The Theocratic Dictatorship of Mr Shrike is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Mr The Shrike with an even hand, and notable for its complete lack of prisons, multi-spousal wedding ceremonies, and zero percent divorce rate. The hard-nosed, devout population of 2.064 billion Mr Shrikeans are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Despair. The average income tax rate is 93.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but inefficient Mr Shrikean economy, worth 112 trillion Cruciforms a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing and Retail. State-owned companies are the norm. Average income is 54,688 Cruciforms, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Heroes long thought dead are promptly killed upon their return, solid steel breastplates are in fashion amongst city drivers, many say faith is a crutch for those who can't move forward, and truncheon-mounted cameras record the beating of criminals in dynamic HD detail. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mr Shrike's national animal is the Shrike, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Cruciformeanism.

Mr Shrike is ranked 305,986^th in the world and 3^rd in Hyperion993 for Most Cultured, scoring 57 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.