History Main / CultureClash

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'': The custom of suttee strikes the visiting Englishman (and the audience) as a horrible idea (though he doesn't act on his feelings until he learns the victim ''is'' unwilling.)
* The main character of ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'' is a young Japanese woman who was reincarnated into the body of a child in a European-inspired LowFantasy world. Early on, a major stumbling block on her journey to invent a printing press is the fact that she defaults to Japanese mannerisms most of the time, mainly prostrating herself and lowering her head when she's requesting something; in her new surroundings, this comes off as lacking backbone or even being untrustworthy (since she doesn't make eye contact) rather than a humble show of respect. Fortunately, she's able to befriend some upper-class merchants who teach her the proper etiquette for making deals.
* In ''Literature/CloudOfSparrows'', Emily asks Heiko what a geisha is, and is shocked when Heiko explains that the closest English word would be 'prostitute'. Heiko considers her profession an honourable one, and can't understand why Emily freaks out so badly.
* Most of the stories in Creator/JhumpaLahiri's ''Literature/InterpreterOfMaladies'' deal with Indians (specifically Bengalis) living in America and struggling to assimilate into the culture for various reasons. Her other book, ''Literature/TheNamesake'', deals with the protagonist, Gogol, struggling to balance between his American side with his ties to his Bengali culture. Ultimately, neither ideal works out in the end.
* This is a big theme in most of Creator/DaveDuncan's books, but particularly the ''Literature/SeventhSword'' series where a pacifist from present day America is launched into a fantasy world with an iron age culture, caste system and slavery. HilarityEnsues.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward gets into an awkward situation when he forgets the name of a noblewoman and has to introduce her to his friends. He could call her Lady [Estate] or Lady [Husband] where he comes from, but such is not appropriate in her country. He opts for the simple solution of admitting that he forgot her name, aware that this is likely to cause less offense. As the circumstances of the first introduction were less than perfect, he is easily forgiven and her husband introduces her a second time.
%% * Creator/RobinHobb's ''Literature/TheSoldierSon'' is a showcase for this trope. [Please include examples]
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Only In Death'', Ezsrah takes Gaunt's sword. He regards it as an essential part of his duty, to carry out a ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge bludtoll]]''; the Ghosts regarded it as robbing [[spoiler: the dead]] and are shocked that anyone would do such a deed.
* In Creator/TimothyZahn's ''Literature/TheConquerorsTrilogy'', the war between the humans and Zirrzh starts due to a type of culture (or technology) clash. Upon first seeing the Zirrzh ship, the human ship prepares weapons but sends a friendly first contact radio signal. This starts a serious war, with the Zirrzh insisting the humans fired first. It turns out they're both right, because [[spoiler:Radio tortures the Zirrzh Elders (ghosts)]]
* ''Literature/AHerosWar'': Firma has different norms from Earth.
** Landar is quite unbothered by the idea that the ancient Tsarians experimented with genetically modifying humans; she doesn't treat it any differently from modifying cattle. Cato is more perturbed.
** Cato ''really'' struggles when he comes across Landar and Kupo studying the nature and behaviour of life force by slowly taking apart a body and studying how it responds. Specifically, the body of a criminal, who was ''still alive when they started''. Since he was an enemy of the state anyway, Landar doesn't see any problem.
---> '''Landar''': Kupo, give me a hand.\\
The healer simply grabbed a large cleaver and chopped the hand off the body. There was surprisingly little blood, easily explained by the buckets placed below the body and the splatter over the floor.
** In the other direction, Cato largely shrugs at the idea that it's possible to walk up to someone and kill them with a forcebolt; on Earth, it's normal for guns to be capable of that, and only social norms and law enforcement prevent it. To people like Landar, who are accustomed to being able to shield themselves from anything that a random person on the street could try, it's quite alarming.
** Cato discovers that it's normal for engaged couples to share a bed, but they're still expected to remain chaste (or at least discreet). Pregnancy means [[ShotgunWedding the wedding happens immediately]], but there's nothing particularly significant about the wedding night. That has him scratching his head a bit, but his own expectations seem weird to Landar.
* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' Tetralogy the reptilian invaders known as the Race have numerous issues of culture clash, aside from the shock that Tosevites went from rusty plate armor and spears to using primitive landcruisers and firearms. Even worse, they were engaged in active research on jet killercraft and [[NukeEm explosive-metal bombs]]! All of this in the blink of an eye turret between their probe visiting and the Conquest Fleet arrival (about 800 years, they arrive in 1942). There is also all that biological weirdness. For starters, they're big and ugly, they stand up at too steep of an angle, have no tailstumps and these weird multi-colored strands on their heads. Speaking of colors, their strangely smooth and non-scaly skin comes in as many colors as their head-growths. Don't even get me started on their bizarre mating habits, it took the more liberal members of the Conquest fleet nearly the entire 40 years (20 local years) between the end of hostilities and the arrival of the Colonization fleet to reach a personal understanding that, for them, being capable of mating at all times of the year is just natural (an American Tosevite who has become an expert in Race/Tosevite relations commented to the insanely radical Shiplord Straha that, to him, Straha is "more hidebound than a Southern Democrat with 40 years seniority" after the Shiplord called himself a Radical. This occurred before the end of hostilities in the Local Year 1944). Their exclusive mating agreements are something only such a screwed up race such as the Big Uglies could find enjoyable. Speaking of mating issues, that herb Ginger should be wiped out, it causes nothing but trouble.
* ''Literature/{{Shogun}}'' has plenty examples of this being about an Englishman in 1600s Japan. A rather blatant example is when certain Japanese taking care of him, after being commanded to cater to his every need, politely ask him if he'd like sex with one of the girls looking after him. When he declines embarrassed, they ask if he'd prefer a man.... and then whether he'd prefer a boy!
* ''Literature/TheSonOfTheIronworker'':
** When Martín Sánchez attempts to flee after learning he is to be sacrificed, the people of Tabasco become surprised since they regard to be Huichilobos' chosen sacrifice as a honor.
** The night before his scheduled sacrifice, Martín is dragged to a hut where one maid called Itxicol is waiting for him. Itxicol gives him a jar and kneels, and Martín guesses that their captors expect him to marry that maid by breaking the jar against her and have sex with her before his sacrifice. Martín tries to flee again, but he is predictably and quickly caught and brought back to the hut, where Itxicol is still waiting for him. Martín understands she considers him her husband per Tabasco's customs...but they are not his country's customs, and he is not feeling inclined to respect theirs when the people of Tabasco intends to kill him at dawn, so he refuses to consummate the marriage that night.
** After living in Tianquiz for several months, Martín comes to appreciate the people of Tabasco. Sure, he is horrified by their human-sacrificing rituals...but he considers they also have qualities that he finds admirable as a Christian, such like their little regard for material possessions, or the fact that their chieftains are chosen according to their bravery and wisdom rather than their wealth.
** Wandering ironworkers live on the margins of society, have their own laws and customs, and are not exactly popular among the common folk. So, Cándido becomes appalled when learns the ironworker beats his wife, which Cándido considers is not something a proper Christian should ever do. The ironworker excuses himself by saying that hitting a disobedient wife is his people's law, and most of people does not consider them real Christians anyway.
* ''Literature/{{Conqueror}}'': In ''Lords of the Bow'', Khasar tries to figure out chopsticks, before getting frustrated and shoving them into a bowl of noodles so they stand vertically. To the Chin, this is quite insulting.
* ''Literature/ThreeWorldsCollide'' by Eliezer Yudkowsky features a clash between humans and two other StarfishAlien races; the babyeaters and the superhappies with each race having a morality at complete tangents to the other two with the baby eaters doing the obvious and the superhappies being completely hedonistic. Oh, plus future humans to most present humans, since they think rape is enjoyable for both parties.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs:
** In ''Literature/APrincessOfMars'', Dejiah Thoris (princess of Mars) tries to appeal to John Carter (man newly-arrived from Earth), and fails.
--->''As her gaze rested on me her eyes opened wide in astonishment, and she made a little sign with her free hand; a sign which I did not, of course, understand. Just a moment we gazed upon each other, and then the look of hope and renewed courage which had glorified her face as she discovered me, faded into one of utter dejection, mingled with loathing and contempt. I realized I had not answered her signal, and ignorant as I was of Martian customs, I intuitively felt that she had made [[DamselInDistress an appeal for succor and protection]] which my unfortunate ignorance had prevented me from answering.''
** In ''Literature/AtTheEarthsCore'', David Innes fights for Dian. He does not realize that after it, he could take her hand to claim her as his wife, take her hand and let go to free her, or do nothing to [[MadeASlave make her his slave]]. He does nothing. She is ''not pleased.''
* ''Literature/DawnOfWar'': In Chris Roberson's ''Dawn of War II'', when the Blood Ravens are looking for aspirants among refugees, one speaks to the old woman who is in charge of one group to try to get a boy from her. She contemptuously refuses to speak to him because he hasn't shown her his face. He considers and unhelms rather than use force. That granted, she only asks whether the boy will have a chance to survive if they take him, and being told that he will have a chance to live, tells him to take him.
* This is a huge, ''huge'' aspect of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' world. Although the world apparently shares one language (with many, many different accents and dialects), almost no other aspects of culture are universal, or even necessarily common among neighbors!
* Frank Herbert's ''Literature/{{Dune}}'':
** Stilgar, leader of the desert Fremen, [[CrazyCulturalComparison spat on the table]] in front of Duke Leto Atreides and his staff -an act that, among water-obsessed Fremen, was regarded as a gift of one's bodily water. It is only clarified by Duncan Idaho, who has spent time with the Fremen.
** Both averted and subverted in one scene: a young Paul Atreides receives "watercounters" (a symbolic currency) as a result of [[TrialByCombat a duel with a Fremen fighter]] shortly after being accepted into the Fremen tribe. Not understanding their meaning, or how to carry them properly [[{{Ninja}} to reduce their noise]], he asks his assigned mentor Chani, a female of similar age, to hold them for him, not knowing that doing so was a Fremen courtship ritual. Averted in that the Fremen recognize his cultural difference and accept it as a neutral, purely practical request. Subverted in that [[spoiler:it was actually a prophetic act by the increasingly-prescient Paul, who had already foreseen becoming mated to Chani as part of his destiny, although he didn't fully realize who she was at the time]].
* In Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''Literature/ThirteenthChild'', when Brent tells Eff that the feathers are a symbol of how high they can fly without magic, Eff declares that you can't fly without magic. He laughs and says he sees he will find this very educational in more than one respect -- he meant metaphorically.
* In Creator/WenSpencer's ''Endless Blue'', Turk and Paige get into a furious argument when Turk discovers that she is partly descended from genetic modified Reds and Blues; Turk himself is a Red, traumatized by his upbringing in a society where Reds are property.
* In Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' series, much is made of the differences in culture that have evolved between Hold, Craft, and Weyr over the centuries since the original settlement of Pern. Holds are charged with the management of the land and contain the majority of the population, supplying food to the more specialized Crafts and Weyrs. By nature they are highly conservative and resistant to change. Crafts are the professional tradesmen, operating on an apprenticeship system and preserving the skills of the Pernese people. Weyrs are the dragons and their riders, charged with fighting off the periodic Thread incursions that would otherwise destroy most of the organic life on Pern. There's also a very significant culture clash in the main series between the modern dragonriders and the Oldtimers that Lessa brought [[TimeTravel from the past]] to battle Thread.
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':
** The series uses this in several books and cultures. Grayson/Manticore Manticore/Andermanni, Manticore/Haven, and now finally Manticore/Solarian League. One of the most hilarious ones happens on Grayson, when Honor alarms her bodyguards upon seeing a group of men heading for a public park armed with "wooden clubs" and thinks there's going to be a riot. Her senior bodyguard can hardly stop laughing long enough to explain to her that these "clubs" are bats used in an ancient sport called UsefulNotes/{{baseball}}.
** Honor has a minor fit when her Grayson associates recommend that she hire a maid. She is originally unsure about being waited on, and questions the practice of having servants at all. However, a Grayson ladies' maid is expected to be able to handle anything related to her mistress'´appearance and presentation. This can mean anything from sewing a formal dress from scratch to hairdressing, to make-up, to keeping her mistress up-to-date on the rumor mill and helping ward off unwanted male attention. Honor quickly realises that her new servant is not a menial, but a well-paid, well-trained and highly skilled professional, and worth every penny of her quite sizable salary.
* A girl rescued by the FiveManBand in ''Literature/BlackDogs'' is disliked by almost everyone because of her inability to follow the customs of the {{Funny Animal}}s that make up most of the band. She shows her teeth when she smiles and laughs (a sign of aggression), pulls away from their touch (displaying disgust) and tries to intervene in a battle for dominance (suggesting that they are unfit for leadership). One of the more aggressive characters goes into a near-homicidal rage when she is around.
* In ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'', Mary expects to be dressed by the servants since she had been in India. "It was the custom." The English maid finds the notion silly.
* In the second book in the ''Literature/{{Petaybee}}'' series, the ordinary Petaybeans take issue with the customs of the cult that raised 'Cita.
* The women of the Dales and the invaders in Jane Yolen's ''Literature/GreatAltaSaga''. Garunian society is extraordinarily patriarchal, whereas that of the Dales is anything but.
* In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, the SassyBlackWoman version of Atropos laughs at Japanese culture a bit. Also, Mym, a Hindu, is a bit offended by Western culture and the fact that its version of the afterlife is the "correct" one.
* Some of the most interesting parts of the Ring of Fire series are about how Germans see modern Americans.
* Creator/RudyardKipling has a fondness for this trope. Several of his short stories are light comedies about this.
* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse:
** The ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' is all about this on an epic, AnyoneCanDie scale. The two sides of the conflict are the familiar galactic civilization from the movies and the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]], who each see the other's society as repulsively, irredeemably evil (the fact that the Vong are a religious extremist, totalitarian dictatorship obsessed with both feeling and inflicting pain is understandably off-putting, while to them the galaxy's rampant use of machines and especially droids is as horrifying as if they'd been using ''zombies'', and a hideous slap in the face to their gods to boot). [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that the Vong's leader set the whole thing up as part of an insane plan to become a god, which ''nobody'' is happy about]].
** This is one of the main sources of conflict between the Mandalorians and the Jedi. Besides being a ProudWarriorRace, Mandalorians are extreme {{Mama Bear}}s and [[PapaWolf Papa Wolves]] who treat protecting family as sacred as their love of battle. They find the Jedi practice of taking Force-sensitive children away from their families for training and the Jedi philosophy of forming no attachments to be repulsive.
** One specific example about a CultureClash concerning Mandalorian Culture, is Kal Skiratas marriage to his wife Ilippi. Kal of course wanted to pass on his culture to his sons and daughter, which was an idea that Ilippi was vehemently against. After Kal wanted to take their oldest son out on missions with him, to start training him, when he was eight, this was the last straw for Ilippi. She took the children and left, hurting Kal deeply. This later on resulted in his two sons Tor and Ijaat rejecting Kal as their father, which is referred to as one of the cruelest things one can do to a Mandalorian. On the bright side, Kal later on makes up with his daughter Ruusaan and she embraces the culture of her father, marrying a clone later on.
* In John Barnes's ''[[Literature/ThousandCultures A Million Open Doors]]'', when the hero, from a planet founded on the ideals of the medieval troubadours by way of the 18[[superscript:th]] century Romantic movement becomes an assistant to the envoy to a culture dominated by Rational Christianity, best described as the love-child of John Calvin and Creator/AynRand.
%%* From ''Literature/TheKingdomsOfEvil'': Everyone and everywhere.
* The war between the SteamPunk and PsychicPowers-fueled Sharonans and the {{Magitek}} powered Arcanans in Creator/DavidWeber and Linda Evans ''Literature/HellsGate'' series stems from this. Also, on Arcana itself, the three main civilizations are a ProudWarriorRace, a caste system with magicians on top, warriors in the middle and everyone else as serfs and a mildly hedonistic republic.
* In Creator/JorgeLuisBorges short story "Averroe's Search", this is the reason why Averroes, an Islamic philosopher, has PopCultureIsolation and never can understand the terms ''tragedy'' and ''comedy''. TruthInTelevision too. Borges comments at the end that his own attempts to understand Averroes are presumably as unsuccessful as Averroes' attempts to understand those two words in Aristotle's ''Poetics'' -- there must have been a whole load of cultural quirks that the people of Averroes' Andalus took for granted, but which we simply don't know about (like the live dramatic performances of ancient Athens, which had no counterpart at all in Averroes' day.)
* Elizabeth Bathory vs. all Slovakians in ''Literature/CountAndCountess''.
* The Clans and the Tribe in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series are rather similar, but there's enough difference in them that they can clash at times - especially when the Clan cats insist that the Tribe try to live like them in order to drive off intruders.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's Literature/TimePatrol story "Gibraltar Falls", Feliz, from a [[LadyLand Matriarchy era]], has to fight to see men as equal -- just as men from other eras have to fight to see women as equal, Thomas notes.
* Found several times in ''Literature/TechnicHistory''. CultureClash between Humans and Ythrians is a primary theme of ''Literature/ThePeopleOfTheWind'' both on the Macro level between the Terran Empire and the Ythrian Domain and the micro level between the Human and Ythrian settlements on Avalon. In the first case it is a war and is brought on [[NothingPersonal by politics]], not FantasticRacism; though ignorance and difficulty understanding each other is a problem, there is little actual hatred. In the second case it is more a matter of neighbors misunderstanding each other and occasionally rubbing each other the wrong way. Nonetheless, in both cases the cultural differences between Humans and Ythrians loom large.
* In Scott Westerfeld's ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'', this is what causes some tension between the combined Clanker-Darwinist crew aboard the living airship: the Darwinists (who [[OrganicTechnology alter DNA to make and use genetically-engineered "beasties"]] as things from medical equipment to modes of transportation and communication and weapons of war and prefer natural aesthetics) see Clanker tech as cold, lifeless, and a mockery of nature, while the Clankers (who create machinery to fulfill needs, [[DieselPunk run their walkers (also called "Clankers") on kerosene]], and prefer angular aesthetics) see Darwinist creations as "godless abominations." The two sides are caught up in an alternate-historical version of World War One, and when they are forced to work together they are very unnerved when having to work with the others' creations.
* In ''Literature/GreekNinja'', everyone suffers a bit of a culture shock upon arriving to Japan. Specifically, Dawson almost walks into a house without taking his shoes off.
* It takes time for immigrants to learn the rules of how ''Literature/{{Palimpsest}}'' works. Mild examples like making eye contact or speaking to the locals may be forbidden under very specific circumstances.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/CountToTheEschaton The Hermetic Millennia]]'', much of the story revolves about how many people from different eras and so different cultures -- and the historical change was often one of bitter reaction and conflict -- are woken out of cryogenic slumber together. Many conflicts ensue.
* This is a common theme in Creator/MCAHogarth's books -- in particular, ''Literature/{{Paradox}}'', which features a loose Alliance composed of dozens of genetically engineered "Pelted" races who developed widely differing cultures during the exodus from earth on GenerationShips, as well as a few completely alien species.
* In ''Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy'', the first time Drizzt Do'Urden meets a human, the teenage boy pulls a sword on him. Drizzt doesn't speak Common at this point, so he instead easily disarms him, ''juggles the sword on his scimitars'', then hands it back. In drow culture doing something like that demonstrates that one is both more skilled and not an enemy, but instead it scares the living daylights out of the kid, and he runs away screaming.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** In ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'', [[{{Jerkass}} Viserys Targaryen]] quickly loses favor with the [[ProudWarriorRace Dothraki]], so they confiscate his horse and force him to walk as they mock him. After getting sore feet from walking far, they allow him to ride in a cart. Due to his [[LanguageBarrier refusal to learn the Dothraki language]] or ways, he thinks they have apologized and he's being honored like a king. For the Dothraki, carts are only for children, pregnant women, the crippled, and the elderly. A grown man riding a cart is seen as a laughingstock, as it means he is too weak to ride a horse.
** In ''Literature/AClashOfKings'', Robb sends Theon as an ambassador to his father, Balon, to propose an alliance. His letter proposes to give Balon a crown of his own if they join forces. Balon is immediately incensed at the idea of Robb ''giving'' him anything, as his culture demands that [[ProudWarriorRace he take what he want by force]]. Also, Robb assumes that Theon will have pull with his own father, not realizing he'd [[IHaveNoSon be rejected as an outsider after being away for so long]]. Finally, Robb didn't seem to consider that this culture, [[RapePillageAndBurn which idealizes taking whatever they're strong enough to take]], might decide to start raiding ''his'' lands instead.
** This is heavily deconstructed in ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'', where it's probably the biggest problem with Daenerys Targaryen's reign in Meereen. She is of Valyrian blood, the people that annihilated the old Ghiscari empire, and she absolutely despises the cultures and traditions of her new nation. While most of those traditions are equally despicable to a modern audience, Dany soon learns that ruling over a people while trying to overthrow their basic customs, culture, and economy, is no easy task.
** Jon Snow similarly has trouble negotiating between Stannis Baratheon's court and the Free Folk. Not only are their cultures very different, but both the Westerosi and the Free Folk are pretty rigid in their mindsets. Stannis wants to seal an alliance by marrying one of his men to Val, the sister-in-law of 'King-Beyond-the-Wall' Mance Rayder; from a Westerosi perspective Val is the equivalent of royalty, or at least a noblewoman, and plenty of the lords in his retinue are eager for this chance at power. Jon has to explain ''several'' times that the Free Folk a) have no hereditary king ''or'' noble houses, so Val (while she is genuinely a well respected leader in her own right) holds no special status amongst them and neither would her 'husband',[[note]]Jarl, Val's deceased lover, was soundly mocked for precisely this reason, as the more senior Free Folk believed he only had his position due to his relationship with her and they regarded him as her 'bitch'[[/note]] and b) don't practice arranged marriage but instead believe a man has to capture a woman and ''live'' through the experience to be worthy of wedding her, so if Val is forced to marry someone she doesn't want then she'll probably cut her 'husband's' throat. Regardless, Stannis and his court stubbornly keep referring to her as "the Wildling Princess" and demanding to know when a marriage can be arranged. In the same vein, Stannis regards Mance's infant son as a prince...but to the Free Folk [[ShapedLikeItself he's just their king's son]] with no automatic right to his father's position; in a society where AsskickingLeadsToLeadership, the idea of a ''baby'' being eligible to lead them is absolutely ludicrous. "You don't become King-beyond-the-wall because your father was."
** In the backstory to the series, this was the catalyst of Aegon the Conqueror's invasion of Westeros. (On the surface at least; Aegon and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys had already been scouting out the possibility of invading for years beforehand.) King Argilac Durrandon proposed an alliance between the Stormlands and the Targaryens, via a marriage between Aegon and Argilac's daughter Argella; obviously no one in Westeros recognised Aegon's already existing marriages to his sisters as valid. Aegon refused on his part but instead offered Orys Baratheon as the prospective bridegroom, since by his own standards his second-in-command was a highly suitable match: Orys was his most treasured companion after his two wives, an extremely competent warrior, and carried the blood of the dragon in his veins. By ''Westerosi'' standards, however, Aegon was simply offering his subordinate... who was also heavily rumoured to be his bastard half-brother. Argilac took it as a gross insult to both himself and his daughter and maimed the messenger in a fit of rage, sending back his own insult to the Targaryens -- who promptly started mustering their army.
* In the ''Literature/Foreigner1994'' series humans are initially unaware that the alien [[RubberForeheadAliens atevi]] form government-like associations that have no connection whatsoever to geography. Humans mistakenly thinking that they're dealing with a single government when they're actually dealing with multiple ones leads to a human/atevi war which nearly wipes out the human LostColony.
* Creator/NealStephenson frequently explores CultureClash and ValuesDissonance in his works. Friends or allies from different cultures and sub-cultures sometimes have to pause and step back a moment to understand where their companions are coming from. Many an antagonist in his works is a thoroughly evil villain from the protagonist's perpective, but is "good" by his own code as a WellIntentionedExtremist, KnightTemplar, or an example of outright BlueAndOrangeMorality.
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''
** The series has a very subtle example in Pippin's conversations with Denethor. After their first conversation, rumors abound that Pippin is a hobbit prince (which is technically true since Pippin's father Paladin Took is the current Thain, but the Thain's only function is to lead defenders if the Shire is invaded); that he is in Minas Tirith to negotiate an alliance, which is false (except perhaps on a personal level); and that an army of hobbits is on its way to reinforce Minas Tirith (HaHaHaNo). In appendix E, Tolkien states that Westron (the common tongue of Middle-Earth, which was rendered as English in the books), has two second-person pronouns, one formal and one informal, but that the formal one has fallen into disuse in the Hobbit dialect. The implication is that someone overheard Pippin talking to Denethor, assumed no-one who wasn't at least a Prince would dare to assume to be on FirstNameBasis with the Steward of Gondor at a first meeting, and the rumor mill just spun off from there. Meanwhile, Pippin was just talking to the Steward in the same way he talks to everyone, from his neighbors to Gandalf to Orcs.
** ''Literature/TheHobbit'': After Bilbo steals the Arkenstone and takes it to the Elvenking and Bard to negotiate a deal with the dwarves, Bilbo treats the entire thing like he is negotiating for a business transaction and makes the whole affair sound like a mess of legal matters rather than a brewing war between the dwarves, men and elves.
* During book 1 of the ''Literature/TairenSoul'' series, one of the Fey flies over to a Celierian woman and talks to her briefly (throwing up a magical wall around both of them). The woman doesn't know his language and thinks that he's just told her he's about to kill her. In actuality, this was the Fey's way of saying "[[EternalLove Hello]], [[OneTrueLove soulmate]]." The magic was just because he didn't want them to be interrupted by the understandably panicked crowd around them.
* A major theme in ''Literature/{{Hellspark}}'', which is set in an interstellar future with a wide variety of societies, and features a community of people who were forced to live together without adequate preparation for their cultural differences. At the point when the protagonist shows up and starts mediating, there are people about ready to kill their neighbors over apparently little things like what kind of boots they wear.
* In the ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'', this is common between Kisuati and Gujaareen, even when the Gujaareen are of the shunha caste and stick very close to their Kisuati roots. The main point of contention is the dominant religion of Gujaareh, namely Hananja's Law. The Kisuati view the Gujaareen custom of Gatherer priests gathering -- read: killing -- people in their dreams when 'their time has come' as barbaric.
* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' has many, but the most obvious is the ultimate one: Azania versus the Confederation. Or, briefly explained, a society of [[LadyLand mostly lesbian, tech-optimistic Amazons]] versus one of [[EvilReactionary reactionary Christian fundamentalists]]. For just one example of the ''little'' things they disagree on: In the Confederation, women who do not dress modestly and femininely are subject to public disapproval, whereas Azania has actually [[RealWomenDontWearDresses outlawed dresses]], considering them a symbol of the old female slavery their ancestors fought so hard to escape.
* The short story ''The All-American Slurp'' is about a Chinese immigrant family's struggles to integrate into American culture.
** When they are invited to dinner by their neighbors, the Gleasons, they politely refuse the offer of sour cream dip, as most Chinese people don't eat dairy products. Later, they pull the strings out of the celery sticks before eating them, which surprises the neighbors. They also misunderstand the concept of a buffet dinner; when they see the table piled with food but no chairs around it, they bring some chairs over, only to be told that they're supposed to take food from the table and eat it in the living room.
** The mother buys a skirt for her daughter to wear to school, but later sees that all the other girls are wearing jeans.
** When eating at a fancy restaurant, they slurp their soup (in Chinese culture, this cools the liquid while also showing appreciation for the meal), and the other diners give them strange looks. The daughter is so embarrassed that she flees into the bathroom.
** At the end, the family gets to see this trope from their point of view when they invite the Gleason family to dinner at their house. Meg, the daughter, takes food from multiple dishes at the buffet table, when the Chinese custom is to take from one dish and finish the serving before taking from another. Mrs. Gleason mixes the prawns, gravy and rice together on her plate, and Mr. Gleason struggles with using a pair of chopsticks.
* In ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' the fictional country of Flanguild is a true meritocracy that abruptly switches people out of their jobs when someone who's better shows up. For this reason, Rachel is irritated by the foreigner [[OneManArmy Kyousuke]]'s insistence that he face Flanguild's enemies alone: he thinks he's being nice and heroic, but in Flanguild terms, he's saying 'you're obsolete'. Even knowing that Kyousuke isn't interested in her job doesn't make Rachel feel better, because she knows she ''should'' want her royal {{Protectorate}} to have the best bodyguard available, but at the same time she wants to keep the status she's worked so hard for, and she is [[TragicBigot culturally hardwired to perceive all her peers as rivals]].
* ''[[Literature/TroyRising The Hot Gate]]'':
** After Dana "Comet" Parker is transferred to the ''Thermopylae'', she is put in charge of an all-male team of South American engineers. Her being female immediately puts her at odds, and her being a "norte" (North American) is seen as even worse. And she actually demands that they do their jobs maintaining the shuttles? *Gasp*! How dare she? Doesn't she know that every single one of them is a scion of a powerful South American family? People like them are there merely to bide their time until they are inevitably made officers. Who does this American farm girl think she is? She is "educated" several times in the ways of Latin America and the concept of "class" not just as an economic divider (the way it's treated in the US and most of the Western world), but in how only "the right people" should be put in top positions, with everyone else being "rabble". It works the other way too, with South American officials having trouble understanding someone like Tyler Vernon, automatically ascribing him certain qualities simply because he's the richest guy in the world and only meets with the President of the US when his (Tyler's) schedule opens up. One of Parker's subordinates, who has picked up a few things, explains to his father that Tyler doesn't fit into their "upper class" mold. He's a typical American billionaire, who only wants to get rich, without trying to adjust his own culture to that of his financial peers.
** Parker gets an even worse reaction than Dana from the Pathans, Afghan SpaceMarines, who were, until only a few decades ago, fighting the US as insurgents. Immediately upon seeing Parker in her standard-issue gym shirt and shorts, they demand that she covers herself up, as her current appearance is "an insult to God".
* In ''Literature/MasterOfFormalities'', this is why the titular position exists. Masters of Formalities are there to mediate between the various noble houses that run the planets of the galaxy. Over the two millennia of humanity settling the stars, the many human civilizations have diverged significantly, so some form of mediation is a necessity to avoid this trope.
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' Lyrah (a Hamahran) and Cueseg (a Tuerasian) constantly clash. Most of the conflict comes from him being so lewd that even other Tuerasians think he's perverse, and her being [[ParalyzingFearOfSexuality exceptionally puritanical]] even for a Hamahran. After some [[PervertRevengeMode uncomfortable conversations]], things settle down to a CrazyCulturalComparison between the two.
* ''Literature/HorribleHarry'': In ''Horrible Harry and the Dragon War,'' the class has to make animals out of papier-mache for a project. Harry and Song Lee both decide to make dragons, but Harry makes a fierce, greedy, fire-breathing Western dragon while Song Lee (who is Korean) makes a beautiful, wise, and kind Eastern dragon. When Harry calls Song Lee's dragon stupid, the entire class ends up in a boys-versus-girls war.
* ''Literature/TalionRevenant'': {{Discussed}} as the reason Nolan is chosen for undercover work in Hamis posing as a Sinjarian lord. Only someone from the region knows every little custom, which could give an undercover agent away otherwise. It's demonstrated by something as small as peeling an apple in a specific way. Nolan also encountered some very serious examples previously, such as a Daari who attacks him since he's a Talion (who his culture teaches means he's demonically possessed) then an old woman in [[spoiler:Temur]] who tells him to kill [[spoiler:Marana]] because she's a "demon twin" (i.e. second born identical twin).
* Features prominently in the third ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' novel. The Attolians consider Eddisians to be mountain barbarians to the degree that they sometimes don't even realize Eugenides is insulting them, because they can't conceive of an Eddisian DeadpanSnarker. He uses this to greater advantage in the end when "sparring" with a man who intends to kill him. After disarming him, the man fully expects Eugenides to take the next strike in accordance with Attolian sparring rules. Eugenides--who had subtly hinted earlier why he always mistreats wooden practice blades--instead grabs the edgeless weapon and rams it into the man's solar plexus.
* Comes up frequently in ''Literature/DriftlessWormhole'' thanks to time travel plus different locations. When Nigel is unsure how to address Mateo by his surname(s), Mateo [[FirstNameBasis tells him to just call him by his first name.]] To Mateo, this is just tact, while to Nigel it's actively friendly. Nigel also tiptoes around class issues, since he sees Mateo as being lower down socially than him and doesn't want to be rude about it, while Mateo sees himself as middle class and considers that the most honorable status to have.
* The three remaining (intelligent) species left AfterTheEnd in ''Literature/{{Maddaddam}}'' are the surviving humans, the [[ArtificialHuman Crakers]] who were designed to be vegetarian pacifists, and the Pigoons who are intelligent pigs, the unintended consequence of gene-splicing human cerebral cortexes into genetically modified pigs. Naturally the three groups run into issues such as the Crakers not understanding human taboos about sex since female Crakers go into heat and therefore all human women smell willing and available to male Crakers. Meanwhile the Pigoons have no qualms about cannibalism and therefore offer a dead piglet as a peace offering during negotiations since they were well-aware that humans were fond of pork.
* ''Literature/TheLeftHandOfDarkness'': On the planet Gethen it's insulting to give direct advice. This leads to PoorCommunicationKills when the human diplomat Genly visits -- he dismisses all of Estraven's cautious warnings about the volatile political climate as coy, manipulative doublespeak, and thereby distrusts the one person who's genuinely trying to help his mission.
[[/folder]]

* In the crossover [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14171719/1/New-Stars New Stars]], Maxx (CT-5599) has a hard time adjusting to the fact that those serving on the Orville weren't drafted but ''chose'' to enlist, and ''don't'' see him as expendable, and find the act of cloning men to be soldiers (and refusing to see them as people) utterly horrifying. Seeing as how he's also TrappedInAnotherWorld, there are numerous species and cultures in the Orville galaxy that he has no knowledge of.
* ''Fanfic/ConnectingTheDots'' has lots of this, particularly in the ThouShaltNotKill department. Neji kills Dr. Light so quickly and cleanly that the Teen Titans don't even realize what happened until they try to tie Dr. Light up and leave him for the police, like usual. In the ensuing discussion, the Shinobi and the Titans have difficulty understanding each other's viewpoint; only [[MessianicArchetype Naruto]] is willing to give the idea of simply containing your enemies indefinitely a chance, but the reveal that all prisons in the DC-verse are made of {{cardboard|Prison}} makes him hesitate. Robin realizes that the League sent him ChildSoldiers to house, and calls Batman out accordingly. Ultimately, the Shinobi decide to accept "their land, their rules" as a counterargument, but make it clear they don't agree, while Dr. Light's crimes end up being severe enough for the police and civilians to accept his death as a necessity.
* ''Fanfic/TheMoonstoneCup'': One of Twilight's earlier opponents is a griffin who turns out to specialize in necromancy. Said griffin raises several pony skeletons and uses them to fight, infuriating Twilight who beats her soundly. After the match, the griffin is puzzled that Twilight was so upset and explains, to Twilight's shock, that using the pony skeletons was a ''compliment'' since necromancers only use the deceased they feel are strong as warriors.
* ''Fanfic/UnderTheNorthernLights'': The reindeer of Tarandroland have a very negative view of magic and have problems with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic unicorn-heavy Equestria]]. Equestrians get nervous with both casual violence and the use of animal products, both common in Tarandroland.

* ''Fanfic/{{Greenfire}}'': Over the issue of gems. Spike is shocked ponies use them to look pretty, Rarity is shocked that dragons eat them.
* ''WebVideo/DragonballZAbridged'': Used rather frequently, as Vegeta has difficulties with differences between Earth culture and Space culture. Among other things, he doesn't know what soap was (when the composition of it is described, he thinks it's food), and when Bulma asked about "protection" before having sex, he put on his combat armor.
* ''Fanfic/{{Hivefled}}'': Gamzee has a SlaveBrand on his arm reading "namoha", meaning "one who is owned by a higher". He hasn't told his human associates what it means; they tried to look it up, but [[spoiler:the only reference they could find, not being able to access the troll internet via a human computer nor read the alphabet used on the trolls' computers, is a porn site. Misleading and incomprehensible videos have led them to believe that Gamzee is a rapist who was branded as a legal punishment.]]

* ''Fanfic/WingsToFly'':
** Lucrezia Noin doesn't speak Navy. The most obvious manifestation is where she doesn't know what it means when one of her subordinates calls her "Skipper" and has to guess she's not being insulted from the reactions of the people around her. Later she looks it up.
** She similarly doesn't understand some Americanisms, being Italian, and has occasional visible reactions to sloppy protocol or ceremony from people who originally came from other backgrounds, as her own original service was a stickler for proper military protocol.
* ''Fanfic/ToAbsentFriends'': Dul'krah, Clan Korekh comments on Kanril Eleya and Reshek Gaarra's relationship. (This is explained in the [[WordOfGod author's notes]]. Apparently romantic relationships among Dul'krah's species tend not to last more than about five years, and any kids are part of the mother's clan and are raised by said clan in its entirety.)
-->"It was not a secret, Commander Reshek," Dul'krah says. "The only question I had was when your first children would be born." There's an oddly musical clunk from Warragul dropping his guitar. I feel my cheeks burning and Dul'krah has the good sense to start looking embarrassed. "My apologies. Clearly I have run afoul of, I believe the term Lieutenant Commander Bo'tok at the Academy used was 'culture clash'."\\
"''Phekk'tem'' understatement," somebody female in the crowd mutters in Perikian.\\
"Watch it," I warn over my shoulder.
* ''Fanfic/AWorldOfBloodyEvolution'' takes the rather carefree Yang from [[WorldHalfFull Remnant]] and tosses her in the TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 universe. While Yang enjoys the challenging fights, she is highly disturbed by the rampant zealotry and FantasticRacism. [[spoiler:Weiss, who transferred over 50 years before Yang, didn't have as much issue adjusting, though she still hates the place.]]
* ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'': The small nation Maasailand considers red, black, and scorpions to be symbols of peace and love and considers gold a symbol of aggression, which confuses the Equestrian characters.
* ''Fanfic/TheGreatestGeneration'': In chapter 3, Yvonne, being an American, attaches very different connotations to the term "expedition" than what Tenryuu and [=DesDiv=] Six do. This perception, and her subsequent behavior because of it, causes no small amount of problems, to say the least.%%Like what?
* ''Fanfic/ChrysalisVisitsTheHague'': A good portion of the conflict between ponies and humans stems from complex issues like the humans' historical treatment of earthly horses as lowly pack animals, to things as banal as the ponies' all-herbivore diet.

* ''Fanfic/LightningOnlyStrikesOnce'': Raven in particular attempts to use this theme when making a few jokes, such as [[spoiler:telling Abby that Trikru tradition would require her to attend Clarke and Lexa's wedding wearing a bear-skin with a head-dress including boar's tusks to prove the strength of Clarke's bloodline, and telling Anya that Skaikru traditions mean that they need to write a thirty-line poem in their role as bridesmaids for the wedding to be blessed by the Star-Lords. Lincoln turns this against her by claiming that Raven's advice that he tell Bellamy that he wants an open relationship with Octavia means that Lincoln and Bellamy must now engage in a fight to the death after Bellamy struck Lincoln in public]].
* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'':
** Being from Britain, OL had a bit of a shock when he had to adjust to living in America. Supermarkets tend to creep him out.
** Kaldur is disturbed how surface-worlders tend to depict pirates as good guys in their fiction and how rare a negative portrayal is, since pirates are a serious problems for Atlantians.
* ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/8763292%20 Cultural Clash]]'': Nick playfully snaps at Judy and stamps his foot during an argument. Judy immediately goes sullen and gives him the silent treatment for several days. Nick is originally under the impression that it's because of his sharp teeth and is hurt that she still doesn't trust him, but when he eventually calls her mother in desperation to fix things, he discovers foot stamping is a dominance display and Judy felt devalued when he did it to her. As Bonnie puts it, "you may as well have slapped a leash on her and dangled her in the air by it for what it said about your opinion of her."
* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' has this going on between Trainer and Ranger nations, as both of them follow different philosophies about human interaction with Pokémon. Rangers believe in "living in harmony", and that Pokémon have the right to choose whether they want to stick with humans or not, while Trainers believe in "growing stronger together" and try and help Pokémon develop their full potential. The two sides have actually ''gone to war'' over these conflicting views for decades, and even in the current time they're in a cold war state.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4742802/1/Culture-Shock Culture Shock]]'': Megatron offers Starscream assistance in standing after defeating him in combat as an attempt to be condescending. Unbeknownst to Megatron, Seekers see such an act as an offer for a permanent bond. Naturally, Megatron is NOT happy when he learns that he's made an AccidentalProposal to his treacherous second-in-command - and he's even less happy when he learns that refusing to participate in the bonding is NOT a good idea.
* ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'':
** Peter can't help but laugh as he learns that heroics in Izuku's world are regulated by what amounts to a peaceful and reasonable version of [[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 the Superhuman Registration Act]]. On a more mundane level, he struggles to ease himself into Japanese amenities like public baths.
** Izuku is horrified by Peter's description of the superhero civil war and can't imagine heroes ever wielding the brutal authority that Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, and Maria Hill did.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/5979817 Cross-Cultural Contamination]]'': Gygax tradition regarding proposals involves making electric blue candy as a proposal gift, and the one being proposed to accepts the proposal by eating the candy. In the Towers, on the other hand, proposals involve making a silver bracelet and giving it to the one you wish to bond with -- if the proposal is accepted, then the one being proposed to puts the bracelet on and replaces a section of their armor with it later.

* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': Part of the conflict of the story is Twilight and her friends learning to understand and respect the different laws and culture of the other races.
** Twilight unwittingly offends Swift-Pad with her repeated apologies before she is made aware of just how seriously the wolves take such things. However, she also demonstrates a willingness to learn from her mistakes when they're explained, which Swift-Pad appreciates.
** Twilight also freaks out when she finds that [[spoiler:changelings are welcome in the Packlands. Luckily, she is able to calm herself before she unwittingly causes an international incident; it helps that the changeling in question is from a different hive than Chrysalis'.]]
** In chapter 17, Applejack meets a long-lost relative in the Packlands, who has learned to understand and follow their laws and way of life after an awkward start, to the point where she now considers herself a Packlander rather than an Equestrian. Part of this is because she's had trouble with ponies who outright refused to follow and respect these laws, and went out of their way to break them. When Slice n' Dice chose to stick with the new ways she'd learned, the other ponies lied to Slice n' Dice's family and the Equestrian border guard to make them think of her as a criminal; Applejack, who has a strong respect for the law and understands why Slice n' Dice would follow it, is disgusted with the ones who acted otherwise.
* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'': It's rare overall, but it has happened across the series due to how different the worlds can be from each other. An example occurred between the two Franchise/{{Spyro|TheDragon}} [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro universes]]. When the two Spyros and their friends first meet, they have trouble interacting with each other because of said differences, which ends up causing [[spoiler:Legends Spyro entering his SuperPoweredEvilSide]] after an ill-thought-out prank from Classic Spyro.
* ''Fanfic/ALongRoad'': A conflict threatens to be unleashed because a Companion -- think an angel embodied as a horse -- picks a foreign visitor as a Herald. In Valdemar, being Chosen by a Companion is seen as the greatest honour and the opportunity to serve the country, but from the foreign embassy's viewpoint, a powerful spirit just subverted one of theirs and it's supposed to be a ''bad'' thing since it generally ends in bloodshed. And even if the spirit is benevolent, it still uses mind arts and could potentially subvert his Herald.
* Forms the main conflict of [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/142803/the-homesteading The Homesteading]]. The house Twilight and Applejack had moved into together was trying to cast them out because it viewed Twilight as a greedy invading thief since Twilight wasn't recognized by the titular Earth Pony magical process of protection as Applejack's wife and thus a rightful owner. This turns out to be because Twilight and Applejack were married in a ceremony for Unicorns, which was designed to distinguish that parties don't properly own one another's estates. Conversely, an Earth Pony ceremony does make it so that both parties share ownership of any property; once Twilight and Applejack have a second ceremony in the Earth Pony style, their problems with their new house end and they're able to host a holiday party for both mares' families just as they had wanted, with the ending indicating Twilight and Applejack will have many happy and safe years in their new home.
* In ''FanFic/DescribingTheSeriesViaReferences'' (where Team RWBY reads their own [[Memes/{{RWBY}} meme page]]), the girls are reading a document from another world with as little context as possible, so this happens a lot.
** 'Aura' confuses them because Aura is a normal human capability (it'd be like a meme that was just 'hairdo'), while to us it's a plot element used to HandWave the anime physics.
** Transforming weapons are normal on Remnant, so they don't get that "it's also a gun" is a joke because of how ridiculous weapons like Crescent Rose would be on Earth.
** Anime terms (like 'tsundere') are culturally translated as Mistrali, but Earth history things like the ''Titanic'', the Gregorian calendar, and racism based on skin color go completely over their heads.
* ''Fanfic/ReMyHostageNotYours'': Zim's ultimate holdup on pursuing his newfound feelings for Gaz is that Irkens mate for life and aren't allowed to breakup and pursue new relationships if the first one doesn't work out, which is a real risk in this case, given how young and inexperienced in dating Gaz is.
* In ''Fanfic/AtTheEdgeOfLasglen'', the last remaining Elves of the Woodland Realm come into contact with 21st-century Ireland. The modern world is an absolute shock to them, though Thranduil was slightly more aware of it; at the beginning of the story, he at least speaks English. They rapidly have to come to terms with modern technology and modern Irish society, which has less than no use for monarchy; even those who actually know who Thranduil is treat him as they would anyone else.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13507920/11/Using-The-Force-Made-Easy Using the Force Made Easy]]'': Delia [[MistakenForGay mistakes a girl for a lesbian]] because on her planet, wearing a single earring in your left ear is a signal that you're interested in your own sex. When he hears this, Anakin remarks that on Tatooine, it meant you were high ranking in a gang if you wore visible jewelry.
* ''Fanfic/PokemonJourneysHisuiLegend'' has a mutual one between Ash, Chloe, and the Hisuian people. The former two come from a world where Pokémon and people live together in peace, while the latter come from a world where the exact opposite is true. So the former as quite shocked to see Pokémon and people so separate from one another, while the latter are shocked to see somebody not only with Pokémon who listen to them, but as many as Ash's team. The residents of Jubilife Village and the Diamond and Pearl Clans have their own hiccups.
* ''Fanfic/GrowingPainsDannyPhantom'': One of Helena's excuses for not caring about Danny's actual age for as long as he's physically an adult is that "marrying ages and relationships in the Ghost Zone are different for ghosts than they are in the human realm".

* "Fanfic/TarkinsFist": One of the main themes of Tarkin's Fist is examining how galactic society in Star Wars would clash with that of 21st century Earth.

* ''Film/RedSun'' involves samurai coming to TheWildWest, and includes a scene where Creator/CharlesBronson's cowboy character laughs at a samurai and says that he's wearing a dress.
* ''Film/EastIsEast'' is about a Pakistani father struggling to come to terms with his sons being drawn more to British youth culture than his own Islamic values.

* ''Film/{{Outsourced}}'' centers on this theme as an American sales expert is sent to India to train call centre workers and only becomes successful once he starts adapting to his new home.

* In ''Film/TheBaaderMeinhofComplex'', Muslim terrorists sharing the training camp with the RAF are not pleased about them sunbathing in the nude and both sexes having the same quarters.

* ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' has a clash between Erik Killmonger and his ''very'' Black American attitude towards race, aggressive black supremacy ideals, and pan-Africanist views with the Wakandans' bemusement about race issues, rather smug and paternalistic superiority (not that it's unjustified, mind), and highly tribalistic view of the world. This comes to a point when Erik condemns Wakanda for not intervening to stop the transatlantic slave trade, and the Wakandans' reaction is basically a confused "Why should we have cared about people on ''the other side of the goddamned continent'', and why should we care more about slaves sold to the English than slaves sold to the Dahomey?"
* A central theme of ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'', as Howie's Presbyterian Christian beliefs clash with the BlueAndOrangeMorality of the Celtic pagan islanders. Both sides are confused by each other. It all comes to a head at the end when [[spoiler:the villagers have Howie sacrificed in a burning wicker man to save their crops.]]
* ''Film/TheSunIsAlsoAStar'': Daniel's father is unhappy with how his sons are more individualistic than traditional Korean culture advocates. This is illustrated by the fact that the Korean family names come first, then the individual one.

* ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'': Rachel is a middle class, renowned mathemathics professor from New York City who was raised by her single mother, who emmigrated from China, and who raised Rachel with the idea to follow her dreams and maker her own way in life. This puts her at odds with her boyfriend Nick's mother Eleanor, a native of Singapore, and the daughter of a very wealthy family, who married into an even wealthier family, who also firmly believes of putting family over everything else, including personal desires, which in Nick's case is marrying Rachel, a woman of lower social standing [[spoiler: who was also the product of an adulterous affair,]] becuuse it will bring shame to the family.
* ''Film/BonnieAndBonnie'': Yara is like most German young people, wearing skimpy clothes, partying and loves to do hip-hop, things which her conservative Muslim father would not like. This is even before she's started to date a woman.

* This trope is arguably the {{central theme}} in the 1968 {{mondo}} film ''Film/SwedenHeavyAndHell'', with the Swedes' liberal attitudes towards sex and drugs clashing with the more conservative views of the mostly Italian production team.

---> '''Buzz:''' I don't want you thinking my sister was...cheap, or anything like that.
---> '''Shawna:''' Oh no no no, I get it. She was sexually liberated and non-monogamous.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** This is very prevalent within the Imperium. To start with, the Imperium itself is composed of the almost entirely separate Imperium proper and the Mechanicus, only united because they decided to agree that their gods are the same person. There's plenty of culture clash ranging everywhere from simple misunderstandings to outright bigotry on both sides. On top of that, with tens of millions of different worlds and relatively difficult travel between them, huge numbers of very different cultures have evolved. Every time someone from one world visits another, or even just part of their own world that they're not familiar with, you can guarantee this trope will come up. And then you have all the interactions between the various different military forces, with the differences in culture and traditions between regiments from different worlds being the least of it before you even start looking at the various fanatical superhumans.
** While most xenos and humans are usually too busy literally clashing to even look at each other's culture, this happens on occasion. Da Orks for example are rather confused by human command structure. Due to the way Ork biology works, an Ork's authority is proportionate to their size. It's easy to tell a Warboss from a Nob since the Warboss will tower over his subordinates. Humans on the other hand are more or less all the same size, and sometimes ''shorter'' ones are the ones in charge. Orks however have figured out that the humans in charge usually wear fancier hats.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' also has quite a bit of this. The Empire is mainly based on part-medieval, part-early industrial revolution Germany, but the "good" factions also include various other European influences, particularly French aristocracy and British Arthurian legends (themselves largely based on the culture clash between traditional Celtic culture and the rise of Christianity). Elves, dwarves and humans are nominally on the same side, but often come into conflict due to misunderstanding, or deliberate dismissal, of each others' cultures.
* This is a constant theme in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' and the source of most of the setting's conflicts. Humanity makes huge assumptions about alien cultures, such as labeling the entire Martian courtesan sub-caste prostitutes, rather than the complicated geisha-like role they actually serve, or applying the moral norms of the 1930s to alien cultures with more open values. On the other side of the coin many Martians can't comprehend how human society works without castes or slavery.

* In ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'', when humans first encounter [[HumanAliens Buff Clan]], they try to call a ceasefire by raising a white flag. Unfortunately, in Buff Clan culture, a white flag means the resolve to fight until death. [[PoorCommunicationKills Much bloodshed ensues]].
* Played for humour in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'', Kaere, a returnee is offended by various gestures that "in her country" mean odd things. Also, Maria is a reverse example, seeing negative things in Japanese society as positive things. Her reaction to a pedophile accosting a little girl? "People in Japan are so nice to little kids".

* Interestingly subverted in ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'', for the character of Tina Foster -- a blond, blue-eyed American who grew up in Japan. Being American, she's never really accepted by her classmates, due to the highly ethno-centric nature of Japanese society, despite having been raised there from a very young age. Returning to America for high school, she discovers that she is culturally much more Japanese than American, and finds herself an outsider again. Her overreactions to this result in her clashing with both cultures, and prevent her from making any close personal connections in either Japan or America, until she meets open-minded protagonist Hanabishi Kaoru several years prior to the beginning of the story.

* In the Ramen & Gyoza volume of ''Manga/{{Oishinbo}}'', one of Shiro's superiors takes some out-of-town Chinese colleagues to his favorite noodle shop; only to have them stop dead when they see the restaurant, accuse him of deliberately insulting them, and threaten to break off relations with the Tozai News. Turns out the restaurant's name uses an old Japanese word for China that many Japanese see as no worse than old-fashioned, but the mainland Chinese consider highly insulting. Good thing Shiro has the connections to set things right.
* In ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'', Wolfram insults Yuuri's mother, so Yuuri slaps him. Wolfram's brothers beg Yuuri to take it back. Yuuri, who thinks he's just insulted Wolfram back, swears he never will. Turns out [[AccidentalMarriage that's how they propose marriage around those parts]]. The engagement stands for almost three straight seasons, and by the third everyone either considers them married or has forgotten about the proposal altogether. It can sometimes be hard to tell.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': There is a major culture clash between Ichigo and Byakuya in the "saving Rukia" arc. Byakura stubbornly follows the Soul Society's ancient traditions, which include always honoring oaths and never questioning one's superiors, so he follows his superiors' orders to have his own sister Rukia executed despite his own personal feelings. Ichigo is from Earth, so he follows a modern sense of ethics that demands that he save Rukia, both because she needs help and because she is his friend.

* One of the prevalent themes of ''Manga/CroiseeInAForeignLabyrinth''.
* The YuriGenre manga ''Manga/FlowerFlower'' revolves around this. Two princesses from separate countries are wed but their cultures clash. This leads to some interesting situations.
* A bit of this is to be expected in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' as it is about NationsAsPeople. An example is [[InscrutableOriental Japan]] telling [[{{Keet}} Italy]] he must "[[AccidentalMarriage assume responsibility]]" (which is never actually followed up on) when the latter, who is much less reserved about his emotions and physical contact, hugs him.
* A major hurdle for Momoko in ''Anime/MagicalDoremi''. Being raised in the US for most of her life, early after her introduction she has a lack of tact, doesn't understand that Japanese schools don't allow jewelry as simple as her stud earring, and compares Hazuki's family retainer to a nanny. On the flip side, she does not appreciate when Tamaki accidentally insults her black friend.
* Asuka from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' was raised in Germany and, as a result, deals with Japanese cultural clashes. She's more brash than most of her classmates and complains about Japanese-style doors not having locks.
* This was a major reason for the tension between the Amestrians and the Ishvallans in the backstory of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. The Amestrians view alchemy as a [[FunctionalMagic useful science]], while the Ishvallans view alchemy as [[AgainstMyReligion an affront to their god]]. This isn't as much of a problem now, only since after the war, [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide most of the Ishvallans are dead]]. However, neither group was completely intolerant, and the war itself was less a result of cultural conflict and more because [[spoiler:the homunculi intentionally started it and kept it going in order to cause sufficient deaths for their EvilPlan]].

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': Lindy Harlaown is a big fan of Japanese culture, so she furnishes her home Japanese style and tries to do everything the Japanese way. However, she puts milk and sugar in her tea, which is a big no-no in Japan. The Japanese Nanoha Takamachi always gives her a look of disgust when she sees this, but only when Lindy's back is turned and is too polite to say anything.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Second Chance", the Galactic Commonwealth meets new, alien races and cultures. While the Commonwealth is mostly friendly and open minded, it is not rare to see their culture and that of another alien race to clash.

* This trope is part of the drive between Creator/GavinFree and Fiona Nova of Creator/AchievementHunter. Both were born in Europe (Gavin in Great Britain and Fiona in France), thus certain things in America are vastly different where they were from. This trope fits more with Gavin, who didn't move to America until his 20s, though Fiona's EstablishingCharacterMoment was her blowing up at Creator/MichaelJones in a game of ''Jackbox'' over choosing "lollipops" as a candy she wouldn't expect to get on Halloween over "full-sized candy bars" as both items would be right where they came from.
* Sometimes happens in male same-sex shipping culture due to the differing ways portmanteau ship names work in Western vs. Eastern (mostly Japanese) fandom. The former usually choose the more phonetically pleasing sounding combination of the two names and that's that. In contrast, Eastern fans use both variations and arrange them specifically depending on which man they see as being "on top". His name goes first and the man "on bottom" makes up the second part. Western and Eastern shippers are sometimes left frustrated with each other because of this: the Western fans seeing such a distinction as unneeded at best and even regressive at worst (due to "weaker" characters usually ending up in the second half of the ship name), while the Eastern side are annoyed their counterparts can't (or won't) tag their offerings this way. The disagreements aren't usually serious and both sides know what the other expects by this point, but the occasional arguments break out even so.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the Scotsman and his family repeatedly mock Jack's outfit, saying he is wearing a basket on his head and a dress, and mock his katana for being small compared to their claymores. When Jack tries to greet them by bowing, they ask him why he bent over and stared at the ground. On the flip side, Jack cannot stand bagpipe music and most Scottish cuisine.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', both ComicBook/JonahHex and Batman's old sensei mock Batman's costume.
* The ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' episode "Mickey and the Culture Clash", where Mickey reads a letter in the newspaper saying Minnie wants a more 'sophisticated' boyfriend. He tries to be more fancy, but then finds out it's all a trick by Mortimer so he can steal Minnie away from Mickey.
* The premise behind ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'': Mike comes from New York City and all the wonders of modern technology, while the island she's sent to as part of an exchange program is an uncharted island somewhere in the South Pacific, inhabited only by the descendants of the British sailors and pirates that got stranded there centuries prior with all sorts of odd local customs. As an example, in one episode Mike introduces the concept of money, while in the other she introduces the islanders to hot dogs, both of which are completely alien to her islander friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** An animal version of this happens in the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E9BridleGossip Bridle Gossip]]" when several of the locals mistake Zecora [[FurryReminder pawing for water]] as a threat display, and only [[GentlemanAndAScholar Twilight Sparkle,]] who already knows about zebras, isn't scared (at first). [[ShownTheirWork Note that this is a real difference between zebras and horses.]]
** In "Luna Eclipsed", Princess Luna tries to be regal and gracious in Ponyville, using the patterns of behavior and speech that she remembers from over a thousand years ago. She ''terrifies'' everyone -- save for [[GentlemanAndAScholar Twilight Sparkle,]] who knows enough about both cultural history ''and'' royal protocol to realize what Luna is attempting to convey by her conduct.

* The Almighty Tallest (and likely the Irken society in general) of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' are completely ''baffled'' when they learn that humans aren't ranked by height. They have trouble wrapping their minds of people taller than the average Irken but on average incredibly stupid. Dib is similarly gobsmacked when he realizes the Tallest are only leaders by virtue of being, well, the tallest.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' had the boat from Avalon take Goliath and company to Japan, where they ended up assisting a group of Japanese gargoyles. As the sun was rising and they were preparing to pose before they turned to stone for the day, Goliath learned of differing customs. Whereas Western Gargoyles face outward and assume intimidating poses to scare invaders, Eastern Gargoyles face ''inward'' and assume poses of benediction to reassure the residents inside. This initially caused some issues between Goliath and Angela. Angela, having been brought up by humans, wished for her father to acknowledge her as his daughter. Gargoyle tradition dictates that gargoyle children were always to be treated as the children of the entire clan and not claimed by their actual parents, which is why Goliath is unwilling to claim Angela as his daughter.

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', among the Echani, repeated duels constitute a courtship and possibly foreplay if the proper rituals are observed. Your female Echani party member doesn't bother to tell you that.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the Gerudo are a OneGenderRace of women, and as a result, are shown to have a very hard time interacting with men. They have a special class dedicated to helping Gerudo understand how to woo men (one particularly bad student keeps flunking the lessons by being ''way'' too aggressive), and traveling Gerudo that Link encounters are often quite awkward when interacting with him. At least one actively flies into a panic when Link talks to her, whispering to herself to try and remember the lessons she was taught about what to do around a "voe".
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'': Mimir reveals that the Norse prefer to die in battle and think dying of old age is dishonorable. Anyone who dies of old age goes to Hel instead of Valhalla. Kratos is disturbed by this. While Spartans also prefer to die in battle, they respect any warrior who dies of old age because only a real badass is strong and skilled enough to survive that long, and they go to the Elysian Fields with the other warriors.