History Main / LandDownUnder

[[SwarmOfRats By rats and]] [[EnergyWeapon sharks with frickin' lasers...]]''[[note]][[Series/CrocodileHunter Steve Irwin]] was not quite so hostile, though, and the striped marsupial dogs with freakishly large mouths have been dead since three years before World War II.[[/note]]]]

* [[https://www.reddit.com/r/straya/ r/straya]] is the resident [[Website/{{Reddit}} subreddit]] for humorous and often self-effacing looks at Australian life.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns15eHLDv1I This man]] achieved minor viral fame in the late 2010s for his enthusiastic endorsement of [[ATankardOfMooseUrine Victoria Bitter]].
-->If yer a fukken fair dinkum fukken full-grown Aussie, this is what you'd have fuh breakfast, ya fukken dog cunts! A fukken VB - LONGNECK - at twenty-to-eight in the fukken mornin'! Git that up ya!

* Russell Brandon’s “Year of the Angry Rabbit” has gonzo Australian politicians Taking Over the World, only to have the country overrun by carnivorous KillerRabbit outbreak. (It also, in 2000, has Nixon being elected President of the US in “the eighth attempt”.)

* In the books of Creator/AgathaChristie, Australia (and sometimes South Africa) is home to criminals and unscrupulous adventurers, seemingly as a holdover of both Christie's own Victorian upbringing and the country's founding [[SentencedToDownUnder as a British penal colony]] . Like {{Eagleland}}ers, they are often portrayed as foolish, backward, or morally lax compared to ''proper'' Englishmen and women. Many of her blackmailers and servants who steal from their employers spent time in Australia, as if the country itself attracted criminals. The CorruptCorporateExecutive in Christie books often made their fortune in one or the other, such as Simeon Lee in ''Literature/HerculePoirotsChristmas'' having discovered a number of diamond mines in South Africa. In ''Literature/SadCypress'' the villain has spent time in New Zealand and at some point [[spoiler: she]] had to leave very quickly, to avoid being arrested.

* Australia didn’t exactly go unnoticed in ''Series/{{JAG}}''. One of the recurring characters, Mic Brumby, was an Australian naval officer originally on exchange duty in season 4. In season 5 the production team actually went to Sydney to film the two part episode “Boomerang” on location in Oz. The fact that the [[Creator/DonaldPBellisario creator and executive producer]] had an Australian wife is probably the chief explanation for all this.
* ''{{Series/Lost}}'' is notorious among Australian fans for its completely incorrect accents (with the exception of Emilie de Ravin, who is Australian, and even then she has drawn criticism), its [[ArtisticLicenseGeography hilarious geography goofs]] (judging from the view out the window, Boone's hotel room seems to be hung in mid-air over the harbour) and the fact that anyone in Australia (shown in flashbacks) seems to be less intelligent and with less common sense than the main characters.

** This is reasonably grounded in reality as most Australians see New Zealanders as their younger siblings and [[SiblingRivalry taunt them mercilessly]] (despite the fact that they're actually rather fond of them.)

--> '''Brett''': You call that a knife? That's not a knife.
--> '''Jamie''': Umm yeah it is.
--> '''Brett''': Oh, yeah it is. Run away.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' was filmed in Australia, and one episode where John Crichton returns to Earth [[spoiler:(well, not really, but he doesn't know that at the time)]] has him crashing on a beach outside Sydney - where most of the episode's action takes place.

* Sally uses Australia as an analogy for her relationship to Steve on ''{{Series/Coupling}}''. As his girlfriend's best friend, Sally tells Steve that she is like Australia - mysterious, distant and with areas of great danger. Steve thought she meant that she had a lot of convicts.

* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Slade Wilson - aka Deathstroke - is reimagined as an AwesomeAussie who is the most bad''ass'' character in the series; he trained the title character in how to fight; later went insane, gained super strength and a slight healing factor, and survived getting shot through the eye with an arrow; then came back and became the season 2 BigBad; then became not-insane, lost his superpowers, spent years locked in an underground prison, and was still able to kick infinity levels of ass while teaming up with Green Arrow. Why was he able to do all that? Because he used to be a part of ASIS, the Australian military's covert ops unit. So basically, because he's from Australia.

* ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth'' was notable for having an Australian actor, Cleopatra Coleman, play an Australian character who got stuck in the US when the virus hit. In one of her early episode, she off-handedly mentions that she 'did time in Adelaide' (ie served a jail sentence), Adelaide being less-well known than Sydney or Melbourne to non-Australians.

* "We'll surf like they do in the U.S.A.|We'll fly down to Sydney for our holiday|On sunny Christmas Day|Australia, Australia" - Music/TheKinks' concept album ''Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire)'' tells the story of a man emigrating to Australia from post-war England.

* The aptly-named [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNEeq5qGh8I Come To Australia]], listing [[SarcasmMode many reasons to visit Australia]] - specifically, its "wonderful wildlife and fabulous fauna".

--> '''Clio/Kira:''' I swear to you, sisters, by the fires of Hephaestus - I mean, ''(switches to Australian accent)'' by the fires of all the shrimp on the barbie - I will help this Sonny Malone to fulfill his destiny!

* In ''VideoGame/DOOMEternal'', the forces of Hell has invaded Earth and slaughtered billions of humans all across the globe - except Australia, which is completely untouched. Were the inhabitants too badass or was the wildlife too terrifying for Hell itself? You decide.

-->'''Tycho''': Feast, my servants. Feast now, and grow... [[FlatWhat what]]. What do you want? Why are you back? You should be feasting!
-->'''Wolfman''': Larry got bit by a spider? Yeah? And then [[ImMelting he melted]]. So I need you [[PunctuatedForEmphasis to stuff. My ass. Back into the portal]]. I just bit a guy, and he '''thanked''' me.
-->'''Tycho''': Did you tell him about the Lycanthropy? The Moon Curse?!
-->'''Wolfman''': I gave him the pamphlet! Motherfucker '''laughed'''. [[HorrifyingTheHorror I gotta tell you. That's a]] '''[[HorrifyingTheHorror new]]''' [[HorrifyingTheHorror one for me]].

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

Marine the Raccoon from ''{{VideoGame/Sonic|theHedgehog}} [[VideoGame/SonicRushSeries Rush Adventure]]'' is a MotorMouth who uses every single Australian slang word ever invented, and then some. She'd be TheScrappy for that (and may still be considered one) but the other characters react as if she ''is'' that annoying.
** Not to mention Knuckles is an echidna, an Australian monotreme.
** And the Coconut Crew, also from ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}} Adventure'', are koalas (who have [[NonstandardCharacterDesign very different eyes]] from other Sonic characters, by the way).

** Craig Marduk of ''{{VideoGame/Tekken}}''. Although his accent is about as Australian as Abraham Lincoln. It is suggested that Jun had placed Alex and Roger in Australia, which would be either a blessing [[DeathWorld or a curse.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' featured Fred Nerk, the first Australian Dragon, as minor antagnoist during "Dragon Summit". His dragon form's design was based on Sea Dragons, which are native to the waters of Australia, and he was described by the creators as "an affable bloke; plays rugby; likes to travel; not especially concerned about dragoning ('The bloody place pretty much takes care of itself')."

* ''WesternAnimation/KoalaMan'' is an adult animated series set in Austrailia, with an Austrialian cast, a superhero based on an Australian animal, and kangaroos.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Australia's former Prime Minister, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_rudd Kevin Rudd]], is a highly educated, bespectacled, ex-diplomat who talks like a management-consultant - in English ''and'' fluent Mandarin Chinese. In other words, he's a bit of a nerd. Shortly before the election that brought his government to power, the news media broke a "scandal" that he once got drunk at a strip-club in New York City. Australia's reaction? [[InsultBackfire "Oh, he must be all right then."]] Alexander Downer, a Cabinet Minister in then-Prime Minister John Howard's government, noted that Howard told him that this was the moment he knew he'd lost the election. If anything, Rudd lost some respect when witnesses explained he just got drunk and went home instead of starting a bar fight or challenging a bouncer to a Boat Race.
** He also said shitstorm on the 6.30 news. A ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' fan?
--->Prime Minister, do the words ''political shitstorm'' mean anything to you?
* Prime Minister Bob Hawke not only admitted to it, he was actively proud of the fact that he held the Oxford record for downing a Yard Glass full of beer. Everyone in Australia thought that this pride was fully justified.
** The man has still got it! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5mBShX9fdU]]
** He was also famous for proclaiming that any boss who fired an employee for skipping work on the day the Americas Cup ended was quote "a bum" unquote. The man was blokey enough that it's amazing unsecured beer bottles didn't float towards him under their own power.
* There is an entire restaurant chain (Outback Steakhouse) based on this trope. Apparently, the Outback Steakhouse people have opened up some locations IN AUSTRALIA. Reactions are mixed-to-negative.
** Some Australians view Outback Steakhouse as serving what Australians think Americans eat, as opposed to what Americans think Australians eat. This outlook can drastically improve opinion on the restaurant.
* Along similar lines, there is also an incredibly popular Aussie theme pub chain in the UK called "Walkabout".
* Also TruthInTelevision is the stereotype of toughness at least in Australian military history. During the Weltkrieg, or UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the German Army hated and feared Australians because they were big, tough men who butchered everyone who tried to surrender to them or was too wounded to fight back - or so the rumours went. Hell, at the Battle of the Kokoda Trail in the Pacific theatre of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII two hundred Australian militia held an entire regiment of Japanese soldiers for a month. This was the start of a series of running battles where the outnumbered Australians slowed the Japanese force to a crawl, although the terrain was not suited for rapid movement - to say the least. A case in point was the first battle of Kokoda where the Japanese thought they had driven off a force of about 1200 ill-supplied infantry defending the Kokoda airstrip. In reality they had been up against 77 soldiers using the spare food, automatic weapons, and ammunition meant for a much larger group of soldiers. Scale that up a thousand times and you practically have something on the order of ''Changsha'' (I-IV) or ''Citadel/Kursk'' (to use examples from the same war).
** There's an old joke presumably originating during WWII in which a young British officer protests that a group of Australian soldiers didn't salute. An older Brit officer points out that unlike their fathers in WWI, they at least walked ''round'', instead of ''over'', the officers.
** And, of course, Erwin Rommel's famous quote (which unfortunately demonstrates the deep racial contempt he and his comrades held for the Slavic Soviets):
--->''If I had to take Hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.''
** Supposedly, North Vietnamese said the same thing during the Vietnam War. They feared the Australians because they [[MindScrew thought like them (the NVA).]]
** In UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, a group of Australian soldiers were prepared to walk a fair more distance to quench their thirst rather than salute a passing British General, merely because they did not believe this general had gained their respect to be saluted at. This idea of respecting those who deserve said respect has been ingrained into nearly all Australians, whether native or not.
* Australia is the only country in the world to eat ''all parts of its national coat of arms'' (that are theoretically edible anyway; eating stars and crosses is rather a difficult proposition without a cookie cutter handy). There's Kangaroo, which is actually cheaper than Beef to buy in Australia, Emu, which tastes like gamey chicken, and the Wattle plant, whose seeds make quite a sweet flour. [[MundaneUtility Patriotic and tasty]].
** Also, Kangaroo is a delicious lean red meat that can be used to substitute for beef or lamb, although it is drier than either of those. It also has the added bonus that kangaroos are much less harmful to the environment than cattle or sheep. The only real drawback is that it has such a low fat content that the mince is almost useless for making meatloaf since it just won't hold together, although this can be offset by mixing it with pork mince.
* There's a whole page on them, but here's some of the highlights from UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife.
** [[KillerRabbit Koalas]]. Cute, slow-moving living teddy bears that prefer to sleep 19 hours a day. If disturbed - which is easy, what with the 19 hours of sleep deal -- they can maim. They also feed off eucalyptus leaves, which from a nutritional point of view resemble cardboard that's been sprayed with mescaline. (That's right, they sleep 19 hours and are high as kites for the five they're awake.) We'll say that again - Australia's ''teddy bears'' can do severe damage if pissed off. Of course, if you actually call them a teddy bear...
*** Also, they're not technically bears.
*** Never call them bears. Not only will Australians maim you, so will the koala.
** Wombats. Although they can be tamed to some degree, they can reach 40km an hour, albeit only for a minute and a half. They're also pretty heavy, so they can knock over grown men if angered. Then they can deliver a bite through your trousers, socks, and gumboots, and still go nearly an inch into your leg. For sheer WTF value, however, there's their main defence against predators like dingos: they run down a hole and present their asses. (No, it's not {{Fartillery}}). Their backsides are heavily padded with cartilage and they have really short tails, ensuring that it takes a hell of a lot of effort to get them out of that hole. Unfortunately, this means that wombats are the one exception to the "don't swerve to avoid an animal in the road" rule - hitting a wombat can total your car so completely you're actually better off ''swerving''. 120-tonne road trains have been taken out of action by hitting a wombat. Wombats can also use their butts to crush, suffocate and kill their attacker. You read that right. Cute little Australian native animals are so damn badass [[AssKicksYou they can use their butts as offensive, lethal weapons.]] They also have cubical faeces.
** Dingoes deserve a mention too. They're dogs, their puppies are still adorable, but... well... [[KillerRabbit this is one of the]] ''[[BewareOfViciousDog top predators]]'' in ''[[DeathWorld Australia]]''. Only a few things eat them - wedge-tailed eagles, which occasionally attack the elderly ones, and ''saltwater crocodiles''. Oh, and they sometimes kill people. In fact, they're a sort of predator cocktail - the organisation of wolves, the threat level of ''cougars''.
** The saltwater crocodile. Can grow up to 20 feet or longer. And weigh over one ton, and are deceptively smart. They're also known maneaters and will attempt to attack and kill humans when a good opportunity presents itself with very little hesitation.
** The platypus' poisoned spur can cripple. And there's no known antivenom, so even if there's no lasting damage, you've got several hours of excruciating pain to look forward to. The poison in question is not lethal but will make you wish it was. It results in such incredible excruciating pain that a ''lethal dose of morphine'' will not stop the pain. It can also develop into long lasting hyperalgesia (heightened sensitivity to pain), that can persist for months. A former member of the Australian Army and recipient of the Victorian Cross, Australia's highest award for valour, was struck in 1991, and still reported some discomfort in 2006.
** Wedge-tailed eagles are bigger than most bald eagles. That's right, [[{{Eagleland}} America]] - our eagle can kick your eagle's ass any day! How much larger? The wedge-tail's ''average'' wingspan is six inches larger than the bald eagle's ''maximum'' wingspan.
** Most bandicoots, on the other hand, are the native Australian version of rabbits. Indeed, we'd rather have more of them than all these bloody rabbits.
** And some of the deadliest snakes in the world. Which are very tasty. As [[Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic David Morgan-Mar]] put it, "Only 9 of the top 10 most venomous snakes in the world live in Australia. Of course, 9 of the ''top 9'' venomous snakes in the world live in Australia."
** Emus. Not only can they kick the crap out of you, but they are one of those species who does the same thing all those huge sauropods used to do - eat ''solid god-damned rocks'' to grind up their food. Also they [[UsefulNotes/TheEmuWar had a war]] with the above-mentioned badass Australian military and WON!
** Then you have the Cassowary which is basically an Emu that's been compacted for ease in ambushing joggers that get too close to forested areas. Or the reason feathered raptors aren't laughable. The main danger over an emu is that it has a [[RaptorAttack raptor claw]] on one of its toes. Yes, one of those ones. To give you an idea of how tough this thing is, even '''Creator/SteveIrwin''' got cautious around them. The cassowary is basically a smaller emu which was apparently created in response to complaints that emus were too sane and peaceable.
** A stingray killed Steve Irwin. And he was a native Australian! Do you really think '''''you''''' have a chance?!
** And kangaroos. The biggest ones are taller than the average man when they stand upright, and can leap 9 metres in one leap. So you'd better believe those big, powerful legs can cause incredible damage to a human - not to mention those feet have nice long claws on them. There's tales of humans being nearly ''disembowelled'' by a kangaroo kick. To add to that they actually prefer to drown their attackers in a river. And if that doesn't works they grab them and kick them with their legs (did we mention that those are extremely strong?) until the attacker topples over because of internal bleeding. Even young kangaroos pose serious danger, no matter how small they seem.
** Sugar-gliders. Notable for being so damn cute that even the most hardened bushman is reduced to girlish squeals just by looking at them. And unlike most of the things on this list, they're almost completely harmless (though they do have a rather painful bite if provoked). Go on, google a picture of one. Awwwwwww.
** Possums, being well-known for the creature that most Australians run over since they only come out at night. They're also known for being little cheeky bastards - they'll steal fruit from your trees, terrorize your dog, make unholy noise during the night, and god forbid if any of them get inside your house or roof. There's pest control business dedicated ''solely'' to getting rid of them. They also have a nasty bite if provoked. Still, since they're mostly harmless and pretty cute, they're not so much a part of Australia's deadly wildlife as much as they are the irritating part.
** Southern Boobook Owls (also known as Mopokes or Moreporks) are sweet fluffy little brown birds with talons like a set of eight tiny black scalpels and a hair-trigger temper. Australian wildlife rescuers who will happily wrestle Wedge Tailed Eagles to the ground will take a deep breath and approach a Southern Boobook with caution.
** Box jellyfish. Their sting is the most painful sensation ''possible''. If you're unfortunate enough have one sting you in the chest, you ''will'' die instantly. Found in Australia's tropical regions during summer: while swimming at those beaches during those months, it is extremely important to wear full body cover. Or, better yet, ''don't go swimming''.
*** And irukandji. There are nets at beaches to keep the box jellyfish out and fool people into thinking it's safe to swim. Except the irukandji are almost as painful and are small enough to get through the nets. Australia, where a necessary beachside day includes [[http://firstaid.about.com/od/bitesstings/ht/06_jellyfish.htm vinegar]].
*** "Irukandji syndrome" is the effect of this little dear's venom - not only are you in excruciating pain but you become ''convinced'' you are going to die and will ''beg'' to be put out of your misery.
** [[YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy Drop Bears]]. Fear them.
*** Those damn drop bears cause more injuries then all the snakes and spiders combined.
*** Make sure to smear vegemite on your ears, they won't attack you then!
*** Another method: while bushwalking, put your thumb to your forehead and wiggle your fingers upwards at all times. It mesmerizes them so they don't attack you. Totally.
** Hoop snakes. And kangawallafoxes. Also, land sharks.
*** Calling BS on the hoop snakes, they're from America. Poor little monsters, having to survive in Australia.
** The deadliest animal of all: feral penguins.
** And while it is true that MOST of the particularly nasty things that happen to live in Australia live only in relative wilderness areas where you might expect dangerous things to live, there's a very important exception. The redback spider (a relative of the black widow, and has similar markings) isn't likely to kill you, but you damn well won't want to get bitten by one a second time. And they live in the cities, too.
** Now that you've read all about Australian wildlife, consider the Australian wildlife rescuer/rehabilitator, who approaches most of the species listed above armed with a bag net and/or towel, catches them, takes them home, bandages them up and looks after them before putting them back out in the wild without finding it necessary to yell, "Crikey!" every five minutes.
* And then there's the founding father of Aussie badassery, UsefulNotes/NedKelly himself. Starting with the 45kg suit of armour. Then there was getting a friend to reload his rifle so he could keep firing even with his left arm disabled by police fire during the siege at Glenrowan. Finally, when he was eventually brought down, he had ''twenty-eight'' gunshot wounds. They weren't what killed him, either. He was hanged. Long story short, imagine a cross between Butch Cassidy and Comicbook/IronMan.
** Newspapers at the time reported his last words were "Such is life", while his warden, who was present at the hanging said that when Kelly was asked to speak his final words he mumbled something that could not be heard.
** Badass he may have been, but if he'd bothered to protect his legs the police would have had a much harder time stopping him. His armour at least allowed him to survive until he was hanged.
** Records indicate Justice Sir Redmond Barry sat for Kelly's last trial and found him guilty for a plethora of murders, bank robberies, resisting the police, and many more charges, and sentenced to hang. At the end of the trial, the two had an unusual exchange of words. The reported exchange neatly summed up Kelly's opinion, and may provide evidence that [[Website/{{Cracked}} Kelly was a wizard]] able to curse and/or BadassBoast people to death - less than two weeks after Kelly was hanged, the judge took ill and died of exhaustion and infections.
--->'''Justice Barry:''' May God have mercy on your soul.\\
'''Kelly:''' I will go a little further than that, and say [[SeeYouInHell I will see you there when I go]].
* Then there was Breaker Morant, who after being found guilty of murdering [=POWs=] in the Boer War, shouted "shoot straight you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!" at his executioners. If you could sum up Australians quickly it would be "mouthy buggers". Also note that Australians use the word "bastard" as a noun, verb, adjective, and honorific.
** And sometimes, even as an insult. It's a very versatile word.
* Fosters beer - thanks to Crocodile Dundee himself, everyone outside of Australia thinks that everyone in Australia drinks nothing but the "amber nectar". Australians tend to prefer less fizzy and more flavoursome (and more alcoholic) brews.
** It's also worth pointing out that the "Australian" beer you can buy abroad is [[InNameOnly brewed locally under license.]]
*** Most foreign beer is made locally under license; beer doesn't travel well. (There are a few exceptions, but truth be told the farthest beer can get is basically across the Atlantic - the Pacific is impossible.)
** Castlemaine is a probably UK-only example best described as "Fosters, but worse". Also noteworthy for being brewed next to the site of an old gasworks that was so badly contaminated with hazardous chemical waste that it took a couple of decades to clean it up well enough to be safely built on, at which point production of Castlemaine moved elsewhere.
** And in Australia, the stuff is a novelty at best and near impossible to find in most of the country, and it barely even passes as a bogan beer when compared to Victoria Bitter and XXXX Gold (though if anyone's going to drink it, they're probably a bogan).
*** Aussies aren't lacking in variety when it comes to booze. The Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide, is a HUGE exporter of wine.
** Goon: it's basically the equivalent to Nightrain, except far less classy and even more alcoholic.
* Australian entertainers include Creator/CateBlanchett, Creator/NicoleKidman, Creator/HughJackman, Creator/HugoWeaving, Creator/MelGibson, and Music/NickCave.
** Special mention goes to dancer and ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'' veteran Kym Johnson, who's begun to acquire a reputation of being damn near indestructible. In one season of the American version, she endured a pretty nasty knee injury and continued to dance with partner Jerry Springer. That, however, is nothing compared to the season with Hines Ward. She suffered a difficult-to-watch neck injury while rehearsing, where she was in an awkward position on the floor, and Hines (who's over twice her size,) ''fell on top of her.'' She went on, not only to dance later that week, but to win the whole damn thing. Said attempts have only seemed to anger her.
* [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10611973 Drunk Australian rides crocodile]]. How stereotypical can you get?
** Here's an older story about [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7327984.stm a man wrestling with a crocodile to save his wife's life]], if this doesn't make him an automatic badass I don't know what else could qualify.
* UsefulNotes/AustralianRulesFootball. Possibly one of the most violent games in the world. And the most skillful to boot.
** The uniform for this game is a tank top and short shorts. No armour, no protection beyond mouthguards and the occasional bit of strapping tape.
** Although most of the teams have damn manly nicknames like 'Bombers' or 'Demons', one team is [[RealMenWearPink so manly]] that they are comfortable calling themselves the Sydney Swans.
** Then there's the Fremantle Dockers, who wear a purple uniform. And teams will happily wear pink in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness.
* Back to the dwarf comparison, with the "living underground" criteria, there's the Central Australian town of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia Coober Pedy]], where most of the town lives underground. Add to that the fact that it's a mining town...
** Some of them have their house built underground as the entrance of their mine, its definitely worth seeing.
* Featured prominently in Jared Diamond's book ''Collapse'': Australia is an important proof of Diamond's arguments, as it is the oldest human-occupied continent, with the least fertile soil.
* Many of the Australians that are [[SentencedToDownUnder descended from convicts]] are very proud of this fact. To provide some perspective on the apparent ValuesDissonance of this, remember that these convicts were often the victims of a [[AllCrimesAreEqual very corrupt system]]. (Note the term KangarooCourt.) It's not just the image of toughness at work here, it's also that of the oppressed underdog against the rich and powerful, that sort of thing being very much admired by us.
* Modern Australia's reputation for strange and dangerous wildlife is completely put to shame by the crazy megafauna that roamed the continent during the Ice Age. Back when mammoths were still roaming Siberia and the glaciers covered up Canada, Australia's wildlife included the gigantic goanna Megalania, which may have been the largest venomous animal to have ever lived; ''Diprotodon'', a rhino-sized cousin of the wombat and the largest marsupial known to science; and ''Thylacoleo'', the marsupial lion, a cousin of the koala that AscendedToCarnivorism and as the strongest bite of any mammal ever. And then there were the giant kangaroos, "marsupial tapirs", horned tortoises, "demon ducks of doom", sheep-sized echidnas, enormous snakes, and land-dwelling crocodiles. Ultimately however, all these creatures were rendered extinct by the arrival of the first humans in Australia, although descriptions for many of them have been preserved in Aboriginal art and folklore.
[[/folder]]

UsefulNotes/NewZealand is largely interchangeable with Australia in western media. This is especially ironic given that New Zealand's indigenous ecology almost wholly lacks native mammals of any kind, except for a few bats and some marine mammals. Also, its location is even more remote, being one of the last major land masses colonized by humans: the Māori arrived only in the 13th century AD.[[note]]To give you an idea, the Vikings by this point had not only spotted America, they had managed to establish a settlement, lose a war, and then abandon it...over two hundred years earlier. Just gives you an idea of how HUGE the Pacific is...[[/note]] Although New Zealand is jokingly often known as "Down Underer," boasting a similar outdoor physical culture.

* ''VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky'' is set in a {{dystopia}}n future UsefulNotes/{{Sydney}}. It's never explicitly stated, but the range of characters with Australian accents, the prologue set in the Outback and the "ancient" map of Sydney's underground train system are clues. All of which making the American protagonist speaking in British phrases much more hilarious.
* Marine the Raccoon from ''{{VideoGame/Sonic|theHedgehog}} [[VideoGame/SonicRushSeries Rush Adventure]]'' is a MotorMouth who uses every single Australian slang word ever invented, and then some. She'd be TheScrappy for that (and may still be considered one) but the other characters react as if she ''is'' that annoying.

** The fourth and last part (Boomerang) is about learning how a throw a boomerang, despite being wildly unknown among modern Australian people.
** An unrelated episode ended up having to be banned in Australia, because it was about how "spiders aren't dangerous". In the United Kingdom, this is the case. In Australia, it is very much not.

---> '''Aussie father''': Oi, Mr. Prime Minister.... ANDY!!!!\\
'''PM lounging on an inner-tube, naked, drinking a can of Fosters''': G'day lads, what's the good word?

** Dingoes deserve a mention too. They're dogs, their puppies are still adorable, but... well... [[KillerRabbit this is one of the]] ''[[BewareOfViciousDog top predators]]'' in ''[[DeathWorld Australia]]''. Only a few things eat them - wedge-tailed eagles, which occasionally attack the elderly ones, and ''saltwater crocodiles''. Oh, and they sometimes kill people (they prefer [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azaria_Chamberlain_disappearance babies]], from what I've heard). In fact, they're a sort of predator cocktail - the organisation of wolves, the threat level of ''cougars''.

->''[[Music/MenAtWork You better run!\\
You better take cover!]]''

----

** Jim Crocodile Cook in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', on the other had, actually is Australian. In the Japanese dub, he often uses GratuitousEngrish, even more so than the British Pro Duelist Edo Phoenix or the two Americans, Austin O'Brien and Professor Cobra, who are both introduced at the same time as Jim.

** Jim Crocodile Cook in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', on the other had, actually is Australian.

* In ''WebComic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'' Australia is a DarkSkinnedBlond thanks to going surfing often, and is prone to wrestle with wildlife. His DistaffCounterpart Sister Australia is a bit more subdued, and is considered an expy of Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark (who is an Australian native).

** Emus. Not only can they kick the crap out of you, but they are one of those species who does the same thing all those huge sauropods used to do - eat ''solid god-damned rocks'' to grind up their food. Also they [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War had a war]] with the above-mentioned badass Australian military and WON!

* Balon ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS aka Valon, aka Varon]]) was given an Australian accent in the 4Kids dub of ''Anime/YuGiOh''.

** Then you have the Cassowary which is basically an Emu that's been compacted for ease in ambushing joggers that get too close to forested areas. Or the reason feathered [[StockDinosaurs raptors]] aren't laughable. The main danger over an emu is that it has a [[StockDinosaurs raptor claw]] on one of its toes. Yes, one of those ones. To give you an idea of how tough this thing is, even '''Creator/SteveIrwin''' got cautious around them. The cassowary is basically a smaller emu which was apparently created in response to complaints that emus were too sane and peaceable.

* ''ComicBook/SensationalSheHulk'': The [[NoNameGiven unnamed Australian murderer]] in issue #8. His first bit of dialogue is an incohherent string of Australian slang and his own lawyer refers to him as "the slimiest snake ever to crawl out of the outback".

* In the books of Creator/AgathaCristie, Australia (and sometimes South Africa) is home to criminals and unscrupulous adventurers, seemingly as a holdover of both Christie's own Victorian upbringing and the country's founding [[SentencedToDownUnder as a British penal colony]] . Like {{Eagleland}}ers, they are often portrayed as foolish, backward, or morally lax compared to ''proper'' Englishmen and women. Many of her blackmailers and servants who steal from their employers spent time in Australia, as if the country itself attracted criminals. The CorruptCorporateExecutive in Christie books often made their fortune in one or the other, such as Simeon Lee in ''Literature/HerculePoirotsChristmas'' having discovered a number of diamond mines in South Africa. In ''Literature/SadCypress'' the villain has spent time in New Zealand and at some point [[spoiler: she]] had to leave very quickly, to avoid being arrested.

** "I think a dingo is eating your baby." This taunt from Bart really angers the Aussies. As it should; if you knew the full tragic story of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Azaria_Chamberlain the death of Azaria Chamberlain]] it'd provoke a ''severe'' case of DudeNotFunny.