A Guide to the Baron's Favorite Fictional Characters (SPOILERS)

[The Baron]

(Hamlet of Earth-1948)

Real name: Hamlet, son of Hamlet

Aliases/Other Names: None,.

First Appearance: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Occupations: Prince of Denmark, student, avenger

Bases of Operations: Elsinore Castle, the University of Wittenberg

Place of Birth: Elsinore Castle, Denmark

Group Affiliation: Royal House of Denmark

Friends/Allies: Horatio, Marcellus, Barnardo

Enemies: Claudius, Polonius, Laertes

Height: Varies*

Weight: Varies*

Eye Color: Varies*

Hair Color: Varies*

Strength: Above average human

Speed: Above average human

Intelligence: Genius level human

Energy-Manipulation Ability: None

Magic-Manipulation Ability: None

Special Abilities: Excellent swordsman, skilled forger, gifted actor

Special Weapons/Equipment: None.

History: Hearing of his father's death, Prince Hamlet of Denmark returns home from Wittenberg, only to find that his uncle Claudius has assumed the throne and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. Already suspicious, Hamlet is visited by a spirit purporting to be that of his father, which asserts that the elder Hamlet was murdered by Claudius. Feigning madness, Prince Hamlet, with his friend Horatio's help, schemes to trap Claudius into a public admission of guilt, which would allow Hamlet to avenge his father and assume the throne of Denmark. Claudius, aware of the threat that Hamlet poses to him, plots to find a way to eliminate Hamlet. Thus begins a game of trap and counter-trap, resulting in the deaths of almost everyone involved, leaving only Horatio behind to watch as young Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, assumes the throne of Denmark.

Why He's a Favorite: Hamlet is the protagonist of my favorite Shakespeare play. I own eight different versions of the play of on DVD, and I enjoy watching them all.  there's just something that I find enthralling about the play, and it's always interesting to see how various actors interpret the part, and how different directors choose to film the story. I enjoy the cat and mouse between Hamlet and Claudius, and Hamlet's interaction with the not-as-clever-as-he-thinks-he-is Polonius. I find it interesting that the only character who seems to be able to match Hamlet's at wordplay is the First Gravedigger. Anyway, you can find way more of what I think about Hamlet here.

*Depending upon who's playing him

[Ron M.]

Interesting. Macabre Theatre was the only one I've seen. Ivonna Cadaver a "ravishing temptress"?! Phyllis Diller was sexier!

[The Baron]

Real Name: Watanabe Kanji

Aliases/Other Names: None

First Appearance:  Ikiru (1952)

Occupation: Bureaucrat

Base of Operations: Tokyo

Place of Birth: Unknown, presumably Japan

Group Affiliation: Tokyo city government

Friends/Allies: Toyo, the Novelist, others

Enemies: Bureaucracy

Height:  Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Black, graying

Strength: Average human

Speed: Average human

Intelligence: Average human

Energy-Manipulation Ability: None

Magic-Manipulation Ability: None

Special Abilities: None

Special Equipment/Weapons: None

History:  Little is known about about Watanabe's early life. At some point he married and had a son. His wife died shortly thereafter.  He and his son drifted apart, so that by the time his son went off to fight in the Pacific War, they were quite distant.  Watanabe spent thirty years working as a bureaucrat. Stomach pains caused him to make a doctor's appointment, where he discovered he had terminal stomach cancer. Realizing he had never truly lived, he eventually set out to implement a project to get a patch of waste ground turned into a children's park, so that at least he would have achieved one thing in his life.. Shortly after this, he died.

Why He's a Favorite:  I've already discussed Ikiru in the Kurosawa thread, so I'll try not to go over the same ground here.  Suffice to say that Takashi Shimura, who plays Watanabe, is my all-time favorite member of the Kurosawa-gumi, even over the mighty Toshiro Mifune, and to my mind, this is his best performancefor Kurosawa. He's very good here, really bringing this character to life.  It's funny, but this is a film I really wish I'd had the chance to watch with my father, I really would have liked to see what the Old Man would have thought of it.

[The Baron]

Real Name: Wario

Aliases/Other Names: None

First Appearance: Sūpā Mario Rando Tsū Muttsu no Kinka (1992)

Occupations: Video game maker, others

Place of Birth: Unknown

Group Affiliation: The Super Smash Brothers

Friends/Allies: Mona, Jimmy T., Kat, Ana, Doctor Crygor, 9-Volt, Dribble, Spitz, Orbulon

Enemies: Mario, Luigi, others

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Eye Color: Black

Hair Color: Brown

Strength: Super-human

Speed: Average human

Intelligence: Above average human

Energy-Manipulation  Ability: None

Magic-Manipulation Ability: None

Special Abilities:  Knowledgeable about video game design, uses flatulence as an offensive weapon, capable motorcycle rider

Special Equipment/Weapons: None

History: A childhood acquaintance of the plumber Mario, Wario felt bullied by him, and the two soon became rivals.  Wario spent many years trying to steal Mario's thunder. Later in life, he moved to Diamond City and founded WarioWare, Inc., with the help of his friends.

Why He's a Favorite: I first came across the character when I discovered the WarioWare games, and he later turned up in Super Smash Brothers, another favorite. He's an amusing character, one that appeals to the coarser side of my sense of humor. He's a self-serving, slovenly little creep, who somehow just manages to be a little bit likable.  He's not thoroughly evil, in some games, he even helps the good guys. He's a genial, if obnoxious, slob.  Can't think why I'd like a character like that!

[The Baron]

Real Name: Thor

Aliases/Other Names: Donar, Thunor

First Appearance: Unknown

Occupation: God of thunder

Base of Operations: Bilskirnir, Asgard

Place of Birth: Unknown, presumably Asgard

Group Affiliation: The Aesir

Friends/Allies: Odin, Balder, others

Enemies: Jormungandr, Utgard-Loki, others

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Eye Color: Unknown

Hair Color: Red

Strength: Super-human

Speed: Above average human

Intelligence: Average human

Energy-Manipulation Ability: (See "Special Abilities")

Magic-Manipulation Abilities: (See "Special Abilities")

Special Abilities:  As a god, Thor's powers transcend easy classification.  He controls the storms and the weather generally.

Special Equipment/Weapons: Thor possesses the hammer Mjolnir, which always returns to his hand when thrown. He also possesses the belt Megingjard, which doubles his strength, and a chariot which is pulled by the goats Tanngrisni and Tanngnost.

History: Thor is the son of Odin and the Earth goddess Jord.  He is married to Sif, with whom he has two sons, Magni and Modi, and a daughter, Thrud.  He has had many adventures, frequently battling the Frost Giants. He is fated to die at Ragnarok, battling Jormangandr to their mutual destruction.

Why He's a Favorite:  I've been a fan of Norse mythology ever since I was a little kid, years before I ever saw my first Marvel comic.  (In fact, I recall that when I first saw Marvel's Thor, I was a bit disappointed that it didn't match up to the mythology better.)  For whatever reason, I always preferred it to Greek mythology. The Greek gods tended to be too capricious and self-serving for me. The Aesir were more like a group under siege, fighting off the encroaching darkness. Thor was always my favorite of the Aesir. A big guy with a big hammer, typically solving his problems by bopping them on the head. Maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but honorable and fearless.

[Ron M.]

You left out his gloves.

From what I've read Magni is Thor's son and Modi is Sif's.

[Philip Portelli]

Also, all the Aesir had to do was call his name and he would appear!

He had a stepson named Ull, the god of skiers.

While I read the comic Thor before the mythological Thor, I was able to separate them in my mind.

The Thor/Loki tales from the myths are a great read!

[The Baron]

Ron M. said:

You left out his gloves.

From what I've read Magni is Thor's son and Modi is Sif's.

Ooh, you're right, I forgot the gloves. I never heard that about Magni and Modi. Interesting.

[The Baron]

Updating My List So Far

1. Hamlet
2. Winston  Smith
3. Green Lantern Alan Scott
4. The Doctor
5. America
6. Bender Rodriguez
7. Osaka
8. Godzilla
9. Sherlock Holmes
10. Daffy Duck
11. Popeye the Sailor
12. Captain Haddock
13. Excel
14. Speed Racer
15. Baby Bonnie Hood
16. Son Goku
17. Princess Ozma
18. Astro Boy
19. Randall Flagg 
20. Montgomery Scott
21. Superman of Earth-Two
22. Takashi Kamiyama
23. Doctor Strangelove
24. Super Milk-chan
25. Ebenezer Scrooge
26. April Patterson
27. Kayako Saeki
28. Mo Testa
29. Tom Servo
30. Haruhi Suzumiya
31. Frankenstein's Monster (Universal)
32. Worf
33. Gamera
34. Vyvyan Basterd
35. Asterix the Gaul
36. Brian Cohen
37. The Flash Jay Garrick
38. Ellen Ripley
39. Yosemite Sam
40. Doctor Doom
41. Black Jack (Tezuka)
42. Kamandi
43. Jed Clampett
44. Ryuk
45. Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan
46. Lieutenant Columbo
47. Superhero Girl
48. The Thing Ben Grimm
49. Homer Simpson
50. The Skipper Jonas Grumby
51. Velma Dinkley
52. The Sandman Wesley Dodds
53. Jason Voorhees
54. Susano Orbatos
55. Octopus Girl
56. Uncle Sam (Quality/DC)
57. Oscar the Grouch
58. Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy
59. Bran Mak Morn
60. Stargirl Courtney Whitmore (pre-nU52)
61. Solomon Kane
62. Kimihara Himeno
63. Mark Trail
64. Herman Munster
65. Patricia Martin
66. Devil Dinosaur
67. Kindaichi Hajime
68. The Catbus
69. Sarah Jane Smith
70. Ryugasaki Momoko
71. Squirrel Girl
72. The Penguin Batman '66
73. Becky Burdock
74. Rorschach
75. Sir Tristan Camelot 3000
76. Ultraman Hayata Shin
77. King Dedede
78. Watanabe Tsuru
79. Johnny Rico "book version"
80. King Ghidorah "Showa"
81. Don Quixote
82. Dana Scully
83. Captain Hank Murphy
84. Beowulf
85. Asuka Langley Soryu Shinji Ikari Raising Project
86. Santa Claus
87. Mister Magoo
88. Tajōmaru
89. Cthulhu
90. Link of Hyrule
91. Emperor Palpatine
92. Leader Deslar
93. Mothra
94. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
95. Beth March
96. Count Floyd
97. Michael Corleone
98. Watanabe Kanji
99. Wario
100. Thor (Mythology)

[The Baron]

Where I encountered these characters first (Where I've encountered them in more than one medium, I picked the one I knew them best from.):

Comic Books: 19

Live Action TV: 16

Literature: 15

Movies: 15

Manga: 11

Anime; 7

Non-Japanese Animation: 7

Comic Strips: 4

Video Games: 4

Mythology: 2

[The Baron]

Breakdown by gender:

Male: 66

Female: 27

Indeterminate:  7  

[The Baron]

Just for fun, I thought I'd see if I could take the hundred characters that I've listed in this thread so far, and organize them into a "universe", if I could. Below is the result.  I'm not perfectly happy with all of it - it's not quite as diverse a group as I might have wanted to work with. There seem to be rather a lot of sea captains, which is interesting,  

Notable Teams and Groups of This World

The Baker Street Irregulars Consulting Detective Agency:  Based in London, this team specializes in cases that the police cannot solve

1. Sherlock Holmes – World-famous consulting detective
2. Velma Dinkley – Holmes’ assistant and protégée. From the U.S.
3. Vyvyan Basterd – Violent medical student, learning forensics, one broken head at a time.
4. Winston Smith – Former copy editor for the Times of London, has government connections that Holmes finds useful.

 

Defenders of Dinosaur Island: Dinosaur Island is a special U.N. protectorate, where human scientists study the world’s only surviving dinosaur population

1. April Patterson – World’s first veterinarian specializing in work on dinosaurs.  Originally from Milborough, ON.
2. Devil Dinosaur – Red tyrannosaur of unusual intelligence
3. Kamandi – orphaned boy of unknown origins. Has special connection with Devil Dinosaur.

 

Guardians of Monster Island: Monster Island is a  Pacific island under UN administration. The Monster King Ghidorah is imprisoned there under the guardianship of three other monsters.

1. Gamera – guardian monster
2. Godzilla – guardian monster
3. Mothra – guardian monster

 

The Heroes Out of Time:  Having no specific headquarters, these heroes were gathered from their various eras to fight evil in the modern world, all while trying to find out who brought them to the present, and how they can get home.  No idea why they don’t just ask the Doctor to take them home, that would have to be addressed if I were doing this as a serious story.

 

1. Asterix – Legendary hero of ancient Gaul
2. Beowulf – Legendary hero of the Geats
3. Bran Mak Morn – Legendary hero of the Picts
4. Brian Cohen – Inadvertent “messiah” from First Century Judea. No one – including himself – seems to know why he’s there. Still ends up getting caught up in the group’s adventures.
5. Don Quixote – Would-be knight from medieval Spain.
6. Tajōmaru – Notorious bandit from old Japan

 

 

The Justice Society of America :  Headquartered in the eponymous JSA brownstone in New York City, this is the world’s first and foremost line of defense against super-powerful threats.  The current membership is as follows:

 

1. The Flash (Jay Garrick) College student, later scientist, who gained super-speed after exposure to “hard water” fumes. Lives in Keystone City.
2. The Green Lantern (Alan Scott) Engineer who received a mystical power ring and battery.  Lives in Gotham City, NJ. (1)
3. Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) Eighteen (2) year old girl who developed super-powers after exposure to the experimental chemical “Terrigen”.  Lives in Gotham City, NJ
4. The Sandman (Wesley Dodds) Wealthy businessman who uses his gas gun to fight crime. Lives in New York City.
5. Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green) Mutant college student who has sciurine powers. Lives in New York City.
6. Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore)  College student who uses cosmic rod and cosmic converter belt developed by scientist Ted Knight to fight crime.  Home is in Blue Valley, NE, currently lives in New York.
7. Superman (Clark “Kal-L” Kent)  The first super-hero. Editor of the Daily Star.  Lives in Metropolis, IL. (3)
8. The Thing (Benjamin J. Grimm) Test pilot whose exposure to cosmic rays turned him into a “monster”. Lives in New York City.
9. Uncle Sam (real name, if any, unknown)   Ageless being who claims to be the living embodiment of the American spirit.
   1. The JSA’s Staff

                                                   i.      Daffy Duck – The team’s self-appointed publicist

                                                 ii.      Elizabeth “Beth” March – Was very ill as a child, and was cured by a serum discovered by Superman in space. Now works as head of the JSA’s fan club, and curator of the JSA museum.

                                                iii.      Homer Simpson –  Bumbling maintenance man for the team’s HQ

                                               iv.      Monica “Mo” Testa – Team’s official historian/archivist

                                                 v.      Oscar the Grouch – From the extradimensional realm of Grouchland.  Lives in a trashcan in front of JSA HQ.  Something in the nature of a team mascot.

                                               vi.      Tom Servo – Robotic Majordomo. Does the real work of maintaining the team’s HQ

 

 

Kuromati Girls’ High School First-Years:  A group of 15 year-old girls who’ve just begun attending an elite Tokyo high school.

1. Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga – Girl with a “dfferent” outlook
2. Haruhi Suzumiya – Forceful leader.  Potentially the most powerful being on the planet, her powers are currently dormant.
3. Himeno Kimihara – Centaur girl (4)
4. Momoko Ryugasaki – Independent-minded “Lolita” girl
5. Patricia Martin – Fangirl exchange student from the U.S.
6. Tsuru Watanabe – Earnest, hard-working girl, much of her free-time is taken up with caring for her ailing uncle Kanji, A Tokyo bureaucrat. (5)

 

The Night Watch – Headquartered at Marlinspike in the UK.  Funded by the philanthropic industrialist, Ebenezer Scrooge, who seeks to make up for his past misdeeds.  I picture them as monster-hunters, who go after the sort of “supernatural” stuff that the JSA might overlook.

1. Baby Bonnie Hood – Money-hungry monster-hunter, from somewhere in Northern Europe.
2. Becky Burdock – Girl reporter, unwilling vampire. From Castle Town, UK.
3. Captain Archibald Haddock – Group leader, retired sailor. Wealth said to come from recovered pirate treasure
4. Frankenstein’s Monster – Original creation of Victor Frankenstein. From Germany
5. Link – Current incarnation of the legendary hero of the extradimensional land of Hyrule, who is currently trapped in our dimension.
6. Solomon Kane – Seemingly timeless (6) Puritan adventurer.

 

The Special Science Search Party:  Headquartered in Tokyo.  Overseen by the youthful genius Kamiyama Takashi, this is sort of a Japanese Impossible Missions Force.

1. Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu) Robot hero
2. Asuka Langley Soryu (7)) – Hot-headed pilot of the mecha EVA-02  (8)
3. Black Jack (Kurō Hazama) – Rogue surgeon
4. The Catbus - Supernatural being/team transport
5. Kindaichi Hajime – Brilliant boy detective
6. Octopus Girl (Takako Unabara) Irreverent, self-absorbed Japanese girl with unusual abilities.
7. Son Goku (Kakarrot) Alien martial artist
8. Speed Racer (Mifune Goh) Expert race car driver.
9. Super Milk-chan – Unpredictable young super-heroine (7)

 

UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce): Headquartered in London, UNIT was founded to fight potential alien threats, by governments who don’t want to have to rely solely on the JSA

1. Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart – Head of UNIT
2. Captain Amber March – The Brigadier’s second-in-command. An expert soldier, her one peculiarity is that she firmly believes that she is the reincarnation of the Arthurian knight Sir Tristan, and insists on being so addressed. From Alberta, Canada
3. The Doctor – Itinerant Time Lord. Serves as the Brigadier’s technical advisor when the mood strikes him. Originally from Gallifrey.
4. Ellen Ripley  - Veteran alien-fighter. From the U.S.
5. Juan “Johnny” Rico – Wears experimental battle-armor. From the Philippines.
6. Montgomery “Scotty” Scott. Brilliant engineer, the Brigadier’s technical advisor when the Doctor isn’t around. Also a drinking buddy.
7. Sarah Jane Smith – Technically UNIT’s press liaison, also the Doctor’s companion.
8. Worf, son of Mogh – A Klingon warrior exiled to Earth, he defends his adopted world

 

The X-Patrol: Headquartered in Washington, DC.  The USA’s counterpart to  (and rival of) the Night Watch, funded by wealthy eccentric Quincy Magoo. Investigators of the supernatural.

1. Bender Rodriguez – Alcoholic-powered Mexican-American robot
2. Dana Scully – Team leader,  former FBI agent.
3. Herman Munster – A later, better-socialized creation of Victor Frankenstein.
4. Jed Clampett – Canny backwoodsman. Incredibly rich from oil money, but prefers to live a simple life.
5. King Dedede – Deposed monarch of the extradimensional realm of Dream Land.  He’s fed and gets to bop people with his hammer occasionally, so he’s not too eager to go home and reclaim his throne.
6. Mark Trail - Nature writer, expert on plant and animal life. Resides in Lost Forest, GA
7. The Skipper (Jonas Grumby) Experienced sea captain

 

Independent Super-Heroes

1. Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) Hard-hitting vigilante. Never quite crosses the line where the other heroes feel it necessary to hunt him down. Lives in New York City.
2. Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy) Student/musician who received spider-powers from the bite of a radioactive spider.  Lives in New York City.
3. Superhero Girl – Canada’s resident  super-hero
4. Ultraman (Hayata Shin) Tokyo-based monster fighter.

 

Notable Villains

1. Cthulhu – Ancient being that sleeps in the sunken city of  R’lyeh, awaiting his time to rise. Even his dreams present a threat to human survival.
2. Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom) Absolute monarch of the Balkan kingdom of Latveria, he is a master of science and sorcery.  His lieutenant is Excel, a young Japanese woman. Her fidelity is matched only by her incompetence.  One of the world’s great mysteries is why Doom puts up with her.
3. Jason Voorhees – Murderous mutant zombie. Typically found in or near Crystal Lake, NY
4. Kayako Saeki – Vengeful ghost who haunts Tokyo
5. Michael Corleone – Criminal boss who presents the façade of a “legitimate businessman”.  Lives in New York City.
6. The Penguin (Oswald C. Cobblepot) Mayor of Gotham City.  He is widely believed to be connected with organized crime, but it’s never quite been proved, much to the chagrin of Gotham’s resident heroes.
7. Randall Flagg – Charismatic mayor of Las Vegas.  Allows it to be believed that he is “secretly” connected to the mob.  In fact, his true evil is much deeper and darker than that.
8. Yosemite Sam – Resident of Toontown. More nuisance than menace.

 

Supernatural Beings (Typically only interact with mortals in the direst circumstances)

1. Ryuk – Capricious Shinigami, holder of the Death Note
2. Santa Claus – Friend to all children. Lives in a workshop at the North Pole.
3. Susano Orbatos  - Eastern storm god
4. Thor – Western storm god

 

Other Notable Individuals

1. America – Immortal being who claims to be the living embodiment of the American spirit, even as Uncle Sam does.  Acts as a special agent of the US President, loyal to the office, rather than the man.
2. Doctor Strangelove – Scientific advisor to the US President. Originally from Germany.
3. Floyd Robertson – Newscaster for WGBS. Also hosts Monster Chiller Horror Theater as “Count Floyd”.  Friend and colleague of Clark Kent.
4. Hamlet – King of Denmark (9)
5. Lieutenant Frank Columbo – LAPD detective
6. Popeye the Sailor – super-strong adventurer
7. Princess Ozma – Sorcerous ruler of Oz, a magical land located in central Australia, and surrounded by the impassable Deadly Desert
8. Wario – Video game designer, proprietor of WarioWare, Inc.

 

Space Powers

1. Gallifrey -  Planet of the Time Lords.  They are forbidden to interfere. Except one.
2. The Gamilan Empire – Centered on the planet Gamilas.  Absolute dictatorship ruled by Leader Deslar, who has come to respect and even like Earth people after several failed attempts at invasion. It’s a bit like having the Red Skull for a buddy.  In an uneasy truce with the Klingons against the greater threat of the Sith.
3. The Klingon Empire – Centered on the planet Qo’nos. The Klingons are a warrior race who, like the Gamilans, generally respect humanity. They consider the Gamilans effete, even as the Gamilans consider them uncouth.
4. The Empire of the Sith – Based on the planet Coruscant.  A vast military machine bent on galactic domination. Ruled by Emperor Palpatine, a.k.a. Darth Sidious, a tyrant with vast psychic powers.

 

Notes

(1)Gotham takes the place of this world’s Jersey City.

 

(2)I bumped Kamala up to college age, so as to avoid the questionable notion of having a minor out fighting crime.

 

(3)I know the current mythos is that Metropolis is based on the better parts of NYC. That never felt right to me. I always figured that Clark, bring a Midwestern boy, would go to a Midwestern city, so I always thought of Metropolis being in that general area.  We can imagine that this Metropolis is a good deal larger than its “real world” counterpart”.

 

(4) Centaurs are a branch of the human race believed to have originally evolved in Central Asia. Centaurs have no homeland as such, but instead intermix with other human groups, absorbing the local language and culture.

 

(5)Making these two relative was arbitrary on my part, but to me it seems to fit.

 

(6)If you read Howard’s stories about Kane, he utilized a fair amount of weird magic, for a Puritan. So, I posited him as a sort of timeless wanderer, living on through the ages. 

 

(7)As with Ms. Marvel, I’m positing that she’s at least 18.

 

(8)I’m also posting that Asuka can “summon up” her mecha by some pseudo-scientific means or other, and that it can operate independently, mostly just so as to solve the story headaches of how it can always be handy, but at the same time not have to be something that she lugs around everywhere.

 

(9) Yeah, I gave Hamlet a somewhat happier fate than Shakespeare did.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"It's not quite as diverse a group as I might have wanted to work with"?