List of fictional U.S. states

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This is a list of fictional states of the United States found in various works of fiction involving the states, insular areas, districts, reservations, or other unincorporated territories.

Fictional states of the United States

Fictional states are not as common as fictional cities, counties, or countries; often, a work will invent a fictional city and simply not reveal its state. Occasionally, however, a fictional state is created to house fictional cities, towns, or counties. Typically, a work that features a fictional state will also reveal the names of several cities within that state.

Non-existent states

Named U.S. states

Comics
Film
Law
Literature
Radio
  • Malebolgia
Theatre
  • Missitucky, in the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow (1947), with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, which follows one Finian McLonergan from Ireland in the town of Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky, intent on burying a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, in the mistaken belief it will grow and multiply. The name is a portmanteau of Mississippi and Kentucky.
Television
  • Delmarva (fictional state), is the state in which Beach city is located in Cartoon Network series Steven Universe.[1] It is based heavily on a peninsula with same name, the meeting point of Delaware, far eastern areas of Maryland, and a small portion of Virginia.
  • Keystone, from Keystone Motel (2015); a Steven Universe episode. A fictional version of Pennsylvania.
  • Moosylvania, from Jay Ward's Rocky and Bullwinkle television series. This state has been contested by the U.S. and Canada in two episodes of the series, "Moosylvania" and "Moosylvania Saved". The U.S. says it is a province of Canada, while Canada says it is a U.S. state. It is an island in the middle of western Lake Superior. Bullwinkle is governor of Moosylvania. The state's official sport is farkling. Jay Ward even tried to make the 51st state, which he called "Moosylvania", by claiming an island off the coast of the U.S. and Canada for himself and promoting it all over the country. When Ward and his publicist, Howard Brandy, arrived at the White House gate with a proposal and signed petition, the guards told them to leave due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
  • New Delaware, mentioned in a January 16, 2013 episode of The Daily Show as a state that doesn't exist anymore—an example for Senate officials who "pick up the wrong state to change the rules with".[2]
  • New Troy
  • Oklachusetts, from the Seth MacFarlane animated short The Life of Larry (1995). Larry, who would later become Peter Griffin in Family Guy, described it as "where the wind comes sweeping down the Pike".
  • Statesota is the state in which Moralton is located in the Adult Swim series Moral Orel. Based on the overhead map viewable during the show's opening credits, Statesota is made up of much of western Missouri and eastern Kansas.
  • Wichita, appears in the Spanish humour sketch program La hora de José Mota. Its capital city has the same name: Wichita.[citation needed]
Video Games
  • Alderney from Grand Theft Auto IV is the surrogate to New Jersey. Alderney replaced New Guernsey (see below) as the parody surrogate state in the Grand Theft Auto series. Alderney is depicted in-game as being directly west of the State of Liberty and a location where a portion of Grand Theft Auto IV takes place.
  • Carcer City, in Rockstar Games' Manhunt (2013), may have taken inspiration from the real-life cities of Camden, NJ; Flint, MI; East St Louis, IL; Gary, IN; and Detroit, MI. Carcer City is believed to be connected with the Grand Theft Auto universe since references in Grand Theft Auto III (2001) state that Carcer City is close to Liberty City.
  • Columbia, a floating city and former state in BioShock Infinite (2013), controversy for its actions in the Boxer Rebellion having prompted its secession.[3]
  • Liberty is the state that Liberty City is located in the Grand Theft Auto series and has been depicted in one form or another the most out of all other fictional states. In Grand Theft Auto IV, Liberty is shown situated directed east of the State of Alderney in and in the 3D universe is stated to be located somewhere close to Carcer City.
  • New Guernsey is a surrogate for New Jersey state and/or Jersey City in various fictional contexts, including the Batman comics, television series and films. Like the real New Jersey, the "State of New Guernsey" is named after one of the Channel Islands.[citation needed] (The similarly named "New Guernsey" in the Grand Theft Auto games series, however, is only a city, located in the state of Alderney; see below.)
  • New Temperance, in Gangsters 2 (2001). The state map had an eastern coastline and included several large islands, and was made up of a combination of urban and upstate areas. The architecture and in particular civic institutions like the police seemed largely based on Illinois—the most important fact about it, however, was simply that it was a dry state during Prohibition.
  • North Yankton, in the video game Grand Theft Auto V (2013), is the birthplace of Michael De Santa (born Michael Townley) and where the prologue took place.
  • San Andreas is the state where Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game (2004) is set, housing the cities of Los Santos (based off Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). San Andreas also constitutes the setting of Grand Theft Auto V (2013) but only containing two counties, one with the city of Los Santos and several other smaller towns.

Unnamed U.S. states

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  • BO is the abbreviation for the state Weinerville is in.[citation needed]
  • Cherokee State appears on the license plates on the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle; this is likely intended to be a state nickname.[citation needed]
  • Eagle State likewise appears on license plates on the television series Desperate Housewives.[citation needed]
  • Hooterville, claimed in an episode of Green Acres[which?] to be a state named after Rutherford B. Skrug, its first governor. However, Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies place Hooterville in Missouri.[citation needed]
  • Sideburn State appears on license plates on the television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete.[citation needed]
  • Sill. is the abbreviation for the state containing Lichfield in the works of James Branch Cabell.[citation needed]
  • Unnamed State in The Simpsons contains Springfield, Shelbyville, and Capitol City from The Simpsons. Producer/director David Silverman once unofficially named Springfield's setting as being in the fictional state of North Takoma. In one episode,[which?] Homer's driver's license states that the postal abbreviation of their home state is "NT". In Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, there is a montage with essayists from different states presenting their work, while the camera pans over a U.S. map. When the map moves to Springfield for Lisa's contribution, we can see the abbreviation "NT" over the state that Springfield is in. In The Simpsons Movie (2007), Flanders and Bart are at the top of a mountain, where Flanders states you can see the four states that border Springfield: Ohio, Nevada, Maine and Kentucky. In the episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade", it is stated that the state bird is the pot-bellied finch, the state pasta is futicelli, and the state flag is a Confederate flag rising above an ocean (an embarrassment considering this state was Northern). The state practices capital punishment.
  • Unnamed State in Joe Klein's 1996 novel and 1998 film Primary Colors, also referred to in the sequel The Running Mate (2000), is a small southern state and home to Governor Jack Stanton (D), whose hometown is Grace Junction. Its capital is Mammoth Falls. Unnamed State is allegorical to Arkansas, and Jack Stanton represents Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.
  • Unnamed State in Joe Klein's novel The Running Mate (2000) is a Midwestern state and the home state of Senator Charlie Martin (D). Des Pointe is the state capital, largest city and hometown of Senator Martin, but many other locations in the state are mentioned. Industrial centers are Port Sallesby and Singer Rapids. Stated to have 53 counties. Charlie Martin is partially based on Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, but Nebraska and several other Midwestern states are mentioned separately, leaving the identity of Martin's homestate unclear
  • Unnamed State, in Sinclair Lewis' novel It Can't Happen Here (1935), is a Western state and home state of dictatorial President Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip. Windrip's secretary and chief assistant Lee Sarason is described as having been, at the beginning of Windrip's rise, managing editor of the most widely circulated paper in this state's region.

Alternative representations of states

51st state

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"51st state" (and related terms) has been used in books and film, usually in a negative sense:

North American Union

The flag used in the world of "The Two Georges" is like the U.S. "Grand Union Flag".
The Two Georges world map: British Empire (red); Franco-Spanish "Holy Alliance" (pink); Portuguese territory (orange); Austrian Empire (purple); Sweden (green); Danish Empire (cyan); Russian Empire (indigo).

The United States of Canada

Map of the United States of Canada (in blue) and Jesusland (in red)

Collections of states as Independent nations

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Geopolitical variations of sovereign nations in North America are a recurring theme due to historical debates regarding partition and secession movements. This is an especially common trope in works of alternative historical fiction involving the United States.

Confederate States of America-variants

The Confederate States and Allied Powers (green) of World War I vs. the United States and Central Powers (yellow). Results: the American Empire (United States) and German Empire are the dominant regional great powers; the resulting reparations and annexation of sovereign territories under the Treaty of Versailles inevitably set the stage for World War II.
File:Timeline-191 map2-5.gif
The United States vs. the Confederate States during World War II. Results: the American Empire, German Empire, and Japanese Empire are the -only- surviving global superpowers. The Confederate States of America ceases to exist after Richmond, Virginia is destroyed by the first atomic bomb and is put into "political limbo".
Flag of the Freedom Party.
Map of the Golden Circle with its possible subdivisions. The rest of the Confederate States of America is in light/pale-green.
Post-partition United States, as seen in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG and Appleseed.

Post-invasion/apocalyptic United States

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USA divided in three parts: The Japanese Pacific States in the west, Das Große Nazi Reich (The Great Nazi Empire) in the east and The Rocky Mountain States (or The Neutral Zone) in the middle
File:PKD-high castle-penguinclassics.jpg
The Man in the High Castle, 2001 Penguin Classics edition, cover by James P. Keenan.
  • In the TV miniseries Amerika, the post-invasion United States is divided into multiple "administrative areas" following its annexation by the Soviet Union:
Ameritech: (presumably named after the telecommunications company): Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Appalachia: Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia
California Special District: California, Nevada
Central: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska (at the climax of the series, this area is carved out of the United States as a new country called Heartland)
Mid-Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
North Central: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Northeastern: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont
Northwest: Oregon, Washington
South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
Southern: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi
Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico
Western Semi-Autonomous: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming
  • Coalition States: a fascist empire founded upon the post-apocalyptic ruins of the American Midwest in the Rifts role-playing game.[8]
  • Fallout, a retro-futuristic United States setting influenced by the post-war culture of 1950s America, and its combination of hope for the promises of technology and lurking fear of nuclear annihilation. Since the end of The Great War, the various territories are broadly referred to as the "Wasteland" or simply the "Wastes."
  • The Commonwealth is what is left of the pre-Great War State of Massachusetts in New England Commonwealth of the United States in the alternate history of the Fallout universe. Most of it is a "war-ravaged quagmire of violence and despair" like much of the rest of the former United States, but it is also where Boston is located. It was first mentioned in Fallout 3 and later appeared in Fallout 4.
  • Caesar's Legion is an autocratic, ultra-reactionary, utilitarian slaver army founded in 2247 by Edward Sallow and Joshua Graham. It is largely inspired and partially based on the ancient Roman Empire, though it isn't the Roman Empire or the Roman Republic or even its military, the Legion. It is a slave army with trappings of foreign-conscripted Roman legionaries during the late empire. All military, no civilian, and with none of the supporting civilian culture. It appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.
  • The New California Republic (NCR) is a federal presidential republic founded in New California by Aradesh. Comprised five contiguous states, territories and holdings in pre-War regions in Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, and parts of Mexico. The Republic dedicates itself to the values of the old world: democracy, liberty, and the rule of law. It was founded in 2186, is mentioned in Fallout 3, and appears in Fallout 2 & Fallout: New Vegas.
  • The Enclave is a nation state established after the Great War, established by remnants of the pre-War United States government and military industrial complex. It has claimed authority over all pre-war territory of the United States of America, considering itself the legal continuation of the U.S. government and styling itself as such. First appearing in Fallout 2, then later in Fallout 3, its add on Broken Steel, and is mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.
  • Shi is a post-apocalyptic nation that is against post-war politics, and uses some of the Chinese culture, such as their ancestors' customs, clothing, language and demeanor. The younger generations, however, seem to rely more on the surviving popular culture interpretations of Chinese culture (such as kung-fu holovideos), rather than actual cultural traditions. It only appears in Fallout 2.
  • Republic of Dave (formerly Kingdom of Tom, Kingdom of Larry, the Republic of Stevie-Ray, Billsylvania, and the New Republic of Stevie-Ray) is a small farming settlement in the far northeast corner of the Capital Wasteland (Fallout 3) that is considered by its close-knit inhabitants to be a sovereign nation-state. This nation is actually closer to a Micronation, because since on-off monarchies and republics with an only family control it, and they only had one citizen working as a teacher or merchant (optional) during the game. This "Nation" only appears in Fallout 3.
  • The Free Economic Zone of New Vegas is a faction led by Robert House in New Vegas. Although it is formally founded if House establishes sovereignty over the Mojave, in practice, it exists in a practical capacity throughout Mr House's rule in New Vegas.
File:Shattered union map.jpg
Screenshot of Shattered Union's primary Second Civil War factions (with The Carolinas territory highlighted).
  • Shattered Union, on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., a low-yield tactical nuclear weapon is detonated, destroying most of the city and effectively wiping out the presidential line of succession. The European Union sends peacekeepers to the New York and Washington metropolitan areas to secure international interests, while the Russian Federation invades and occupies Alaska (under the pretense of "expanded humanitarian operations"). As wave of secessionist sentiment rises in America; the governor of California declares home rule and secedes from the Union on April 15, 2013. Texas follows a few days later, taking neighboring states with it and re-forming the Republic of Texas. Other factions form in the following months, and by 2014, all hopes for a peaceful resolution are gone, and the Second American Civil War begins.
  • Countries in Jericho
  • Allied States of America: A country in the television series Jericho that forms after nuclear weapons are detonated in many of the United States' major cities. Its capital is Cheyenne, Wyoming, and it controls all of the states west of the Mississippi River, with the exception of Texas.
  • Republic of Texas: A country that was formerly the state of Texas and has the same borders. Its capital is San Antonio because Dallas and Houston were destroyed.
  • United States of America: A country in the television series Jericho. It is only a fictional country because it only rules over the states east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Columbus, Ohio.

Other collections of independent states

  • The comic book Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew took place in the "United Species of America" on the parallel world of Earth-C; the comic featured several analogs of real US states, including:
  • The episode of the animated series Futurama entitled "Bendin' in the Wind" showed some maps of the USA in the year 3000. Many states were humorously respelled (such as "eHIO" for Ohio). The map also showed two new states: Pennsylvania being divided into the Penn Republic and Sylvania ([1]), parodying the breakup of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Other humorous states, such as "East West Virginia," are included. Most of the series takes place in New New York, which the final episode confirms is the name of both the state and city.
  • The animated series The Flintstones presented a few "prehistoric" versions of modern-day states, including:
    • Texarock: A prehistoric version of Texas (though the name "Texas" was also used interchangeably).
    • Arkanstone: A prehistoric version of Arkansas; the former home of various hillbilly ancestors of Fred Flintstone, as well as their rivals, the Hatrock family. Bears a (probably coincidental) similarity to the name of the Arkenstone.
    • New Rock: A prehistoric version of New York.
  • The Grand Theft Auto video game franchise has featured a number of fictional states:
  • The video game Red Dead Redemption features two fictional states:
    • West Elizabeth: a Plains state, based mostly on Colorado.
    • New Austin: a Southwestern state, portrayed as a rough combination of Texas and Nevada with areas resembling the Southeast and the Northeast, located on the Mexican border.
  • In Orson Scott Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series, the United States exists as a much smaller nation, between the area of New England and the Crown Colonies which extend from roughly Virginia south to Georgia. The nation has a significantly higher Iroquois and Dutch influence than in the real world. Member states include:
  • Barry Shils' 1991 film Motorama contains a number of fictional states, which appear to be in the southwestern US. Three of these (Mercer, Bergen, and Essex) are counties in New Jersey. In order of appearance, they are:
    • Mercer (nickname: The Frontier State)
    • South Lydon (nickname: The Lonesome State)
    • Tristana (nickname: The Green State)
    • Bergen (nickname: The Long State)
    • Vetner (no nickname given)
    • Essex (nickname: The Last State)
  • State Nº51. In John Katzenbach's novel "Games of Wits", this state is ruled by a dictatorship. This state is described as square in shape and includes the territory of several other states, including:

See also

References

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  6. C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, Official Website, archived link
  7. map provided at beginning of book
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External links