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In [[Real Life]], [[Useful Notes/Australia|Australia]] is a vibrant, diverse and multicultural young country. Most of the population is concentrated in several large urban areas on the coast with a sparsely populated interior. [[Hollywood Atlas|In Hollywood]], Australia is a primitive barren wasteland consisting ''entirely'' of Outback desert, [[Australian Aborigines|aborigines]], dingoes, crocodiles, kangaroos and some other marsupials, and occasionally a couple of rural people who run around wielding bowie knives and boomerangs. People talk with a grating accent, apparently a blend of Cockney English, New Zealander and vaguely British extraction called "Ostrayan" or more concisely "Strine".
Australia's indigenous wildlife ''is'' unique (one of the handful of megadiverse lands in the world), being dominated by marsupials rather than placental mammals. The dangers of the native animals has been noted by many - US President [[Barack Obama]] [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/obama-visits-canberra-school/3677326 brought it up when he visited Australia]. In [[Real Life]], most of these creatures only live in remote areas. In Hollywood, [[Everything Trying to Kill You]], although [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|any sufficiently ''cute'' animal, no matter how wild, is inexplicably safe]]. This habit of making Australia a [[Death World]] often results in Australians being considered [[Awesome Aussie|ludicrously tough]] - though there's some [[Truth in Television|truth]] [[Aussies With Artillery|to that]]. Australia is the home of [[Everything's Better
For those fortunate enough to avoid being eaten by the aforementioned crocodiles, life is one long beach party and all meals consist of ''shrimp on the barbie'' (actually called 'Prawns') and Vegemite sandwiches (pronounced "veeeeejeemoit"). If these stereotypes are absent, the setting is likely [[Sydney]], Australia's most populous metropolis and bustling economic centre. It's the home of the famous Sydney Opera House, [[Eiffel Tower Effect|which all hotels naturally look onto]]. Australia's capital is actually Canberra, built between Sydney and the other major capital, Melbourne, as a concession to neither city being named the actual capital.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* Balon ([[Spell My Name
** Jim Crocodile Cook in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (
* Epsilon, a character from Naoki Urasawa and [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s collaboration manga project ''[[
* Occurred in ''[[
* Australia is personified in the series ''[[
** The [[Little Miss Snarker|Principality of Wy]] give us this line when she realizes she's in Hutt River's house:
{{quote| '''Wy:''' ...Hm? A Rolls-Royce? Incredible clean and organized facilities? A bilby? We're in Australia!}}
* Chu in the English dub of ''[[
* In ''[[
** Of course, at one point when Schneizel decides {{spoiler|that destroying lots of cities is a great way to achieve world peace, Sydney is among them.}} So something is there at least...
* ''[[
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== Comicbooks ==
* For a period in the late [[The Eighties|'80s]] the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] went further underground than usual and operated out of a hidden base in the outback (requisitioned from a band of cyborg Road Warrior rejects) with the aid of a mysterious [[Magical Native American]] <s>Native American</s> <s>Australian Aborigine</s> Indigenous Australian teleporter. This was one of the few places where they mixed up both Sydney and the outback. (Odd, considering [[Chris Claremont]] has been to Sydney.)
* When [[Young Justice (
* One place the mining industry ''did'' get some time in the spotlight was in Dreamwave's ''[[
* An early villain of ''[[Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (Comic Book)|Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew]]'' was "Kongarilla", a kangaroo turned into a giant by a secret organization. Kongaroo hailed from "Aukstralia" (Earth-C's version of Australia).
* There was an issue of the ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' comic supposedly set in Australia, but which actually appeared to be taking place in the Wild West as everyone walked around with a pistol on their hip and there appeared to be no organised law enforcement of any kind.
* The story in which [[Spirou and Fantasio]] go to Australia is actually centered around the opal-mining industry.
* The goal of the main character Yorick throughout most of ''[[Y:
== Commercials ==
* Commercials for Foster's beer spread the ''shrimp on the barbie'' image, though ironically Foster's (supposedly "Australian for beer") is quite possibly the most unpopular beer in Australia... and, of course, the fact that in Australia, "shrimp" are pretty much always known as "prawns".
** [[District 9
** Nowadays, Fosters is pretty much an American beer with an iconic Australian name.
** Foster's is Australian for "Foreigner's Excuse For Aussie Piss"; its very rare to find in six-pack form in the various liquor sellers, let alone being served in an Aussie pub. If an Australian is asking for Foster's, they're not homesick, they're just trying to determine if they're in another country.
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** Hell, it's done ''in the movie''. The titular Mr. Dundee plays up his wildman-living-off-the-land bit to further impress the tourists.
** Mick even does it to his best friend (by pretending to not know what day of the week it is), leading to the memorable line "Doesn't know, doesn't care. Lucky bastard!"
* ''[[The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
* Averted in ''[[The Proposition]]'', a western that characterizes 1880's Australia as a god-forsaken hell-hole. Since most of the inhabitants are immigrants or first generation, very few have anything approaching an Australian accent.
* ''[[Godzilla
* ''[[
* The [[Nicole Kidman]]/[[Hugh Jackman]] snorefest ''[[Australia]]''. Sorry about that.
* ''[[The Man
* ''Chasing the Sun'' involves a car race through the outback. In one scene, the protagonists are driving from Darwin to Alice Springs, and look out the window and see Ayers Rock to their left. The most glaring error, of course, is that Uluru is actually SOUTH of Alice Springs... but that's just the most glaring error. There are a good ten others.
* ''[[Point Break]]'' concludes on Bells Beach, Torquay - [[California Doubling|actually filmed in Oregon]]. The real Bells Beach is a good 2km from the nearest tree - and it's a eucalpyt, not a pine.
* ''Van Diemen's Land'' relates the largely true story of a convict who escaped from Macquarie Harbour (a prison on the edge of seriously inhospitable wilderness) with a number of companions, and survived his walk to more civilised parts by eating them.
* ''A Cry In The Dark'' A.K.A. ''Evil Angels'' is based on the true story of the Chamberlin family - who's daughter Azaria was taken from their tent by a dingo whilst camping at Ayers Rock. This film featured [[Meryl Streep]]'s most awful attempt at an Aussie accent (think [[Mary Poppins|Bert]]) and the infamous line 'a dingo ate my baby!'
* The franchise ''[[
* The events of ''[[
* ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' also focuses on deranged pet food factory workers. Giant Kangaroo god also makes an appearance.
* ''[[Quigley Down Under]]'' is set in Western Australia in the late 19th century.
* ''[[The Princess Bride (
== Literature ==
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld
** Upon asking a magical library for a list of dangerous animals in Fourecks, [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] gets swamped by a tidal wave of books. Then he decides to ask for a list of ''safe'' animals, and a single sheet of paper reading "some of the sheep" flutters down. It is noteworthy that there are no deadly snakes in XXXX. This is because the spiders killed them all.
** It also includes one of the most accurate descriptions of the danger presented by a kangaroo: "I could disembowel you with a kick."
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** Rincewind has no real trouble surviving in this environment, mostly because he assumes that anything he doesn't know about in great detail is likely to be lethally dangerous, often in ways nobody would expect, which is basically true in XXXX.
* The "Swampland Trilogy" of "Swampland," "Tankworld," and "Endsville," by S.R. Martin. It's all set in Australia, and starts with a really bad flood season. Gets a bit creepy with fish girls and creatures who have been fused with bikes. Definitely one for more the "Everworld" crowd than "Animorphs." [http://teens.arapahoelibraries.org/go2.cfm?pid=11250 Here's a link to the first one's cover.] If you find it interesting, which it is actually really good, search for it and the other two.
* ''[[America
** The above-mentioned Discworld novel ''The Last Continent'' proposes that the perspective-altering beer is the ''cause'' of the Vegemite. Also, time travel.
* ''[[
== Live-Action TV ==
* British [[Work Com]] ''[[Supernova]]'' is set in the outback. This makes sense, though, because the setting is an observatory which would benefit from being in the outback what with the lack of light pollution.
* ''[[
** The problem was mainly in the show's first season. They began to improve in the later seasons, casting authentic Australian actors for minor roles (such as the undertaker in "?"). However, in season 4, they cast a British actress as Claire's mother, who has arguably the worst Australian accent on the show.
*** Ironically, the minor characters "Captain Gault" and "Hendricks" are played by authentic Australians even though there is no reason for their characters to be Australian. Also, Charles Widmore, a supposedly British character, is played by Alan Dale, a New Zealander.
* In an episode of ''[[Minder]]'', Arthur Daley somehow manages to find himself in the middle of inhospitable outback and in real danger of dying of thirst a few hours drive outside of Sydney. Never mind that anywhere he could have driven to in that time would be urban sprawl, rolling farmland or on the coast.
* ''[[
** It generally portrays Australians as [[Jerkass|inherently unpleasant and mean-spirited towards New Zealanders]] (even the Australian ambassador makes a crack about a sheep being Miss New Zealand). The one seeming exception is an Australian woman who Jemaine had a drunken tryst with who, despite being rather grungy and unusually proud of her heritage as the descendant of a prostitute and a convicted rapist, seems rather pleasant. {{spoiler|Until she and her roommates steal all of Bret and Jemaine's stuff}}.
** This is reasonably grounded in reality as most Australians see New Zealanders as their slightly poofy younger siblings and taunt them mercilessly (despite the fact that they're actually rather fond of them.)
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'''Jamie''': Umm yeah it is.<br />
'''Brett''': Oh, yeah it is. Run away. }}
* ''[[
* The best moment occurs in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
** Which is kinda like saying "I want to flee to Newfoundland, or far north Scotland."
** While on the subject of Star Trek, it appears that the Vulcan embassy to Earth is in Canberra. Vulcans and Australians living in close quarters could be... interesting.
*** Particularly as the depictions of Vulcan basically maker it look like depictions of Australia on steroids: Desert where everything is poisonous and actively trying to kill and eat you (including a significant portion of what plant life there is), but this is a whole PLANET of it. And ALL of the people are experts at living in the wilderness, or they don't live to see their ninth birthday.
* Sally uses Australia as an analogy for her relationship to Steve on ''[[
* The "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_p0CgPeyA Three Bruces]" sketch from ''[[
* Then of course we have Daniel Osbourne in [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]], or Oz. The name of the band he's in? ''Dingoes Ate My Baby,'' after the Azaria Chamberlain case.
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== Music ==
* The song "[[wikipedia:Down Under chr(28)songchr(29)|Down Under]]" by Men At Work, obviously. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew Look for the koala plushie]. Surprisingly they made it to [[Stealth Parody|complain about the]] [[Flanderization]] of Australian culture. [[Misaimed Fandom|That buggered up pretty quickly]].
* "We'll surf like they do in the U.S.A.|We'll fly down to Sydney for our holiday|On sunny Christmas Day|Australia, Australia" - [[
* [[
* Ben Folds is a known Australia-phile, having lived in Adelaide for several years and dated mostly Australian women. He even wrote a song about it, 'Adelaide', making sure his listeners all know that 'the beer is better in Adelaide'.
* John Williamson, singer and songwriter.
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== Videogames ==
* In ''[[
** High Stakes on the other hand allows people to live out their ''[[Blue Heelers]]'' fantasies by putting you behind the wheel of a Victoria police Holden patrol car.
* ''[[
* Marine the Raccoon from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]] [[Sonic Rush Series
** [[Word of God]] states that Sonic himself is an Australian.
** Not to mention Knuckles is an echidna, an Australian monotreme.
** And the Coconut Crew, also from ''[[
* ''[[Ty the Tasmanian Tiger]]'', a [[Platform Game|platformer]] series, is set in a fictionalized, [[Funny Animal]] version of Australia. However, having been developed by actual Aussies, it manages to pull off an Australia that's not all outback and sheep. There's rainforests, [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink|obscure examples of Aussie lore,]] and relatively few musical tracks that abuse the didgeridoo. Did we mention the fact that all the [[Funny Animal]] koala people have [[Shown Their Work|two thumbs?]]
* The Sniper from ''[[
** Look down below - the truck is, if anything, insufficient protection from a pissed-off roo.
** The sniper also references Crocodile Dundee in one of his lines about knives.
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** According to the same comic, all Australians (including women) are relatively dumb, muscular, constantly fighting, and always wear mustaches. The Sniper, on the other hand, is not. Nor are his parents, judging from one photo.
*** All of the above is explained away by the fact that designer-in-chief Robin Walker is Australian, and given the Aussie's love of stereotype based wind-ups, Walker has pulled a fast one on millions of gamers for at least 3 years now.
* Thus far, Australia has but two entries into the highly [[Hollywood Atlas|Hollywoood-Atlasized]] (well, usually Tokyo-Atlasised) [[Fighting Game]] genre: Jeffry from ''[[
** There's also the tormented [[Cosmic Plaything]] Zappa, of ''[[
** Also Craig Marduk of ''[[
** The ''[[
** Kano from ''[[Mortal Kombat]]''? Granted, he was originally [[Race Lift|American-Japanese]], but the design team decided to retcon him into being an Australian. This was due to [[Mortal Kombat (
** The famous [[Street Fighter|Ryu vs Sagat]] fight was depicted in the animated movie in a grassy field during a thunderstorm. The Alpha games have this in Australia.
* ''[[
** Not quite. Dingo is outright stated to be from the series' [[Eagle Land]]. It's just that he has the name of an Australian-indigenous animal [[Did Not Do the Research|for some reason]].
* The ''[[Grand Theft Auto (
* One of the minor factions in ''[[
** As a Tasmanian myself, this isn't necessarily too far removed from the truth...
* The English voices of the two characters from Gran Pulse in ''[[
* In the ''[[Halo (
** Probably to do with the fact that even if they conquered it they have to travel halfway across the continent to get to the nearest major city, and if we wanted to defend Sydney they have no idea how to fight in terrain that can go from ocean to city to desert to farmland in less than 50km's.
*** Agreed, Have you ever been to adelaide?Less than one kilometre off the beac can be desert, then some large hills, then farmland, It's absolutely mental.
** And let's not forget Private Chips Dubbo.
* In ''[[
* Miranda Lawson in ''[[
** Urnot Wreave wants Australia for helping the humans. ''He wants to live in a place more terrifying than his own [[Death World]].''
* ''[[Escape
* The newer [[Resident Evil]] games has the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XA1yOCxDyGs#t=74s Black Tiger,] a giant Australian funnelweb. In real life they are that hard to kill and even deadlier, yes the T Virus makes it go through [[Badass Decay]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* According to ''[[
* During the recent Order of the Dragon arc in ''[[Fans]]'', Keith Feddyg took Australia when the Order caused worldwide chaos and rioting by literally destroying the concept of writing. As he observed, "You know how feral most of that continent is? The exotic killer wildlife will have destroyed human civilization by dinnertime. All I have to do is go back, find the leader of the survivors and melt his bowie knife." This gave him time to stab another Order member in the back and seek revenge against Ally.
* A [[Funny Background Event]] [http://www.agirlandherfed.com/1.512.html here] in ''[[
{{quote| SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Almost everything in Australia is made of poison, and if you find something that is not poisonous, watch out for the claws and the teeth.}}
* [[
== Web Originals ==
* If one admits to being Australian on [[Image Boards|/tg/]], the first question asked is almost inevitably something along the lines of "How do you find the time to play ''[[Dungeons and Dragons
* There are multiple characters in the ''[[
* [[Cracked
* Ben Powell, Brendan Wallace, and Jason Harris from ''[[
* In <s>one</s> most of his video reviews, [[Zero Punctuation
* ''[[
** More specifically, Space Brisbane. Go Space Broncos!
== Western Animation ==
* [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney's]] ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|Rescuers Down Under]]'' is set in Australia and revels in stereotypes, though its Dundee analog is the villain.
* An episode of ''[[
* When the heroes of ''[[
** Well, he ''was'' doing work on the Prime Minister in one scene...
* ''[[The Simpsons (
** You know [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Dwarves]]... wonderful senses of humor.
{{quote| '''Aussie father''': Oi, Mr. Prime Minister.... ANDY!!!!<br />
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** In the episode "Lost Verizon" Bart prank calls a Tin-shack bar, ''on the edge of Sydney Harbour''.
* Parodied on ''[[Clone High]]'', when Gandhi runs into Daniel Feldspar, the "stereotypical Australian dragon", who Gandhi manages to distract by claiming that he's never tried vegemite.
* Although the Australian [[Story Arc]] of ''[[
* ''[[Taz
* When the X-Men appeared on ''[[Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends]]'' and again in ''Pryde of the X-Men'' (the pilot for the first attempt to make an X-Men animated series, which wasn't picked up) usually Canadian X-Man [[Wolverine]] sported an Australian accent. Presumably because the producers couldn't imagine the toughest mutant in the world coming from anywhere else. (Decades later, it would turn out they were right - but at least Hugh Jackman was polite enough to fake it.)
* ''[[Scooby
* For some reason, Jetfire in ''[[
* In the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' universe, Cobra operative Major Bludd is from Sydney, and once served with the Australian SAS.
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*** Aussies aren't lacking in variety when it comes to booze. The Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide, is a HUGE exporter of wine.
** Goon: it's basically the equivalent to Nightrain, except far less classy and even more alcoholic.
* Australian entertainers include [[Cate Blanchett]], [[Nicole Kidman]], [[Hugh Jackman]], [[Russell Crowe]], [[Hugo Weaving]], [[
** Special mention goes to dancer and ''[[Dancing With the Stars]]'' veteran Kym Johnson, who's begun to acquire a reputation of being damn near indestructible. In one season of the American version, she endured a pretty nasty knee injury and continued to dance with partner Jerry Springer. That, however, is nothing compared to the season with Hines Ward. She suffered a difficult-to-watch neck injury while rehearsing, where she was in an awkward position on the floor, and Hines (who's over twice her size,) ''fell on top of her.'' She went on, not only to dance later that week, but to win the whole damn thing. Said attempts have only seemed to anger her.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10611973 Drunk Australian rides crocodile]. How stereotypical can you get?
** Here's an older story about [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7327984.stm a man wrestling with a crocodile to save his wife's life], if this doesn't make him an automatic [[
** How about a ''[[Never Mess
* [[Australian Rules Football]]. Possibly one of the most violent games in the world. And the most skillful to boot.
** This Australian troper would like to relate that he heard of two American Football players came to Australia once and watched a game of AFL. When asked if they wanted to have a shot, they basically replied with "Are you NUTS?"
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