Basic Trope: A work uses an invented calendar for its time frame.
- Straight: Tropeworld, set in an alternate time frame where the Axis won WWII, is set in the year 77 (2016).
- Exaggerated: A Raygun Gothic Tropeworld set in '41 uses the year 3.
- Downplayed: Tropeworld uses the date of the crucifixion of Jesus (as opposed to his birth) in 33 AD as its BC/AD turnover point, making 2016 in our timeline 1983 in theirs.
- Justified:
- The turnover year in the work holds significance to the work.
- The work is set outside of Earth, where the birth of Jesus Christ (the turnover date for the Gregorian calendar) means nothing to them, their calendar is based around something meaningful to them.
- Something happened that slowed down or sped up the rotation of Earth around the sun, making the physical length of years no longer line up, so they have to use a different calendar.
- Inverted: A work set in a galaxy far, far away which has never heard of Earth uses the Gregorian calendar.
- Subverted: Bob wakes up one morning to see that the calendar says 1983. After some confusion, he realizes it is in fact the present, he's had the same calendar for 33 years.
- Double Subverted: Then the One World Order takes over, announcing it is now the year 1983 again by their standards. Next year is going to be interesting.
- Parodied: A wacky Cult based on their favorite sci-fi work tries to get the government to change their calendar to the calendar used by the work.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: The work uses Standard Gregorian Calendar used by most of the world.
- Enforced:
- The writer wants to show just how messed up their dystopia can be, showing that they can even get rid of the calendar.
- The producers wants to show time progressing between episodes without having the show being tied to a real year it could easily pass by and leave the audience wondering "Where's My Jet Pack?"
- The work is set in something BC, it wouldn't make sense to use a calendar system that didn't exist yet and the producers aren't babying to the audience.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked:
- When the Germans in Tropeworld win WWII in Gregorian 1945 AD, they change the world's calendar to year 6 (using September 1st 1939, the invasion of Poland, as the turnover day), and force all the land they have control over to change on threat of death.
- The new calendar is made by a Straw Atheist regime who wants to remove any reference to Christianity.
- Exploited: a Loan Shark uses the difference between the Jewish calendar and the Gregorian calendar to hide the fact that the deadline is not as distant as it appears to be in the Leonine Contract.
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: "If I conquered the world, I would make all calendars start on my birthday."
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: The conquered region has difficulties adjusting to the new calendar and it quickly falls out of use in favor of the old calendar.
- Reconstructed: But other features of the new calendar prove to be popular, like the number of days in a month, the names of the months, and it has the best holidays. These features are adopted even after the conquered region regains its independence.
- Implied: Some IRL event is mentioned in the work, but it happened in a different time then in real life (like WWII happening in year 20).
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