Crazy Geography in Rockman.exe

Raijin · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 7:54 pm Post subject:

Not until you posted, anyway. :/

My thoughts on Nation Z? It's nothing. The name itself doesn't allude to anything (except maybe Zimbabwe...) and the context in which it was mentioned leaves me to believe the writers simply wanted to throw a mysterious new location at us only to explain where the series' new villain has been hiding away in the first three games and also to give a sense of ominousness about his origins. As for where Nation Z would fit on the map, I don't think even Capcom decided on that. For some reason I doubt they thought much about that place beyond Regal's intro scene. If they did pick out a spot for it, I'd have to say it's in Australia's place simply because EXE4 showed that continent on its map and was left unnamed. If they were going for continuity in that one game, that could have been what they reserved that spot for.

Tachyon360 · Le Croissant Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 740

If you refer to Stream episode 26, the map shows Creamland and Sharo pretty close to each other, with a narrow country in between. This leads me to believe that Creamland is actually Poland with a chunk of Belarus, that narrow chunk of land would be present-day Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the remaining bit of Belarus, and Sharo would be Russia.

When you think about it, it makes sense. Princess Pride is reminiscent of the mythological Polish princess that stumbled upon a salt pit, marking the start of Poland's salt mining industry, and saving Medieval Poland's economy. She's a rather important symbol in Polish folklore. (And notice that Princess Pride is named "pride." Both are a symbol of pride in their nations.) Platinum-blonde hair with icy-blue eyes? Pretty common among Poles (though it's not uncommon in that region in general).

Eyebright · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 9:50 pm Post subject:

You're right... he DOES look Korean... but Wily sure doesn't...
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TheWebbuilder · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 9:49 am Post subject:

Tachyon360 · Le Croissant Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 740

You mean the US is blown out of proportion and Florida is a bit on the fat side. Florida is nearly touching Mexico.

Raijin · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 11:15 am Post subject:

Ô_o You have GOT to be kidding me. You honestly believe THAT'S a map, and you think you can actually tell what it's a map OF? Give me a break man. Even if that were a map, how could you possibly determine what it's representing? If it were Central America, it would be a REALLY distorted Central America, but then why couldn't it be a REALLY distorted shot of the Black and Mediterranean Seas? The Korean peninsula? Italy? Victoria Island? *is spinning his globe around finding similar looking spots* Heck, why couldn't it just be any small area on earth from only a short distance bird's eye view? Of course, to me it just looks like some brown blotches on a blue background possibly meant to resemble a map. But hey, if you think the animators of that intro had some intricate specific plan to screw up the appearance of North America as some stupid joke at Americans I guess that's a valid theory too.

TheWebbuilder · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject:

Look, I never meant anything by the American comment, I was just making an attempt at humor. (Note to self: Scrap humor on forums)

And yes, it does look like a map to me, or at least part of one. It does resembled North and Central America, at least to me. -shrugs-

But then again, what do I know?
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Tachyon360 · Le Croissant Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 740

Eyebright · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 5:15 pm Post subject:

That's... a very interesting interpretation...

You people are beginning to remind me of abstract art critics.
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Zan · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 5:18 pm Post subject:

Tachyon360 · Le Croissant Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 740

Hence the poorly-made abstract grunge.

If you look at the part right in front of Blues, however, Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula are nearly touching. If you look in front of Enzan, just above Blues's hair, you can see Alaska with a narrow land bridge to Siberia. Which leads to the second possibility; it's a subtle joke about Americans being short and fat, by distorting the map to match that description. The rusty steel look of it is where the semi-abstract part comes from.

Eyebright · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 5:41 pm Post subject:

This is getting really, really weird... I mean, it's just a map!
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Raijin · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject:

Tachyon360 · Le Croissant Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 740

Compared to some other speculation (theory is incorrect, and it's not a hypothesis either, since it's not scientifically testable) out there, the idea that it's a subtle joke about fat Americans doesn't seem too far out there.

And you can easily tell what regions are which based on certain geographic features. The part you're calling Central America would be mostly Mexico (which, needless to say, is in North America). There's a very prominent, distorted Yucatan Peninsula, followed by that second hump that Honduras and Nicaragua share, which is also exaggerated.

Besides, I'm not entirely serious. I can have my fun, however eccentric it may be, can't I?

Blues_EXE128 · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 5:28 pm Post subject:

Uh, as far as I can tell, Nation Z is what the average american refers to as evil. What do I mean by this? Simple. What I mean is that Nation Z is an evil nation, or a strong (military wise) nation with bad intentions, much like the average american view of nations such as North Korea, Afghanistan, or some country along those lines. Think about it. North Korea is a strong, independent nation with what some consider to be bad intentions, especially in the government. Now compare that to what we know about Nation Z.
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Eyebright · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject:

But Rockman isn't from the American perspective. It's from the Japanese one.
Also, there is no such thing as an inherently 'evil' country... and all we know about it is that Regal comes from it. One man is hardly the representative of a nation.
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Nazne · Shukei - Hakuteiken Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1133

However, somewhere in the games it mentions that Nation Z is a hostile and powerful nation. First meeting with Regal, I think. <<;

-BMA

Raijin · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 7:10 pm Post subject:

Nation Z is ONLY mentioned during Regal's introduction, which is why I don't think there is a big story behind it. Nonetheless, I believe all Hikari says is it's a militaristic nation. I don't think he said anything about the nation's collective morals.

Eyebright · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 9:19 pm Post subject:

That doesn't mean that it's a crack against North Korea, though...
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**Plantman** · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 9:41 pm Post subject:

Nobody said it was a crack against North Korea. Was an example of difamatory 'propaganda'. I think it's completely unrelated, they just named it Nation Z to keep it a separated place people doesn't know much about that is known for being relatively hostile. Keep any 'real life politic references' out of this thread please Razz

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