What literary figures would be in your League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?

[Freezair]

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is an extraordinarily bad Sean Connery movie. However, it was originally a very cool graphic novel/comic book series about a world in which the characters of Victorian literature co-exist in a technologically advanced Victorian world and form a super-literary fighting team! It's the kind of concept an English major like me just goes gaga over.

So here's my question. You are building a fighting superhero team of literary characters--but you can use anyone from any era, not just Victorian. You can go classic and pack Odysseus. You can go modern and bring Harry Potter. They don't necessarily have to be gentlemen, of course--gentleladies, gentlechildren, and not-so-gentle-men-and-women are invited. Untimely death in their series of origin is no barrier. The only requirement is that they must be from a book or short story. Who do YOU incorporate into your League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?

-Lanen Kaeler, from one of my favorite fantasy novels, Song in the Silence (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1996! Or 1997, I forget). She's a brave and intrepid go-getter, making her a good general pick, but one of the major assets she brings to the table is her connections--the ones she already has in addition to her ability to forge new ones. Her father's an ex-assassin and mercenary, she's best friends with a spy, her boyfriend is the King of the Dragons... Wait, what? Yes. And that means she has a lot of dragons on her side. Yup. A lot of dragons.*

-Harrison Bergeron, from the short story of the same name. He's a natural leader, not to mention the fact that he's got nearly superhuman strength, and he can apparently fly. Remember, like I said, in this team, anything goes... (I say this to those of you who are familiar with the story and know what happens.) He'd be an excellent brute-strength fighter, especially with all those weapons the government conveniently armed him with. Giant sandbags, chains, those little ear thingies that make loud noises that distract you...

-Portia, from the Bard's (can't spell "Shakespeare" properly) Merchant of Venice. Every team needs a smooth talker, and this gusty gal fits the bill. The scene where Portia, disguised as Balthasar, defends (looks up how to spell his name) Bassaino and Antonio in court is one of my favorite scenes from anything ever; I mentally shouted out "You go, girl!" when I first read it.** (Yes, I am that big of a dork.) And because this is a superhero team, Portia is not only a master of beauracracy, legalese, and doublespeak (...getting to that in a minute), but she is also a master of disguise. Because I say so.

-Winston Smith, prior to everything that happens at the end of the book, of course. Not his girlfriend; she annoys me. But plain old Winston. I realize that in the books, Winston is much more of a dreamer than a doer, who enjoys fantasizing about changing the world and that sort of thing, but he can be my League's plan-man, and in the world of superhero comics, he can also be the guy who's the gearhead that can build anything. OK, so maybe in the books, he's not THAT smart. ...Um, you know what else he can do? He's good at finding secret hiding spots! Yeah...

-Edmond Dantes, from the Count of Monte Cristo. In my League, he's the most antihero-y one... The dark, angsty fellow with tales of suffering and revenge behind him. But he's also disgustingly intelligent, resourceful, and strong. (The guy swum off an island, for goodness' sake.) He's kind of like our Batman, only without a cool car, tools with the word "Edmond" placed in front of them (the Edmondarang?), and spiralling backgrounds with his logo in them.

-Thornmallow, the protagonist from one of my FAVORITE children's books ever, Wizard's Hall. By Jane Yolen, who also wrote The Devil's Arithmatic. Because he means well. And he tries.

*OK, so if you ever actually READ the book, it's not all that many. And that's kind of the point. But I think if you're a bad guy, you only need to see 3 or 4 dragons before it becomes "A whole freakin' lot of dragons."

** Apparently there are literary debates about this sort of thing, in readings wherein Shylock is meant to be a sympathetic character, and Portia's showing up is a whole mockery of justice and a dirty mean trick and that sort of thing. However, Portia is still pretty clever, so one could concievably make her an awful snob whom nobody likes but whose wit and resource are still essential to the group.

Sure to think of more as people reply...

[Fish and Chips]

-Harrison Bergeron, from the short story of the same name. He's a natural leader, not to mention the fact that he's got nearly superhuman strength, and he can apparently fly. Remember, like I said, in this team, anything goes... (I say this to those of you who are familiar with the story and know what happens.) He'd be an excellent brute-strength fighter, especially with all those weapons the government conveniently armed him with. Giant sandbags, chains, those little ear thingies that make loud noises that distract you...

*21 gun salute goes off in the background.*

...I'm sorry?

[EricTheFred]

Since you clearly aren't limiting yourself to the Victorian era, I'm going to suggest that Horatio Hornblower be included in this august capacity. Not only can he provide transportation, your list is short on government connections, and Admiralty's not a bad place to pick those up.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I'd put Holden Caufield and the guy from War of the Worlds in mine. Maybe Dr. Frankenstein to fill the science role, Wyatt Earp for the firepower. yeah, he was a real guy but there was quite the literary legend surrounding him in dime novels which largely sensationalized and exagerated his life.

[uc pseudonym]

This is a wonderful topic. I will attempt to provide my own LXG at some point after further thought. For the moment...

-Harrison Bergeron, from the short story of the same name. He's a natural leader, not to mention the fact that he's got nearly superhuman strength, and he can apparently fly. Remember, like I said, in this team, anything goes... (I say this to those of you who are familiar with the story and know what happens.) He'd be an excellent brute-strength fighter, especially with all those weapons the government conveniently armed him with. Giant sandbags, chains, those little ear thingies that make loud noises that distract you...

You can say that again.

[the_wolfs_howl]

*21 gun salute goes off in the background.*

...I'm sorry?

Will from The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. He has a magical knife that can cut through anything, even the fabric of space and time that separates one dimension from another. Lyra might be helpful too, with her alethiometer (which can, to put it simply, tell the future).

Doctor van Hellsing from Dracula by Bram Stoker. Kill those vampires!

Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books. The greatest wizard ever. An obvious choice. And Harry himself wouldn't be too shabby either.

Sabriel from the book with the same name. She has a large arsenal of magic at her disposal, as well as magical bells that send the Dead back to where they belong.

And might I venture...Gandalf?

[bigsleepj]

• Elwin Ransom from CS Lewis' The Space Trilogy. He is wise and thoughtful, and has seen things few humans have seen. His knowledge would be a great asset. He'd be the leader.

• Conan the Barbarian (not the version played by a certain Californian governor) as he appeared in the original Robert E Howard stories. He'd be hard to restrain since he does have this compulsion to trample the jeweled thrones of the earth beneath his sandaled feet, but at least he's good at getting out of a fight (though he might also be the cause of the fight as well).

• Javert from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. I'm probably the only person in the universe who never saw Javert as the true villain of the tale (Thernardier played that role, actually), though I wouldn't call him a good guy. His perseverance would do any investigation justice if he could see the error of his ways.

• William of Baskerville from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. A Franciscan monk and ex-Inquisitor, William has solved every mystery and heresy that came his way. He's old but still strong and thus handy if you have to solve a crime.

• Arthur Dent from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. What is an adventure without a droll Englishman in his dressing gown? He'd carry the luggage.

• Leonard of Quirm from Pratchett's Discworld Novels. If you need an inventor, he's your man. Can invent pretty much anything if he puts his mind into it, including a frying pan that sticks to anything (just the thing for space-travel meal preparation). He's a much better choice of an inventor to have along than that Johnson fellow.

• Werner Herzog. Okay, just kidding. He's not a fictional character, but you'd be excused if you mistake him for one.

[the_wolfs_howl]

After further contemplation, I'd like to add either Hercule Poirot, Father Brown, or Sherlock Holmes to my list. Our legion of heroes would need someone to work out all the mysteries the bad guys throw their way.

[Maledicte]

I love this topic.

-Don Simon Ysidro from Those Who Hunt the Night. I could use a good vampire. He's calm and collected, not the loose cannon of the group but still not very trustworthy. Still, you can count on him to be efficient and to get the job done. Just don't mind if any civilians die in the process.

-Frankenstein's Monster. He's strong, intelligent, if not a bit emo...but how can you blame the guy? He wouldn't be a good guy to send out for public errands, but if you're in a pinch, he should be able to bail you out. Just treat him nicely and he ought to do the same back.

-Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre. Heck, why not add Jane herself. I don't know why they'd be in here. Rochester I guess would be good at disguise, Jane might be the brains of the group. I like them, that's why they're in here.

-Arkady Renko from Gorky Park and subsequent novels. I think he's my favorite detective now. Even though he tends to always fail. Still, his ironic sense of humor and singleminded dedication would make him valuable.

-Owen Meany from A Prayer for Owen Meany. Because every team needs a member WHO TALKS LIKE THIS. Tough, charismatic, loyal and just a bit cheeky.

-George or Slim from Of Mice and Men. Slim would probably be a better pick but I like George. I have no idea what they'd be doing on the team though.

-George Smiley form Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. A spy on a covert operations team is just somehow, you know, fitting. I haven't read much about him, but since all of the members of the team are relatively fit and good-looking, might as well have a pudgy little man to break things up. He can team up with Renko.

-Toranaga from Shogun. Hee hee hee ha ha. Wait, he wouldn't be on this team.

-Simon from Thieves of Heaven. Like Silas from DVC, only way cooler. Can't go wrong with a priest with shotguns!

-Childermass from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Magicians ahoy. The two main characters are too set in their ways; I think Childermass would be open to a practical application of magic.

-Inspector Kate Miskin from the Dalgliesh novels. Unlike Dalgliesh, she doesn't have as much of a "past" and could incorporate League duties much better into her life. She can also team up with Renko.

-Ryan Cage from Carlucci's Heart. A doctor and a fighter, he'd be a strong addition to the team.

...that's enough from me for now....

[Freezair]

Since you clearly aren't limiting yourself to the Victorian era, I'm going to suggest that Horatio Hornblower be included in this august capacity. Not only can he provide transportation, your list is short on government connections, and Admiralty's not a bad place to pick those up.

Oooh! Excellent choice! I'll admit that I've had the Hornblower series on my "to-read" list for a long time, but they're annoyingly hard to find for some reason. And I'm not in a good position to order stuff off Amazon right now.

Hercule Poirot is one of my favorite slueths ever, but I must also confess a fondness for Miss Marple. (...I stayed at my grandma's house a lot as a kid, and I ended up reading some of her books. I got bored.)

[mitsuki lover]

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
D'Artagnan from The Three Musketeers
Sir Launcelot,Sir Gawain and Sir Galahad from King Arthur
Robin Hood and Maid Marion
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys
Maureen Birnbaum(simply because Maureen Birnbaum,Barbarian Swordsperson is so hilarious)
the Goddess Athena
the Sackett family
The Connecticut Yankee(aka 'Hank')
Gabriel Chase
Dracula
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson
Perry Mason

[rocklobster]

Michael (hey if youre going to have a religious figure, mitsuki, so can I)
Sherlock Holmes
Zorro
John Carter of Mars
Tarzan

[Danderson]

Let's see, where to begin.....

...Thomas Hunter from the Circle Trilogy, Think Neo, but smarter, more emotional and without the coat and glasses....

....Samuel from The Showdown and Saint. Who wouldn't want a wise 13 yr old who can just speak and give his words literal power...

....Billy Bannister and Bonnie Silver from the Dragons in our Midst Series. Half-dragons on the ultimate fight team...One with fire breath the other with Dragon wings....that'd be so freakin awesome.....

Johnny from Saint. Not only the worlds best assasin, but a man who's God given power can move boulders in the air as though they were nothing.....

Anyone from the good guy crew from the Shadowmancer Returns...now that's alot of amazing characters....

Wish I could think of more, but that's it for now.....

[mitsuki lover]

More:

Gilgamesh
Helen of Troy
Little Red Riding Hood
Rose Red
The Artful Dodger
Meg from Little Women
The Time Traveler
Roland

[Maledicte]

Dr. Edward Weyland
Count Dracula
Sir Francis Varney
Carmilla Karnstein/Millarca
Don Simon Xavier Cristian Morado de la Cadena-Ysidro
D
Morbius
Mosquiton
Thomas Raith

Guess what all my picks have in common.

[Aileen Kailum]

Ender Wiggin from Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, etc. He's a stinking genius.

Howl (Howell Jenkins) from Howl's Moving Castle. Incredibly powerful and a coward to boot.