Fridge Brilliance
- In election speeches, El Presidente will say that the island's rebels are "anarchists, who could not care less for this island". This mirrors the real life way in which many people believe anarchists to have no political ideas, only a desire to blow things up. Similarly, he will often say that "there will always be problems, especially in the current economic situation" even if your economy is booming and you're raking in the money.
- In Tropico 4, even after being accused of assassinating the president of the United States, your very next mission will start with you having good relations with other countries, even receiving foreign aid from them. This is because you end the mission in which you are framed by purchasing a new identity.
- In Tropico 3, El Presidente's speeches often include the line "Alas, I am nothing but a humble servant, and you are my masters. My employers." It starts out annoying that it's repeated so often, until you spot the insincerity in the voice (particularly true of the male voice actor's performance) and realise this is how he's won every election so far, why stop saying it now?
- Tropico 5
- During the World Wars period, you will often receive trade missions from both the Axis and Allies for manufactured goods and raw materials respectively. Initially this seems counterintuitive given that the Axis nations were historically dependent on imports to fuel their industry, but if taken as an ideological context it makes more sense. Because the Axis were incredibly insular, they would probably respect you more for showing self-sufficiency and eschewing outside influence, while the notoriously imperialistic Allies will see you just as another colony or banana republic to exploit like Africa or South America.
- One of the DLCs for Tropico 5 is "The Big Cheese," which enables players to establish a dairy and cheese empire on their islands. On the face of it, this seems incredibly random until you realize that an island dictator tried to do just this in real life. In 1964, Fidel Castro tried to position Cuba as the new cheese capital of the planet, going so far as to trot out a "Cuban Camembert" for a visiting French dignitary and pressuring him to declare it superior to the French product. (Needless to say, it didn't work.) The Big Cheese gives players a chance to recreate history - ideally more successfully.
- When Tropico declares its independence during the colonial period, The Crown rejects the declaration of independence and demands you to either pay a debt or prepare for war. The real Caribbean island nation of Haiti declared its independence from France in a slave rebellion, prompting France to militarily threaten Haiti to pay a hefty debt that ended up bankrupting the nation.
- Tropico 2 has brothels. The fridge horror comes in when you realize that, since only captives can be employed as wenches, and they aren't even getting paid, they are probably being forced into sex slavery against their will.
- The Middle East is often critical of a religious Tropico and favors atheist states while eschewing secular ones. This seems odd from countries in which conservative Islam seems the norm, and where one's religion matters. Only, Tropico is implied to be almost entirely Catholic, and a fanatical Christian population is not going to be friendly towards Muslims. So, the Middle Eastern states would applaud you for suppressing a faith that is potentially hostile to them. Also, a successful example of how a secular nation can function may undermine the credibility of more conservative kingdoms or nations in their region, therefore, endorsement of atheism is rather the lesser evil from their point of view.
- In Tropico 6, the game is divided into 4 Eras (Colonial, World Wars, Cold War, and Modern Era). In Free Mode, however, the choice to advance to an era depends on the player's actions instead of automatically changing after a set date. This means that Tropico has enough power to keep World War II or the Cold War going on forever by supporting one or both sides.
- Also related to Tropico's power, it has a very powerful projection power in the form of raids. It can go as far as stealing ENTIRE MONUMENTS from Superpowers. While this is played for laughs, it shows that Tropico could be a serious threat, capable of striking anywhere in the world. It also shows that Tropico's own forces are very competent, the superpowers are incapable of dealing with them, or both.
- In the Tropico series, it is possible to commit crimes against humanity (illegal detention, murder, or even outright genocide) without any reaction from the International Crime Court or the United Nations. Even if the player chose to murder immigrants from a Superpower, the world's reaction is just complete indifference.
