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Present Era League of Extraordinary Gentleman

Even with the Criterion getting more and more refined, I still think Harry Dresden beats out Harry Potter.

Of course I'm willing to admit Jim Butcher isn't as well known in the 'common' circles as J.K. Rowling is.
 
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Okay, I've been trying to brainstorm a list, but I feel like we need to agree on criteria, here. How does one define "iconic"? In my opinion, if a character is the star of a series of books that has continued to climb the rankings in, say, the New York Times Bestseller List, they should be sufficiently well-known enough to be used. How popular, relatively speaking, were Allan Quatermain, Mina Harker, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, and Captain Nemo in the real 1890s :p

I agree that iconic has to be defined. For instance, ask a native of rural Alabama if he's heard of the name "Buffy Summers," and he'd probably say no. Then again, maybe he'd say yes. :p An elementary school student in Japan might be familiar with the name "Peter Petrelli," but could you say the same for a student in Sri Lanka? Does an "iconic" character have to be a globally renowned name? Is it a household name? I think earlier on, Venardhi made a very good point about the criterion of choosing characters who seem to exist in our own universe (or at least that which closely resembles our own), which is why I deleted Seven of Nine from my list and wouldn't include such characters from certain sci-fi/fantasy books, TV shows, or comic books.
The original group is iconic in English 'fantastical' literature of the time, and those Sri Lankan schoolboys probably have no clue who any of them are because that isn't something the majority of them have likely been exposed to. However for those of us in the Anglo-centric world, these are classics of English literature, particularly for those who like a touch of the fantastic.

I would almost be tempted to say that a 'present era' League would need to be limited to pre-2000, since it is hard to say which of these modern characters will have staying power. "The Highlander" is still recognizable to just about anyone over 15, even if they haven't seen the movie. The Sci-Fi reimagined version of Invisible Man. . . not so much. Rambo has lasted 30 years now, The Terminator is still recognizable both in name and image, etc. I'd say Scully and Mulder are probably okay, but the next few years will probably challenge their staying power.

The most recent examples of Hancock, Whatsername from Sanctuary, etc. probably aren't going to have much staying power at all, and will disapeer from pop culture memory like Meteor Man and the dude from First Wave.

Again, I think this 'present era' League should really be an 80s-90s league as otherwise the factor of all these characters being so present in our current media makes it hard to pick out the fictional icons of our day.
 
Indiana Jones would either be dead by now, or far too old to be part of the League. He'd be perfect for a 1930-1940s era League, though.
Much like Quartermain was protected by a shaman's spell, Indy was touched by the Holy Grail. It'd be easy to work him in as a result. Especially if you write him as finding a way back in to get another drink every now and again.

James Bond would also be pretty old (I'd recommend using his original incarnation in Fleming's novels), but Quatermain was an older man when he first joined the League.
Why limit it to that incarnation? He's constantly being renewed to the general public. He's essentially immortal as a result.
 
Indiana Jones would either be dead by now, or far too old to be part of the League. He'd be perfect for a 1930-1940s era League, though.
Much like Quartermain was protected by a shaman's spell, Indy was touched by the Holy Grail. It'd be easy to work him in as a result. Especially if you write him as finding a way back in to get another drink every now and again.
The Grail's power only extended beyond the holy seal. Once Indy crossed it, it wouldn't have granted him immortality. Remember, the knight who stayed behind to guard the Grail only remained immortal so long as he didn't cross the seal.
James Bond would also be pretty old (I'd recommend using his original incarnation in Fleming's novels), but Quatermain was an older man when he first joined the League.
Why limit it to that incarnation? He's constantly being renewed to the general public. He's essentially immortal as a result.
Because every other League character has been based on their original incarnations. Being able to pick and choose from any incarnation makes it too easy.
 
The Grail's power only extended beyond the holy seal. Once Indy crossed it, it wouldn't have granted him immortality. Remember, the knight who stayed behind to guard the Grail only remained immortal so long as he didn't cross the seal.
I'm not saying that he would be immortal, but there's numerous ways Indy could have an extended life. If not by any of his big screen adventures, than some other adventure he was on in the intervening time. He dealt with and protected religious relics of unimaginable power on a regular basis; it has to have some perks. :)

As for the original incarnations, I don't know about that. I don't recall Mina Harker being turned completely into a vampire in Bram Stroker's Dracula, though it's been a very long time since I've read that.

The League's cast came from great works of fiction. They weren't necessarily the ones in those works of fiction. Not verbatim anyway.
 
The Grail's power only extended beyond the holy seal. Once Indy crossed it, it wouldn't have granted him immortality. Remember, the knight who stayed behind to guard the Grail only remained immortal so long as he didn't cross the seal.
I'm not saying that he would be immortal, but there's numerous ways Indy could have an extended life. If not by any of his big screen adventures, than some other adventure he was on in the intervening time. He dealt with and protected religious relics of unimaginable power on a regular basis; it has to have some perks. :)
I dunno, he looked about the right age in 1957...
As for the original incarnations, I don't know about that. I don't recall Mina Harker being turned completely into a vampire in Bram Stroker's Dracula, though it's been a very long time since I've read that.
And Mina wasn't a vampire in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, either. The comics take precedence over the movie, IMO.
 
Indiana Jones would either be dead by now, or far too old to be part of the League. He'd be perfect for a 1930-1940s era League, though.
Much like Quartermain was protected by a shaman's spell, Indy was touched by the Holy Grail. It'd be easy to work him in as a result. Especially if you write him as finding a way back in to get another drink every now and again.

James Bond would also be pretty old (I'd recommend using his original incarnation in Fleming's novels), but Quatermain was an older man when he first joined the League.
Why limit it to that incarnation? He's constantly being renewed to the general public. He's essentially immortal as a result.


And the fact that James Bond was a sadistic pervert and a badguy who's already been in the books...
 
Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy's books.

Number Six (not the Cylon) from the TV series The Prisoner.

Also, Buckaroo Banzai, PhD, MD.
 
Even with the Criterion getting more and more refined, I still think Harry Dresden beats out Harry Potter.
I agree. But then, I still maintain that the best modern LXG would be made up of characters that are getting less attention without being in the LXG. It seems more interesting to work with characters that could effectively belong to the LXG concept, rather than characters whose involvement with the LXG is effectively drowned out by their own stuff.

The ideal member, in my opinion, is one whose book/tv series/whatever ended with the feeling that there was more to tell. More that probably never will be told. James Bond is going to have another movie. I may be proved wrong in the future, but I highly suspect something else will be done with Harry Potter, too. But Darien Fawkes? Ralph Hinkley? No one is telling new stories for them, except maybe some tiny highly devoted group of fans, to each other, in some back corner of the 'net - and they'd probably love to see their favorite get more exposure again.

Sure, the original LXG had some pretty big names. But were they names you had seen new stuff about or had even thought of recently, before that movie came out? I'm thinking that mostly, they weren't.
 
I'm going to try to keep to the rules of the characters being iconic and, for the most part, originating from literature:

James Bond
Hermione Norris (like Mina Harker, a supporting character, rather than the lead in the novel where she first appeared. And every league needs a lady)
Hannibal Lecter (performing the Mr Hyde role of the barely-restrained monster working for the League)
Dr Who (okay, didn't originate from literature - but what the hell! He'd still fit right in. In fact, he'd fit into the original League too ...)
The Vampire Lestat
Jack Reacher (Lee Child's US Military Policeman turned crime-fighting drifter. If he's not iconic enough - well, he's 6'5" and would beat anyone in a fight - you tell him, I'm not gonna!)
 
My list:

Leader: President Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy's novels
Muscle: Jack Bauer from '24'
Infiltrator: James Bond
Medic: Dr. House from 'House'
Insane member: Dr. Hannibal Lecter from 'Silence of the Lambs', 'Hannibal', and 'Red Dragon'.
Tech: MacGyver
Supernatural: John Constantine from his comic series (forget what it's called)
Woman/Additional Muscle: The Bride from 'Kill Bill'
 
Number Six (not the Cylon) from the TV series The Prisoner.

You know, I can actually see Six becoming the M character in LoEG; perhaps even going by One instead of M. Either that or be that rouge outside of the government like Nemo (No One) never being referred to by name or number, just being called "sir" like in "Fall Out."
 
Number Six (not the Cylon) from the TV series The Prisoner.

You know, I can actually see Six becoming the M character in LoEG; perhaps even going by One instead of M. Either that or be that rouge outside of the government like Nemo (No One) never being referred to by name or number, just being called "sir" like in "Fall Out."

Bingo. I think you nailed it.

Or he could even go by P (as the character was referred to in scripts). Either way he could be on his own "mission" much like M in the first series, using the team to finally get rid of that "retirement village in Wales" (Black Dossier).
 
I've got to track down and watch the whole series of "The Prisoner" one of these days.

I know too much about it and have seen oh so many references to it, not to have already done so by now.
 
How exactly would Characters like Gandalf, Six from BSG or Ender Wiggens wind up in a modern day league? I dont recall Moore pulling in characters from the far distant past, the far future or when ever/where ever BSG takes place in LXG.
 
How exactly would Characters like ...Six from BSG... wind up in a modern day league?

Read my post again. I very definitely meant Number Six portrayed by Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner, not Six the Cylon from BSG. Even said so right there.
 
A 1960s-era LXG would be pretty good:

James Bond (Connery version)
Simon Templar (Moore version)
Ms Peel
Modesty Blaise
Danger Man/ No. 6 (one or the other - or are they the same?!)
Bullitt as the token American!

I also like the idea of a 1930s version:

Indiana Jones
The Phantom
The Shadow
Doc Bronze
Tarzan


Or a badass 1970s version:

John Shaft
Kolchak
Steve Austin, the bionic man
Father Merrin
Dirty Harry
 
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