East Indies

With its incredible natural beauty and crushing social problems, Southern Asia offers a unique mix of paradise and hell.

—America (The Book)

Generally portrayed as that little chain of islands between the Far East and the Land Down Under, Indonesia is a little chain of islands that works as a more exotic version of India because little is known about it. Want a story with modern day cannibals? Set it in Indonesia. Sea monsters, Modern day pirates, and more can all be found in this tropical island chain. One thing is for certain—the area is lousy with tigers and treasure. Oh, and Komodo dragons.

Expect half of the local wildlife to inexplicably be African or South American in origin, and to encounter cannibals and cargo cults.

Compare Holiday in Cambodia, which is a little further north.

Examples of East Indies include:

Film

• Anacondas: Hunt For the Blood Orchid, which apparently missed the fact that anacondas live in South America.
  • They were probably supposed to be reticulated pythons.
• Skull Island in King Kong.

Literature

• The Swiss Family Robinson is the ur-example of this.
• The original Dream Park book's role playing game subplot is set in this version of the East Indies.
• Several of Willard Price's Adventure novels are set in this area.

Video Games

• The Panau archipelago in Just Cause 2 is generally an amalgamation of the East Indies and other Southeast Asian countries, deserts and snow-capped mountains notwithstanding.