East Indies
Generally portrayed as that little chain of islands between the Far East and the Land Down Under, Indonesia is a little chain of islands that works as a more exotic version of India because little is known about it. Want a story with modern day cannibals? Set it in Indonesia. Sea monsters, Modern day pirates, and more can all be found in this tropical island chain. One thing is for certain -- the area is lousy with tigers and treasure. Oh, and Komodo dragons.
With its incredible natural beauty and crushing social problems, Southern Asia offers a unique mix of paradise and hell.
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Expect half of the local wildlife to inexplicably be African or South American in origin, and to encounter cannibals and cargo cults.
Compare Holiday in Cambodia, which is a little further north.
Examples:
Film
- Anacondas: Hunt For the Blood Orchid, which apparently missed the fact that anacondas live in South America.
- They were probably supposed to be reticulated pythons.
- Skull Island in King Kong.
Literature
- The Swiss Family Robinson is the ur-example of this.
- The original Dream Park book's role playing game subplot is set in this version of the East Indies.
- Several of Willard Price's Adventure novels are set in this area.
Video Games
- The Panau archipelago in Just Cause 2 is generally an amalgamation of the East Indies and other Southeast Asian countries, deserts and snow-capped mountains notwithstanding.