Where do the characters come from......?

[SurreyLee]

You can read about it in Chronicles 5.

 

"Yes, I realize that for some readers naming a massive elderly sow after the female lead in the film we are paying homage to, may be in poor taste, but it in no way was intended to be anything but flattering." - Dan Weber

Great memory. Glad Wyrd cleared it up early as I know they're not usually into bad taste.

[ierthling]

A couple more points on Ulix: Ulixes is what the Etruscans called Odysseus (and then sometimes the Romans as well). Odysseus in the Odyssey gets his name (which means something like "man of pain") when he was injured in the leg by a boar, hence both Ulix's bad leg and the wild boar connection.

[Buck Dog]

One of my favourites - the philosopher who came up with the concept of 'the Ghost in the Machine' was a chap called Gilbert RYLE

[Forgotmytea]

Something I only realised after my wife pointed it out is that McCabe's got a bit of an Allan Quartermain vibe from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen going on as well - he's even sort of got Captain Nemo accompanying him in the form of Sidir?

[Machiavelli]

Don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, but Rasputina is surely influenced by Rasputin, the adviser to the last Tsar's (equivalent of a king) of Russia. For those who don't know the story behind him, basic history is: he was hypothesized to have been recruited for several reasons but the main being he helped the royal son who suffered from Sickle Cell Anemia (when you cut yourself, your blood doesn't clot, so you bleed constantly from the smallest wound). As World War One broke out and Tsar Nicholas II went to the front, Rasputin's influence in the Russian Court grew dramatically. Rumours swirled around this peasant mystic faith healer and why he was held in such esteem by the royals. Some said he was the Tsar's wife Alexandra's lover, some said he was a great council etc, but fact is, no one really knows for certain, as much of his story is drawn from hearsay, legend and unreliable memoirs, but there is no doubt he had a large role in the downfall of the monarchy as he came to represent everything the people, and even some of the aristocrats, hated about the royals. The most famous legend is that when he was murdered, he would not die as a normal man. The story goes he was fed enough poison in cakes to kill ten men over, but it didn't affect him. Then he was shot, stabbed, strangled, his body dumped in a freezing river, and when they found his corpse he had only died by drowning. Incredible. Needless to say, this further gave rise to the rumours that he had been a powerful sorceror/mystic. His legend endures. 

 

Now cut to Malifaux, and we have Rasputina, same name, the winter theme of Russia, a Russian style of dress (specifically the hat) and she is an out and out spellcaster. Numerous parallels to Rasputin. I love her character's influence.

 

My other two cents for the other characters:

 

Lillith is the mother of monsters, biblical influence being the first demon/first wife of adam/consort of hell depending on your religious source.

Pandora aka Pandora's box, greek mythology.

Seamus = Mad Hatter + Jack the Ripper

Coletti as someone rightly said wrote Pinocchio.

Lady Justice represents Justice the Goddess. Blindfolded, scales of judgement being her totem.

 

They're the obvious ones to me. I'm sure others have some influences I've not picked up on, and I'm sure some others are simply alagmations of numerous sources while others are just out and out new characters. I particularly liked someones theory of maiden-mother-crone for the Neverborn. I'd buy that, even if it wasn't intentional, it works.

[Phinn]

Okay, having watched Big Trouble inLittle China for the first time recently, and it being mentioned that Gracie is a character from said film, do Wyrd really think Kim Catrall is a pig? I couldn't stop thinking of that when watching it.

 

It's all medley of characters from the movie.

 

Gracie = Pork Chop Express (Jack Burton's Truck) named after Gracie Law (lead female character)

 

Wong = Egg Shen (The Magician) named after Wang Chi (Jack's friend)

Egg Shen owns Six Demon Bag (Wong has only demo version - Three Demon Bag).

 

Burt Jebsen = Jack Burton

Jack Burton's catchphrase: "It's all in the reflexes."

 

And a lot more.

[Omenbringer]

One correction to the above; Jack Burton's truck was not named after Gracie Law it was his radio call sign and painted on the side of his truck prior to ever meeting her.

 

Another interesting tid bit is that the old Metal Warpig had it stamped inside one of the halves of the casting.

[Phinn]

Oh no, I meant that Gracie the Pig is named after Gracie Law and because with the upgrade 'Saddle' Gracie drags Burt Jabson around it is like Jack Burton's truck which in the movie is called Pork Chop Express.

[Buck Dog]

I think this came up a while ago, but in case you missed it :

The short story "The Sandman", written by ETA Hoffmann, is about a character who was said to steal the eyes of children who wouldn't go to bed and feed them to his own children who lived in the moon. The villain is a character called Coppelius.

[Omenbringer]

Yep that is why Coppelius had a special rule last edition allowing Hoffman to hire him at no additional cost and despite them being in different factions.

[Spindle]

In addition to what was already posted about Von Schill, historical Prussisan Von Schill's detatchment was a Freikorps, too. I also enjoyed the Steam Trunk wordplay on steamer trunk (a type of luggage used on steam ships) though I suspect it has more to do with the term "steampunk"

[Brass Monkey]

Gotta love Wyrd...

 

"Jingle All The Way" was playing on Sky Movies Christmas last night (one of Arnie's less memorable mid-nineties 'comedies'). As the credits rolled at the end what do I see at the top but:

 

Howard Langston - Arnold Schwarzeneggar

 

I love the idea of an Arcanist human-cyborg construct saying Hasta La Vista as it slices its enemies' heads off, though maybe that was a different Arnie film.

[SpectreEliteGaming]

Lots of good posts got me thinking.

Well done to Smokey Joe - paying tribute to Arnie for that movie though? That's certainly in bad taste

Howard kinda sorta looks like him too.

I like the Ryle reference - the Hoffman/Ryle relationship made me think of that one downloadable pack for Mass Effect 2... you know the one I'm thinking of But more badass in this game, I guess.

[Sholto]

Great memory. Glad Wyrd cleared it up early as I know they're not usually into bad taste.

Not sure it was cleared up. I have no doubt Wyrd's intentions were good, but that does not always mean the outcome was good and, while the acknowledgement in Chronicles 5 was welcome, recognising something is problematic does not stop it being problematic. The fact that people, on seeing a pig named after a female lead, wonder at Wyrd's intentions shows this could have been handled better.

 

(although Wyrd's track record on representation puts them in the top tier as far as miniature games companies go - probably worth making that caveat in case anyone thinks I am accusing Wyrd of anything )

[Math Mathonwy]

Not sure it was cleared up. I have no doubt Wyrd's intentions were good, but that does not always mean the outcome was good and, while the acknowledgement in Chronicles 5 was welcome, recognising something is problematic does not stop it being problematic. The fact that people, on seeing a pig named after a female lead, wonder at Wyrd's intentions shows this could have been handled better.

 

(although Wyrd's track record on representation puts them in the top tier as far as miniature games companies go - probably worth making that caveat in case anyone thinks I am accusing Wyrd of anything )

I showed Wong on a different forum asking whether they thought that it was a racist depiction (recounting his story). The overwhelming consensus was that it was horribly racist the way it invokes yellow peril propaganda posters quite clearly, is wearing a woman's kimono and all in all perpetuates the whole Chinese caricature of an evil, deformed wizard with a droopy moustache.

Now, I'm 100% sure that it wasn't Wyrd's intention but, at least to that crowd, it read extremely racist.

[Stargazer]

Wong is based off Egg-Shen from Big Trouble in Little China as previously stated, as I think you'll find the actor who played that part in the film is named a Mr Victor Wong

[SpectreEliteGaming]

I find the extremely stereotypical humor to be perfectly "gremlin-like" due to their affinity for mimicry. When someone who is very ignorant or just ridiculously silly tries to copy the attitude or characteristics of another, they tend to over exaggerate them. Therefore, it seems perfectly suitable (or at least a good excuse) for the gremlins to act in this way.

Having said that, I am a person who is difficult to offend, so there's that too

[JamesFlames]

I reckon Hoffman comes from "The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr Hoffman":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Infernal_Desire_Machines_of_Doctor_Hoffman

[SpectreEliteGaming]

Little bit of thread rez but...

A Jackdaw is a type of bird - sort of like a crow and also a marvel comic book character.

The male gunsmith looks like Il Duce from Boondock Saints and one of the convict gunslingers is obviously Danny Trejo.

[Victoria]

I've always thought that Wastrels were based on Gangs of New York.  Some people say A Clockwork Orange.

[Mr_Unclean]

One final thing about Ulix. He is often held up as one of - if not THE - cleverest gremlins... just as Ulysses was the most clever, inventive, and tricky of the greek heroes at Troy.

 

 

Also, didn't see it mentioned before: could Silurids be a reference to the Silurians of Doctor Who? Or just to the Silurian Period (443 - 419 million years ago - the time when life first migrated to the land).

[Phinn]

Also, didn't see it mentioned before: could Silurids be a reference to the Silurians of Doctor Who? Or just to the Silurian Period (443 - 419 million years ago - the time when life first migrated to the land).

In Hidden meanings all over Malifaux thread Vorschlag mentioned that: "Silurid- species of catfish".

And this is a definition of Silurid from web: "(Animals) any freshwater teleost fish of the Eurasian family Siluridae, including catfish, such as Silurus glanis (European catfish), that have an elongated body, naked skin, and a long anal fin. Silurid from Latin silūrus, from Greek silouros - a river fish."

[r4st4f4n]

I showed Wong on a different forum asking whether they thought that it was a racist depiction (recounting his story). The overwhelming consensus was that it was horribly racist the way it invokes yellow peril propaganda posters quite clearly, is wearing a woman's kimono and all in all perpetuates the whole Chinese caricature of an evil, deformed wizard with a droopy moustache.

Now, I'm 100% sure that it wasn't Wyrd's intention but, at least to that crowd, it read extremely racist.

Really, this constant meticulous search for excuses to become offended hurts my brain.

So, every negative character ever developed by Wyrd, by Disney, by writers, by movie directors, each one of them has been characterized voluntarily to offend a specific human type. I firmly suggest that we should BURN all this objectionable stuff, like they rightly did with the Library of Alexandria.

It's not that someone can pay a tribute to a work of art they really liked, by quoting a part of it - in an appearance or a name -, and put it on a bad character or whatever. This is sooo offensive, it deserves bombs and censorship. Die Charlie, DIE!!

Seriously, every time I read loud complaints about some unintended offense (say Matt Taylor, Benedict Cumberbatch...), and then I have to see them cry and beg for forgiveness, while the other side is there with magnifying glass in one hand, and pitchfork in the other one, all the time, and they seem not to expect anything more than that pretext... There the world, and even the clearest oppressor - victim relation, turn upside down. And this is bad.

It always brings to my mind The Wolf and The Lamb tale:

Open Spoiler

Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little lower down. "There's my supper," thought he, "if only I can find some excuse to seize it." Then he called out to the Lamb, "How dare you muddle the water from which I am drinking?"

"Nay, master, nay," said Lambikin; "if the water be muddy up there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to me."

"Well, then," said the Wolf, "why did you call me bad names this time last year?"

"That cannot be," said the Lamb; "I am only six months old."

"I don't care," snarled the Wolf; "if it was not you it was your father;" and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb and ate her all up.

[Mxbedlam]

Something about Lucas reminds me of a grown up and twisted Jonny Quest. Treasure hunter with trusty Indian sidekick and dog? Maybe reading to much into it. Definitely has an Alan Quartermain feel to him. 

[Bengt]

Colette could be inspired by French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She performed at the Moulin Rouge and much of her writings were considered risqué at the time.