Strangereal

"the strange,real world. the another future."

- Tokyo Game Show 2000 teaser trailer for Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

Strangereal is the fan-given name of the universe within which the majority of Ace Combat games take place. This universe is very similar to our real. All Ace Combat games that take place in Strangereal occur on a planet called Earth, which has a completely different structure than our Earth.

Strangereal has been the setting for Ace Combat games since Air Combat on the, but, to this day, has never been explicitly named by any Ace Combat developers. The community named the universe following an Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies commercial that advertised "The Strange,Real World". Some fans incorrectly assumed that the world of Shattered Skies was therefore named StrangeReal or Strangereal, and the name has since spread throughout the internet. It is still used today, and does not have any popular alternatives.

Composition
It is widely believed and highly probable, but not confirmed, that Strangereal is almost identical to our real, which would mean it is a large expanding universe made up of mostly dark energy and dark matter, with a very small percentage belonging to the stars and planets. It is also believed that Earth is the only known habitable planet in Strangereal, on which the only discovered life is present, including s.

The Solar System where Earth is located is believed to contain the same planets as our real, which includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as the Sun and an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Additionally, the Solar System seems to be placed within the same Milky Way as ours, since some of our constellations are present in the games, including and.

Earth
The planet Earth in Strangereal is vastly different from our real Earth. Various differences include climate, landmasses, historical events, and cultural differences. However, many similarities exist as well. Humans inhabit this planet as the dominant species, the concept of time is the exact same as ours, and lasting world peace seems unreachable, which is a popular theme for most Strangereal-based games.

Continents
Earth is comprised of six recognized continents, each of which are divided into various countries. In total, there are 53 countries on Strangereal.

Anea
Anea is the geographic northernmost continent on the planet. It is, however, home to various climates including deserts. Three major countries are known to exist on Anea: Nordennavic, Emmeria, and Estovakia.

Antarctica
Antarctica is the largest continent land-wise, and is the only continent that shares its name with. No countries, colonies, or, more plausible, research stations belonging to other countries, are known to exist on Antarctica. It is the geographic southernmost continent on the planet, and the geographic South Pole is in the center.

Osea
The Osean continent is one of the largest continents on the planet, and is separated into at least 12 and at most 16 countries. Osea makes up most of the continent, filling out its western half. The eastern half is composed of Belka, Fato, Nordlands, Wielvakia, Ratio, Sapin, Ustio, Recta, and Gebet. The southern half of the continent is mostly made of Aurelia and Leasath.

Usea
The Usean continent is one of the smallest continents on Strangereal's Earth, yet it hosts at least 18 countries. These include North Point, San Salvacion, Erusea, Amber, and Delarus.

Verusa
The Verusan continent is another of the largest continents on Earth, and hosts the largest number of countries of any continent. 20 countries are present, including Yuktobania, Verusa, Sotoa, Kaluga, and Romny.

Trivia

 * Following the releases of Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (especially so), and Ace Combat Infinity, it has been assumed by many fans that Strangereal has been abandoned by Project Aces. Some fans believe that there was an executive decision by Bandai Namco Games to not involve fictional universes anymore and focus solely on different versions of our real world to relate the games to the players more easily. However, no evidence points to this popular theory; in fact, the releases of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy and Ace Combat: Northern Wings surrounding the release of Assault Horizon would seem to prove the opposite.
 * Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere was added to the United Galaxy Space Force series, which merges various Bandai Namco titles together into one continuity. This was not a popular decision among fans (who believed the move came out of nowhere), and the UGSF retcon is typically ignored when Strangereal is discussed.
 * A popular oddity in the PlayStation 2 games is when an enemy pilot will exclaim "My plane's been Swiss-cheesed!", even though no country by the name of Switzerland exists in Strangereal. Additionally, a is mentioned in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, even though the Netherlands is also not present in Strangereal.
 * Christmas is celebrated in Griswall on December 25, implying that is or once was present within Strangereal.
 * Some Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies material confirmed the planet's name as Earth, long before the Strangereal name came to fruition. However, many fans used (and today still use) "Strangereal" to refer to the planet alone; it wasn't until Melissa Herman and Ilya Pasternak explicitly referred to the planet as "Earth" in Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation that "Strangereal" was used to refer to the universe as a whole.