Jump to content

Namedropping Heroes


Clonus

Recommended Posts

(and villains)  OK so here's a question.  If all of the real people of the world, past and present lived in a comic book universe...which of them would have an Origin?  For example take Charles Lindbergh.  

 

He was rich.  

He was an inventor

He had an interest in trying to improve human beings both by eugenics and by implanting electro-mechanical replacement parts in them

A family member was the victim of a heinous crime

 

He'd totally turn himself into a cyborg masked aviator in a super plane that could hover and fly silently.  He'd be the Phantom Eagle, right?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whether or not Tesla would have been the first gadgeteer would depend on how far back you went in time.  Da Vinci would have definitely been a gadgeteer and so would Archimedes, but I would agree that Tesla would have been a gadgeteer.  He could also have been transformed by one of his experiments into an electricity based blaster.

 

The real Sir Arthur Conan Doyle really did have gift with deduction and would make a good detective hero.

 

Both Wyatt Earp and Geronimo have the distinction of having never been struck by a bullet.  Either might make an interesting Hero System hero.

 

It is reported that Elvis Presley wanted to be a policeman and learned martial art from Bill "Superfoot" Wallace and could become a martial arts super hero.  I even have built a rejuvenated Elvis Presley as an NPC martial artist in the campaign I am building.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whether or not Tesla would have been the first gadgeteer would depend on how far back you went in time.  Da Vinci would have definitely been a gadgeteer and so would Archimedes, but I would agree that Tesla would have been a gadgeteer.  He could also have been transformed by one of his experiments into an electricity based blaster.

 

 

Yes, the kind of experimentation that Tesla did trying to develop broadcast power would create an excellent potential for a classic laboratory accident. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(and villains)  OK so here's a question.  If all of the real people of the world, past and present lived in a comic book universe...which of them would have an Origin?  For example take Charles Lindbergh.  

 

He was rich.  

He was an inventor

He had an interest in trying to improve human beings both by eugenics and by implanting electro-mechanical replacement parts in them

A family member was the victim of a heinous crime

 

He'd totally turn himself into a cyborg masked aviator in a super plane that could hover and fly silently.  He'd be the Phantom Eagle, right?  

 

Lindbergh's actual nickname was the Lone Eagle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Master of medicine

Master detective

Knowledgable of the occult

Explored hidden worlds

Learned escapes from Harry Houdini

Taught how to fight by the best boxers of his day

Rich world traveler

 

All of these things describe the mysterious bane of crime from the turn of the century. Criminals know him as  The Crime Doctor. You know him as Arthur Conan Doyle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leon Mandrake used his career as a stage magician and as the basis for a comic strip to conceal his actual magic powers.

 

(Actually, in our world, the 'Mandrake the Magician' character was developed independently of him, but they came to an informal cross-promotional arrangement.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

H.G. Wells worked for the British government his stories are all based on true events and used to make the public less credulous.

 

Charles Babbage tried to summon the devil in his younger days, early techno-mancer?

 

published versions of this idea include

 

Nikola Tesla,  Edison, charles fort, H.P. Lovecraft rasputin carl sagan alan turing and bruce lee all appear in atomic robo

 

fort lovecraft houdini and and arthur conan doyle fight supernatural terrors in Necronauts

 

Charles fort on his own in Fort:prophet of the unexplained

 

 five fists of science has Tesla and Twain v Edison and jp Morgan in and an attempt to end war.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cold Fusion is nowadays called L.E.N.R. (Low Energy Nuclear reaction).

How about a robot superhero called "L.E.N.A.R.D"? The "Low Energy Nuclear Advanced Reaction Droid"

I have to admit I had not fully thought this Backcronym through. But I think some spelling of "Lenard" would be cool.

 

Donald E. Knuth. A high level Computerscientists and mathematcian, Author of the (not yet finished) book series "The Art of Computer Programming". Definitely superintelligence. Psychic powers for the Machine class of mind? Maybe the abiltiy to "alter" the algorythms of the universe (limited reality warping)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Knuth also wrote a book Surreal Numbers: How Two Ex-Students Turned on to Pure Mathematics and Found Total Happiness about a class of numbers where every real number is surrounded by a host of new numbers that lie closer to it than any other "real" value does. Definite reality warping right there. It wasn't his idea alone, but Knuth did come up with the name that has been used since.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we're looking at villains, you'd need few changes to turn Aleister Crowley into a malevolent world-threatening sorcerer. He and Harry Houdini were contemporaries, and if Houdini was himself a real magician I could see them as long-time nemeses.

 

As for the modern day, I once suggested the following on another thread. If there was ever a guy whose real-world history was tailor-made as the origin for a mad megalomaniacal powered-armor-wearing scientific supervillain, it would be Stephen Hawking. Beware Doctor SteelHawk! :shock:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

speaking of Chuck Norris some one more dangerous than him Bruce Lee. what if Bruce faked his death and went underground as an Agent of MI6 eventually his son Brandon would do the same.

 

other would be super heroes how about "Mad Jack" Churchill WII a motorcycle riding commando who stormed Dunkirk and  Normandy with a  clay-more longbow and bagpipes a world champion in  archery who walked out of concentration camps twice.

 

or how about master fencer linguist(he speaks six languages) descendant of Charlemagne and who fought in the soviet invasion of finland before returning to Britain and becoming a RAF intelligence officer attached to the for runner of the SAS the long range desert patrol and then the SOE "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare". Christopher Lee the most prolific movie actor in the world and trained stuntman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, if we're going for historical figures, the super-spy William 'Intrepid' Stevenson, founder of Camp X (plausible inspiration for the X-Men Academy, and a host of other super secret training facilities in fiction) would be a natural choice.

 

Howard Hill, the highly acclaimed Hollywood trick archer, would also be a good nominee.

 

And let's face it, Angelina Jolie is clearly a mutant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...