I would also like to see this! I’d imagine your choices would determine how powerful Mr. Hyde gets and in the end he either takes over or you manage to suppress him.
Another one I think would be interesting is Don Quixote. Now you are the absurdist gentleman/woman going on very-much-real high fantasy adventures.
Maybe an Arsène Lupin game? For some good, classy thievery? Maybe one game about Sherlock Holmes, another game about Arsène Lupin, and then a third game which will be an epic showdown between the two characters you’ve set up?
If any of these has been made, do inform me. I’ll play the hell out of them.
Have you read Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series? It’s a festival of public domain characters! The first volume is the strongest, in my opinion, and has some fascinating takes on many of the characters mentioned in this thread, including Mina Murray, Alan Quartermain, James Moriarty, Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll and Fu Manchu.
(Please don’t confuse with the movie, which was awful!)
Yeah the choices as Jekyll affect what Hyde can do. I am trying to plan on having it be a two player game where one person plays Jekyll then it gets passed to the player who will be hyde. Because Hyde won’t know what Jekyll has done and vice versa
The first two volumes are fantastic with James Moriarty vs Fu Manchu in Book 1 and a take on the War of the Worlds in Book 2. After that Alan elected to do kookier stuff with the team including Century which had Harry Potter as the Anti-Christ and Mary Poppins as God and a trilogy of stories with Nemo’s daughter over a fifty year period.
Moriarty is definitely interesting because according to Doyle he has two brothers (a Colonel and Signalman) and his ally Sebastian Moran and possibly the option of a relationship/rivalry with either Holmes or Irene Adler. So plenty of scope there.
Yeah, I quite liked Century for its sheer crazy energy (and that finale was something else!) but I felt it was a bit hamstrung because he had to be more oblique with the references. I agree that the narrative really lost its way after the second volume.
I would personally have preferred him to have gone backward in time and explored the earlier incarnations of the League that he touches on in the Black Dossier, with Lemuel Gulliver, Prospero etc.
I know that not many here are able to make use of this name, but I always wanted to write a story about the legendary adventures of Klaus Störtebecker, a famous northern german pirate, who is criminally underrepresented even in german media. I mean, he was a privateer with a robin hood-like mindset during the 14th century who was know thoughout the entire hanseatic area for his many heroics, like how he was always ready to help and fight for the poor and oppressed, for how he overthrew many vile and corrupted hanseatic lords and how he wasn’t even afraid to butt heads with some of the most powerful individuals of the period (like Queen Margaret I of Denmark or the entirety of the Teutonic Order). There are even a few fantastical stories that tell how Störtebecker fought against evil witches and warlocks, encountered and befriended several supernatural creatures and how he even met actual pagan gods. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think a interactive fiction based on this famous character could make for one hell of a story. It would even be quite easy to make it possible to play as a female Störtebecker if you change a few things.
I mean… I don’t know anything about going toe to toe with witches, warlocks, and gods… that was never covered in my shitty school history lessons (not there was much coverage about him at all, which is sad considering where I live -.-)
But ending a potential IF based on the legends of his death would be epic, to say the least
Freeing several of his men by walking past them after his head got cut off, is… quite the picture after all
The library of my old school (which was even named after him) was filled with countless books about Störtebecker and his adventures and many of them focused on the more fantasitical side of his adventures (even if these adventures were sadly less commonly known). He was also a main focus of our History lessons which is why I developed such a keen interest for his Stories.
I wholeheartly agree with that. A great ending for an legendary saga.
@BrachydiosX@tiranka I knew next to nothing about Störtebecker but I’m just reading about him now. He seems like my kind of swashbuckler!
Edward Teach (AKA Blackbeard) was another pirate who managed surprisingly well post-decapitation. According to one story about his death, they threw his headless body off the ship and he swam three times around it before he sank. Theatrical to the last…
Maybe there’s a story about a gang of famous headless pirates waiting to be told?
Which reminds me that there were a ton of interesting pirates all over the world, especially the ladies; Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Ching Shih, and probably many more I can’t think of right now.
Especially Ching Shih’s ascension to leadership and her battles against several navies would make quite an interesting game, I think.
But I guess that’s more historical figures than fictional characters in public domain
Some artist already modify fictionnal villain. Dracula’s Coppola is definitly not as evil as his original character. Just don’t forget that they are evil, do not make them hero and anti héro… Especially Moriarty who is really evil incarnate.
Dracula kill to live, he need blood to survive.
Moriarty is already rich, he has a good job and a good situation. He is well know and appreciate by his fellow professor and student.
He help commit crime (or sometimes do it himself) out of boredom. Just because.
Character like Nemo are more free to become what the autor or player want. Like Lupin. Well Lupin is a good character in a alignement sense, but hé is still a thief. And not all of his victim are Bad people. Sometimes hé steal just because he is a thief. It’s possible to see him collabore with evil people (and backstab them in the end) or see him work with police. It’s adventure that please him, and Nemo IS somehow the same. He explore and discover, that’s what please him.
Alongside Copeland and Marsh and the Bone Wars, Ching Shih is probably the historical figure I would love to see most in Doctor Who actually. But a game where you can play all the most interesting pirates would be awesome.
I personally have several public domain protagonists I’d love to write. Van Helsing and Arsène Lupin among them, as mentioned upthread. Maybe someday, when I’m not neck-deep in multiple projects already. I’ve also always had a fascination with the Arthurian mythos, especially Mordred, but I believe someone’s got that covered already, heh.
Oh yes! So many interesting ideas here. The public domain IS great. And I agree, villain representation would be something I’d totally love to see. Cause some mayhem, murder a few people, a little arson - just as a treat. In fiction only, of course!
I gotta admit, Frankenstein as the protagonist would be totally awesome, there is great potential in the relationship with the Monster. But playing the Monster would also have many interesting paths, I think. Also parental-relationship with Frankenstein? The betrayal? Yes, please.
Agree! All the magic and wonders would be fun.
I was thinking about an Alice in Wonderland cog just the other day when I talked with a friend about the movies… That’s weird. I think this and Peter Pan would be very fun, in regards to the setting, the characters, and the “magic”. It could be very colourful. But on the other hand, a dark turn on would be also great. Something the player could control, depending on how they play.
I think playing as both would be exciting. Just these two completely different personalities fighting against each other and the player is in control of how much they are going to drift apart.
Yes! Monster hunter, not necessarily only vampires, but yes! The movie was fun in that regard, bringing Jekyll and Hyde into the mix, as well as werewolves and the Frankensteins. Lots of potential there, and to be honest the more gothic horror the better. But maybe, I am just biased.
You could do horror story with Peter Pan.
AT first, without Disney, hé is a character that kidnap kid to play with them and make them happy then kill them when they want to return home or when they grow.
Captain Hook was one of these kids, but manage to survive and escape. That’s why he want revenge.
I think this and Peter Pan would be very fun, in regards to the setting, the characters, and the “magic”. It could be very colourful. But on the other hand, a dark turn on would be also great. Something the player could control, depending on how they play.
