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GoldenFootballPlayer
(Life not ruined yet)
23rd Apr, 2017 09:51:23 PM
I think Fantasy Counterpart Culture covers what you're talking about more-or-less, but a second opinion would help.
Edited by GoldenFootballPlayer
xoriak
Since: Apr, 2017
24th Apr, 2017 05:32:58 AM
May want to look into Earth Drift, which mentions the Lt. Surge example.
Is there a trope for this situation? A series takes place on a planet that they call Earth, even though the geography is completely and totally different from our Earth. They don't want to reference any nations or actual history, but they still want to take place on "Earth." Two major examples are Dragon Ball's not-Earth and the Pokemon series' Pokearth. But the writers still want to reference regular Earth things, and to do this, they cover their heels by being conveniently vague and hoping the viewer doesn't ask questions.
Example: In the third Dragon Ball movie, some soldiers enter a room and say they're searching for "a large Native man," in reference to a character with a Native American motif. Thing is, America doesn't exist on Dragon Ball Earth. So... he's a Native what? Why is he being described as "Native?"
Another example: Lt. Surge in Pokemon is based on an American war veteran (and in fact America is mentioned by name a couple times in Red/Blue, despite there being no known America on Pokearth). He talks about how electric pokemon saved his life during "the war," but conveniently leaves out what war he's talking about. Like, he's referencing Vietnam, but doesn't want to commit to making the reference explicit because that would open a can of worms regarding the lore of Pokearth.
Is this a trope? Not wanting to commit to a reference because you live on almost-Earth?