History NationalStereotypes / WesternEurope

** Similar to CanadaEh the verbal tic ''"Ja" ("Yes")'' is used to drive the point home that a character in popular culture is Swedish. This has no basis whatsoever in reality. Swedish has a rich variety of verbal tics, but "Ja" is never used that way in Swedish. German is a different matter, but that opens up another can of worms....

** However, the term ''"dutch treat"'', as well as many other terms, were invented by the English during the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. The term ''"dutch treat"'' owes less to ''"Dutch people are thrifty"'' and more to ''"Dutch people are scum."'' This is clearer in certain other expressions, like ''"dutch courage"'' (liquor).

*** Seeing that film was invented in France by the [[Film/LumiereFilms Brothers Lumière]] the French also made a huge contribution to cinema. To foreigners, it seems that all French movies are by definition arthouse pictures, a stereotype fed by the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave and cinematic innovators like Creator/GeorgesMelies, Creator/JeanCocteau, Creator/FrancoisTruffaut, Creator/JeanLucGodard, Creator/JeanRenoir, Creator/ReneClair, Creator/AlainResnais, Creator/LouisMalle... and the annual Palme d'Or film festival in Cannes, where usually only artistically interesting films from all around the world are selected to be screened and awarded. This association is so strong that all arthouse or independent movies in popular culture often will be French: see LeFilmArtistique.

* The only Swiss cities that exist in the public consciousness are Zürich and Geneva. Zürich is known for being the birth place of Reformation icon Huldrych Zwingli, the art movement UsefulNotes/{{Dada}} and the annual techno dance festival ''Street Parade''. The latter city is famous for being the birthplace of UsefulNotes/{{Calvinism}} and the center of the World Health Organization and World Council of Churches, among other institutions. The Geneva Conventions were also signed here, concerning the treatment of wartime non-combatants and prisoners of war. Usually one of these two cities is thought to be the capital, instead of Bern.

** Naturally, all Danish films are porn or UsefulNotes/{{Dogme 95}} films. [[ItsNotPornItsArt Or both]].

* Monégasque characters are a rarity in fighting games. Despite this, ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}''[='s=] Lili (Emilie de Rochefort) is an elegant yet spoiled rich girl with a ballet and gymastics-influenced fighting style.

* In (beat 'em up) videogames, French characters are often depicted as [[WarriorPoet elegant]], [[TheFatalist fatalistic]], and angsty, with a penchant for [[RoyalRapier fencing]]. Examples include [[JeanneDArchetype Charlotte]] from ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'', Ky Kiske from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', Elisabeth Blanctorche (who uses a riding crop) from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', and FrenchJerk Raphael and his ward [[ElegantGothicLolita Amy]] from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries''. Other examples also filled with Gallic ennui include Remy from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', who fits the cynical, NietzscheWannabe type perfectly and Abel, also from ''Street Fighter'', with his brooding, emo-ish personality (although he is atypical in that he exhibits none of the usual associated elegance, and is a hulking, rugby player type). All of the examples mentioned probably derive from the deep, sullen French philosopher archetype, perhaps inspired by the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre and Creator/JacquesDerrida.

* In (beat 'em up) videogames, Germans are often depicted as [[TheStoic stoic and serious]], verging on [[GermanicDepressive melancholic]] -- good examples from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' include Siegfried Schtauffen, whose back-story is angsty in the extreme and Hildegard von Krone, who typifies the efficient, serious German.
** Some beat 'em up characters are also ''ambiguously'' German -- that is, they have German-sounding names, but it is [[PartsUnknown never specified]] they ''are'' German natives. Examples are to be found in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', with Heidern and Rugal Bernstein (and his children, Adelheid and Rose). In Heidern's case, this is perhaps because his design inescapably evokes a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazi officer]] and so his nationality was [[HandWave hand-waved]] as "unknown". M. Bison of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' fame also evokes this look, and has a similarly ''"unknown"'' background. [[NaziNobleman Brocken]], (specified as German) from ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'' shows no such compunction, and is blatantly presented as a ''"Nazi super-cyborg"''. Von [[UnfortunateImplications Kaiser]] of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' fame is similarly blatant, and even quips ''"Surrender! Or I will conquer you!"'', taking the AllGermansAreNazis trope to the limit.

*** In (beat 'em up) videogames, Spanish males are almost universally depicted as prideful, flashy matadors of some sort, with examples including [[TheFightingNarcissist Vega]] from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', Laurence Blood from ''VideoGame/FatalFury'', and [[DashingHispanic Miguel Caballero Rojo]] from the ''Tekken'' series.

* Also known for producing mobile phones ("Nokia" is Finnish). Many IT innovations -- social media, [=MySQL=], mobile technology -- originate in Finland.

* Sweden is also known for its Indie video games, with games like ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', ''VideoGame/NoituLove'' and ''VideoGame/LittleNightmares'', among many others, originating from Sweden, with there even being an annual indie game development convention there.

** There are several UK actresses who carved out successful careers (mainly in TheEighties) portraying the sexy, [[AhPea RP-accented]], haughty, [[EvilBrit Brit villainess]] character, especially in American works. Examples include Creator/JoanCollins (as infamous mega-bitch Alexis Carrington of ''Series/Dynasty1981'' fame), both Stephanie Beacham and Emma Samms (also ''Dynasty''), Sarah Douglas (who played Ursa in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/SupermanII'' and Queen Taramis in ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer''), Creator/KateOMara (''Series/DoctorWho'' and yet also ''Series/{{Dynasty|1981}}'') and Creator/SianPhillips.

** There are several UK actresses who carved out successful careers (mainly in TheEighties) portraying the [[EvilIsSexy sexy]], [[AhPea RP-accented]], haughty, [[EvilBrit Brit villainess]] character, especially in American works. Examples include Creator/JoanCollins (as infamous mega-bitch Alexis Carrington of ''Series/Dynasty1981'' fame), both Stephanie Beacham and Emma Samms (also ''Dynasty''), Sarah Douglas (who played Ursa in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/SupermanII'' and Queen Taramis in ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer''), Creator/KateOMara (''Series/DoctorWho'' and yet also ''Series/{{Dynasty|1981}}'') and Creator/SianPhillips.

* Many stereotypes about Spain date back to the 16th and 17th century when the Spanish Empire was the most powerful country in the world. Expect references to the [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 Spanish Armada]], UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition, and their famous explorers and conquistadores like UsefulNotes/HernanCortez -- who conquered Mexico -- UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro -- who conquered Peru --, UsefulNotes/VascoNunezDeBalboa -- who discovered the Pacific Ocean -- Juan Ponce de Leon -- who discovered Florida -- and UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus -- who was the first European to reach America (after Leif Ericson preceeded him four centuries earlier). Columbus also discovered present-day San Salvador, Cuba, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Granada.[[note]] He was actually an Italian working for the Spanish crown, though[[/note]]. Oddly, UsefulNotes/AmerigoVespucci is not associated to Spain as often, even although he also worked for them.

* Occasionally gets lumped in with their big eastern neighbor, a la epiphets like "Swamp Germans". The names used for both countries' residents can also cause some confusion for Anglophones because "Dutch" is a bastardization of "''Deutschen''", which is what the Germans call themselves; the Dutch just call themselves "''Nederlanders''", aka "Netherlanders". Both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire and along with France and Belgium can trace their origins to UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, but diverged heavily in the Middle Ages in terms of language and culture. Relations between the two are complex and have varied between cautious friendliness and open animosity[[note]]As stated, they have ties going back centuries, including dynastic ones; a ''lot'' of Dutch kings/queens and [[HereditaryRepublic stadholders]] married German nobles, but the Dutch have usually been quite wary of overt German influence. This reached a fever pitch during and after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany and the crimes of the Nazi regime, including the Holocaust and a famine in 1944, boiled over into decades-lasting, popular dislike of [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans as a whole]]. Since then, relations have mellowed out considerably and both countries tend to vote in lock-step within the European Union.[[/note]], but being each other's most enduring trading partners, [[SeriousBusiness disputes get settled with Football]].

* A prejudice that the élite French-speaking Belgians are not just conservative, but right-wing reactionaries who want to rule as feudal overlords, is still hard to shift. Political thriller ''Series/{{Salamander}}'' (made in the Flemish-speaking half of Belgium) plays on this perception as a central part of the plot.

* Especially to people from metropolitan Paris, the Belgian accent in French is thought of as clumsy, unlovely, uncouth and offensive to the ear. Not only do Goscinny and Uderzo skewer this when Belgian characters come into the ComicBook/{{Asterix}] world. The creators of sketch show ''Series/VousLesFemmes'' perform a sketch where the only conceivable thing that can make French people give up smoking [[note]]this in itself is a national stereotype - all French people smoke from birth[[/note]] is a very accurate public health warning on the fag packet - '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktQMAahRZY Fumer donne l'accent Belge!''' Two women find out this is literally true and run away screaming in terror.

** Belgians are also quite passive when it comes to protesting against the people in power. In previous centuries they have occasionally rose up against their oppressors, but usually only achieved a pyrrhic victory before being brutally surpressed again soon afterwards. So usually they just let politicians bicker above their heads and go along with their own business as usual. Their “real” resistance is never taking anybody in power seriously. No politician ever manages to unite the people behind his policies. Instead, Belgians are united in their mockery of the government and all their organisations and parties. They always poke fun at politicians, tax inspectors, policemen, teachers, judges, lawyers and even the Royal Family at carnivals, parties, in comics or cartoons or by telling jokes about them. And if they see an opportunity to disobey certain laws they’ll take it, but always on the sly.

* In Japan and Korea Belgium is known for the classic children's novel Literature/ADogOfFlanders, which takes place in Antwerp. In fact, it's one of the main reasons why the city attracts so many Asian tourists. Yet the story was written by a British woman, Ouida, and is fairly obscure in Belgium. Only in the 1980s did the Belgian Board of Tourism finally erect a statue and a commemorative plaque to please East-Asian tourists, changed by a new monument in late 2016. Another unfortunate effect of the novel is that many East-Asian tourists have a stereotypical idea of Belgium based on the way it is portrayed in this 19th-century novel and the various anime adaptations since. Many are disappointed that Belgium is not one giant tullip field with people walking in clogs –- like the stereotypical image of the Netherlands –- and the only element of the novel which exists in real life is the Antwerp Cathedral where indeed Creator/PeterPaulRubens' painting "The Descent of the Cross" can be seen.

* {{Bestiality Is Depraved}}: another longstanding stereotype circulating among Italians is Sardinians' [[AcceptableTargets strange fondness for sheep]]. In Sardinia, there are approximately three times more sheep than there are human beings!

* Occasionally gets lumped in with their big eastern neighbor, a la epiphets like "Swamp Germans". The names used for both countries' residents can also cause some confusion for Anglophones because "Dutch" is a bastardization of "''Deutschen''", which is what the Germans call themselves; the Dutch just call themselves "''Nederlanders''", aka "Netherlanders". Both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire and along with France and Belgium can trace their origins to UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, but diverged heavily in the Middle Ages in terms of language and culture. Relations between the two are complex and have varied between cautious friendliness and open animosity[[note]]As stated, they have ties going back centuries, including dynastic ones; a ''lot'' of Dutch kings/queens and [[HereditaryRepublic stadholders]] married German nobles, but the Dutch have always been quite wary of overt German influence. This reached a fever pitch during and after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany and the crimes of the Nazi regime, including the Holocaust and a famine in 1944, boiled over into decades-lasting, popular dislike of [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans as a whole]]. Since then, relations have mellowed out considerably and both countries tend to vote in lock-step within the European Union.[[/note]], but being each other's most enduring trading partners, [[SeriousBusiness disputes get settled with Football]].

* Occasionally gets lumped in with their big eastern neighbor, a la epiphets like "Swamp Germans". The names used for both countries' residents can also cause some confusion for Anglophones because "Dutch" is a bastardization of "''Deutschen''", which is what the Germans call themselves; the Dutch just call themselves "''Nederlanders''", aka "Netherlanders". Both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire and along with France and Belgium can trace their origins to UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, but diverged heavily in the Middle Ages in terms of language and culture. Relations between the two are complex and have varied between cautious friendliness and open animosity[[note]]As stated, they have ties going back centuries, including dynastic ones; a ''lot'' of Dutch kings/queens and [[HereditaryRepublic stadholders]] married German nobles, but the Dutch have always been quite wary of overt German influence. This reached a fever pitch during and after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany and the crimes of the Nazi regime, including the Holocaust and a famine in 1944, boiled over into long-lasting, popular hatred of [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans as a whole]]. Since then, relations have mellowed out considerably and both countries tend to vote in lock-step within the European Union.[[/note]], but being each other's most enduring trading partners, [[SeriousBusiness disputes get settled with Football]].

* Occasionally gets lumped in with their big eastern neighbor, a la epiphets like "Swamp Germans". The names used for both countries' residents can also cause some confusion for Anglophones because "Dutch" is a bastardization of "''Deutschen''", which is what the Germans call themselves; the Dutch just call themselves "''Nederlanders''", aka "Netherlanders". Both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire and along with France and Belgium can trace their origins to UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, but diverged heavily in the Middle Ages in terms of language and culture. Relations between the two have varied between cautious friendliness and animosity[[note]]As stated, they have ties going back centuries, including dynastic ones; a ''lot'' of Dutch kings/queens and [[HereditaryRepublic stadholders]] married German nobles, but the Dutch have always been quite wary of overt German influence. This reached a fever pitch during and after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany and the crimes of the Nazi regime, including the Holocaust and a famine in 1944, boiled over into long-lasting, popular hatred of [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans as a whole]]. Since then, relations have mellowed out considerably and both countries tend to vote in lock-step within the European Union.[[/note]], but being each other's most enduring trading partners, [[SeriousBusiness disputes get settled with Football]].

* Occasionally gets lumped in with their big eastern neighbor, a la epiphets like "Swamp Germans". The names used for both countries' residents can also cause some confusion for Anglophones because "Dutch" is a bastardization of "''Deutschen''", which is what the Germans call themselves; the Dutch just call themselves "''Nederlanders''", aka "Netherlanders". Both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire and along with France and Belgium can trace their origins to UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, but diverged heavily in the Middle Ages in terms of language and culture. Relations between the two have varied between reserved friendliness and animosity[[note]]As stated, they have ties going back centuries, including dynastic ones; a ''lot'' of Dutch kings/queens and [[HereditaryRepublic stadholders]] married German nobles, but the Dutch have always been quite wary of overt German influence. This reached a fever pitch during and after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany and the crimes of the Nazi regime, including the Holocaust and a famine in 1944, boiled over into long-lasting, popular hatred of [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans as a whole]]. Since then, relations have mellowed out considerably and both countries tend to vote in lock-step within the European Union.[[/note]], but being each other's most enduring trading partners, [[SeriousBusiness disputes get settled with Football]].

* Occasionally gets lumped in with their big eastern neighbor, a la epiphets like "Swamp Germans". The names used for both countries' residents can also cause some confusion for Anglophones because "Dutch" is a bastardization of "''Deutschen''", which is what the Germans call themselves; the Dutch just call themselves "''Nederlanders''", aka "Netherlanders". Both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire and along with France and Belgium can trace their origins to UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, but diverged heavily in the Middle Ages in terms of language and culture. Relations between the two have varied between animosity and reserved friendliness[[note]]As stated, they have ties going back centuries, including dynastic ones; a ''lot'' of Dutch kings/queens and [[HereditaryRepublic stadholders]] married German nobles, but the Dutch have always been quite wary of overt German influence. This reached a fever pitch during and after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany and the crimes of the Nazi regime, including the Holocaust and a famine in 1944, boiled over into long-lasting, popular hatred of [[AllGermansAreNazis the Germans as a whole]]. Since then, relations have mellowed out considerably and both countries tend to vote in lock-step within the European Union.[[/note]], but being each other's most enduring trading partners, [[SeriousBusiness disputes get settled with Football]].