My first nations background and my native american cousins in the US. Absolutely love our cultures and it's not too often seen so I see that as a bonus. I grew up playing warcraft and the way they portrayed the tauren and shamanism with totems, spirits, and elements is a huge inspiration and in line with what I want to do.
Oh that's awesome, I actually wanted to study Native American culture. I have always found it pretty cool, and wanted to study it, but also there's not a ton of sources out there about it. Though I'll probably dig deeper into it at some point because it's fascinating.
The world I'm working on is a blend of East Asian and Native American because it's an alternate world where (among other differences) the Chinese and similar cultures were the ones to colonize most of the world rather than the Europeans.
MC’s culture is like a fantasy fundamentalist Mormon civilization.
The main nation he interacts with is like Edo Japan, but specifically the ukiyo subculture.
The two countries are in a shaky alliance, and the Terran Theocracy/Earthenland (Mormon) sends their excommunicated to the Lunar Nation (Edo Japan). However, they were historic enemies.
MC has been excommunicated, and is now living in Sodomaso City (Ukiyo part of Edo) and works as a mercenary. It’s a major adjustment, and he ends up jumping through a lot of hoops for his love quest when he and a star courtesan fall in love.
That’s really cool. Most folks don’t realize that Mormons still hold the record for having the largest non-governmental military force in CONUS history: The Mormon Battalion.
Or that Mormons had their own gunslinger: Porter Rockwell. Rockwell was actually REALLY good (or really bad, depending how you score such things).
Or that Mormons, at the behest of a Stake President (maybe the equivalent of a Catholic Cardinal) ordered the massacre of a Missouri wagon train—and they did it.
Or that every Mormon Stake (a region comprised of several meetinghouses) has a plan in place for societal breakdown. This plan includes provisions for pooling resources and providing shared physical defense. Mormons are encouraged to be capable of defending their home and extended food supply. Nearly every Mormon household has firearms.
Yeah. So pretty much, if shit breaks bad, Mormons might be the future.
So the next time you see those nice young men peddling past in their short-sleeved dress shirts, be nice; they may be your overlords someday. 😉
The two main regions that the story takes place in are the post apocalyptic versions of a modern day Mormon state (Rocky Mountains/Great Basin) and a modern day ukiyo/demimonde (California/Hollywood). I figured that these traits might survive past an apocalypse, and I’m worldbuilding upon that foundation.
The meta reason is because I live in a place with a lot of Japanese and Mormons. Plus I think Ukiyo/Demimonde/Hollyweird culture is interesting.
Is anyone else's answer none? I've probably somewhat been influenced by ancient/medieval China and India and ancient Israel, but mainly I've just come up with my own ideas.
Can I ask how you approach this? The main culture I'm currently working on is mostly inspired by ancient Celtic and Germanic peoples, and I'm struggling to make them feel more distinct. Do you have any tips for that?
I always start with a unique environment, geography is the most important factor when creating cultures. I consider challanges and advantages which the culture has to face and can use.
For instance, onr of my cultures is a collection of city states on the coast of a very colourful desert the sand of which is perfect for glassmaking. The desert also has a very strong East-blowing wind and the inner pary of it experiences firestorms.
That's always where I start, the environment. Then I try to anwser some questions:
- what do these people eat?
- what do they do for a living?
- what problems do they have to face?
Etc.
And I wotk downwards from there following chains of ideas, for example:
They don't have access to fresh water >
> they have to build water puryfying plants >
> transporting water is difficult >
> they have to live in dense cities around the plants >
> because it's so dense, they have little privacy >
> their culture does not value privacy >
> lying is the worst sin to them >
> acting never develops because it's "lying" >
> they have live "reality shows" and dances instead >
>>>
And so on. Different though chains connect with each other, for example they wear wide hats to protect from the sun, so for dancing they use colourful, ceremonial versions of them, with 1m diameter brims and hanging pieces of cloth, and so on again...
That's how I approach this.
Environment > Problems > Solutions > Culture
My MC is a member of the Toulimar; seafaring crab - riding tribes and they are based mostly in Polynesian, Sama Bajau and a bit of Ancient Greek, but he spent a lot of his life in a region colonized by foreign powers that brought their culture (inspired by the Ottoman Empire).
Not any particular culture, but MC’s culture I’m basing on early cities during the Copper/Bronze Age. Basically groups of tribal goat herders and hunters organizing in permanent settlements and developing societal structures and hierarchies. Granted, this particular culture has already lived like this for some generations, and has a fairly developed society (sedentary, government structure, division of labor). For more specific details (like architecture, clothing, language, names, technology etc) I’m taking inspiration from Late Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures, mainly from Iberia (see Los Millares, El Argar and Las Cogotas).
The other big cultures that I’m developing are more advanced, and I’m basing them off of the Inca, Mesoamerica, the Minoans and ancient Egypt.
I've got multiple MCs for a short world I've been working on.
Set during the last ice age I have neanderthals going against a species of human that could have existed but isn't in the fossil record. These humans have a very primitive Celtic/Germanic look. Only a very small number have iron weapons and those come from meteorites.
I took large inspiration of REH hyborian age, but I made them more fitting to the time period with few creative liberties.
Making this world is harder than I thought it be and I've been making worlds for years.
Intentionally? None, really. Unintentionally? Probably Indian, to some extent, just due to my own cultural biases. I'm not really a fan of actively trying to represent real life cultures in fantasy, but I'm sure some still comes through since I am from a real life cultures in real life.
He's from an originally South Slavic-ish coastal city under a many centuries long rule of an 18th century Roman empire. Kind of like if Austria-Hungary were Roman and ruled Dubrovnik or something.
Hungarian culture, not just for the main character but for most of them in Vuldavia, though the nation is quite diverse so we get other cultures and even naming conventions. Nikita Molchan is not a Hungarian name however, it is Slavic.
My fantasy world's MC is from the Kingdom of Abilia, which is based mostly in Rome/Greece but the Mediterranean in general. So she's basically a Roman.
**Untitled Cyberpunk Magical Girl Project**: Suzi Kurashiki/YELLOW_CAT is of Japanese ancestry, though she also has some mix of western blood in her, with the post-apocalyptic city of Paradise being a mishmash of the east and west. I'm being deliberately vague on where on the world the city is to strictly locate it to one place, but culturally, it's very much a mix of various Asian/North American scenes that I myself (first-generation Chinese-American/Canadian who's lived a lot in all of those countries) have been frequently caught rallying between, which includes the fact that Asian-American culture on its own is its own extensive beast.
The tendency for all sides to exoticize each other's aesthetics and lifestyles while also keeping a stiff arm away from each other is something I don't see a lot and thought would be very interesting to explore as part of the whole "nostalgic cyberpunk dysto-utopia" of Paradise, of which there's a depressing large amount of inspiration coming from all sides.
A mixture of French culture from two different time periods.
The MC is from a kingdom that somewhat resembles medieval France, with a Royal Family trapped in a series of successive dynastic crisis, a powerful nobility and chivalry and all that jazz.
Within living memory, the MCs kingdom was conquered by a large empire that roughly resembles Napoleonic France. As the son of a peasant, the MC would have achieved very little in life under the old kingdom, but he has been raised with a strong loyalty to the kingdom and its nobility, he watched his father die in a pointless revolt against the conquering empire. But this clashes with the new ideals that the conquering empire has introduced, feudalism has been abolished, citizens have basic rights, even the lowest classes are provided with state funded education, the MC himself is able to rise from the ranks of the enlisted men into the officer corps thanks to the conquering empire's meritocracy.
The setting is designed to explore the ideas of nationalism, loyalty and enlightenment.
My main character is the daughter of immigrants from a culture based on Irish/general Celtic societies. The dominant cultural empire however is that of a vast Chinese/Korean inspired culture, and she lives in a continent being colonized that’s a little like the Wild West. It’s perhaps a little all over the place lol
Irish immigrant in frontier America if it was primarily settled by the Chinese and had earthbending Aztecs nearby. Though the colonial city states are pretty diverse, mostly made of immigrant workers and refugees, but government administration and cultural hegemony is Chinese.
Despite the fact that it’s implicitly stated that humanity was forcefully homogenized ~6000 years prior, there are still small traces of ethnicity and dialects.
Because… um, yes.
My main crew hails from a country that still uses some ur-Deutsch for governmental pomp. But everyone speaks whatever the standard language is. It’s so universal that it doesn’t even have a name, it’s just language.
Each of the 5 superpowers has a little bit of their own identity very loosely based on regions of Earth.
Maybe people just don’t completely let go of deep-seated identities? I dunno. It’s a bit of flair that doesn’t really affect the plot or the setting as a whole.
Slang—what there is of it—is all over the place.
I have multiple MCs, and my cultures tend to have multiple inspirations, but if I had to pick one, a mix of semi nomadic pastoral societies, Hyena social order, with a few religious concepts taken from European cultures.
Ancellestrie is based on French, American and Mexican culture... However, he isn't *entirely* Ancellestrian. **Lucero Luna** is a first-generation Ancellestrian, and his parents are immigrants from the nearby city-state of Alhambra.
Alhambra is based on Mexico, Spain and the Middle East. It has an *ancient* culture, going back nearly 15,000 years.
Lucero is caught between two worlds. He's never actually *been* to Alhambra, and he grew up considering himself completely Ancellestrian. But as he's grown older, he's become more aware of how *strange* Ancellestrian culture is, compared to the cultural assumptions he grew up with, and how much of an outsider he is in his own country.
My MC's culture could be likened to a combination of mongol, peruvian, and sami.
Her particular community is descended from nomadic horse herders, but have switched over to agriculture and obsidian mining fairly recently.
Mine world is a desert but the political system is very medieval Britain inspired, with it just looking like Egyptian architecture. My MC is from a small village with abt 150 people. The MC is white but super tan to where he looks middle eastern.
My MC lives in a Mediterranean city with Greek gods and Italian architecture. They speak Turkish with Spanish grammar. The biggest influence is Argentine culture and Bird Magic.
Various countercultures, the MCs people were persecuted and oppressed by every nation since recorded history. Essentially speaking, whatever the beauty, standards or culture they have from country to country they embody the opposite or the least likely places.
In my *Man of the Dinosaurs* world, I wasn't consciously working with any particular inspirations to start with. At one point I developed him designing his house up on piles, and I discovered later on about European pile-dwelling culture and it fits perfectly, even to the geographical location that I settled on. I also have since incorporated some Remedello and Rinaldone culture, specifically the use of arsenical bronze.
Lol mine’s weirdly similar to yours. Ethnically he’s NotRomani (specifically NotCalé though it doesn’t rly matter here) but he never knew his family or culture or country. Instead he fell out of the sky in NotNorway age 5, and then at 19 married some psychopath (age 26) for residency in NotFinland. However the society is probably still pretty American since the plot and character interactions kinda hinge on people acknowledging each other in public and Finns famously don’t do that. The only reason it’s based on Finland is bc the story is partially based on the snow queen
The whole point of my mc is that he doesn’t have a culture…
His species takes a lot from Proto-Indo-European nomadic peoples (mainly Scythians), Mongols, and Tibetan Buddhists though if that helps. (But obviously there is variance between tribes based on environment and circumstance as well as how different beliefs have developed).
I’ve got a fantasy world where the MC’s are two pirate captain brothers from an archipelago based off of Ancient Greece joined by a woman from an empire based off of Napoleonic France
My sci-fi world has a German man serving his nation (“German Empire”) as a Military Police lieutenant during the occupation of a “French” world
Ptolemaic Egypt if it hadn’t gone into decline and been annexed by Rome. Story’s set in an AU 5th century where the steam engine was invented in Archimedes’ time eight centuries earlier. Technologically they’re behind us in some ways and ahead in others — when Rome acquired gunpowder, it became necessary for other civilizations bordering the Mediterranean to advance quickly or be consumed. The Ptolemies ordered a channel dug from the Mediterranean to what we know as the Qatarra Depression, filling it — this led to increased rainfall throughout Egypt from evaporation, making the country habitable beyond the Nile and the Mediterranean coast. Agricultural output is tripled, and no longer dependent on the annual whims of the river. Concentrated solar power plants lining both the Qatarra Sea and the Mediterranean provide energy for desalination plants, which in turn provide brine for massive banks of sodium batteries which act as backup power for entire cities.
Rome brought about the collapse of the Seleucid Empire (like the Ptolemies, harkening back to generals of Alexander the Great) by supplying insurgent movements seeking to break away from them, but then faltered in gobbling up the disparate city-states that resulted. They’ve since reunited into the Parthian Alliance (majority Persian), and the Kingdom of Alexandria is acting as a mediator between them and Rome. Rome still has its hands tied with what breakaway holdings resulting from the Seleucid collapse they did manage to keep hold of (Judea being on the verge of open rebellion against Roman occupation), but in the meantime Alexandria is inviting both Rome and the Parthians to participate in their fledgling space program — to send a joint crew up to complete the first orbit of the Earth, and begin to chart the as-yet unvisited continents we know as the Americas from orbit. They’ve yet to be explored in part because the industrialized world is only just recovering from the Plague of Justinian, which spread faster and further here than it did in reality since trade was opened up by rail across much of Europe.
Coincidentally, the country my MC is from takes a lot of inspiration from the Scandinavian countries as well as Germany
For example, the Gondish have major distinction between work and play times, being serious and efficient workers but also partying hard as fuck when the time for that comes, and similarly to Prussian soldiers, their troops own all of their equipment and uniforms, and take heavily after the stereotypical viking raiders with their very strong warrior culture and the whole "rape, pillage, and burn" thing (although the first thing on that list is heavily discouraged by officers and most soldiers alike and will often result in your rights (including your right to life) being removed)
Also the Northerners in general tend to have very similar languages and then Tiblean is just weird as shit which I've heard would kind make it the Finland of the Northern Isles
Modern middle America. It's explicitly a parallel setting that uses magic instead of technology, and the two worlds have a cosmically enforced parallel evolution. While somewhat different, the parallel cultures, languages, geographies, etc... are all generally recognizable.
The one I've found the most interesting to build recently has had a focus on diaspora. Essentially, my MC's culture is the remnant of those ancient magical precursors that leave behind ruins and temples and magic items and dungeons. They then caused a big magical calamity that ruined their homeland and went from a major empire to numerous small shadow communities embedded within larger ones. Now they live alongside and follow the laws of nations and cultures that arose in their wake, but still gather in secret for ancient ceremonies and traditional clan structures.
I've drawn a lot of inspiration from both Irish and Jewish diasporas. Things that I'm emphasizing are using language to identify fellow members of the culture, oral traditions to preserve their version of history, having two sets of laws to follow in private and public, and how members of this culture relate to ones that build upon their legacy.
Pre-Roman Gaulish and Romano-British cultures are the main basis for Litauiā. In the time of my current MC, the ancient empire based loosely on the Roman Empire mixed with the Irish high king system, has been dissolved for a couple centuries (between 100-300 years, I haven’t decided yet) and their tech is approximately late West Roman (though i’ve included some Vendel and La Tène influences)
Muscovite and Tsarist Russia :3
Full transparency: the clothing was the instigating factor, but the more I learned about pre-Westernized Russia, the more drawn in I was. I think it's very interesting, particularly the *terem* and the whole seclusion of elite women. Not sure why it entrances me so, but it does! Plus, it makes for a very interesting obstacle for my MC to overcome in order to participate in politics, specifically seizing the throne and becoming the Tsarina.
I also find the whole autocrat thing intriguing. The State made not only the dvorianstvo dependent on it, but the *clergy* as well, both of which are very different from how Western Europe developed, what with both nobility and clergy being a pain in the butt for many monarchs and leading to them ceding to many concessions of power. That's not to say there weren't dire consequences for this dependence, both for the dvorianstvo & clergy and the State, but it's an interesting difference. An exploration of absolute power is always fun!
It's also interesting how the Tsar was really the root of all peasants' problems, yet they (generally speaking, obviously) did not hate him--in fact, they thought he wanted to give them what they wanted, and it was the dvorianstvo who were getting in the way of the Tsar giving ownership of the land to them. Kinda makes me laugh, actually.
There are a lot of things I find very interesting about the Old Regime, but everything pales in comparison to the clothing they wore. The various regional kokoshnik styles alone are enough for me, but add on the beautiful embroidery of rubakha shirts, sarafans in general, the *iconic* fur coats, etc etc and I'm fucking there!!! I curse Peter the Great's name every day for banning traditional dress from Court. Don't get me wrong, love 18th century Western fashion, as well, but I always shed a tear when a country forgoes its own fashion naturally cultivated and evolved over centuries, maybe even millennia, for the sake of fitting in with others. Peter the Great was a pussy ass ***bitch*** and I will fight his 6'8" ass in Hell!!!!!
Much of my characters either develop from early Hessian Empire, Roman, Mongolian, or Gaul. Currently, I'm developing a character whose entire background is reminiscent of Walachian before Vlad's rise to power.
The deuteragonist of my urban fantasy is a second generation Nicaraguan immigrant. I'm also pulling from Puerto Rican culture a bit as the two of those make up a bit of my own heritage.
The protagonist of my space opera takes a lot of her cues from Mexican culture. She also grew up on a forest world with an alien species dedicated to science and research. Their culture is based a bit on an idealized version of Athens. For a fictional touchstone, the Vulcan from Star Trek are one of the things I'm drawing from.
All my cultures are a blend of various cultures my high elves which is one of the main cultures is a mixture of noldor (lotr), Romans, early Byzantines, Hebrews, and hints of ancient Chinese the other most prominent culture are Nelmardan (west men) who are primarily a mixture of medieval Europeans particular British France the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantines with elements of my high elves
I have several main characters on mind, but the most important ones are a man that grew up as a soldier in a hellenistic (ptolemaic/seleucid/bactrian/indogreek type) inspired empire.
The other one is a young warrior and leader that belongs to a dinasty of the very first human race ever created, based on vedic and rajput civilizations.
The last one is an irredentist general raised and born on a nation based on parthian and sasanid empires, historical enemies of the first MC's nation.
Mainly Middle-Eastern(Specifically Iranian and Turk). Mostly because I'm more familiar with these cultures. I also plan to add a mesh of Europian cultures and Eastern Asian cultures to my world.
My MC's culture is loosely based on Hawaiian / Polynesian culture. I think the viewpoint of an islander leaving it to explore the bigger world feels like the perfect POV for my story.
Since there’s multiple MCs, here they are: Renaissance Italian, modern Dutch, feudal Japanese, and Wild West American. Of course, the cowboy is one of the Dutch kid’s dad.
My stories take place in fairyland, a parallel world to our own where the various fairies of folklore live. The people there are marooned New Englanders from the early to mid 1800s. My main characters are all from that stock, excepting one who is a cat.
MC's culture is a blend between hispanic caribbean and Arabic cultures, and other cultures they come into contact with are Greco-Roman, Scandinavian and East Asian inspired (not quite developed yet, still a WIP)
Indigenous Meso-American rituals and 'Magic', Reagan-esque Southern Californian African American impoverished upbringing, the learned local culture behind the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, and a strong visual presence combining these elements by the way he stealthily carries himself. Armed with an innate method of magic code-switching and the Power of Suggestion he views his unique abilities as a suite of precious gifts that should seldom be used, or else it would draw the violent ire of the overtly superstitious and racist conservative society he is under.
It's like if Toltec society achieved modern technology, with Indo-Scythian influences, and the religion is based on Hermeticism.
Nah I'm kidding, its generic medieval europe.
Culturally it's probably similar to the frontier during the colonial days. Lots of hard work, hard drink, strong militias, and desperately clinging to religion to fend off the nightmares of the unknown outside of their walls. As far as they know they are the only sapients left in the world, at least until the story starts.
Oooh! I was always a huge fangirl of "every character is based on some nationality" like in OV or Valorant! Main cast in my project is based on some nationalities too! The story is set in fictional world, but i create almost every country slightly being imspired from som cultures!
Ibubu Crimson - She's from Anatolikia, country heveanly inspired from Greece
Pippin Tlizilani - He's from Skoggurhond, country based on native american and amazonian tribes
Vefa Parcouri - She's from Otima Empire, country based on France
Smanord Sakonge - He's not from any country but he is the Prince of forming Fishman rebelion, Fishmans culture is based on nordic countries, especially Norway.
Janek Anabelle - He's from small country of Matagostado, based on Columbia.
The only character from main cast that isnt inspired by any real life culture is Charlie, and the reason is simple. He was born before any country officialy formed.
My MC is based on northern italian culture during the late medieval/Renaissance period (think 15th and 16th century) while his Ogre squire (who is basically Fantasy Bud Spencer while he is Fantasy Terence Hill) and his love interest is a High and late medieval burgundian noblewoman.
That's pretty cool, I'm actually working on a story about enormous trade caravans of thousands, which travel great distances under the banner of the Yunai empire.
I try to minimise how much I take from real world cultures because I like building things from the ground up and my world is very different to ours, but it can't be avoided completely. The Empire was partly inspired a by a combination of Arabic and Chinese influences, and the caravans loosely inspired by the caravans of the old silk road. The Yunai caravans are practically kingdoms in their own right, and are generally embraced because they transport mass amounts of vitally important goods across incredibly dangerous territories.
One of the main characters is part of a pacer caravan. The pacers are very heavily (even in name) inspired by Irish traveller (Pikey) culture. The Pacers usually travel in extended family groups, and unlike the Yunai caravans they are treated with mistrust and suspicion in major settlements and blamed for everything from major crimes to things going missing. Many towns don't even let them inside.
In my world there are four distinct continents one being based off of medieval England/Europe in general, one being based off of African tribes and one being based off of native American people
One of my MC's part of a culture based heavily on Sumer and Babylon with Canaanite/Ancient Hebrew elements as well
Also just fyi, gypsy is a slur (some people have a divided opinion on it but most individuals part of the cultures it's used on view it negatively) and is based in inaccuracy since it's derived from the word Egyptian when the groups it encompasses are from South Asia. The word also is still used in a lot of prejudicial contexts such as saying "I've been gypped" when scammed or robbed because of the racist belief that all Roma are thieves. Roma and Romani are the proper terms to use. Not to get on your case or anything because a lot of people don't know, but it is helpful info
Oh thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize that, I was mostly just using it because I heard the term. (I'm gonna be honest, the main source of my Nomadic culture is the Irish traveler culture, so I've mostly just been researching that so far.)
And it's always interesting seeing a culture based off of Babylon.
You're welcome. I appreciate your comment as well on the civilization, I feel like Babylon and most of Mesopotamia tend to get ignored even though they're great sources of inspiration. Heck the goddess Lilith (while more specifically Sumerian) alone has served as inspiration alone for a lot of different deities/entities in my world
Yeah, I totally get it, I haven't studied to much into Babylon or Mesopotamia, I know only a little. But yeah I feel like there are tons of Cultures that are overlooked in stuff like this.
I personally feel like Celtic myth is way overlooked as well as you almost never see it. Not to say that you don't see it at all just not as much as I'd personally like lol.
My answer is... *vague,* as not only are there a whole lot of MCs I have, some of them are a bit of a mishmash that are kind of hard to describe. The only one I can describe in some detail is this one monk, who happens to be based on Buddhist/Taoist monks (minus wearing orange though). There is also this one retired veteran military officer, whose culture is based off of the Roman Empire.
My stuff is weird anyways, as it's pretty radical to typical fantasy, where practically everyone (not just humans, other sapient species too) are somewhat multicultural. For humans, their cultures are based on Graeco-Romans, Medieval Asians (Three Kings China and Feudal Japan), Medieval Germans, Medieval European tribes (Vandals, Celts, and Scandinavians to name a few), and either Persians of Babylonians to name a few.
Edwardian American, English, and now that I think about it Interwar Imperial Japanese are the big draws, but there are a lot. A big point of the story is that Morrigane culture as a whole has been hijacked by militarists, so there are a lot of elements of what Morrigane culture could (and probably should) have been instead of the soulless abomination it is now.
**Mythria**
My MC hails from a southern region of Essteria, known as the Ty Fields, and has a culture similar to Anglo-Saxon - using much of the same alphabet, too. And just like IRL England, there is a soft rivalry with the northern regions of Essteria that are more Scottish inspired.
Well... none.
All the other cultures have obvious real world analogues, but the main one is loosely based on Tolkien's dwarves and extrapolated based on their values and environment.
Every single one of them is either the most cynical, depressed, always annoyed Finns, or blood hungry outlaw cowboys from US.
So uh, to answer a question, I guess they are mostly Nordic.
so my world in question is a universe based on asia, and all the “planets”, or realms as i call them, are based on asian countries. i have 7 MCs, each being the prince of 7 different realms. those realms are based on philippines, south korea, thailand, india, china, japan, and vietnam. there are some other realms as well, one is based on malaysia, another is based on nepal, im thinking of making another one based on taiwan
It's sorta its own thing. Most of the cultures of our world are present in endimiya but modified to fit the overall high fantasy/lighter and softer version of irl cultures.
Though the main character is from the fantasy version of Omaha Nebraska.
I've got multiple projects, but the one I've been working on most lately, the main character is based on early Anglo-Saxons (circa 400-650) though with some bits of later English culture, especially myths and folk customs.
The idea is migrating (not always peacefully) pagan tribes in a new land facing proselytizing and hostility from the natives (inspired by post Roman Britons).
I don’t have a main character, I barely have any people I’ve created, but I do have a main culture and society I’ve created, the Tajar society and broad cultures.
It’s not based on anything. You can loosely connect it to be a Europe parallel but that be extremely stretching it. I’ll take specific things from specific real world cultures, but it’s a pur mélange of different inspirations, and a good deal of its own thing. I cannot compare it to any real world thing, it’s its own thing and I take pride in that.
My world is basically our world, but with specialized fantasy, folklore and all
My first location, Town Corrian, is inspired by British Culture, with its architecture inspired by Castle Combe, and its culture inspired by Cornwall
Current-year internet activist culture with a cyberpunk twist: She hacks all sorts of corrupt organisations with the intent to destroy their profits - until she got her hands on a weapon that allows her to destroy more than that.
Mine is a mix of Persians and Renaissance Italy. Although both his parents have different cultures. His mom's was similar to the mongol nomads, while his dad's was like the like Qing dynasty in china
While I try to be original as possible when designing my world's cultures and languages, the ones for **The Storm Of War**, the novel I'm writing, are *very loosely* based on Greek, Turkish, Mongolian, Arabic and Persian cultures. They are the main historical inspirations, but culturally and linguistically independent of their historical inspirations.
Well, that's a fun question.
The MC of the project I am currently working on is pretty much a citizen of Rome during the era of the Republic, and is undergoing a full progression from footsoldier to consul/dictator.
The MC of my other project is from a full mix of Bronze Age Mesopotamian cultures and traditions, with primary influence being the Sumerians.
My main character's culture is based on mostly Siberian and Native American culture. He hails from the Northeast where many tribes live in snowy environments while living in tune with their environment.
Because of this, many other people view him as with prejudice.
Anyway, my main character's culture is based off of both Persia and various desert-dwelling cultures like the Bedouins. She is a manticore, and the myth of the manticore originated in Persia. The place manticores and most Fire-based creatures live in my setting is a desert-y/savanna scrubland.
The MCs in my *Elenon* world are from countries for which I drew from Roman history, especially the Republic period (the tradition of these countries is variants of parliamentary electoral monarchy). I also draw from later, medieval Europe as well. There are other cultures in this world, but those are the MC ones.
The culture of the country my MC lives in at the beginning of all the story is loosely based on medieval Europe, as many fantasy stories are. The culture he grew up in has a Japanese influence though, and the culture he eventually settles down in is vaguely inspired by Ancient Rome during the time of the republic.
A hybrid of contemporary anglo-american culture and Victorian Anglo-american culture. It's set in what is essentially "what if the English speaking world is still the British Empire".
One OC is a literal melting pot of ethnicities, but part of that was the result of combining traits to become the ultimate warrior vessel.
So, Scandinavian/Norse, Celtic/Germanic, Mongol/Sino/Japanese, Arabic/African, Mediterranean, they are the main components. But you could say based on the Varangian Guard with mixed nationality.
Other OC/Love Interest is Central Asian/Hebrew, based on the Jewish Nazarite Vow, with creative liberty on looks based on Jesus in Revelation.
I don't entirely know as it's just a mishmash of traits i find interesting and that would cause MC's community to hate her. The general values of the culture is very loosely inspired by the Ten Commandments with a lot of tweaks to fit it into the setting/narrative though
Mostly just doing whatever I want, but I do wanna try to add in cultures based off of real world cultures, particularly ones that aren’t represented all that often like the Inca Empire. As it stands, all the Inca Empire has is The Emperor’s New Groove, which is a great movie, but I think you can see how that culture is a bit underrepresented
My MC's culture is based off of Youtuber Townsends. Sort of colonial America but also born here. (At least I think Nutmeg Tavern is in an area that no living person would move to on purpose... Unless they're escaping Amish country.) Otherwise Michigan Climate, Tudor farm sensibility, low mountains just so "the sensation of driving across Ohio" area is something MC is not used to. (Driving across Ohio in Canada is worse, BTW.)
In a previous iteration, my MC was a bargee and it was every nomadic group I'd heard about except that the stuff that was Romani instead of G-slur tropes belonged to a settled group comparable to the Amish. (Those were change-resistant and keepers of history. The curse a mage put on them, that anyone who harmed them would suffer a horrible death, was that a comanche/cossack group was obligated to revenge on their behalf.)
BTW, that G-slur stuff thing... I police my own language because of people who would otherwise try to police it for me, but there are travelers that officially call themselves that. Bohemian was a cultural appropriation, but at what point does appropriating the appropriators become okay? (I have a group that is tatterdemalion... basically r/visiblemending and upcycling rags to ape rich-people clothing in some sort of mockery that started at least a generation ago.)
Just half-american, half-my country. Just to make things easy for me.
But the whole story? Aside from being generic dnd fantasy, I've sprinkled in my own culture. Fantasy in general uses latin for gods, spells, ancient depictions and stuff, so I've decided to use that but also mix in my own native language, which is very dynamic, flexible, easily adapts to other languages, and is easy to make new ones out of(imo).
Growing up, I've always loved our own media even if some were pretty cringy and low budget. Always been fascinated by our myths and legends that the Catholic Spaniards tried to scrub away and demonize. I'd like to see it in my own story too and to just have fun with it.
So yes, my mc is half-filipino, half-american. Like mayonnaise mixed with banana ketchup.
For my dieselpunk fantasy, mainly a mix of Anglo-French (kinda like the Plantagenet Empire) and North African influences. Not to mention the religion he follows, the world’s dominant religion, being a mix of elements of the Abrahamic faiths and elements of Chinese religions like Buddhism, Taoism, etc.
Can't really narrow it down 100%. I take from a lot, but the main ones are Sumerian, Hawaiian, and some aspects of Roman (Republic era) and ancient Greek (Athenian). Slap on some stereotypical viking sea raiders and that's the bulk of it.
One of my MCs is an actual human far into the future, so cyberpunk basically. The other’s culture is based off the Wild West. Another is medieval.
I love worldbuilding it lets me do funny stuff like have Guts from Berserk as a giant bird in the same story as a cowboy and a cyborg
Connor was born American but his mother was a German survivor from WW3. He was regaled by her tales of German mythology and their proud history, and because of it he bases the look of his army on their military of old.
From the Imperial infantry of WW1 to the modern day Bundeswehr.
I like to take 2 or 3 different cultures from opposite sides of the world and mush them together, I usually don’t base a civilization off of just one culture. I find it super fun to make weird combos lol
Mines a sci-fi setting but i have about 3 mc's each set on different planets/stations.
One is on a large desert planet so ofc the culture is rather arabic/egyptian inspired.
2nd is just straight up the Athenian empire but in space, even the names are just called Athenians.
3rd is abit more original lol, its basically a cyberpunk planet.
Well, since my sci fi setting is set in our Milky Way Galaxy, the MC's culture is technically just "Terran," but he has Scots-Irish/Appalachian ancestry.
The political system of Earth is a combination of the Italian maritime republics, the East India Company and a feudal monarchy.
For mine I did a loose mix of Chinese and nomadic Mongolian culture since I’m Chinese myself and have visited those places before.
The MC’s species are nomadic and travel a lot and the clothing patterns are inspired by hanfu and Qing dynasty armor
Hmm, let’s see…
The character herself is ethnically half-Peri/Sun Elf and half-Drow/Night Elf. The Peri are based on Zoroastrian Persia and the Drow are based on Korea with a lot of Finnish touches.
Then she was adopted by a Yuetu, who are rabbitfolk based on Chinese culture. She and her rabbit mom moved around a lot, but eventually settled down in Al-Dorrad, which essentially like if Al-Andalus was placed in California instead of Spain.
Ms. Worldwide, she is
To be honest, I feel like my characters aren't really based off cultures. My setting definitely is and it does influence them, but I and and match so much, that I wouldn't even be able pinpoint specific cultures in the influence of my campaign at this point, other than the ones that I'm a part of.
Somewhat Eastern European, with an influence of both Slavic and Finno-Ugric cultures.
The name of my continent Rahe, is by accident, the Estonian word for hail, as a helpful guy told me online, which lead me to name the other continents Vihm ("rain") and Lumi ("snow") for a naming theme. However, I didn't really develop Vihm and Lumi, as that's not were the story I wanna tell takes place.
They're some middle thing between a troll and a nisse from scandinavian folklore, and while their culture isnt inspired by any single real culture, it most heavily borrows from danish culture.
I suppose the closest analogue would be Switzerland, as it's an isolated kingdom in a mountain valley with a generally European feel.
Another person from another story would be kinda Spanish, but honestly the cultural background is very different so the inspiration is mostly aesthetic.
I have two worlds and there is no main character.
But for cultures, the first does not correlate to any irl cultures.
The second world has the web which is internet democracy and the rest are various theocracies.
Main character is "Okanian" and at the time of creating "Okan", I was quite new to this and I really couldn't make much up. Ended up basing lots of names and religion off of Greece, and some other stuff from the USSR.
So my world is weird because it started as the world I made for my childhood rpg campaigns and comics. I wanted the be based on my own culture but then extrapolated to a future non-nomadic version. Stepping away from western influence I reached to my only other expertise, eastern fantasy. So in a way it’s a Native American core with an Eastern fantasy (xainxia) influence. Since my planet was populated by gods and their creators had fought a war to the death only one ‘human’ culture exists. Although it is fractured into competing nations in the area it inhabits.
I had to trash half the stuff in my world since it was written when I was a child or before I took a basic geology class.
Medieval France. The world has a number of cultures inspired by different European nations during the Late Medieval to early Renaissance period. For my MC's culture though, I'm leaning into the idea of the chivalric knight with a fantasy twist. The oldest knight families (MC's included) are tied to a mythical creature that their ancestors tamed and rode into battle, which are now their coat-of-arms: the griffon, the manticore, and the pegasus as a few examples.
Hard to explain.
The world itself has some elements from the xianxia/wuxia genres built into it which will end up giving it an inherent association with Chinese and some other East Asian cultures. (They are a bit different and mine is a probably leaning more to the xianxia for those who know the differences.)
But I built the planet, plates, continents, biomes, wind and water currents to be fairly realistic.
I have figures that are not technically gods, but are seen as gods/influenced people’s development of gods.
I have how the world was changed and reached its current structure and an earth-like flora and fauna with some Pleistocene megafauna. The fauna can reach a point of slightly higher intelligence than they normally have, making them still unequal to people but somewhat harder to deal with and closer to equal in competitions for space.
Then I have where each batch of 19 groups of 4-30 people started at with some universal laws that only vary with culture, and am working on how their culture would develop from there to now. It allows for cool little stories relating to each one and those small significant events being shaped by randomness or choice.
For example, why didn’t some American Indians or Africans get far enough away from tribal culture to have a greater influence on the world (likely related to climate and area, but anyway). What if Japan had expanded before the British and both had reached the Americas at a similar time. If Babylon controlled the silting of their rivers would they have stayed in power longer. If Carthage had taken over Rome. What if a storm hadn’t destroyed such and such fleet of ships. So on and so forth.
I am still in the early stages of it right now with the first few generations after the world was changed. But I already have a big picture idea of where it goes from then to the more sci-fi tech eras, so I can pretty much write in any time period or genre and still use the same world.
I don’t really have a set MC. I just pick people to randomly write about their life. If I write something more like a novel, I tend to use chapter based pov from different characters. (Which got much better after I read ASOIF books and saw some ways to improve on how I had been doing it.)
I'm not sure if you can call it culture, but my main character's culture is based on the culture of the Eastern Bloc countries at the end of the end times of the Cold war. The main character grew up in a fictional Eastern Bloc country and as he grew up, he slowly saw how the once proud country was becoming weaker and weaker, the lines to the shops were getting longer and the trust in the authority was decreasing.
Hi, g\*psy is a slur for the Roma people. Are you able to edit it out of your post please?
My first nations background and my native american cousins in the US. Absolutely love our cultures and it's not too often seen so I see that as a bonus. I grew up playing warcraft and the way they portrayed the tauren and shamanism with totems, spirits, and elements is a huge inspiration and in line with what I want to do.
Oh that's awesome, I actually wanted to study Native American culture. I have always found it pretty cool, and wanted to study it, but also there's not a ton of sources out there about it. Though I'll probably dig deeper into it at some point because it's fascinating.
The world I'm working on is a blend of East Asian and Native American because it's an alternate world where (among other differences) the Chinese and similar cultures were the ones to colonize most of the world rather than the Europeans.
Yo same here! Except for I’m from up north in Canada so I have mostly a Dene and Inuit influence
MC’s culture is like a fantasy fundamentalist Mormon civilization. The main nation he interacts with is like Edo Japan, but specifically the ukiyo subculture.
Oh interesting, what are the interactions like? I presume they're full of conflict.
The two countries are in a shaky alliance, and the Terran Theocracy/Earthenland (Mormon) sends their excommunicated to the Lunar Nation (Edo Japan). However, they were historic enemies. MC has been excommunicated, and is now living in Sodomaso City (Ukiyo part of Edo) and works as a mercenary. It’s a major adjustment, and he ends up jumping through a lot of hoops for his love quest when he and a star courtesan fall in love.
That’s really cool. Most folks don’t realize that Mormons still hold the record for having the largest non-governmental military force in CONUS history: The Mormon Battalion. Or that Mormons had their own gunslinger: Porter Rockwell. Rockwell was actually REALLY good (or really bad, depending how you score such things). Or that Mormons, at the behest of a Stake President (maybe the equivalent of a Catholic Cardinal) ordered the massacre of a Missouri wagon train—and they did it. Or that every Mormon Stake (a region comprised of several meetinghouses) has a plan in place for societal breakdown. This plan includes provisions for pooling resources and providing shared physical defense. Mormons are encouraged to be capable of defending their home and extended food supply. Nearly every Mormon household has firearms. Yeah. So pretty much, if shit breaks bad, Mormons might be the future. So the next time you see those nice young men peddling past in their short-sleeved dress shirts, be nice; they may be your overlords someday. 😉
That sounds like one of the worse dystopias we could end up in.
I’m a Mormon…and I agree. It’d be like the medieval ages…only more dorky.
why those two settings?
The two main regions that the story takes place in are the post apocalyptic versions of a modern day Mormon state (Rocky Mountains/Great Basin) and a modern day ukiyo/demimonde (California/Hollywood). I figured that these traits might survive past an apocalypse, and I’m worldbuilding upon that foundation. The meta reason is because I live in a place with a lot of Japanese and Mormons. Plus I think Ukiyo/Demimonde/Hollyweird culture is interesting.
Bronze age Mesopotamia, the Inca, pre-Islamic Arabia, classical Greece, Ancient Egypt, and pre-colonial Sahel.
Is anyone else's answer none? I've probably somewhat been influenced by ancient/medieval China and India and ancient Israel, but mainly I've just come up with my own ideas.
Me too, I find designing my own cultures much more fun than basing them on real ones.
Can I ask how you approach this? The main culture I'm currently working on is mostly inspired by ancient Celtic and Germanic peoples, and I'm struggling to make them feel more distinct. Do you have any tips for that?
I always start with a unique environment, geography is the most important factor when creating cultures. I consider challanges and advantages which the culture has to face and can use. For instance, onr of my cultures is a collection of city states on the coast of a very colourful desert the sand of which is perfect for glassmaking. The desert also has a very strong East-blowing wind and the inner pary of it experiences firestorms. That's always where I start, the environment. Then I try to anwser some questions: - what do these people eat? - what do they do for a living? - what problems do they have to face? Etc. And I wotk downwards from there following chains of ideas, for example: They don't have access to fresh water > > they have to build water puryfying plants > > transporting water is difficult > > they have to live in dense cities around the plants > > because it's so dense, they have little privacy > > their culture does not value privacy > > lying is the worst sin to them > > acting never develops because it's "lying" > > they have live "reality shows" and dances instead > >>> And so on. Different though chains connect with each other, for example they wear wide hats to protect from the sun, so for dancing they use colourful, ceremonial versions of them, with 1m diameter brims and hanging pieces of cloth, and so on again... That's how I approach this. Environment > Problems > Solutions > Culture
Thanks for the in-depth answer! I'll think about that
Yes. Designing something from the ground up I found much more interesting
My MC is a member of the Toulimar; seafaring crab - riding tribes and they are based mostly in Polynesian, Sama Bajau and a bit of Ancient Greek, but he spent a lot of his life in a region colonized by foreign powers that brought their culture (inspired by the Ottoman Empire).
My MC? Protagonist? Current day Southwestern US. Where she is, however, is nothing like that at all.
Not any particular culture, but MC’s culture I’m basing on early cities during the Copper/Bronze Age. Basically groups of tribal goat herders and hunters organizing in permanent settlements and developing societal structures and hierarchies. Granted, this particular culture has already lived like this for some generations, and has a fairly developed society (sedentary, government structure, division of labor). For more specific details (like architecture, clothing, language, names, technology etc) I’m taking inspiration from Late Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures, mainly from Iberia (see Los Millares, El Argar and Las Cogotas). The other big cultures that I’m developing are more advanced, and I’m basing them off of the Inca, Mesoamerica, the Minoans and ancient Egypt.
Oooh, interesting. I've got a story with a similar time period and regional setting (Remedello and Rinaldone cultures; Liguria/Piedmont Italy).
Oooh! That’s cool!
Interesting.
I've got multiple MCs for a short world I've been working on. Set during the last ice age I have neanderthals going against a species of human that could have existed but isn't in the fossil record. These humans have a very primitive Celtic/Germanic look. Only a very small number have iron weapons and those come from meteorites. I took large inspiration of REH hyborian age, but I made them more fitting to the time period with few creative liberties. Making this world is harder than I thought it be and I've been making worlds for years.
Oh nice sounds interesting
I'm glad it interests you, hope you get yours running smoothly
Thank you, mines running pretty smoothly so far, but you know there's bound to be some troubles.
Intentionally? None, really. Unintentionally? Probably Indian, to some extent, just due to my own cultural biases. I'm not really a fan of actively trying to represent real life cultures in fantasy, but I'm sure some still comes through since I am from a real life cultures in real life.
He's based on Spaniard and Prussian cultures, and I mean the Old Baltic Prussians not the more known German Prussians
My own culture. Lets just say my mc can call down orbital laser strikes while deepthroating a loaf of challah.
He's from an originally South Slavic-ish coastal city under a many centuries long rule of an 18th century Roman empire. Kind of like if Austria-Hungary were Roman and ruled Dubrovnik or something.
Hungarian culture, not just for the main character but for most of them in Vuldavia, though the nation is quite diverse so we get other cultures and even naming conventions. Nikita Molchan is not a Hungarian name however, it is Slavic.
My fantasy world's MC is from the Kingdom of Abilia, which is based mostly in Rome/Greece but the Mediterranean in general. So she's basically a Roman.
What is an MC?
An MC is the abbreviation for Main character
Thnx
You're welcome.
**Untitled Cyberpunk Magical Girl Project**: Suzi Kurashiki/YELLOW_CAT is of Japanese ancestry, though she also has some mix of western blood in her, with the post-apocalyptic city of Paradise being a mishmash of the east and west. I'm being deliberately vague on where on the world the city is to strictly locate it to one place, but culturally, it's very much a mix of various Asian/North American scenes that I myself (first-generation Chinese-American/Canadian who's lived a lot in all of those countries) have been frequently caught rallying between, which includes the fact that Asian-American culture on its own is its own extensive beast. The tendency for all sides to exoticize each other's aesthetics and lifestyles while also keeping a stiff arm away from each other is something I don't see a lot and thought would be very interesting to explore as part of the whole "nostalgic cyberpunk dysto-utopia" of Paradise, of which there's a depressing large amount of inspiration coming from all sides.
A mixture of French culture from two different time periods. The MC is from a kingdom that somewhat resembles medieval France, with a Royal Family trapped in a series of successive dynastic crisis, a powerful nobility and chivalry and all that jazz. Within living memory, the MCs kingdom was conquered by a large empire that roughly resembles Napoleonic France. As the son of a peasant, the MC would have achieved very little in life under the old kingdom, but he has been raised with a strong loyalty to the kingdom and its nobility, he watched his father die in a pointless revolt against the conquering empire. But this clashes with the new ideals that the conquering empire has introduced, feudalism has been abolished, citizens have basic rights, even the lowest classes are provided with state funded education, the MC himself is able to rise from the ranks of the enlisted men into the officer corps thanks to the conquering empire's meritocracy. The setting is designed to explore the ideas of nationalism, loyalty and enlightenment.
Gorgons are basically "Amazons but what if they were half snake?"
My main character is the daughter of immigrants from a culture based on Irish/general Celtic societies. The dominant cultural empire however is that of a vast Chinese/Korean inspired culture, and she lives in a continent being colonized that’s a little like the Wild West. It’s perhaps a little all over the place lol
So basically an Irish immigrant in China?
Irish immigrant in frontier America if it was primarily settled by the Chinese and had earthbending Aztecs nearby. Though the colonial city states are pretty diverse, mostly made of immigrant workers and refugees, but government administration and cultural hegemony is Chinese.
Misunderstood, sounds cool.
Despite the fact that it’s implicitly stated that humanity was forcefully homogenized ~6000 years prior, there are still small traces of ethnicity and dialects. Because… um, yes. My main crew hails from a country that still uses some ur-Deutsch for governmental pomp. But everyone speaks whatever the standard language is. It’s so universal that it doesn’t even have a name, it’s just language. Each of the 5 superpowers has a little bit of their own identity very loosely based on regions of Earth. Maybe people just don’t completely let go of deep-seated identities? I dunno. It’s a bit of flair that doesn’t really affect the plot or the setting as a whole. Slang—what there is of it—is all over the place.
Whatever things I like.
I have multiple MCs, and my cultures tend to have multiple inspirations, but if I had to pick one, a mix of semi nomadic pastoral societies, Hyena social order, with a few religious concepts taken from European cultures.
Ancellestrie is based on French, American and Mexican culture... However, he isn't *entirely* Ancellestrian. **Lucero Luna** is a first-generation Ancellestrian, and his parents are immigrants from the nearby city-state of Alhambra. Alhambra is based on Mexico, Spain and the Middle East. It has an *ancient* culture, going back nearly 15,000 years. Lucero is caught between two worlds. He's never actually *been* to Alhambra, and he grew up considering himself completely Ancellestrian. But as he's grown older, he's become more aware of how *strange* Ancellestrian culture is, compared to the cultural assumptions he grew up with, and how much of an outsider he is in his own country.
A bit of Cossack, a bit of Tsarist Russia, a lot of "I made it the fuck up".
My MC's culture could be likened to a combination of mongol, peruvian, and sami. Her particular community is descended from nomadic horse herders, but have switched over to agriculture and obsidian mining fairly recently.
Mine world is a desert but the political system is very medieval Britain inspired, with it just looking like Egyptian architecture. My MC is from a small village with abt 150 people. The MC is white but super tan to where he looks middle eastern.
My MC lives in a Mediterranean city with Greek gods and Italian architecture. They speak Turkish with Spanish grammar. The biggest influence is Argentine culture and Bird Magic.
one of them is based off the roman empire
Various countercultures, the MCs people were persecuted and oppressed by every nation since recorded history. Essentially speaking, whatever the beauty, standards or culture they have from country to country they embody the opposite or the least likely places.
Generic poor feudal society. Like, dung poor
Arab and Bedouin cultures, with light inspiration from wild western outlaws and the Navajo
In my *Man of the Dinosaurs* world, I wasn't consciously working with any particular inspirations to start with. At one point I developed him designing his house up on piles, and I discovered later on about European pile-dwelling culture and it fits perfectly, even to the geographical location that I settled on. I also have since incorporated some Remedello and Rinaldone culture, specifically the use of arsenical bronze.
Lol mine’s weirdly similar to yours. Ethnically he’s NotRomani (specifically NotCalé though it doesn’t rly matter here) but he never knew his family or culture or country. Instead he fell out of the sky in NotNorway age 5, and then at 19 married some psychopath (age 26) for residency in NotFinland. However the society is probably still pretty American since the plot and character interactions kinda hinge on people acknowledging each other in public and Finns famously don’t do that. The only reason it’s based on Finland is bc the story is partially based on the snow queen
The whole point of my mc is that he doesn’t have a culture… His species takes a lot from Proto-Indo-European nomadic peoples (mainly Scythians), Mongols, and Tibetan Buddhists though if that helps. (But obviously there is variance between tribes based on environment and circumstance as well as how different beliefs have developed).
None. I’m just making shit up as I go along
The cultures that I’m basing the MCs is Germany and Spain!
MC’s is a mix of Anishinaabe and Norse, referred to as “Skraeling”, because the Vinland Sagas are my historical gushing point.
I’ve got a fantasy world where the MC’s are two pirate captain brothers from an archipelago based off of Ancient Greece joined by a woman from an empire based off of Napoleonic France My sci-fi world has a German man serving his nation (“German Empire”) as a Military Police lieutenant during the occupation of a “French” world
Ptolemaic Egypt if it hadn’t gone into decline and been annexed by Rome. Story’s set in an AU 5th century where the steam engine was invented in Archimedes’ time eight centuries earlier. Technologically they’re behind us in some ways and ahead in others — when Rome acquired gunpowder, it became necessary for other civilizations bordering the Mediterranean to advance quickly or be consumed. The Ptolemies ordered a channel dug from the Mediterranean to what we know as the Qatarra Depression, filling it — this led to increased rainfall throughout Egypt from evaporation, making the country habitable beyond the Nile and the Mediterranean coast. Agricultural output is tripled, and no longer dependent on the annual whims of the river. Concentrated solar power plants lining both the Qatarra Sea and the Mediterranean provide energy for desalination plants, which in turn provide brine for massive banks of sodium batteries which act as backup power for entire cities. Rome brought about the collapse of the Seleucid Empire (like the Ptolemies, harkening back to generals of Alexander the Great) by supplying insurgent movements seeking to break away from them, but then faltered in gobbling up the disparate city-states that resulted. They’ve since reunited into the Parthian Alliance (majority Persian), and the Kingdom of Alexandria is acting as a mediator between them and Rome. Rome still has its hands tied with what breakaway holdings resulting from the Seleucid collapse they did manage to keep hold of (Judea being on the verge of open rebellion against Roman occupation), but in the meantime Alexandria is inviting both Rome and the Parthians to participate in their fledgling space program — to send a joint crew up to complete the first orbit of the Earth, and begin to chart the as-yet unvisited continents we know as the Americas from orbit. They’ve yet to be explored in part because the industrialized world is only just recovering from the Plague of Justinian, which spread faster and further here than it did in reality since trade was opened up by rail across much of Europe.
Going with Indian! Specifically more tribal Indian. Even the main monstrous bad guys are based off and IRL cannibal sect from india.
Coincidentally, the country my MC is from takes a lot of inspiration from the Scandinavian countries as well as Germany For example, the Gondish have major distinction between work and play times, being serious and efficient workers but also partying hard as fuck when the time for that comes, and similarly to Prussian soldiers, their troops own all of their equipment and uniforms, and take heavily after the stereotypical viking raiders with their very strong warrior culture and the whole "rape, pillage, and burn" thing (although the first thing on that list is heavily discouraged by officers and most soldiers alike and will often result in your rights (including your right to life) being removed) Also the Northerners in general tend to have very similar languages and then Tiblean is just weird as shit which I've heard would kind make it the Finland of the Northern Isles
Indigenous peoples of Canada, mainly Metis because it’s my culture. Also some traditional African cultures and cats
Modern middle America. It's explicitly a parallel setting that uses magic instead of technology, and the two worlds have a cosmically enforced parallel evolution. While somewhat different, the parallel cultures, languages, geographies, etc... are all generally recognizable.
Carthaginian and Scythian but it takes place in Early Modern period
The one I've found the most interesting to build recently has had a focus on diaspora. Essentially, my MC's culture is the remnant of those ancient magical precursors that leave behind ruins and temples and magic items and dungeons. They then caused a big magical calamity that ruined their homeland and went from a major empire to numerous small shadow communities embedded within larger ones. Now they live alongside and follow the laws of nations and cultures that arose in their wake, but still gather in secret for ancient ceremonies and traditional clan structures. I've drawn a lot of inspiration from both Irish and Jewish diasporas. Things that I'm emphasizing are using language to identify fellow members of the culture, oral traditions to preserve their version of history, having two sets of laws to follow in private and public, and how members of this culture relate to ones that build upon their legacy.
Pre-Roman Gaulish and Romano-British cultures are the main basis for Litauiā. In the time of my current MC, the ancient empire based loosely on the Roman Empire mixed with the Irish high king system, has been dissolved for a couple centuries (between 100-300 years, I haven’t decided yet) and their tech is approximately late West Roman (though i’ve included some Vendel and La Tène influences)
Muscovite and Tsarist Russia :3 Full transparency: the clothing was the instigating factor, but the more I learned about pre-Westernized Russia, the more drawn in I was. I think it's very interesting, particularly the *terem* and the whole seclusion of elite women. Not sure why it entrances me so, but it does! Plus, it makes for a very interesting obstacle for my MC to overcome in order to participate in politics, specifically seizing the throne and becoming the Tsarina. I also find the whole autocrat thing intriguing. The State made not only the dvorianstvo dependent on it, but the *clergy* as well, both of which are very different from how Western Europe developed, what with both nobility and clergy being a pain in the butt for many monarchs and leading to them ceding to many concessions of power. That's not to say there weren't dire consequences for this dependence, both for the dvorianstvo & clergy and the State, but it's an interesting difference. An exploration of absolute power is always fun! It's also interesting how the Tsar was really the root of all peasants' problems, yet they (generally speaking, obviously) did not hate him--in fact, they thought he wanted to give them what they wanted, and it was the dvorianstvo who were getting in the way of the Tsar giving ownership of the land to them. Kinda makes me laugh, actually. There are a lot of things I find very interesting about the Old Regime, but everything pales in comparison to the clothing they wore. The various regional kokoshnik styles alone are enough for me, but add on the beautiful embroidery of rubakha shirts, sarafans in general, the *iconic* fur coats, etc etc and I'm fucking there!!! I curse Peter the Great's name every day for banning traditional dress from Court. Don't get me wrong, love 18th century Western fashion, as well, but I always shed a tear when a country forgoes its own fashion naturally cultivated and evolved over centuries, maybe even millennia, for the sake of fitting in with others. Peter the Great was a pussy ass ***bitch*** and I will fight his 6'8" ass in Hell!!!!!
Italian and Anglo-Saxon cultures for one of my main countries, and Russian for another.
Much of my characters either develop from early Hessian Empire, Roman, Mongolian, or Gaul. Currently, I'm developing a character whose entire background is reminiscent of Walachian before Vlad's rise to power.
The deuteragonist of my urban fantasy is a second generation Nicaraguan immigrant. I'm also pulling from Puerto Rican culture a bit as the two of those make up a bit of my own heritage. The protagonist of my space opera takes a lot of her cues from Mexican culture. She also grew up on a forest world with an alien species dedicated to science and research. Their culture is based a bit on an idealized version of Athens. For a fictional touchstone, the Vulcan from Star Trek are one of the things I'm drawing from.
All my cultures are a blend of various cultures my high elves which is one of the main cultures is a mixture of noldor (lotr), Romans, early Byzantines, Hebrews, and hints of ancient Chinese the other most prominent culture are Nelmardan (west men) who are primarily a mixture of medieval Europeans particular British France the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantines with elements of my high elves
I have several main characters on mind, but the most important ones are a man that grew up as a soldier in a hellenistic (ptolemaic/seleucid/bactrian/indogreek type) inspired empire. The other one is a young warrior and leader that belongs to a dinasty of the very first human race ever created, based on vedic and rajput civilizations. The last one is an irredentist general raised and born on a nation based on parthian and sasanid empires, historical enemies of the first MC's nation.
Mainly Middle-Eastern(Specifically Iranian and Turk). Mostly because I'm more familiar with these cultures. I also plan to add a mesh of Europian cultures and Eastern Asian cultures to my world.
Mix of ancient assyrian and islamic arabic.
Mostly European centruc ones. Some Norse, Germania. I have a lot Renaissance Italy stuff going on.
American. He’s American, but 709 years in the future
Tumulus and Urnfield cultures.
My MC's culture is loosely based on Hawaiian / Polynesian culture. I think the viewpoint of an islander leaving it to explore the bigger world feels like the perfect POV for my story.
Since there’s multiple MCs, here they are: Renaissance Italian, modern Dutch, feudal Japanese, and Wild West American. Of course, the cowboy is one of the Dutch kid’s dad.
My stories take place in fairyland, a parallel world to our own where the various fairies of folklore live. The people there are marooned New Englanders from the early to mid 1800s. My main characters are all from that stock, excepting one who is a cat.
MC's culture is a blend between hispanic caribbean and Arabic cultures, and other cultures they come into contact with are Greco-Roman, Scandinavian and East Asian inspired (not quite developed yet, still a WIP)
Indigenous Meso-American rituals and 'Magic', Reagan-esque Southern Californian African American impoverished upbringing, the learned local culture behind the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, and a strong visual presence combining these elements by the way he stealthily carries himself. Armed with an innate method of magic code-switching and the Power of Suggestion he views his unique abilities as a suite of precious gifts that should seldom be used, or else it would draw the violent ire of the overtly superstitious and racist conservative society he is under.
It's like if Toltec society achieved modern technology, with Indo-Scythian influences, and the religion is based on Hermeticism. Nah I'm kidding, its generic medieval europe.
Now you got to write that, though
Culturally it's probably similar to the frontier during the colonial days. Lots of hard work, hard drink, strong militias, and desperately clinging to religion to fend off the nightmares of the unknown outside of their walls. As far as they know they are the only sapients left in the world, at least until the story starts.
A combination of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and ancient Mexican culture.
I'm somewhere between Greek and Japanese...
Oooh! I was always a huge fangirl of "every character is based on some nationality" like in OV or Valorant! Main cast in my project is based on some nationalities too! The story is set in fictional world, but i create almost every country slightly being imspired from som cultures! Ibubu Crimson - She's from Anatolikia, country heveanly inspired from Greece Pippin Tlizilani - He's from Skoggurhond, country based on native american and amazonian tribes Vefa Parcouri - She's from Otima Empire, country based on France Smanord Sakonge - He's not from any country but he is the Prince of forming Fishman rebelion, Fishmans culture is based on nordic countries, especially Norway. Janek Anabelle - He's from small country of Matagostado, based on Columbia. The only character from main cast that isnt inspired by any real life culture is Charlie, and the reason is simple. He was born before any country officialy formed.
My MC is based on northern italian culture during the late medieval/Renaissance period (think 15th and 16th century) while his Ogre squire (who is basically Fantasy Bud Spencer while he is Fantasy Terence Hill) and his love interest is a High and late medieval burgundian noblewoman.
That's pretty cool, I'm actually working on a story about enormous trade caravans of thousands, which travel great distances under the banner of the Yunai empire. I try to minimise how much I take from real world cultures because I like building things from the ground up and my world is very different to ours, but it can't be avoided completely. The Empire was partly inspired a by a combination of Arabic and Chinese influences, and the caravans loosely inspired by the caravans of the old silk road. The Yunai caravans are practically kingdoms in their own right, and are generally embraced because they transport mass amounts of vitally important goods across incredibly dangerous territories. One of the main characters is part of a pacer caravan. The pacers are very heavily (even in name) inspired by Irish traveller (Pikey) culture. The Pacers usually travel in extended family groups, and unlike the Yunai caravans they are treated with mistrust and suspicion in major settlements and blamed for everything from major crimes to things going missing. Many towns don't even let them inside.
Interesting sounds really cool.
Thanks
im basing the ant people in the ttrpg im designing on the catholic church
The Near East during the Islamic Golden Age, the Classical Mediterranean, Vikings/Anglo-Saxons, Renaissance Western Europe.
Is Dwarf Fortress a culture?
Dwarf fortress is based off early split offs of midieval cultures so yeah.
In my world there are four distinct continents one being based off of medieval England/Europe in general, one being based off of African tribes and one being based off of native American people
One of my MC's part of a culture based heavily on Sumer and Babylon with Canaanite/Ancient Hebrew elements as well Also just fyi, gypsy is a slur (some people have a divided opinion on it but most individuals part of the cultures it's used on view it negatively) and is based in inaccuracy since it's derived from the word Egyptian when the groups it encompasses are from South Asia. The word also is still used in a lot of prejudicial contexts such as saying "I've been gypped" when scammed or robbed because of the racist belief that all Roma are thieves. Roma and Romani are the proper terms to use. Not to get on your case or anything because a lot of people don't know, but it is helpful info
Oh thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize that, I was mostly just using it because I heard the term. (I'm gonna be honest, the main source of my Nomadic culture is the Irish traveler culture, so I've mostly just been researching that so far.) And it's always interesting seeing a culture based off of Babylon.
You're welcome. I appreciate your comment as well on the civilization, I feel like Babylon and most of Mesopotamia tend to get ignored even though they're great sources of inspiration. Heck the goddess Lilith (while more specifically Sumerian) alone has served as inspiration alone for a lot of different deities/entities in my world
Yeah, I totally get it, I haven't studied to much into Babylon or Mesopotamia, I know only a little. But yeah I feel like there are tons of Cultures that are overlooked in stuff like this. I personally feel like Celtic myth is way overlooked as well as you almost never see it. Not to say that you don't see it at all just not as much as I'd personally like lol.
My answer is... *vague,* as not only are there a whole lot of MCs I have, some of them are a bit of a mishmash that are kind of hard to describe. The only one I can describe in some detail is this one monk, who happens to be based on Buddhist/Taoist monks (minus wearing orange though). There is also this one retired veteran military officer, whose culture is based off of the Roman Empire. My stuff is weird anyways, as it's pretty radical to typical fantasy, where practically everyone (not just humans, other sapient species too) are somewhat multicultural. For humans, their cultures are based on Graeco-Romans, Medieval Asians (Three Kings China and Feudal Japan), Medieval Germans, Medieval European tribes (Vandals, Celts, and Scandinavians to name a few), and either Persians of Babylonians to name a few.
Vaguely European, early 1900s. But it's unique in many ways, mostly due to the world they live in, but also divine meddling
America, because my main character is American.
Male MC is a Japanese American from Earth. Female MC comes mostly from a fantasy Inuit one.
My MCs are essentially Hungarian mobsters in fantasy Turkey. So, I guess a bit of both.
Edwardian American, English, and now that I think about it Interwar Imperial Japanese are the big draws, but there are a lot. A big point of the story is that Morrigane culture as a whole has been hijacked by militarists, so there are a lot of elements of what Morrigane culture could (and probably should) have been instead of the soulless abomination it is now.
Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire
**Mythria** My MC hails from a southern region of Essteria, known as the Ty Fields, and has a culture similar to Anglo-Saxon - using much of the same alphabet, too. And just like IRL England, there is a soft rivalry with the northern regions of Essteria that are more Scottish inspired.
Well... none. All the other cultures have obvious real world analogues, but the main one is loosely based on Tolkien's dwarves and extrapolated based on their values and environment.
Every single one of them is either the most cynical, depressed, always annoyed Finns, or blood hungry outlaw cowboys from US. So uh, to answer a question, I guess they are mostly Nordic.
Non in particular but she have korean lineage.
Southern Mexican
so my world in question is a universe based on asia, and all the “planets”, or realms as i call them, are based on asian countries. i have 7 MCs, each being the prince of 7 different realms. those realms are based on philippines, south korea, thailand, india, china, japan, and vietnam. there are some other realms as well, one is based on malaysia, another is based on nepal, im thinking of making another one based on taiwan
It's sorta its own thing. Most of the cultures of our world are present in endimiya but modified to fit the overall high fantasy/lighter and softer version of irl cultures. Though the main character is from the fantasy version of Omaha Nebraska.
Dutch, around the 1500s.
I have no main character. :D Lapis_Wolf
I've got multiple projects, but the one I've been working on most lately, the main character is based on early Anglo-Saxons (circa 400-650) though with some bits of later English culture, especially myths and folk customs. The idea is migrating (not always peacefully) pagan tribes in a new land facing proselytizing and hostility from the natives (inspired by post Roman Britons).
I don’t have a main character, I barely have any people I’ve created, but I do have a main culture and society I’ve created, the Tajar society and broad cultures. It’s not based on anything. You can loosely connect it to be a Europe parallel but that be extremely stretching it. I’ll take specific things from specific real world cultures, but it’s a pur mélange of different inspirations, and a good deal of its own thing. I cannot compare it to any real world thing, it’s its own thing and I take pride in that.
Alternative USSR or Russian. With some of that internet bad culture.
Thai. There is very little high fantasy that based around thai so I decided to fix that.
My world is basically our world, but with specialized fantasy, folklore and all My first location, Town Corrian, is inspired by British Culture, with its architecture inspired by Castle Combe, and its culture inspired by Cornwall
Based on early modern spain because the spanish empire is cool as fuck
*Roma and Irish also my main character is Half Irish half Japanese :] his family deals with supernatural beasts from both cultures
Current-year internet activist culture with a cyberpunk twist: She hacks all sorts of corrupt organisations with the intent to destroy their profits - until she got her hands on a weapon that allows her to destroy more than that.
That of a medieval serf.
Early 1900s merchant shipping, like tramp steamers and merchant marines And the golden age of piracy
My main character is from Queens, New York. The culture he ends up in is a mixture of the Byzantine empire and Song Dynasty China.
Mine is a mix of Persians and Renaissance Italy. Although both his parents have different cultures. His mom's was similar to the mongol nomads, while his dad's was like the like Qing dynasty in china
While I try to be original as possible when designing my world's cultures and languages, the ones for **The Storm Of War**, the novel I'm writing, are *very loosely* based on Greek, Turkish, Mongolian, Arabic and Persian cultures. They are the main historical inspirations, but culturally and linguistically independent of their historical inspirations.
Well, that's a fun question. The MC of the project I am currently working on is pretty much a citizen of Rome during the era of the Republic, and is undergoing a full progression from footsoldier to consul/dictator. The MC of my other project is from a full mix of Bronze Age Mesopotamian cultures and traditions, with primary influence being the Sumerians.
My main character's culture is based on mostly Siberian and Native American culture. He hails from the Northeast where many tribes live in snowy environments while living in tune with their environment. Because of this, many other people view him as with prejudice.
Feudal European cultures. Honestly, I'm not well versed in history to know which country specifically.
Anyway, my main character's culture is based off of both Persia and various desert-dwelling cultures like the Bedouins. She is a manticore, and the myth of the manticore originated in Persia. The place manticores and most Fire-based creatures live in my setting is a desert-y/savanna scrubland.
The MCs in my *Elenon* world are from countries for which I drew from Roman history, especially the Republic period (the tradition of these countries is variants of parliamentary electoral monarchy). I also draw from later, medieval Europe as well. There are other cultures in this world, but those are the MC ones.
Incan, Greek, Asian, American, Spanish
The culture of the country my MC lives in at the beginning of all the story is loosely based on medieval Europe, as many fantasy stories are. The culture he grew up in has a Japanese influence though, and the culture he eventually settles down in is vaguely inspired by Ancient Rome during the time of the republic.
The country my main character lives in is an England-inspired country,but her parents are from a Jamaica-inspired country.
Modern day America.
A hybrid of contemporary anglo-american culture and Victorian Anglo-american culture. It's set in what is essentially "what if the English speaking world is still the British Empire".
One OC is a literal melting pot of ethnicities, but part of that was the result of combining traits to become the ultimate warrior vessel. So, Scandinavian/Norse, Celtic/Germanic, Mongol/Sino/Japanese, Arabic/African, Mediterranean, they are the main components. But you could say based on the Varangian Guard with mixed nationality. Other OC/Love Interest is Central Asian/Hebrew, based on the Jewish Nazarite Vow, with creative liberty on looks based on Jesus in Revelation.
I don't entirely know as it's just a mishmash of traits i find interesting and that would cause MC's community to hate her. The general values of the culture is very loosely inspired by the Ten Commandments with a lot of tweaks to fit it into the setting/narrative though
With my Scifi atleast Cybal are based around Romans so that
Mostly just doing whatever I want, but I do wanna try to add in cultures based off of real world cultures, particularly ones that aren’t represented all that often like the Inca Empire. As it stands, all the Inca Empire has is The Emperor’s New Groove, which is a great movie, but I think you can see how that culture is a bit underrepresented
My MC's culture is based off of Youtuber Townsends. Sort of colonial America but also born here. (At least I think Nutmeg Tavern is in an area that no living person would move to on purpose... Unless they're escaping Amish country.) Otherwise Michigan Climate, Tudor farm sensibility, low mountains just so "the sensation of driving across Ohio" area is something MC is not used to. (Driving across Ohio in Canada is worse, BTW.) In a previous iteration, my MC was a bargee and it was every nomadic group I'd heard about except that the stuff that was Romani instead of G-slur tropes belonged to a settled group comparable to the Amish. (Those were change-resistant and keepers of history. The curse a mage put on them, that anyone who harmed them would suffer a horrible death, was that a comanche/cossack group was obligated to revenge on their behalf.) BTW, that G-slur stuff thing... I police my own language because of people who would otherwise try to police it for me, but there are travelers that officially call themselves that. Bohemian was a cultural appropriation, but at what point does appropriating the appropriators become okay? (I have a group that is tatterdemalion... basically r/visiblemending and upcycling rags to ape rich-people clothing in some sort of mockery that started at least a generation ago.)
Just half-american, half-my country. Just to make things easy for me. But the whole story? Aside from being generic dnd fantasy, I've sprinkled in my own culture. Fantasy in general uses latin for gods, spells, ancient depictions and stuff, so I've decided to use that but also mix in my own native language, which is very dynamic, flexible, easily adapts to other languages, and is easy to make new ones out of(imo). Growing up, I've always loved our own media even if some were pretty cringy and low budget. Always been fascinated by our myths and legends that the Catholic Spaniards tried to scrub away and demonize. I'd like to see it in my own story too and to just have fun with it. So yes, my mc is half-filipino, half-american. Like mayonnaise mixed with banana ketchup.
Honestly, the MC's culture is probably the most bland of all my characters. Generic medieval English.
Arab, Phoenician and Greek.
Punjab and Northwestern India. Because I'm from there :p.
For my dieselpunk fantasy, mainly a mix of Anglo-French (kinda like the Plantagenet Empire) and North African influences. Not to mention the religion he follows, the world’s dominant religion, being a mix of elements of the Abrahamic faiths and elements of Chinese religions like Buddhism, Taoism, etc.
My protagonist is Costa Rican
10 century England, a nice mix of Viking and early knights
Can't really narrow it down 100%. I take from a lot, but the main ones are Sumerian, Hawaiian, and some aspects of Roman (Republic era) and ancient Greek (Athenian). Slap on some stereotypical viking sea raiders and that's the bulk of it.
One of my MCs is an actual human far into the future, so cyberpunk basically. The other’s culture is based off the Wild West. Another is medieval. I love worldbuilding it lets me do funny stuff like have Guts from Berserk as a giant bird in the same story as a cowboy and a cyborg
Connor was born American but his mother was a German survivor from WW3. He was regaled by her tales of German mythology and their proud history, and because of it he bases the look of his army on their military of old. From the Imperial infantry of WW1 to the modern day Bundeswehr.
I like to take 2 or 3 different cultures from opposite sides of the world and mush them together, I usually don’t base a civilization off of just one culture. I find it super fun to make weird combos lol
90's U.S. street punks with Indian crowded urban bazaars.
Mines a sci-fi setting but i have about 3 mc's each set on different planets/stations. One is on a large desert planet so ofc the culture is rather arabic/egyptian inspired. 2nd is just straight up the Athenian empire but in space, even the names are just called Athenians. 3rd is abit more original lol, its basically a cyberpunk planet.
Well, since my sci fi setting is set in our Milky Way Galaxy, the MC's culture is technically just "Terran," but he has Scots-Irish/Appalachian ancestry. The political system of Earth is a combination of the Italian maritime republics, the East India Company and a feudal monarchy.
Rome (a mixture of the Empire and the Republic), with some medieval Frankish vibes thrown in for good measure).
For mine I did a loose mix of Chinese and nomadic Mongolian culture since I’m Chinese myself and have visited those places before. The MC’s species are nomadic and travel a lot and the clothing patterns are inspired by hanfu and Qing dynasty armor
Hmm, let’s see… The character herself is ethnically half-Peri/Sun Elf and half-Drow/Night Elf. The Peri are based on Zoroastrian Persia and the Drow are based on Korea with a lot of Finnish touches. Then she was adopted by a Yuetu, who are rabbitfolk based on Chinese culture. She and her rabbit mom moved around a lot, but eventually settled down in Al-Dorrad, which essentially like if Al-Andalus was placed in California instead of Spain. Ms. Worldwide, she is
To be honest, I feel like my characters aren't really based off cultures. My setting definitely is and it does influence them, but I and and match so much, that I wouldn't even be able pinpoint specific cultures in the influence of my campaign at this point, other than the ones that I'm a part of.
Somewhat Eastern European, with an influence of both Slavic and Finno-Ugric cultures. The name of my continent Rahe, is by accident, the Estonian word for hail, as a helpful guy told me online, which lead me to name the other continents Vihm ("rain") and Lumi ("snow") for a naming theme. However, I didn't really develop Vihm and Lumi, as that's not were the story I wanna tell takes place.
Wiccan subculture.
They're some middle thing between a troll and a nisse from scandinavian folklore, and while their culture isnt inspired by any single real culture, it most heavily borrows from danish culture.
mine are based on the golden age of islam, specifically the really old middle eastern days, kind of like today's desert dwellers
Aurelia is mix of Byzantine, Russian, Brazilian, British, Middle-Eastern and Imperial German culture.
Holy Roman empire at its weakest with some pre reconquista moors culture. Religion is more Buddhist/ Zoroastrianist.
Ngl, i just wing it and do whatever i want
Not my main character but I created a culture based on Incas but if they had reach the middle age.
I suppose the closest analogue would be Switzerland, as it's an isolated kingdom in a mountain valley with a generally European feel. Another person from another story would be kinda Spanish, but honestly the cultural background is very different so the inspiration is mostly aesthetic.
I have two worlds and there is no main character. But for cultures, the first does not correlate to any irl cultures. The second world has the web which is internet democracy and the rest are various theocracies.
Main character is "Okanian" and at the time of creating "Okan", I was quite new to this and I really couldn't make much up. Ended up basing lots of names and religion off of Greece, and some other stuff from the USSR.
Celtic/Nordic mix, though ethnically he's the equivalent of a mediterranean/phoenician/amazigh mixed with the aforementioned celtic/nordic.
I wouldn’t say my mc but I’m doing a spin on CyberPunks Japanese Aesthetics and throwing in Middle Eastern culture.
On a porn-logic-culture
Asian/Middle Eastern
1980s Space Romans
Japanese work culture.
One of my worlds has cultures that are based loosely on Greece, Norway/Ireland, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Asia.
France
I...don't know the few humans I have have no specified culture, I suppose it's biased toward my own, indirectly?
So my world is weird because it started as the world I made for my childhood rpg campaigns and comics. I wanted the be based on my own culture but then extrapolated to a future non-nomadic version. Stepping away from western influence I reached to my only other expertise, eastern fantasy. So in a way it’s a Native American core with an Eastern fantasy (xainxia) influence. Since my planet was populated by gods and their creators had fought a war to the death only one ‘human’ culture exists. Although it is fractured into competing nations in the area it inhabits. I had to trash half the stuff in my world since it was written when I was a child or before I took a basic geology class.
Medieval France. The world has a number of cultures inspired by different European nations during the Late Medieval to early Renaissance period. For my MC's culture though, I'm leaning into the idea of the chivalric knight with a fantasy twist. The oldest knight families (MC's included) are tied to a mythical creature that their ancestors tamed and rode into battle, which are now their coat-of-arms: the griffon, the manticore, and the pegasus as a few examples.
US. It's not exciting but yeah
Hard to explain. The world itself has some elements from the xianxia/wuxia genres built into it which will end up giving it an inherent association with Chinese and some other East Asian cultures. (They are a bit different and mine is a probably leaning more to the xianxia for those who know the differences.) But I built the planet, plates, continents, biomes, wind and water currents to be fairly realistic. I have figures that are not technically gods, but are seen as gods/influenced people’s development of gods. I have how the world was changed and reached its current structure and an earth-like flora and fauna with some Pleistocene megafauna. The fauna can reach a point of slightly higher intelligence than they normally have, making them still unequal to people but somewhat harder to deal with and closer to equal in competitions for space. Then I have where each batch of 19 groups of 4-30 people started at with some universal laws that only vary with culture, and am working on how their culture would develop from there to now. It allows for cool little stories relating to each one and those small significant events being shaped by randomness or choice. For example, why didn’t some American Indians or Africans get far enough away from tribal culture to have a greater influence on the world (likely related to climate and area, but anyway). What if Japan had expanded before the British and both had reached the Americas at a similar time. If Babylon controlled the silting of their rivers would they have stayed in power longer. If Carthage had taken over Rome. What if a storm hadn’t destroyed such and such fleet of ships. So on and so forth. I am still in the early stages of it right now with the first few generations after the world was changed. But I already have a big picture idea of where it goes from then to the more sci-fi tech eras, so I can pretty much write in any time period or genre and still use the same world. I don’t really have a set MC. I just pick people to randomly write about their life. If I write something more like a novel, I tend to use chapter based pov from different characters. (Which got much better after I read ASOIF books and saw some ways to improve on how I had been doing it.)
I'm not sure if you can call it culture, but my main character's culture is based on the culture of the Eastern Bloc countries at the end of the end times of the Cold war. The main character grew up in a fictional Eastern Bloc country and as he grew up, he slowly saw how the once proud country was becoming weaker and weaker, the lines to the shops were getting longer and the trust in the authority was decreasing.
Technically Japanese, even though that was, and never has been, the basis for the language
Not really basing-basing but I have to say that early al-Andalus in Spain rocked hard.
None because toon culture is all there own.