History Main / Ruritania

** The [[https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/354/69053083-1609666785.jpg Overwatch Nexus]] is clearly based on the [[https://kofer.info/narodna-skupstina-republike-srbije/ Serbian Parliament building]].

** The [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/half-life/images/a/a6/Overwatch_Nexus1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100330155937&path-prefix=en Overwatch Nexus]] is clearly based on the [[https://kofer.info/narodna-skupstina-republike-srbije/ Serbian Parliament building]].

Ruritania is a generic name for any archetypal fictional country located in Central Europe or the Balkans (mostly anywhere east of Germany and west of Russia). This country is characterized by its small size, [[{{Cloudcuckooland}} backward or quirky customs]], and forests full of SavageWolves and {{bears|AreBadNews}}. It is often the home of the FunnyForeigner.

* ''Series/ThePower2023'': Carpathia is a stand-in for UsefulNotes/{{Moldova}}, being a poor Eastern European country with an authoritarian government and very patriarchy society that has the most sex trafficking of women in the world.

* ''Film/{{Borat}}'' [[note]]''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan''[[/note]] turns UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} into a Ruritania as a satire on how first-world citizens view foreign, third-world countries. The country is depicted as a cartoonish backwater, with cars drawn by donkeys and absurdly intolerant local customs. It diverges from the stereotypical {{Dirty Communist|s}} atheism or fanatical [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholic]] or UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity, though: UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} being Kazakhstan's majority faith, the religious attitudes among Borat's people are more in line with what you'd find in a more secularly run {{Qurac}}, while Borat himself is a pagan who claims to "follow the hawk." The scenes were actually filmed in a UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} village in UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}. The people of the village didn't take it with much humor when they heard what the actual movie was about. The only real Kazakh in the movie appears in the village as Oksana. The Kazakh language featured in the film is all other languages, depending on the speaker. Borat speaks mostly Hebrew with some Polish thrown in. Azamat speaks Armenian. The villagers speak Romanian. All "Kazakh" signs and captions are in Polish.

** In ''Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth'' there is Cohdopia, a European nation that was split into two smaller countries (Babahl and Allebahst) as well. As well as Borginia.

** In ''Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth'' there is Cohdopia, a European nation that was split into two smaller countries (Babahl and Allebahst) as well. As well as the republic of Zheng Fa.

[[TropeNamers The name comes from]] Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', and the concept originated about the same time; the idea itself was at least partially inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was popularly (and inaccurately, for the most part) regarded by Western Europeans as an incompetent backwater. This thinking spurred an entire genre, known as the Ruritanian Romance (which is derived from ChivalricRomance, not the love story meaning of {{Romance}}). At that time and in most early 20th century depictions, Ruritania had a royal house. The King [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually did something]], the Prince [[TheWhitePrince was dashing]], the Princess [[PrincessClassic was dazzling]], and the headgear was quite frankly ridiculous. The kingdom was forever being schemed against by a lot of [[EvilChancellor dastardly usurpers]] or [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchists]], and was a source of tension amongst the Great Powers. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne That last bit was unfortunately true,]] with Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire to an extent, playing the real-life role. Although it is worth noting that where most examples of this trope are set in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, the original Ruritania was wedged between Germany and Bohemia and had a Germanic-style culture.

Between the wars, the typical Ruritania became slightly less primitive. Wolves, bears, and superstitious peasants still abounded, but automobiles had been introduced and the army now had tanks and planes, with which it prepared bloody revenge on its neighbours. The royals were still around, if a bit less powerful than before, but are now being schemed against by even more dastardly [[ThoseWackyNazis fascists]] and [[DirtyCommies communists]]. When WWII rolled around, Ruritania was likely occupied by the Germans or was possibly itself an Axis power. In either case, brave partisans equipped with [[ManlyFacialHair formidable beards]] kept up a heroic struggle against tyranny without forgetting their true enemy -- the village on the other side of the valley. After the war, many Ruritanias became CommieLand and continued to be a lurking place for DirtyCommunists, either Soviet-backed or home-grown.

* ''Manga/IonoTheFanatics'' is a two-issue GirlsLove manga whose whole plot is about an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent being pursued by the LovableSexManiac queen of a small and obscure European nation. In fact, it's implied at several points that the queen's obsession with having a massive (several ''thousand'' strong) harem of women is partially responsible for the traditional poverty associated with Ruritania -- one part the economic drain of having to support hundreds of women who live lavish lifestyles but basically do nothing but lounge around, have sex and otherwise amuse themselves, one part the implication she's already taken most, if not all, of the women in the country as her courtesans.

* ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures of Tintin]]'' feature Syldavia, a kind of Balkan Belgium menaced by its warlike neighbor Borduria. Borduria stands in for Nazism in ''Recap/TintinKingOttokarsSceptre'' and for Stalinesque Communism in later stories. Syldavia is an atypically detailed version of {{Ruritania}} with its own flag, royal dynasty, historical events, and even a language created by Hergé. The made-up language, despite being written in Cyrillic script, was, remarkably, not Slavic but a dialect of Flemish/Dutch with some curious phonetics. In ''Recap/TintinDestinationMoon'', it becomes the setting for a fictional space program. In ''Recap/TintinTheCalculusAffair'', Syldavia and Borduria are struggling in a secret war for [[AppliedPhlebotinum Calculus' device]]. The consul of Poldavia (see under Real Life) makes a brief appearance in ''Recap/TintinTheBlueLotus''.

* In the Franchise/DCUniverse:

** For a while after the "Our Worlds At War" arc, there was the Soviet breakaway state of Pokolistan, ruled by the human version of General Zod.

* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse has several, most notably Doctor Doom's homeland of Latveria.

** Slorenia, which was invaded and obliterated by ComicBook/{{Ultron}}.

** Nightcrawler once rescued a woman named Judith Rassendyll, who turned out to be the queen of Ruritania (Uncanny ComicBook/XMen #204).

* ''Film/{{Borat}}'' [[note]]''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan''[[/note]] turns UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} into a Ruritania as a satire on how first-world citizens view foreign, third-world countries. The country is depicted as a cartoonish backwater, with cars drawn by donkeys and absurdly intolerant local customs. It diverges from the stereotypical DirtyCommunist atheism or fanatical [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholic]] or UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity, though: UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} being Kazakhstan's majority faith, the religious attitudes among Borat's people are more in line with what you'd find in a more secularly run {{Qurac}}, while Borat himself is a pagan who claims to "follow the hawk." The scenes were actually filmed in a UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} village in UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}. The people of the village didn't take it with much humor when they heard what the actual movie was about. The only real Kazakh in the movie appears in the village as Oksana. The Kazakh language featured in the film is all other languages, depending on the speaker. Borat speaks mostly Hebrew with some Polish thrown in. Azamat speaks Armenian. The villagers speak Romanian. All "Kazakh" signs and captions are in Polish.

* ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'' is set in the fictional Central European country of Zubrowka (named after a well-known brand of Polish flavoured vodka), the seat of an empire before a conflict (described by director Creator/WesAnderson as an amalgamation of WWI and WWII) with its "neighbor to the north" breaks out in late 1932. The Empire of Zubrowka quickly falls due to government and military incompetence, endures a short-lived but imperious occupation, becomes the Republic of Zubrowka, and is overtaken by a Communist regime in the 1940s. By the modern day, the former Republic of Zubrowka is a quiet Alpine backwater. Zubrowka itself was designed as a representation of pre-WWI Austro-Hungary, with Lutz, its capital city, intended to be Vienna, Prague, and Budapest "all rolled into one". Hence, it's closer to the original (i.e. Germanic or "Habsburg-influenced") concept of the TropeNamer than many other examples.

* In ''Film/{{The Hunt|2020}}'', Croatia is presented as a hellhole where it's relatively easy for a group of high-powered liberals to kidnap American citizens and [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunt them for sport]], with the army and police indifferent and apathetic to what little of the plot they hear about, and even [[spoiler:the ambassador is in on the Hunt. Probably.]]

** According to the [[AllInTheManual Manual]], JRK "thinks" (but isn't certain; the location is very secretive, you know) Durmstrang is actually in Norway or Sweden, which fits very well with Viktor Krum's description of the school. Then again, a later Pottermore map places the school in either Russian Karelia or the Baltic countries.

* The TropeNamer is the fictional country from Creator/AnthonyHope's novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', which was [[OlderThanTelevision published in 1894]] and inspired a whole genre of "Ruritanian Romances." There's some evidence that Hope intended Ruritania to be a NoCommunitiesWereHarmed version of {{UsefulNotes/Romania}} rather than a generic East European country, having done [[ShownTheirWork rather a lot of research]], but it was hard to tell [[GeniusBonus unless one happened to have done as much research as he did]] and overlooks that he placed Ruritania not in Eastern Europe, but smack in between Saxony and Bohemia, two of what then were some of the most advanced industrial regions in Central Europe[[note]] The capital of Ruritania seems to be roughly where Prague is in the real world, and Prague is further west than Vienna[[/note]].

* The main character of Rose Tremain's ''The Road Home'' hails from an [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed unnamed]] {{Ruritania}} whose location is [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield never given to any more precision than "Eastern Europe".]] It is generally considered to represent Poland - the story was loosely based on accounts of Polish migrant labourers - but doesn't resemble it very much.

* Barrayar in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' book series is basically a [[PlanetOfHats planet-wide]] {{Ruritania}}. The planet was settled by Russians, Greeks, French, and English, with Russian culture dominating. Take a multi-cultural interstellar colony, add [[LostColony several centuries of dark ages]], and shake.

** Peladon, the setting for "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E2TheCurseOfPeladon The Curse of Peladon]]" and "[[DoctorWhoS11E4TheMonsterOfPeladon The Monster of Peladon]]" has Ruritanian elements. The technologically premodern and tradition-bound planet of Peladon, which still has a monarchy nevertheless has great significance to the galactic powers, given its natural reserve of [[MineralMacGuffin trisilicate]].

* The [[Creator/TheBBC Radio 4]] SitCom ''Radio/{{Man of Soup}}'' was set in a {{Ruritania}} parody with exaggerations of all the associated tropes.

* Creator/JeanPaulSartre's ''Theatre/DirtyHands'' (''Les Mains Sales'') is set in a fictional European country called Illyria (in real life, a historical name for roughly the parts of the former Yugoslavia along the Adriatic) during UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo. It is supposed to be an ally of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, on the verge of being annexed to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR Eastern Bloc]].

* ''VideoGame/ChromeHounds's'' fictional nation, ''The Republic of Morskoj''. Its history labels it as a former Soviet satellite that gained its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed, though they remain strong allies with Russia. Of course, they live in the coldest region of the fictional continent the game is set in. Olyena Guba seems to be the remnants of {{Ruritania}} past. And it is normally a Morskoj territory.

* ''VideoGame/RepublicTheRevolution'' is set in [[MeaningfulName Novistrana]], a post-Communist {{Ruritania}} complete with lots of concrete and people SpeakingSimlish with a distinctly Slavic cadence.

* All of the Eastern Merkopan countries is ''Videogame/{{Suzerain}}'' fits, especially Sordland, which has semi-fuctioning democracy, is plagued with political violence, separatism, political interference of the Army, and was field of a Revolution who deposed the King and installed a democracy, a coup of that deposed the President and placed in charge a General, and second coup that started a civil war between the Nationalist and the Communists.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' has two examples: Vlatava, the country ruled by the young Queen Perdita, and its next door neighbor, Markovia, a country ruled by the Markov Royal family which includes the twin Princes, Gregor and Brion (Geo-Force), as well as the youngest child and only daughter, Princess Tara (Terra). Both countries are located in an unspecified part of Eastern Europe, with Markovia also bordering the Middle Eastern country of {{Qurac}}, and having History as a former puppet state of the UsefulNotes/SovietUnion

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has Ustinkistan where Vlad and Gladys, Timmy's maternal grandparents, hail from. Their economy is based around turnips and the fairy godparents who live there can only grant turnip-based wishes. The country is also a kind of {{Uberwald}} as it is night for 11 months and inhabited by werewolves.

* The Creator/MarxBrothers movie ''Film/DuckSoup'' (1933) has Freedonia, land of the brave and free! In a clear-cut case of Western Imperialism, the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale insists running dog Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) be appointed President in return for half her husband's fortune to avoid an impending liberation by neighboring Sylvania. (It's not clear whether this is the same Sylvania portrayed in the 1929 film ''Film/TheLoveParade'', in which Creator/MauriceChevalier plays a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob who becomes prince consort to Sylvania's Queen Louise.)

* ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': "A Deadly Tan" featured the murder of a dictator in a Ruritania called Barania, which one of the characters indicated was located between Moldova and Albania (which is either satire meant to show the lack of knowledge of that character, an in-universe joke or a blatant CriticalResearchFailure by the episode writers, because Moldova and Albania do not share any border, being spaced about 800 km apart). The security forces seemed to have stepped out of a BananaRepublic, however.

[[TropeNamers The name comes from]] Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', and the concept originated about the same time; the idea itself was at least partially inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was popularly (and inaccurately, for the most part) regarded by Western Europeans as an incompetent backwater. This thinking spurred an entire genre, known as the Ruritanian Romance (which is derived from ChivalricRomance, not the love story meaning of {{Romance}}). At that time and in most early 20th century depictions, Ruritania had a royal house. The King [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually did something]], the Prince [[TheWhitePrince was dashing]], the Princess [[PrincessClassic was dazzling]], and the headgear was quite frankly ridiculous. The kingdom was forever being schemed against by a lot of [[EvilChancellor dastardly usurpers]] or [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchists]], and was a source of tension amongst the Great Powers. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne That last bit was unfortunately true,]] with Austria-Hungary playing the real-life role. Although it is worth noting that where most examples of this trope are set in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, the original Ruritania was wedged between Germany and Bohemia and had a Germanic-style culture.

With the coming of UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag revolutions, Ruritania has pretty much reverted to what it started with; ludicrous hair, ethnic strife, poverty, and backwardness. The most noticeable changes are that the monarchy is (usually) gone, replaced by a [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny mock democratic republic]] run by some [[TheGeneralissimo unsavoury generals]], [[FormerRegimePersonnel ex-communist strongmen]], or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt bajillionaires who made a profit off the privatization waves that came with re-establishing a market economy]], while the Great Powers are now acting through NATO or the UN. Everyone still seems to hate their neighbours, the anarchists may still be around, or they may have mutated into [[TerroristsWithoutACause terrorists]] or [[BalkanBastard plain old gangsters]]. In recent years, they would have to deal with refugees from Syria or a {{Qurac}} substitute, and the citizens will either welcome them with open arms or close their borders. Nonetheless, nationalists will spring up causing ruckus all over the country. With any luck, contemporary Ruritania might be a part of the EU, causing more trouble for its finances than Greece, Spain, and Ireland taken together -- and in any case, the only international attention Ruritania seems to get occurs during the Series/EurovisionSongContest, which it wins frequently and handily thanks to votes from the Ruritanian guest workers omnipresent in rich Western European countries.

* Wallachia, in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. {{Supervillain}} Lord Paramount took it over and crowned himself Prince of the country. Wallachia is a real place, nowadays a geographic region of Romania. It was formed as a principality in the 14th century, an independent nation ruled by a prince.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PrincessNatasha'', Zoravia is a small European kingdom that is half quaint tourist trap, half technological utopia.

With the coming of UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag revolutions, Ruritania has pretty much reverted to what it started with; ludicrous hair, ethnic strife, poverty, and backwardness. The most noticeable changes are that the monarchy is (usually) gone, replaced by a [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny mock democratic republic]] run by some [[TheGeneralissimo unsavoury generals]], [[FormerRegimePersonnel ex-communist strongmen]], or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt bajillionaires who made a profit off the privatization waves that came with re-establishing a market economy]], while the Great Powers are now acting through NATO or the UN. Everyone still seems to hate their neighbours, the anarchists may still be around, or they may have mutated into [[TerroristsWithoutACause terrorists]] or plain old gangsters. In recent years, they would have to deal with refugees from Syria or a {{Qurac}} substitute, and the citizens will either welcome them with open arms or close their borders. Nonetheless, nationalists will spring up causing ruckus all over the country. With any luck, contemporary Ruritania might be a part of the EU, causing more trouble for its finances than Greece, Spain, and Ireland taken together -- and in any case, the only international attention Ruritania seems to get occurs during the Series/EurovisionSongContest, which it wins frequently and handily thanks to votes from the Ruritanian guest workers omnipresent in rich Western European countries.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': Various maps place Julis's homeland of Lieseltania on the southeastern border of Germany, the real-life location of the Czech Republic. In fact, it's implied it used to be the western half of Czechia: it used to be part of the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire and was given ''de jure'' independence by the [[OneNationUnderCopyright Integrated Enterprise Foundation]] in exchange for access to its Manadite resources, though it is ''de facto'' an IEF PuppetState.

* Mixolydia is a Slavic Ruritania invented by Angela Thirkell for her ''Barsetshire'' novels. In the novel "Cheerfulness Breaks In," set in the opening year of World War Two, Barsetshire has to accommodate a number of refugees from Mixolydia, all of whom are various foreigner tropes. We learn that the local religion is Orthodoxy, and they have a long list of hereditary enemies among real-world nations. The name is a word-play on the mixolydian mode or scale in music.

[[TropeNamers The name comes from]] Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', and the concept originated about the same time; the idea itself was at least partially inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was popularly (and inaccurately, for the most part) regarded by Western Europeans as an incompetent backwater. This thinking spurred an entire genre, known as the Ruritanian Romance (which is derived from ChivalricRomance, not the love story meaning of {{Romance}}). At that time and in most early 20th century depictions, Ruritania had a royal house. The King [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually did something]], the Prince [[TheWhitePrince was dashing]], the Princess [[PrincessClassic was dazzling]], and the headgear was quite frankly ridiculous. The kingdom was forever being schemed against by a lot of [[EvilChancellor dastardly usurpers]] or [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchists]], and was a source of tension amongst the Great Powers. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne That last bit was unfortunately true,]] with Austria-Hungary itself playing the real-life role. Although it is worth noting that where most examples of this trope are set in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was wedged between Germany and Bohemia and had a Germanic-style culture.

Not to be confused with [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Ruri-]]tania.[[note]]You might be thinking of Peaceland there.[[/note]]

[[TropeNamers The name comes from]] Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', and the concept originated about the same time; the idea itself was at least in part inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was popularly (and inaccurately, for the most part) regarded by Western Europeans as an incompetent backwater. This thinking spurred an entire genre, known as the Ruritanian Romance (which is derived from ChivalricRomance, not the love story meaning of {{Romance}}). At that time and in most early 20th century depictions, Ruritania had a royal house. The King [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually did something]], the Prince [[TheWhitePrince was dashing]], the Princess [[PrincessClassic was dazzling]], and the headgear was quite frankly ridiculous. The kingdom was forever being schemed against by a lot of [[EvilChancellor dastardly usurpers]] or [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchists]], and was a source of tension amongst the Great Powers. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne That last bit was unfortunately true,]] with Austria-Hungary itself playing the real-life role. Although it is worth noting that where most examples of this trope are set in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was wedged between Germany and Bohemia and had a Germanic-style culture.

Ruritania is a generic name for any archetypal fictional country located in Central Europe or the Balkans, an area of Southern and Eastern Europe encompassing most of the territory east of Germany and west of Russia. This country is characterized by its small size, [[{{Cloudcuckooland}} backward or quirky customs]], and forests full of SavageWolves and {{bears|AreBadNews}}. It is often the home of the FunnyForeigner.

[[TropeNamers The name comes from]] Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda''. The concept originated about the same time; the idea itself was at least in part inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was popularly (and inaccurately, for the most part) regarded by Western Europeans as incompetent and backwater. It spurred an entire genre, known as the Ruritanian Romance (which is derived from ChivalricRomance, not the love story meaning of {{Romance}}). At that time and in most early 20th century depictions, Ruritania had a royal house. The King [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually did something]], the Prince [[TheWhitePrince was dashing]], the Princess [[PrincessClassic was dazzling]], and the headgear was quite frankly ridiculous. The kingdom was forever being schemed against by a lot of [[EvilChancellor dastardly usurpers]] or [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchists]] and was a source of tension amongst the Great Powers. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne That last bit was actually true, unfortunately]]. A classic example is, of course, the original. Although it is worth noting that where most examples of this trope are set in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, the original was wedged between Germany and Bohemia and had a Germanic-style culture.

With the coming of UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag revolutions, Ruritania has pretty much reverted to what it started with: ludicrous hair, ethnic strife, poverty, and backwardness. The most noticeable changes are that the monarchy is (usually) gone, replaced by a [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny mock democratic republic]] run by some [[TheGeneralissimo unsavoury generals]], [[FormerRegimePersonnel ex-communist strongmen]], or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt bajillionaires who made a profit off the privatization waves that came with re-establishing a market economy]], while the Great Powers are now acting through NATO or the UN. Everyone still seems to hate his neighbours, the anarchists may still be around, or they may have mutated into [[TerroristsWithoutACause terrorists]] or plain old gangsters. In recent years, they would have to deal with refugees from Syria or a {{Qurac}} substitute, and the citizens will either welcome them with open arms or close their borders. Nonetheless, nationalists will spring up causing ruckus all over the country. With any luck, contemporary Ruritania might be a part of the EU, causing more trouble for its finances than Greece, Spain, and Ireland taken together -- and in any case, the only international attention Ruritania seems to get occurs during the Series/EurovisionSongContest, which it wins frequently and handily thanks to votes from the Ruritanian guest workers omnipresent in rich Western European countries.

If the place shows some of the characteristics of Ruritania, but is also full of [[{{Dracula}} vampires]], [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]], {{Mad Scientist}}s, and [[Film/HammerHorror other]] {{Fantasy}} or {{Horror}} genre tropes, you've strayed over the border into [[{{Uberwald}} Überwald]]. We hope you brought some garlic and don't leave the hotel room at night.

* Creator/BramStoker's ''Literature/{{The Lady in the Shroud}}'' features the Land of the Blue Mountains, a very, very thinly-veiled MarySuetopia version of Montenegro.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has Sokovia, a tiny fictional Balkan nation with HYDRA operations, and home to Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. It's a fairly obvious expy of Serbia, perhaps a break-off territory equivalent to Kosovo but populated by ethnic Serbians; its name is a cross between Kosovo and Serbia, all the signs are in Serbian Cyrillic, the buildings are possessing of an architectural mix of toned-down European-style facades with concrete buildings, and per Scarlet Witch's backstory it experienced civil war [[UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars sometime in the mid to late '90s.]] Its [[http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Sokovia?file=Flag_of_Sokovia.png flag]] is a red-white-blue tricolor (only vertical, like the French or Romania flag) with an eagle at the center. Generally the country is also notably more backward, with a restive population hostile towards the Avengers and the USA in general. It appears to be a mashup between the twins' comic book home country of Transia and the nation of Slorenia which Ultron massacred.
** Its capital is [[AllThereInTheManual called]] Novi Grad, which in real life is the name of a city in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
** In ''Civil War'', a common dish in Sokovia is stated to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_paprikash chicken paprikash]], which is a Hungarian dish that's also very popular in the Serbian region of Vojvodina owing to the multicultural history of the region (which historically had a large Hungarian minority).
** Also in ''Civil War'', it's noted that [[spoiler:Zemo]] comes from Sokovia, where he was a colonel in the "EKO Scorpion black ops unit", which operated during an unknown conflict in Sokovia and apparently behaved quite brutally. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) Scorpion]] was also the name of a Serb black ops unit during the Yugoslav Wars, involved in war crimes in Bosnia.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Forever}}'' features a Ruritania called Urkesh. Henry saved its prince decades ago before the monarchy was overthrown in a violent revolution. When the prince, now an old man, dies in New York, Henry investigates and discovers that he was poisoned. Henry's phrase to the deceased's wife after finding out who he was indicates that the people of Urkesh speak Russian. A scene at an Urkesh restaurant indicates that they use Cyrillic.