History Main / CanadianWestern

* ''Film/GingerSnapsBackTheBeginning'', a prequel to the first two ''Film/GingerSnaps'' films, combines the genre with a werewolf movie.

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights\\

Furthermore, there's the [[UsefulNotes/TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], always dressed in the famous Red Serge uniform, who [[AlwaysGetsHisMan always get their man]] (or so they're supposed to do). If it doesn't have Mounties, [[CanadaEh it's not a Canadian Western.]] In a way, the Mountie represents a transition phase in the idea of the frontier lawman: he's often isolated out in the field, but unlike TheSheriff, he is part of a larger formal organization with the central headquarters located all the way back in Canada's urban national capital of Ottawa, Ontario, and will occasionally make the trip there on administrative business and vice versa. Therefore, the Mountie represents a key difference between the Canadian Northern and the American Western: it is ''not'' a lawless wilderness with occasional pockets of civilization. There is, already, an overarching system keeping order. That's the mythology, anyway. But what happens when that system breaks down? What happens before the Mounties can [[TheCavalry show up]]? What happens when you're on the wrong side of their system? That's what these stories explore.

[[folder: Theatre ]]
* The musical ''Theatre/RoseMarie''. There are three film versions, all including considerable changes.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/TheYukonTrail'', a game from the same developers as the better-known ''[[VideoGame/TheOregonTrail Oregon Trail]]'', has the player in the role of {{prospector}} during the Klondike Gold Rush.
[[/folder]]

* The Canadian TV series ''Series/{{Bordertown}}'' is set in a town that straddles the US/Canadian border somewhere in Saskatchewan. The border goes through the middle of the law enforcement office, with a straitlaced corporal in the Northwest Mounted Police having his desk on the north side, and a rough-and-ready U.S. Marshal having his on the south side.

Furthermore, there's the [[UsefulNotes/TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], always dressed in the famous Red Serge uniform, who [[AlwaysGetsHisMan always get their man]] (or so they're supposed to do). If it doesn't have Mounties, [[CanadaEh it's not a Canadian Western.]] In a way, the Mountie represents a transition phase in the idea of the frontier lawman: he's often isolated out in the field, but unlike TheSheriff, he is part of a larger formal organization with the central headquarters located all the way back in Canada's urban national capital of Ottawa, Ontario, and will occasionally make the trip there on administrative business and vice versa. In reality, while they are a common staple, not every Northern has a Mountie as the central character, with examples being ''Literature/WhiteFang'' and the 2016 film ''Searchers.'' Therefore, the Mountie represents a key difference between the Canadian Northern and the American Western: it is ''not'' a lawless wilderness with occasional pockets of civilization. There is, already, an overarching system keeping order. That's the mythology, anyway. But what happens when that system breaks down? What happens before the Mounties can [[TheCavalry show up]]? What happens when you're on the wrong side of their system? That's what these stories explore.

[[caption-width-right:261:A Fistful of Loonies[[labelnote:*]] -- tm The Toronto Star on ''The Mountie'', though the Loonie didn't arrive until 1987, long after the Old West [[/labelnote]]]]

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/TheYukonTrail'', a game from the same developers as the better-known ''[[VideoGame/TheOregonTrail Oregon Trail]]'', has the player in the role of {{prospector}} during the Klondike Gold Rush.
[[/folder]]

There will also nearly always be a RemittanceMan. Depending when it's set, this may also be the natural environment of the {{Prospector}} driving his SledDogsThroughTheSnow (who may be {{heroic dog}}s in their own right), as western Canada had two [[GoldFever Gold Rushes]] in the 19th century - one in British Columbia in 1858, and another further north in the Yukon Territory, in 1898. This latter is considered the last of the major Gold Rushes.

If it overlaps with the WeirdWest, except to see the environment portrayed as GrimUpNorth, where EvilIsDeathlyCold and PolarMadness is an ever-present threat.

The Canadian Western, or "Northern" as it is properly called[[note]]sometimes known as a "Northwestern", as they are often set in western or northwestern Canada[[/note]], is TheWestern [-[[JustForFun/RecycledInSPACE IN CANADA!]]-], with a few characteristic differences. There tends to be more snow in Canada and Alaska, the other setting for the Northern, than in the western United States. As such, instead of the deserts and rock formations of the American Southwest, the iconic imagery associated with the Canadian Western is that of snow-covered boreal forests and mountain peaks under a WintryAuroralSky.

* A Canadian Heritage Minute about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00yaFwZ5bc Superintendent Sam Steele,]] head of the Yukon detachment of the North West Mounted Police who kept the peace during the Klondike Gold Rush, is meant to illustrate the difference between the American [[TheWildWest Wild West]] and the Canadian West. An American frontiersman who crossed the border with gambling gear and a pair of revolvers hoping to make a quick buck gets caught at the border by Steele and his officers and sent right back into Alaska. Steele didn't even have to draw his own gun, and was [[TheStoic barely fazed when the American drew his]].

There will also nearly always be a RemittanceMan. Depending when it's set, this may also be the natural environment of the {{Prospector}} driving his SledDogsThroughTheSnow, as western Canada had two [[GoldFever Gold Rushes]] in the 19th century - one in British Columbia in 1858, and another further north in the Yukon Territory, in 1898. This latter is considered the last of the major Gold Rushes.

If it overlaps with the WeirdWest, except to see the environment portrayed as GrimUpNorth, where EvilIsDeathlyCold and PolarMadness is just an ever-present threat.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' ventures into this genre with the episode "The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains!", with flashbacks to Scrooge in what appears to be the Gold Rush-era Yukon, as a MythologyGag reference to ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck''. He runs into a living mammoth and [BearyFriendly befriends a grizzly]], all in search of a lake of liquid gold.

The Canadian Western, or "Northern" as it is properly called, is TheWestern [-[[JustForFun/RecycledInSPACE IN CANADA!]]-], with a few characteristic differences. There tends to be more snow in Canada and Alaska, the other setting for the Northern, than in the western United States. As such, instead of the deserts and rock formations of the American Southwest, the iconic imagery associated with the Canadian Western is that of snow-covered boreal forests and mountain peaks.

Furthermore, there's the [[UsefulNotes/TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], always dressed in the famous Red Serge uniform, who [[AlwaysGetsHisMan always get their man]] (or so they're supposed to do). If it doesn't have Mounties, [[CanadaEh it's not a Canadian Western.]] In a way, the Mountie represents a transition phase in the idea of the frontier lawman: he's often isolated out in the field, but he is part of a larger formal organization with the central headquarters located all the way back in Canada's urban national capital in Ottawa, Ontario, and will occasionally make the trip there on administrative business and vice versa. In reality, while they are a common staple, not every Northern has a Mountie as the central character, with examples being ''Literature/WhiteFang'' and the 2016 film ''Searchers.''

There will also nearly always be a RemittanceMan.

* ''ComicBook/JonahHex2005'', an issue of the series finds Jonah Hex in the Northwest territories tracking down a bounty and running afoul of some Mounties who don't take kindly to an American BountyHunter roaming their country.

* The short story ''Literature/TheMonsterOfPartridgeCreek'' combines the Canadian Western with the WeirdWest, with a ''[[LivingDinosaurs Ceratosaurus]]'' roaming the Yukon.

* The Canadian TV series, ''The Series/{{Beachcombers}}'', is technically a Western in the sense that it is placed around the real town of Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada's western most province. The regular character, Const. John Constable is a Mountie of a more realistic kind: he wears a standard regular duty uniform, only wears his Red Serge dress uniform on special occasions, and doesn't ride a horse on duty and instead uses a standard police cruiser and patrol yacht on the water.

The Canadian Western, or "Northern" as it is properly called, is TheWestern [-[[RecycledInSPACE IN CANADA!]]-], with a few characteristic differences. There tends to be more snow in Canada and Alaska, the other setting for the Northern, than in the western United States. As such, instead of the deserts and rock formations of the American Southwest, the iconic imagery associated with the Canadian Western is that of snow-covered boreal forests and mountain peaks.

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' has "Les Daltons dans le blizzard", where they flee to Canada. Contains this immortal line by Joe on seeing a Mountie[[note]]because it means they've crosed the border where Luke (in theory) can't catch them[[/note]]:

* ''Comicstrip/KingOfTheRoyalMounted'' Lead character is a mountie who always catches his man.

* ''Film/{{Togo}}, based on the same event as Balto.

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' has "Les Daltons dans le blizzard", where they flee to Canada. Contains this immortal line by Joe on seeing a Mountie: "Hooray, a policeman!"

The Canadian Western, or "Northwestern" as it is properly called, is TheWestern [-[[RecycledInSPACE IN CANADA!]]-], with a few characteristic differences. There tends to be more snow in Canada and Alaska, the other setting for the Northern, than in the western United States. As such, instead of the deserts and rock formations of the American Southwest, the iconic imagery associated with the Canadian Western is that of snow-covered boreal forests and mountain peaks.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film (Animated) ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'' is set in Alaska, making it an Alaskan example of a Northern, and centers around the 1925 serum run to Nome. Animals are a common feature in Northerns and dogs and dog sleds were popularized by Jack London with both playing a major role in this one.

[[folder: Film (Live-Action) ]]
* The post-apocalyptic Western, ''Film/SixReasonsWhy'' takes place in a future Canada's desert landscape.
* The Gary Cooper movie ''Film/NorthWestMountedPolice''.

* ''Film/DeathHunt'' with Creator/CharlesBronson and Creator/LeeMarvin is loosely based on the real-life manhunt for Albert Johnson in the Yukon Territory in 1931.

* ''Film/GingerSnapsBackTheBeginning'', a prequel to the first two ''Film/GingerSnaps'' films, combines the genre with a werewolf movie.

[[folder: Literature ]]
* Many of the crime/horror novels by Creator/MichaelSlade have elements of the Canadian Western. They feature a Mountie crime-fighting unit (Special X), discuss the history of the Mounties' patrols in the Canadian West and the Yukon, and include many other elements of the Western.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The Canadian TV series ''Bordertown'' is set in a town that straddles the US/Canadian border somewhere in Saskatchewan. The border goes through the middle of the law enforcement office, with a straitlaced corporal in the Northwest Mounted Police having his desk on the north side, and a rough-and-ready U.S. Marshal having his on the south side.

* ''Series/DueSouth'' is this for part of the pilot, before Fraser ends up in Chicago.

[[folder: Radio ]]
* ''The Challenge of the Yukon,'' dealing with the adventures of RCMP Sergeant Preston and his sled dog/ally Yukon King. Also a TV series in the 1950s.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The musical ''Rose-Marie''. There are three film versions, all including considerable changes.

The Canadian Western, or "Northern" as it is properly called, is TheWestern [-[[RecycledInSPACE IN CANADA!]]-], with a few characteristic differences. There tends to be more snow in Canada and Alaska, the other setting for the Northern, than in the western United States. As such, instead of the deserts and rock formations of the American Southwest, the iconic imagery associated with the Canadian Western is that of snow-covered boreal forests and mountain peaks.