as elves or Christmas. He also directed a movie where he cast himself as the typical Stallone-like American Badass.
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