Strangereal
- "[It] is a very "accommodating" world, so to speak. But it allows us to do it [with] a sort of sense of reality, it's not completely out there to the point that it doesn't seem at all realistic. It's a balance with fiction with experimental weapons and massive airship carriers."
- ― Kazutoki Kono on Strangereal[1]
Strangereal[a] is the name of the alternate universe within which most Ace Combat games take place. Strangereal's version of Earth features entirely different landmasses, nation-states, and historical events to that of the real world, but the rest of the Milky Way galaxy appears unchanged.
Strangereal was created by Namco employees during the development of Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies to serve as the game's setting. The wider world of Strangereal was greatly expanded in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, which codified the setting's world map. Strangereal has since been used to retcon the setting for the three Ace Combat games created prior to 04. The majority of Ace Combat games take place in this universe, including Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, the 13th Strangereal game.
Etymology
- "We coined the term "Strangereal World" when we were making the world of 04 using improper English grammar, but coin it we did. From that point on, for whatever reason, it's become established to users around the world as "Strangereal." For that reason, "True Strangereal" (laughs) is what we call the world based on 04 from which the numbered titles have stemmed."
- ― Kazutoki Kono on Strangereal's name[2]
The name "Strangereal" was coined by members of Namco's AC04 Project during the development of Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies. At the time, it was simply a design concept, and was referred to by staff as the Strange Real World[b] or Strange Real.[c] Its earliest-known appearance is in a trailer from Tokyo Game Show 2000, advertising "the strange,real world".[5] The official website included staff notes where the concept of a "Strange Real World" was used to refer to the reality within which Ace Combat 04 took place.[3][4] The name "Strange Real" appeared once more in the first teaser trailer for Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War,[6] and again, in the form "Strangereal", in the teaser trailer for Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.[7] Later games have stuck with the "Strangereal" spelling, with Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown's box art advertising the game as a "return to Strangereal."
Despite the developers' intention of the name referring to their design concept for Ace Combat's fictional universe, fans began to use the name "Strangereal" to refer to the universe itself. For example, the numbered Ace Combat games became known as 'the games that take place within Strangereal'. As such, Bandai Namco[8] and Project Aces[9] also began to use the name to refer to the universe, particularly around the marketing for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. It has been prominently mentioned as a feature of the game.[10]
Ace Combat: Northern Wings, a game notable for conflicting with history from past games, used the Strangereal name within it.[11] It remains the only game to do so.
History
A number of major events have occurred in Strangereal's history, most of which were represented in the "Numbered Series" of Ace Combat games. They are as follows:
- 1905 Osean War
- 1980s Cold War
- 1995 Skully Islands insurrection (Air Combat)
- 1995 Belkan War (Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War)
- 1997 Usean coup d'état (Ace Combat 2 and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy)
- 1999 Ulysses Impact Event
- 2003 Continental War (Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies)
- 2006 Free Erusea uprising (Arcade Mode in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War)
- 2007 Estovakian Civil War
- 2010 Circum-Pacific War (Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War)
- 2014 Free Erusea uprising (VR Mode in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)
- 2015 Emmeria-Estovakia War (Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation)
- 2019 Leasath Civil War
- 2019 Lighthouse War (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)
- 2020 Aurelian War (Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception and Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion)
- 2040 Intercorporate War (Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere)
Below is a graphical representation of the above list, from 1995 through 2040:
Composition
Strangereal in its entirety appears nearly identical to our real Universe: a large, expanding universe with a small percentage of mass belonging to stars and planets. Strangereal's Earth is located in the same galaxy as our Milky Way, since some of the constellations in the Milky Way also appear prominently in Strangereal (most notably Crux, used in Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception as both Eugene Solano's callsign and as part of the emblem of Gryphus Squadron).
Unlike the universe at large, the planet Earth in Strangereal is vastly different from our real Earth. Various differences include climates, landmasses, historical events, nations, and cultures. Similarities exist as well: Humans inhabit this Earth as the dominant species; the concept of time is exactly the same as ours; and lasting world peace seems unreachable, which is a popular theme for most Strangereal-based games.
Strangereal's Earth is comprised of seven recognized continents, each of which is divided into various countries. In total, there are over 50 countries on Strangereal, though many are presently unnamed.
Anea
Anea is one of the most northernmost continents on the planet. In spite of its geographic position, Anea is home to a variety of climates including deserts. Only three major countries are known to exist on Anea:
Antarctia
Antarctia is the largest continent land-wise. It is the geographic southernmost continent on the planet, and the geographic South Pole is in the center of Antarctia.
No countries, colonies, or research stations belonging to other countries are known to exist on Antarctia. It has not been involved in any known conflicts.
Osea
The Osean continent is one of the largest continents on the planet and is home to a large number of people. The continent is separated into at least a dozen countries, the most notable of which is a world superpower, the Osean Federation. The known countries and their position on the Osean continent are as follows:
South Osea
South Osea is among the smallest continents in Strangereal. Despite being connected to the larger Osean continent, it is still considered its own continent.[12][d] The known countries, from north to south, are as follows:
Usea
The Usean continent is one of the smallest continents on Strangereal's Earth, but it has a storied history of rebellions and infighting between its countries. It serves as the setting for the majority of the series, and was the exclusive setting of the first four games in the series. Usea has at least 18 countries,[13] most of which are unknown. The known countries are as follows:
Two known historic nations are:
Another unclear political entity is Ugellas.
Verusa
The Verusan continent[14] is another of the largest continents on Earth. Verusa hosts at least 20 countries, the largest number of countries on any Strangereal continent, encompassing
- Yuktobania, including the Yuktobanian Republic of Romny
- Verusa
- Sotoa
- Kaluga
Wellow
Wellow is one of the northernmost and the smallest continent in Strangereal. Not much is known about Wellow except that there is only one nation that exists there:
Official Maps
![Full map circa Ace Combat 7[e]](/images/thumb/c/c5/Strangereal_Map_AC7.jpg/120px-Strangereal_Map_AC7.jpg?f1a39a)
Full map circa Ace Combat 7[e]
Full map circa Ace Combat 5
Alternate color palette of the full map
An older map of Strangereal
Full map circa Ace Combat 04 before Strangereal was redone
![Full map circa Ace Combat 7[e]](/wiki/File:Strangereal_Map_AC7.jpg)
Trivia
- Strangereal's Earth has appeared twice in outside material:
- The old map that appeared in the prologue cutscene of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War was used as part of a dinosaur museum advertisement in the Battlefield 4 DLC map "Operation Métro."
- A wireframe map was shown on a holographic display in Marvel Comics' Uncanny X-Men Volume 3 #1.
- Many fans used (and still use) the name "Strangereal" to refer to the planet. Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies material,[15] Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation[16][17] and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown dialogue have all named the planet as Earth.
- In Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies development, Strangereal's Earth was more similar to the real world; the shapes of the continents were strikingly similar, with the Pacific Ocean having received the most changes with the inclusion of the Usean continent. A new Strangereal Earth was designed for Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, which is now the official version of the planet for all Strangereal games.
- Following the releases of Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Assault Horizon (especially so), and Ace Combat Infinity, many fans assumed that Bandai Namco had abandoned Strangereal entirely. However, the releases of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy, Ace Combat: Northern Wings, and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown put this theory to rest.
- Kazutoki Kono confirmed that Strangereal was abandoned for Assault Horizon in particular because it was seen as a barrier to entry for newcomers to the Ace Combat series. Bandai Namco believed that setting a main game in the real world, which would be more relatable, would help draw new players to the franchise.[18]
- A popular oddity in the series is when an enemy pilot will exclaim "My plane's been Swiss-cheesed!",[19] even though Switzerland does not exist in Strangereal. A Dutch roll[20] and Burmese[21] are also mentioned in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, while neither the Netherlands nor Burma/Myanmar are present in Strangereal. In Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, an "Italian bistro" is mentioned by AWACS Long Caster.[22] Note that the word "Italian" does not appear in the original Japanese voice line, meaning it was an addition by the English localization team.[23]
- Christianity is or once was present within Strangereal, given that:
- Several churches can be found in Directus, the capital of Ustio. They could also be found throughout Usea, such as Scofields Plateau, Shilage, Farbanti and the small villages in the Waiapolo Mountains.
- There are places named after saints (San Salvacion, St. Ark, Santa Elva and St. Hewlett).
- ISAF operations Noah's Ark and Judgement Day are named after biblical events.
- Christmas is celebrated in Griswall on December 2020.[24]
- Strangereal has directly referenced many real-life languages, including English (multiple), German (Belkan), French (Aurelian[25] and Erusean), Russian (Yuktobanian and Estovakian), Japanese (Erusean[26]), Italian (Emmerian[27]), and Spanish (Sapinish).
- The Strangereal maps feature numerous real world landmasses:
- Greenland as the nation of Wellow. The surroundings include parts of Northern Canada.
- New Zealand north of central Antarctia.
- Great Britain as part of Nordennavic.
- Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in altered presentation form the Western Verusan continent and partly Sotoa.
- Cuba upside down as the large island adjacent to Tyler Island.
- Iceland appears twice in different sizes:
- Southeast of Wellow.
- As part of Western Verusa.
- Great Lakes of North America near the Belka-Osea border.
- Northern Usea roughly resembles Canada, including places like Hudson Bay and Nunavut's island region.
- Alaska's west coast as the west coast of Erusea.
- Novaya Zemlya appears in north Anea.
Footnotes
- ↑ Strangereal (ストレンジリアル)
- ↑ Strange Real World (ストレンジ・リアル・ワールド)[3]
- ↑ Strange Real (ストレンジ・リアル)[4]
- ↑ ACES at WARS: The classified document about Circum-Pacific War was revealed mentions that aircraft from "five continents" were present at Redmill Air Force Base. Additionally, the official map of Strangereal gives South Osea its own outline, identifying it as its own continent.
- ↑ Note that the Anean nations of Emmeria, Estovakia and Nordennavic are not represented.
References
- ↑ You'll Love Ace Combat 7 if You Liked 4 and 5 – Producer Explains Why they Went Back to Strangereal. DualShockers. Published on December 5, 2016. Retrieved on December 6, 2016.
- ↑ 『エースコンバット7 スカイズ・アンノウン』最新バージョンを体験！ そして河野Pにあれこれ聞いてみた【E3 2017】(2/2). Famitsu. Published on June 14, 2017. Translation by Encyclopædia Strangereal retrieved on June 19, 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 AC04Web staff notes #02. Retrieved from the Web Archive version from November 17, 2001.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 AC04Web staff notes #01. Retrieved from the Web Archive version from May 2, 2001.
- ↑ https://youtu.be/WtlgqIfL3g4
- ↑ https://youtu.be/-glJ_z5mwWk
- ↑ https://youtu.be/OZd199JKKEY
- ↑ Description on the PlayStation Experience 2016 Trailer.
- ↑ PROJECT_ACES. Twitter. Published December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ↑ Ace Combat 7 - Feel The Rush Of Superior Air Power. Retrieved from the Web Archive version from December 4, 2016.
- ↑ File:Northern Wings Mentions Strangereal (2).jpg.
- ↑ ACES at WARS: The classified document about Circum-Pacific War was revealed
- ↑ https://youtu.be/e6Ac3bf39w0
- ↑ File:Old Strangereal Map Wallpaper 1024x768.jpg.
- ↑ Usea Today: Asteroid on Collision Course With Earth!
- ↑ Cutscene following Invasion of Gracemeria, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ The Liberation of Gracemeria, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ https://youtu.be/M4MCICaJlEY
- ↑ Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Handful of Hope, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
- ↑ Desert Lightning, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
- ↑ "Fleet Destruction", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ "Fleet Destruction", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (Japanese Ver.).
- ↑ Cutscene following End of Deception I/End of Deception II, Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.
- ↑ La Société and Réactions in Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception cutscenes.
- ↑ Billboards in Anchorhead Bay, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ File:AC6 Melissa Nose Art Wallpaper 1280x1024.jpg
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