History Main / WeirdHistoricalWar

This specific flavor of AlternateHistory, or when [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted the story is really historical but with unnoted elements]], deals with a point of divergence that occurs during a large-scale war, usually (but not limited to) UsefulNotes/WorldWarI or UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The divergence involves sci-fi, fantasy or supernatural elements added to the war's events. Examples can include [[AnachronismStew use of weapons or technology that haven't been invented yet]], [[VampireTropes vampire]] and/or [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] soldiers, mysticism, [[HisgtoricalDomainSuperperson superpowered historical figures]], and [[AlienNonInterferenceClause alien intervention]].

This specific flavor of AlternateHistory, or when [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted the story is really historical but with unnoted elements]], deals with a point of divergence that occurs during a large-scale war, usually (but not limited to) UsefulNotes/WorldWarI or UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The divergence involves sci-fi, fantasy or supernatural elements added to the war's events. Examples can include [[AnachronismStew use of weapons or technology that haven't been invented yet]], [[VampireTropes vampire]] and/or [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] soldiers, mysticism, and [[AlienNonInterferenceClause alien intervention]].

* Creator/AvatarPress's ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' attempts to {{deconstruct|ion}} the typical comic book trope of super humans being used in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, instead painting them as [[PersonOfMassDestruction walking Weapons of Mass Destruction]] that leave plenty of {{Gorn}} behind wherever they're deployed ([[RealityEnsues especially when facing regular troops]]).

* ''Series/WhiteRabbitProject'': The episode "Crazy UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Weapons" showcases some of the RealLife attempts by the Allied forces to create wonder weapons. RealityEnsues as even the ones that actually worked when tested (which include such things as ''pigeon-guided smart bombs'') were too AwesomeButImpractical.

UsefulNotes/WorldWarII examples will overlap heavily with {{Ghostapo}}, NaziZombies, StupidJetpackHitler, and/or WeDidntStartTheFuhrer. UsefulNotes/ColdWar examples will often overlap with SovietSuperscience. Often is a sub-trope of DieselPunk or SecretHistory.

* The ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series is the Napoleonic Wars with dragons.

* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' features various wars in {{UsefulNotes/FeudalJapan}}, and some of the playable characters uses modern equipments such as chainsaws, variety of guns, and at least one HumongousMecha.

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* ''Comicbook/{{Hellboy}}'': On the brink of defeat, the Nazis, with the help of [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Grigori Rasputin]], are about to bring forth TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

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* The Malaysian animated film ''Animation/WarOfTheWorldsGoliath'' combines the ''Literature/WarOfTheWorlds'' with the World War I timeframe. Set in a 1914 after the initial Martian invasion and wherein mankind has [[WalkingTank tank tripods]] and technology reverse-engineered from Martian tech, the first world war threatens to break. However all that is put aside when the Martians attempt a second invasion. What was supposed to be World War I is turned into the second War of the Worlds, with the likes of Manfred von Richthofen(the RedBaron), Nikola Tesla, and Theodore Roosevelt fighting together in a united special organization against Martians.

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[[folder: Film ]]

* ''{{Film/Hellboy|2004}}'': Following suit with the [[{{Comicbook/Hellboy}} source material]], we have Rasputin and Kroenen bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and Hitler being an accomplished mystic himself, dying in 1958--not at the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII as everyone thinks.
* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' film series (particularly ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'') revels in the idea that Hitler had a secret wing of his military searching for weapons of biblical proportions.
** While they didn't look for TheArkOfTheCovenant (a guy named Otto Rahn did go looking for the HolyGrail on behalf of Himmler), SS leader Heinrich Himmler with the support of some other Nazis formed the Ahnenerbe, a 'scientific' research bureau that was meant to prove their own esoteric and crackpot ideas. The biggest expedition they mounted was one to Tibet in 1938.

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/YoungIndianaJones'' occasionally delved into this during the course of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. In a Halloween special, Indy faces an eccentric Romanian general that is actually a vampirized Vlad Tepes planning to create a vampire army and take over the world (his first attack is on a POW camp, resulting on soldiers from both sides being vampirized and joining his ranks). In another special, he infiltrates a German airbase and destroys an experimental plane design of Anthony Fokker that is capable of crossing the Atlantic years before this was accomplished in real life, and that the Germans intend to use to bomb New York City.

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[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} "World War II" line included ''Weird War II''. Want to use rune magic to send giant monsters against the alien supersoldiers working for the other side? It's in here. (note: Despite the name similarity, this isn't part of the Pinnacle series.)

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' involves UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein developing a time machine during World War II, finally completing it in 1946 and using it to eliminate Hitler in 1924, just as he is exiting Landsberg Prison. This has less-than-ideal results: the Pacific War seems to proceed as usual, but World War II breaks out in ''1946'', with the European Allies (now including Germany, Turkey, and Spain) fighting against the Soviet Union in a war involving attack helicopters, nuclear submarines, {{Lightning Gun}}s, spy satellites, energy shields, and space-time teleportation. The United States, which had provided support to the European Allies for much of the war, eventually enters when it seemed that the USSR was on the verge of overwhelming Europe and Asia. The [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 direct sequel]] features a ''[[WorldWarIII third]]'' [[WorldWarIII World War]] in the 1970's, initiated by a Soviet invasion of the United States.

* ''Videogame/{{Strikers 1945}}'': It is World War II as a ShootEmUp with various historical gigantic vehicles being able to [[TransformingMecha transform into gigantic robots]], and at least one fight with an alien creature.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Shellshock2}} Shellshock 2: Blood Trails]]'' adds zombies to the Vietnam War. A MadScientist developed a zombie virus to sell as a weapon, but upon being turned away, decided to [[TheyCalledMeMad show them all]] by releasing it as a plague which affects both sides.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* The real-life investigation by the U.S. government and the Russians on whether or not psychic powers exist (as seen in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project Stargate Project]]) and whether or not they could be useful for intelligence-gathering purposes. Funny enough, in the people involved did used a whole lot of ''Franchise/StarWars'' terminology amongst themselves, including calling themselves "Jedis".
** Investigative reporter Jon Ronson examined one bizarre aspect of this - an exploration of the idea that psychic powers could be used to deliver death at a distance - by getting interviews with Americans who claimed to have been employed in a US Army project to see if the death stare worked. ''The Men Who Stare At Goats'' is a surreal exploration of the psi-wars as seen from the USA.

* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' called [[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsShapeShifters "Shape-Shifters"]] is about the Iraq War in a world werewolves are a known and [[FantasticRacism discriminated against]] element. The story focuses on an American werewolf soldier choosing to go AWOL after avenging the death of his werewolf comrade at the hands of Iraqi werewolves, because of his mistreatment by his peers and superiors.

* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' called [[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsShapeShifters Shape-Shifters]] is about the Iraq War in a world werewolves are a known and [[FantasticRacism discriminated against]] element. The story focuses on an American werewolf soldier choosing to go AWOL after avenging the death of his werewolf comrade at the hands of Iraqi werewolves, because of his mistreatment by his peers and superiors.

* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' is quite possibly the only example of this treatment being given to the Boxer Rebellion. Prophet Comstock had the floating city fly to China and defeated the Boxers, something which is heavily promoted in propaganda throughout the city.

* The ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''/''TabletopGame/SavageWorlds'' [=RPGs=] have a setting called ''Achtung! Cthulhu'', which is about a mix of Franchise/CthulhuMythos and World War II in which the PlayerCharacters fight a secret war against the [[{{Ghostapo}} Black Sun]] and ''[[StupidJetpackHitler Nachtwölfe]]''.

* A variation in ''Literature/NightWatch''. Some novels claim that [[WitchSpecies Others]] secretly fought one another on both sides of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (yes, {{Ghostapo}} was real). [[UsefulNotes/TheCityFormerlyKnownAs Leningrad]] (now St. Petersburg again) was a particularly fierce battleground due to the city itself being full of magic. People still occasionally find powerful artifacts left over from those battles.

* The TabletopRPG ''Godlike'' has as its base setting a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII where all sides have managed (through various means) to create or obtain superhumans and deploy them on the front lines (and its expansion, ''Brave New World'', provides some information on how the ColdWar went on the same universe). The system prides itself on being ''incredibly'' lethal even for the most powerful of player builds/supers, and thus ''seriously'' exposes that WarIsHell.

* ''Film/ReignOfTheGargoyles'' has downed American pilots in France assisting a French woman on the quest for a lance from the tomb of a holy knight, after their plane is shredded by gargoyles. The gargoyles have many tactical advantages compared to a B-17, but can be killed with normal weapons; the lance is required as the master of the creatures cannot be killed with normal weapons. The gargoyles were a desperate delaying gambit by the Ghostapo, who summon the gargoyles but find out the hard way that they cannot command them.

* The book ''Literature/ShamblingTowardsHiroshima'' is mostly written as a memoir (and potential suicide note) of an old BMovie actor (of the type [[PeopleInRubberSuits that wore rubber suits for a living]] a la ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'') and his involvement on "Project KNICKERBOCKER", an attempt by the United States Navy to create RealLife (InUniverse) {{Kaiju}} to unleash as Weapons Of Mass Destruction on the Japanese. [[spoiler:[[DeconstructedTrope It turns out that]] said monsters were [[AwesomeButImpractical not only almost impossible to breed]] [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever in the customary size]], [[AwesomeButImpractical but the man-sized prototypes, even if]] ''seemingly'' lethal, were very calm. The actor's involvement in the project was to wear a rubber costume based on the monsters' looks in order to film propaganda movies of their supposed effectiveness.]]

* The climax of ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' revolves around the League racing to ''prevent'' this from happening, when they figure out that [[spoiler:Professor James Moriarty is the man who fanned [[USefulNotes/WorldWarI the flames of war]] in Europe and his grand scheme is to mass-replicate the unusual abilities and technologies of the members of the League [[WarForFunAndProfit and sell them to the highest bidders]].]]

* The climax of ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' revolves around the League racing to ''prevent'' this from happening, when they figure out that [[spoiler:Professor James Moriarty is the man who fanned the flames of war in Europe and his grand scheme is to mass-replicate the unusual abilities and technologies of the members of the League [[WarForFunAndProfit and sell them to the highest bidders]].]]

* Multiple [[BMovie B-Movies]] created during the height of TheWarOnTerror had the main characters performing top-secret missions (or just being the RightManInTheWrongPlace) to prevent monsters and [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] from being used to turn the war in the favor of the insurgents (and cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt)-for example, ''[=OZombie=]'' and the resurrection of Osama Bin-Laden [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as "Patient Zero" of a]] ZombieApocalypse.

** "The Haunted Tank," which ran in DC's ''G.I. Combat'' for about ''25 years''. During WWII Lt. Jeb Stuart commands an M3 Stuart tank haunted by his (and the tank's!) namesake, [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate]] general J.E.B. Stuart. And only Jeb can see or hear Gen. Stuart, so his crew thinks he's a little crazy. For the record, J.E.B. Stuart ''was'' a real person.

* Literature/NoMansLandTalesFromTheWeirdWars: A series from Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, where the German high command accepting the offer of help from an occultist in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI resulted in the world being flooded with weirdness, most notably in various fictional characters and entities become real.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* The PointOfDivergence in ''Literature/VivereMilitareEst'' is that, in 1945, the Nazis and the Japanese turn to the occult in order to stave off total collapse, pulling them BackFromTheBrink and prolonging the war until 1946 when it's revealed that the Americans were also working on their own occult superweapon in the form of a "despoiler bomb". From there, a multi-sided Weird UsefulNotes/ColdWar develops between the Western Allies, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Imperial Japan, all while various cults and preternatural forces run rampant across the Third World and among domestic extremist groups, producing a concurrent Weird [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror War on Terror]].

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