Real world Pulp characters

[FenrisUlf]

Has anyone ever tried doing anything with real-world people from the 20's-40's who could have been pulp characters?

My personal favorites are both from Mongolia, oddly enough. The first is Roy Chapman Andrews, the explorer and paleontologist who went looking for fossils in Mongolia in the middle of the Chinese Civil War. Not only did he have to face the unforgiving Gobi, he got in battles with bandits, dealt with suspicious government officials who thought he must be either a spy or a treasure seeker, did some medical work for various local tribesmen, and somehow during all this found the time to dig up a few fossils. I imagine him as a very high-point total character, with at least some Luck and probably very good PRE and EGO (for the strength of will he needed to go through all this).

The other guy is even more of a favorite -- the Mad Baron of Mongolia, the reincarnation of Genghis Khan, servant of the King of the World and holder of the keys to the Hollow Earth -- the Baron von Ungern Sternberg. A former Imperial Russian cossack commander, he became a student of the occult (he supposedly studied alchemy learned about the Hollow Earth) and also converted to Buddhism. He was also a feared duelist and killed people with abandon, and was nearly cashiered from the Imperial military on several occasions for killing fellow officers in duels or simply shooting them down in drunken rampages.

During the Russian Civil War, he was sent off to eastern Russia/Mongolia, based on his promise to recruit 10,000 wild Mongols to defeat the Bolsheviks, who he hated with a fiery passion as 'Jewish dogs'. He instead decided he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan and told the Mongols he was there to lead them forth to world conquest (actually, there was a Mongol legend that 'when there is no longer a Czar in Russia, when the Son of Heaven is vanished from China, mighty Genghis will return to his people, and our campfires will cover the earth').

He assembled a large army with which he ravaged the countryside, committing massacre after massacre -- believing in reincarnation as he did, he declared that death meant nothing, and by killing people you were but freeing them up for another incarnation. He finally marched on the capital, liberated it from the Bolsheviks, and set about some truly epic killing. He also told his followers (at least one of whom escaped) that he was taking orders from the lord of Shamballah, the King of the World, and that he would rouse all the East to destroy modern corruption and deliver humanity to the Hidden God-King.

Instead, his followers abandoned him when the Red Army attacked. Sternberg was taken prisoner and executed by the Reds, pronouncing Buddhist and shamanist curses against them.

Does anyone else out there have any real-world adventurers of the period who they'd like to use in their Pulp Hero games, either as themselves or as avatars?

[Barton]

A.Earhart. First women to fly across the Atlantic, flew all over the world, Purdue University professor, spokeswoman, and a generally interesting person.

[Steve Long]

Lest I show any of my cards too soon (though Fenris just x-rayed a couple ;) ), I'll say, "See Pulp Hero." :hex:

[FenrisUlf]

Lest I show any of my cards too soon (though Fenris just x-rayed a couple ;) ), I'll say, "See Pulp Hero." :hex:

Let me take a guess:

You're listing some fascinating real-world folks in Pulp Hero as an example of the real-world adventurers & such at the time.

[Steve Long]

Yes, I'm definitely doing that in a few instances. But it's probably more likely that you'll run into interesting folks in the mini-bios section of Chapter Two (History) or as nation-specific items in Chapter Three (the World). For example, Von Ungern Sternberg gets a short section under "Mongolia" in Chapter Three.

[The Monster]

Other than "cameo" NPC's (the players have met some of the Nazi top brass -- including a faceoff with Heydrich in my pulp campaign), the closest I've come is my Adventure Hero, where Frankenstien's Monster is one of the PCs (Adventure Hero being my translation of our Adventure campaign into Hero terms, just because it works sooooo much better). Though it has also been established that the mysterious "Mister A" behind my airship-based Archangel campaign is none other than an incognito Doc Savage - not real-life, but amusing.

[ArmlessTigerMan]

I was thinking Wiley Post would make a good npc. Back in the '30s, he was as famous as Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Post did prison time for highway robbery, lost an eye as a roughneck on drilling rig, and went on to become an aviation pioneer. He set speed records for flying around the world, designed a pressure suit for high altitude flight (before they could pressurize the cabin I guess) and palled around with Roy Rogers.

Definitely a rennaissance man, of a sort.

[Trebuchet]

My personal favorites are both from Mongolia, oddly enough. The first is Roy Chapman Andrews, the explorer and paleontologist who went looking for fossils in Mongolia in the middle of the Chinese Civil War. Not only did he have to face the unforgiving Gobi, he got in battles with bandits, dealt with suspicious government officials who thought he must be either a spy or a treasure seeker, did some medical work for various local tribesmen, and somehow during all this found the time to dig up a few fossils. I imagine him as a very high-point total character, with at least some Luck and probably very good PRE and EGO (for the strength of will he needed to go through all this).Roy Chapman Andrews has some interesting flaws as well. It's not widely remembered that he didn't go to Mongolia to discover dinosaur bones and fossilized eggs; he was a racist who went there to prove his pet theory that the various races of man (black, white, asian) evolved separately and hence were not the same species. He was looking for evidence of early man, not dinosaurs. Of course, since humans didn't evolve in Asia but rather in Africa, needless to say he didn't find what he was looking for.

That having been said, his wonderful books on his Mongolian adventures were one of the things that have given me a lifelong interest in paleontology and evolution. I first read them when I was 10 or 11 years old.

[Beetle]

I think Sidney Reilly (born Sigmund Rosenblum) would be a great pulp character. He's the spy who's life was dramatized in Reilly: Ace of Spies (with Sam Neil as Reilly)

Here's a brief bio courtesy of Amazon.com:

Reilly: Ace of Spies is a thrilling dramatization of the fantastic life and exploits of Sidney Reilly, arguably the first modern secret agent and a complex, often unfathomable individual who invented his very name and identity. Sam Neill has never been better as the former Sigmund Rosenblum, an Odessa-born Jew who becomes a freelance spy for the British at the dawn of the 20th century. Calculating, ruthless, and more certain of his own counsel than the wisdom of his superiors, Reilly (he changes his name by the end of the first episode, "An Affair with a Married Woman," to obscure his personal history) can't help but remind one of a particularly determined James Bond. Reilly's reputation as a womanizer--not entirely deserved, but then none of his associates can quite figure out his thriving love life--adds to this historical figure's Bondian mystique.

In other respects, Reilly's version of espionage is far more complicated, and has greater historical repercussions, than that of Fleming's superspy. The first half of the 12 episodes in this set concern Reilly's daring work ascertaining and even securing the West's access to Middle East oil and, looking ahead to Russia's possible rise as a major power, determine the extent of that country's oil reserves. At the same time, Reilly always has one eye trained on ethically ambiguous opportunities to accrue wealth or play one friendly interest against another. The oil mission leads him from virtual house arrest in the foothills of the Caucuses (where Reilly sleeps with the young wife of an aging preacher as cover for his escape, leaves her to be arrested, then later marries her) to Port Arthur in China (where he clears the way for British allies the Japanese to invade) to France (where Reilly competes with the Rothschilds over Persian Oil concessions). The latter episodes focus on Reilly's extraordinary attempt to overthrow the Bolsheviks following the Russian revolution, barely escaping St. Petersburg after a botched attempt to assassinate Lenin and later risking his life by returning and advocating the killing of Stalin.

[Badger]

Well looking up the Mad Baron, found another wierd guy in Mongolia, Dambijanstan, who was to the Chinese about what the Baron was to the Russians. Evidently Dmbijanstan had a rather disturbing torture. Take some sheep knuckles and place on victims temples, twist till eyes bulge out enough to snip off, keep his "trophies" in his tent until it stunk unbearably. Then he goes and gets the now blind victim and kills him using the victims skin as furniture cover. :jawdrop: Well, me might not being eating supper tonight.

[tkdguy]

Ernest Hemmingway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemmingway) would qualify as a pulp character.

[specks]

Ian Fleming.

[shadowcat1313]

for the early pulp days
Winston Churchill
TH Lawrence
how about some of the early rocket pioneers for that matter
Goddard, Von Braun, Ley, etc

now I am goingto have to reread The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

would Richard Fenyman qualify as pulp or is he too late?

[Greatwyrm]

Mata Hari

Ned Kelley (although I'm not sure the time-frame is right)

John Dillenger and just about any of the Depression-era gangsters

[gallandro]

Frank Buck, intrepid animal collector and jungle adventurer from 1920's-40's, would be a great real life Pulp character to highlight.


Yancy

[st barbara]

Another "real life" person who might be worth a writeup is F A Mitchell-Hedges, explorer and discoverer (actually his daughter is supposed to have discovered it) of tghe best known of the "crystal skulls". Amy Johnson and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (first man to fly the Pacific) are to more aviators who could be worthy of a mention !

[st barbara]

Oh geez "St B" ! TWO mor aviators. I think that the internal "spell check" in my head has been disabled !

[Koshka]

While the link really doesn't give enough detail on the guy, Wayne Wheeler (http://www.wpl.lib.oh.us/AntiSaloon/leaders/Wheel.html) could be an interesting character for an early-period game. He was both one of the primary people responsible for the stricter provisions of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, and one of the primary people responsible for the inefficiency of Prohibition enforcement. (Since you won't find that in the link, he used his political influence to make Prohibition agents subject to the political spoils system instead of Civil Service and to get the Prohibition Bureau made a department of the IRS instead of the Justice Department.)

[FenrisUlf]

Well looking up the Mad Baron, found another wierd guy in Mongolia, Dambijanstan, who was to the Chinese about what the Baron was to the Russians. Evidently Dmbijanstan had a rather disturbing torture. Take some sheep knuckles and place on victims temples, twist till eyes bulge out enough to snip off, keep his "trophies" in his tent until it stunk unbearably. Then he goes and gets the now blind victim and kills him using the victims skin as furniture cover. :jawdrop: Well, me might not being eating supper tonight.

Another pair of nasty troublemakers in Central Asia during the Russian Civil War were Enver Pasha and General Ma.

Pasha was the man responsible for the Armenian Genocide. He got Lenin to approve his plan to create a Turkish army for Communism, and then used said army to try and create a new Turkish Empire. Got shot dead after he suingle-handedly charged half a dozen machine gun nests.

General Ma was a Chinese Muslim who organized a revolution in Sinkiang. He mainly massacred non-Muslim Chinese and Russians, but he was a figure of fear for a few years. Finally surrendered to the Communists on promise of fair treatment and was shot for his pains.

[shadowcat1313]

I had another thought, about an interesting real world character

the Reverend Billy Sunday
who gave up a promising baseball career to take up evangelism

I think he was a pitcher for the Cubs or White Sox, and he was from Indiana

[ThothAmon]

IMO the most obvious one (but nobody seems to have mentioned him yet) would be Howard Hughes - aviator, director, womanizer, millionaire... :D

A definite would be W. E. "Delicate Dan" Fairbairn, the Shanghai chief of police who was one of the few Westerners to study Oriental martial arts in the era. During WWII he was one of the HTH 'dirty' combat instructors/gurus for the OSS and other Allied special forces. His partner Bill Sykes would also qualify - he too served in the Shanghai police force during the 30's (Sniper Squad IIRC) and as a representative for Remington Firearms.

I'd also pitch in Bugsy Siegel - megalomaniac mobster who started building Las Vegas AND said no to the Mob - go read Tim Powers' novel 'Last Call' for a really good pulp/fictional take on Siegel :winkgrin:

A last 'pulp' figure I'd nominate would be Evelyn Waugh. An incisive reporter, stunning wit, ego to match and writer of scurrilous good fiction such as 'Vile Bodies', 'Handful of Dust' and 'Brideshead Revisited'.

[tkdguy]

Another Western martial artist to consider is Donn F. Draeger. He was a Marine in World War II and was stationed in Japan after the end of the war. He became an enthusiast in Japanese martial arts and published several books. He is still considered one of the greatest Western martial artists today.

[st barbara]

Another pair of nasty troublemakers in Central Asia during the Russian Civil War were Enver Pasha and General Ma.

Pasha was the man responsible for the Armenian Genocide. He got Lenin to approve his plan to create a Turkish army for Communism, and then used said army to try and create a new Turkish Empire. Got shot dead after he suingle-handedly charged half a dozen machine gun nests.

General Ma was a Chinese Muslim who organized a revolution in Sinkiang. He mainly massacred non-Muslim Chinese and Russians, but he was a figure of fear for a few years. Finally surrendered to the Communists on promise of fair treatment and was shot for his pains. Enver Pasha sounds like a right charmer ! Having the P C's running around Turkey/ Armenia and finding HIM working for the opposition could be fun !

[Supreme Serpent]

William J Donovan. Awarded Medal of Honor for WWI, various intel missions in the inter-war years (including his first one during his honeymoon), set up the OSS for WWII. Found time to lose a few political campaigns too.

[tkdguy]

Actor Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII.

[BigJackBrass]

Gerard Fairlie was apparently the inspiration for Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, and was also the man who took over writing the series after the death of "Sapper." I rather like the idea of a two-fisted hero who ends up writing books about himself; might be interesting for a group of characters to meet the prototype for the fiction.

Actually, I should have mentioned Drummond much earlier, because he's a character who really deserves inclusion in "Pulp Hero." The books may be jingoistic, racist and violent (Drummond has been described as a "demobbed thug"), but they are of their time and are ripping adventures. Carl Peterson is an absolutely perfect Pulp villain, charming, ruthless and a master of disguise. These days the Drummond stories are often overlooked, but it's worth remembering how immensely popular they - and the many stage and movie versions - were. Even if your characters don't meet "Bulldog" there's a fair chance they'll go to see him prtrayed on the silver screen.

[ldorn]

Clyde Beatie (probably misspelled) Frank Buck's "rival".

Edward R. Murrow, Reporter. Could be met at any point as he tries to build up the his CBS news team. His real claim to fame came during WW II. But could be met prior to that.

Jack Benny, Fred Allen, or any radio show host. The characters could make a guest apperance on a popular comedy or quiz show in New York or Hollywood.

David O. Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B. DeMills, or any other Hollywood producer, director or star. Guarding the filming of a new movie on location (haunted mansion, mystical ruins) while mingling with famous celebrities.

[PhantomNarrator]

These are all good references, but a bit skewed to explorers and adventurers. The Pulp Age was also an age of "Progress." Despite the hardships of the Depression (or more likely because of them), people still had faith that science and reason could eventually solve mankind's problems. In my alternate 1930's setting of Terra Omega, Nikola Tesla had an even greater impact on history, but he's just one example.

Here are two excellent real life models for your well-meaning but mad scientist/engineer:

Howard Scott
Founder and Executive Director of the Technical Alliance, an American think tank whose members include such notable men of science as Charles P. Steinmetz, Richard C. Tolman, and Bassett Jones, Scott is a prodigious inventor and vociferous champion of technocracy. The only child of a 19th century American logging baron, he was a child prodigy who read (and understood) evolutionary biology by the time he was four years old. With the use of linear vector analysis, he developed “The Mathematical Theory of Energy Determinants” as a model to describe the entire energy ecology of the North American continent. The premise of Scott's thinking was that anything that functions performs as an "energy consuming device." This definition covered everything from geophysical systems, through ecological systems, organisms, populations, tools and machines. He argued that just like a steam engine, a social system's use of energy could be assessed in terms of efficiency.

Of course, the Axis has its share of pulp scientists too:

Viktor Schauberger
Eccentric Austrian genius and author of "Unsere Sinnlose Arbeit" or “Our Senseless Toil,” outlining his unconventional ideas about harnessing the untapped “implosion energy” of water. His implosion technology creates a self sustaining vortex flow of any liquid or gaseous medium, which has a concentrating, ordering effect and which decreases the temperature of the medium, in opposition to the dictates of "modern" thermodynamics. His Repulsine dynamic hydroelectric engine can produce power and even suspend gravity. :rolleyes:

[FenrisUlf]

Of course, the Axis has its share of pulp scientists too:

Viktor Schauberger
Eccentric Austrian genius and author of "Unsere Sinnlose Arbeit" or “Our Senseless Toil,” outlining his unconventional ideas about harnessing the untapped “implosion energy” of water. His implosion technology creates a self sustaining vortex flow of any liquid or gaseous medium, which has a concentrating, ordering effect and which decreases the temperature of the medium, in opposition to the dictates of "modern" thermodynamics. His Repulsine dynamic hydroelectric engine can produce power and even suspend gravity. :rolleyes:

If I remember right, wasn't Schauberger supposedly involved with the (probably fictional) Kubelblitz project, i.e., 'Nazi flying saucers'? If so, he might make a good villainous mad scientist for after WW2 as well, if you want to do Operation High Jump as a sort of 'last hurrah' of the pulp era.

[PhantomNarrator]

If I remember right, wasn't Schauberger supposedly involved with the (probably fictional) Kubelblitz project, i.e., 'Nazi flying saucers'? If so, he might make a good villainous mad scientist for after WW2 as well, if you want to do Operation High Jump as a sort of 'last hurrah' of the pulp era.

He was indeed, allegedly. One of the beautiful things about pulp is, the rumors are almost never accurate - the truth is even more outrageous. :snicker:

[Steve Long]

One of the beautiful things about pulp is, the rumors are almost never accurate - the truth is even more outrageous.

Even better, both rumors and reality have plenty of validity as the basis of Pulp Hero adventures and characters. ;)

[Guzalot]

Elliot Ness (http://www.crimelibrary.com/ness/nessmain.htm)

[st barbara]

Hmm Nazi "flying saucers", not to mention Horten Flying Wings, an early jet or two and maybe even a buzz bomb to harass the P C's with. Aint evil Nazi's fun ?

[J. Chamberlin]

I'm probably way off time-wise here, not to mention genre, but what about F.W. Murnow, the guy that did the very first Dracula movie - I just figure he's got to have a few shady secrets.

[austenandrews]

Harry Houdini is a natural, a seriously tough guy in addition to escape artist, magician and professional debunker.

Aleister Crowley, of course, world-class mountaineer, adventurer and rake, plus some stuff with magic or something.

Too bad Giovanni Belzoni (http://famous-egyptologists.com/belzoni.html) is too early. Circus strongman, inventor, explorer, tomb robber; defiled countless ancient Egyptian artifacts with his name, which you can see in the British Museum to this day.

[Davies]

I don't remember exact details, but I know that both E.E. "Doc" Smith and Robert A. Heinlein were polymathic-types, and I recall hearing that "Doc" may have actually had some adventures during the Prohibition era ...

Chris Davies.

[Twilight]

Maybe it's just the wrestling fan in me and I'm not sure if he fits the time line or not but I'm thinking Lionel Conacher fits the pulp character mold. In his lifetime he was: an undefeated boxer, a popular pro wrestler of his era, a world class lacrosse player, a Hall of Fame hockey player, a Hall of Fame football player and if the Blue Jays or Expos had existed back then he'd probably have been a Hall of Fame baseball player too. Later went on to be very successful in politics as well, if I'm not mistaken.

[ldorn]

Mentioning Heinlein and "Doc" Smith got me thinking.

Lester Dent (Doc Savage's creator) was reported to be a gadgeteer in his own right.

Walter B. Gibson was a magician and ghostwriter for Blackstone (I believe, I'm doing this from memory).

[austenandrews]

There's always Hedy Lamarr, the glamorous German movie star who drugged her maid to escape her husband (a Viennese munitions dealer sympathetic to the Nazis) and, incidentally, invented frequency-hopping in a secret patent for an unjammable radio guidance system for torpedoes.

[OddHat]

Joe "The Mighty Atom" Greenstein. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1885440308/103-4529281-0546218?v=glance

5'4" train pulling strongman vaudvillian and wrestler, one of the first westerners to study grapling in Japan; could bend horseshoes, snap chains, twice held back small planes as they were taking off, once took a pistol round to the forehead and was only knocked out, fought the KKK and the American Nazis, HtH combat instructor in WWII and friend to many of the strongest (and strangest) men of the age.

Incredible character.

[austenandrews]

I presume Greensteen was the inspiration for the Golden Age Atom character?

[OddHat]

I presume Greensteen was the inspiration for the Golden Age Atom character?

Looks like it. He may also be the inspiration for some classic Superman art; breaking chans that had been used to bind his arms to his sides was always part of Greensteins act, and he was performing in NY at the right time for Siegel and Schuster to attend his shows.

The book is well worth picking up if you can; www.ironmind.com has them in stock.

[FenrisUlf]

Joe "The Mighty Atom" Greenstein. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1885440308/103-4529281-0546218?v=glance

5'4" train pulling strongman vaudvillian and wrestler, one of the first westerners to study grapling in Japan; could bend horseshoes, snap chains, twice held back small planes as they were taking off, once took a pistol round to the forehead and was only knocked out, fought the KKK and the American Nazis, HtH combat instructor in WWII and friend to many of the strongest (and strangest) men of the age.

Incredible character.

I've read about him before. Truly an amazing man.

Didn't he claim he gained his incredible strength by a study of kabbalah while in yeshiva in Poland? So I remember, anyway.

[FenrisUlf]

I'm probably way off time-wise here, not to mention genre, but what about F.W. Murnow, the guy that did the very first Dracula movie - I just figure he's got to have a few shady secrets.

Murnau plays a starring role in _Shadow of the Vampire_, a film about his making of Nosferatu. Orlock, as it turns out, is a real vampire, and Murnau has to make some unsavory promises to keep him around. Needless to say, neither of them intend to keep their word... Really a very good film.

[OddHat]

I've read about him before. Truly an amazing man.

Didn't he claim he gained his incredible strength by a study of kabbalah while in yeshiva in Poland? So I remember, anyway.

Nope, though he was a devout orthodox Jew from Poland. :) He started out training as a cricus wrestler as a child in Poland, travelling a circuit that took the circus all the way to India and back. Fled to live with relatives in America around 1904 after accidently killing a drunken soldier (the soldier had attacked and killed a local; Greenstein was unfortunate enough to catch him), went to Japan while working as a freight handler and studdied Judo, came back to the states and worked at odd jobs and as a pro-wrestler until he got his big break in Vaudeville. He did claim that following a strict Kosher diet, faith, and daily exercise were the keys to physical Strength, but (afaik) he was not a Kabbalist. His exercise program was mostly a mix of Yoga and traditional Western and Japanese wrestling exercises, though he also did daily manual labor (early in his career) and strength performances.

In a way he was one of America's first Strongman-Preachers, though most of the current crop are Born Again Christians.

[st barbara]

Either way i'm sure that any enterprising referee could construct an interesting game around Murneau, "Nosferatu" et al !

[BigJackBrass]

Joe "The Mighty Atom" Greenstein...
Incredible character.

Well now, here's a strange and tenuous Pulp HERO link. Example character Randall Irons is pursued by an enemy named Colonel Bruce Forsythe... Bruce Forsythe is a real person (still alive and performing today) who began his career under the name "Boy Bruce the Mighty Atom."

Nah, couldn't be.

[the Evil DM]

my vote goes to Nikola Tesla (http://www.pbs.org/tesla/index.html). One of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th century.

[Emerald Mask]

Sykes and Fairburn of Shanghai - proably survived more gun and knife fights than any fictional heroes. Buster Crabbe - Olympic swimmer and star of Tarzan , Flash Gordon and many action movies. Basil Rathbone - movie actor and fencer on an Olympic level . Otto Skorzney- Geramn Olympic athlete and Commando-Paratrooper . Jesse Owens - Fastest Man on Earth and Track and field winner in 36 olympics.And Errol Flynn who was a a smuggler and Quasi - Pirate in his home country of Tasmania befroe he came to Hollywood.

[Crackerjacker]

For modern pulp theres that "rebel billiionaire" guy. Not the most impressive pulp character but c'mon, bored millionaires are the crucible that form most groups of pulp adventurers.

[st barbara]

Sykes and Fairburn of Shanghai - proably survived more gun and knife fights than any fictional heroes. Buster Crabbe - Olympic swimmer and star of Tarzan , Flash Gordon and many action movies. Basil Rathbone - movie actor and fencer on an Olympic level . Otto Skorzney- Geramn Olympic athlete and Commando-Paratrooper . Jesse Owens - Fastest Man on Earth and Track and field winner in 36 olympics.And Errol Flynn who was a a smuggler and Quasi - Pirate in his home country of Tasmania befroe he came to Hollywood. Actually his home country was AUSTRALIA ! Tasmania is one of our states !

[st barbara]

For modern pulp theres that "rebel billiionaire" guy. Not the most impressive pulp character but c'mon, bored millionaires are the crucible that form most groups of pulp adventurers. Do you mean Branson ?

[Mentor]

my vote goes to Nikola Tesla (http://www.pbs.org/tesla/index.html). One of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th century.
I second the motion. Various weird theories had Tesla identified as a representative from an advanced alien planet or from the Earth's future. He will definitely appear in our 1905 New Century campaign.

[tkdguy]

Do you mean Branson ?
He said rebel billionaire, not crazy billionaire! :lol:

Sorry, I couldn't resist making a crack at Branson.