Susano Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu OKay, that sounds nice and comprehensive. But -- Mongolia? The only monsters that ever came from there that I remember hearing of were Ungern-Sternberg and the Death Worm, the the latter always sounded more cryptozoological than mythic to me... I will admit, some of the entries are based on cryptozoological sources. Of course, those same entries also contain folkloric sources as well. The Mongolian beast I never found was the "dragon" Moghur. And what's Ungern-Sternberg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu I will admit, some of the entries are based on cryptozoological sources. Of course, those same entries also contain folkloric sources as well. The Mongolian beast I never found was the "dragon" Moghur. And what's Ungern-Sternberg? Well, it will be interesting to see what a Mongolian dragon looked like. Ungern-Sternberg isn't a what, he's a who. He was the White Russian cavalry commander who studied Buddhism, lost his mind, decided he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan, and massacred his way across Mongolia in the early 1920's. He's mentioned in Pulp Hero. And if you included cryptids, then did you include anything on the various versions of Asian Sasquatches like the Almas, the orang-pendek, and probably a 100 other critters? (I'd be more exhaustive if I had my copy of Heuvelmans with me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Well' date=' it will be interesting to see what a Mongolian dragon looked like. [/quote'] Sorry, see the part about me not finding it. Ungern-Sternberg isn't a what' date=' he's a who. He was the White Russian cavalry commander who studied Buddhism, lost his mind, decided he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan, and massacred his way across Mongolia in the early 1920's. He's mentioned in [i']Pulp Hero[/i]. Y'know... I saw staring that that name, looking at the "Sternberg" part thinking -- that's a European name.... And if you included cryptids' date=' then did you include anything on the various versions of Asian Sasquatches like the Almas, the orang-pendek, and probably a 100 other critters? (I'd be more exhaustive if I had my copy of Heuvelmans with me.)[/quote'] Yes, there are an assortment of hairy bipeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Another thing to consider are the Dragon Mandarin's ex-wives and the children he had with them. Sure, he has the Four Sons around, magically-created bodyguards and enforcers, but what about his other progeny? It's probably the influence of Ra's Al Ghul's daughter Talia, but I can picture the "Daughter of the Dragon" as being quite a fearsome sorceress and martial artist, and I think she'd make a fun lieutenant for the Dragon Mandarin, especially as a possible romantic interest for a PC. And can you imagine what the old sorcerer's ex-wives might be like? Why go with just one daughter? This guys been around for what, centuries? Surely he's had more then one kid in all that time. After all his offspring should be the best source of named henchpeople before you run into Yin Wu himself. That's after encountering his legions of assassins, summoned oriental monsters etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Exactly. And can you imagine the rivalries going on among his children, especially with some of his ex-wives possibly playing politics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Exactly. And can you imagine the rivalries going on among his children' date=' especially with some of his ex-wives possibly playing politics?[/quote'] Oh undoubtedly, though I suspect the not so good Doctor's children get more leeway in that area then his ex-wives do. Might not even be a whole lot of them around, as he'd not be sharing his elixer vitae with the wives he got rid of, only the ones he decided to stay married too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Incidentally all that I could find out about the dragon Moghur was that it was fearsome in countenance, and that only the bravest could look upon it. Also, it was said to be able to poison you just by looking at you. Other then that, I got nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Incidentally all that I could find out about the dragon Moghur was that it was fearsome in countenance' date=' and that only the bravest could look upon it. Also, it was said to be able to poison you just by looking at you. Other then that, I got nothing.[/quote'] Well, that confirms what was written in GURPS Fantasy Bestiary. Was this in a book? Or online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Well' date=' that confirms what was written in [i']GURPS Fantasy Bestiary[/i]. Was this in a book? Or online? Online. I googled Moghur and checked the site that seemed to be most relevant to what you wanted. There were other sites there but they didn't seem to be referring to the mythical Mongolian dragon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Another thought. It almost goes without saying that Yin Wu has human servants in addition to his sons, offspring born in the usual manner and his summoned monsters but what type of human servants would he have? He's the closest thing the Champions Universe has to a Fu Manchu clone but does that mean his crew are going to be exactly like the Si Fan are? What servants would YOU give him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trencher Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Disgruntled people from China who share his view on technological progress. They are more modern than the Doctor but they are bitter about "the great leap forward" and stuff like that, they see the doctor as keeper of traditional values and they have a romantic view of the old days, seeing it almost as we see fantasy societies portrayed in modern fantasy novels complete with rainbows and pink Ki-rins. Also he could have a sneaky apprentice who have incredible will and ambition but lack loyalty and scruples a lower powered version of the doctor but easier to get into a fight with. Off course doctor Yin is aware of his “limitations” but like having him around because he challenge his mind and genuinely appreciate the same things as him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu So you would dispense with the Thugs and Boxers then Trencher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trencher Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu No just some variation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu No just some variation. Fair enough. I suppose Boxers and Thugs are more appropriate to the Pulp era anyway, most of them would've been killed off by the modern era though I suppose he'd still have thier decendents. What would you say to him working with Chinese rebels or the folks in Taiwan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trencher Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Have you read the book called watchers of the dragon? In it there are a character called Emperor Crane who has that kind of style of minions you are talking about I think. I am not very familiar with pulp as a genre so I see Doctor Wu as a mysterious and ice cold wizard not as an agitator. He will rule through his own power not through manipulating the mob. (I think) And I doubt he would associate with non-Chinese unless under the most dire circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Well if Dr. Fu Manchu could work with non-Chinese [and he did, his dacoits, phansigars and thugs were all from India. He used Nubian wrestlers as bodyguards and had Persian assassins as shock troops as I recall] then why not Dr. Yin Wu? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trencher Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu I have only read a little about Dr Fu Manchu in Marvel and seen only one original film with him. But based on that I would say that Dr Fu Manchu is a interesting concept but the character is presented in such a way that inspire more contempt than anything else, he is just not cool like Dr Wu. The reason he used so many different types of thugs is because the original audience did not really differ between them as long as it was exotic it was good enough. Dr Fu Manchu is a "yellow peril" type of villain made with an intention to cater more to the racist beliefs of the audience more than be an actual portrayal of an oriental villainous mastermind. Since oriental masterminds are cool the champion’s universe has its own version which is truer to the source material than the original version. In short what is good enough for Fu Manchu (even more modern variants) is not good enough for Dr Yin Wu, because Fu was aimed towards the lowest common denominator a long time ago, Yin is aimed towards Hero gamers now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu I personally disagree, but of course YMMV. I just feel the character must have been more then that or else he wouldn't have inspired so many imitators. I mean two dimensional villains simply don't inspire imitations with such prestige as Ming the Merciless or R'as al Ghul and yes, HERO's own Yin Wu. Some of Fu Manchu's lesser copies [and I'm fairly sure there were millions of these] might've been aimed at the lowest common denominator but Fu himself was something more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trencher Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Well Fu has had a lot of versions, if you have read a good story with him in it then it will colour your image of the character. The movie I saw was pretty crummy, the Marvel stuff was not in the same leauge off course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Re: Thoughts on Dr Yin Wu Well Fu has had a lot of versions, if you have read a good story with him in it then it will colour your image of the character. The movie I saw was pretty crummy, the Marvel stuff was not in the same leauge off course. Well to the best of my knowledge there's been a lot of stuff with Fu Manchu in it. Stands to reason that it can't all be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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