davidbofinger
2013-04-11, 02:44 AM
For no particular reason I thought it might be interesting to look at analogies between the members of the Order of the Stick and of protagonist ensembles from other fiction, in practice TV science fiction. Apologies if this has been done, couldn't find it on google.
For this purpose the Order of the Stick has six members: Roy, Durkon, Hayley, Elan, Vaarsuvius and Belkar.
The original Blake's Seven crew also had six members.
* Blake is Roy: the up front hero who gives the orders.
* Gan is Elan: the not very bright or competent one people nonetheless like, though his inability to hurt people recalls Belkar's Mark of Justice.
* Cally is Durkon: the solid dependable one with the touchy-feely abilities.
* Vila could be Hayley, because he's the thief, probably no better analogy, he's had his head messed with badly enough to resemble Elan.
* Jenna, the piloting wizard, is the closest analogue of Vaarsuvius, not all that close really, combined with Hayley's prettiness.
* Avon is Belkar: the one you might need but is always thinking of betraying you, and if he does save your arse you will definitely know about it. But he's also the nearest to Vaarsuvius in being a general purpose wizard.
Looking at this list reminds me of how much better the OOTS ensemble is than the B7 one. Most of the heavy lifting was done by Blake, Avon and Vila.
The Original Series Star Trek ensemble was four members:
* Kirk is Roy as the leader, plus Elan as a casanova.
* Spock is nearest Vaarsuvius in attitude
* McCoy is Durkon's capabilities, plus Belkar because he feuds with Spock, but no close analogue really.
* Scott is Durkon, because of the accent.
* The ship has no Belkar, because the Federation is too nice for that, and no Hayley.
The Firefly crew is, count them, nine members. (How does Whedon fit all these people in a show? The man's freaky.)
* Mal is the leadership role of Roy.
* Zoe is the more thoughtful part of Roy. I've often thought Serenity would have done better with Mal as Zoe's right hand man.
* Wash is the likable and ineffectual Elan, singing "Curse, curse, curse your inevitable betrayal," and waving a dinosaur like it was a puppet god.
* Jayne is Belkar.
* Simon has no close analogue.
* River is Vaarsuvius in capability at the end but mostly has no analogue.
* Book is Durkon, because he's older.
* Inara is the seductive qualities of Elan, perhaps a touch of Vaarsuvius in how she keeps herself apart.
* Kaylee is Hayley because she's a cute young redhead.
A common conclusion: hard to replicate Vaarsuvius in an SF setting. And recent series tend to have larger more equal casts.
Lots of others we could do. Any thoughts?
For this purpose the Order of the Stick has six members: Roy, Durkon, Hayley, Elan, Vaarsuvius and Belkar.
The original Blake's Seven crew also had six members.
* Blake is Roy: the up front hero who gives the orders.
* Gan is Elan: the not very bright or competent one people nonetheless like, though his inability to hurt people recalls Belkar's Mark of Justice.
* Cally is Durkon: the solid dependable one with the touchy-feely abilities.
* Vila could be Hayley, because he's the thief, probably no better analogy, he's had his head messed with badly enough to resemble Elan.
* Jenna, the piloting wizard, is the closest analogue of Vaarsuvius, not all that close really, combined with Hayley's prettiness.
* Avon is Belkar: the one you might need but is always thinking of betraying you, and if he does save your arse you will definitely know about it. But he's also the nearest to Vaarsuvius in being a general purpose wizard.
Looking at this list reminds me of how much better the OOTS ensemble is than the B7 one. Most of the heavy lifting was done by Blake, Avon and Vila.
The Original Series Star Trek ensemble was four members:
* Kirk is Roy as the leader, plus Elan as a casanova.
* Spock is nearest Vaarsuvius in attitude
* McCoy is Durkon's capabilities, plus Belkar because he feuds with Spock, but no close analogue really.
* Scott is Durkon, because of the accent.
* The ship has no Belkar, because the Federation is too nice for that, and no Hayley.
The Firefly crew is, count them, nine members. (How does Whedon fit all these people in a show? The man's freaky.)
* Mal is the leadership role of Roy.
* Zoe is the more thoughtful part of Roy. I've often thought Serenity would have done better with Mal as Zoe's right hand man.
* Wash is the likable and ineffectual Elan, singing "Curse, curse, curse your inevitable betrayal," and waving a dinosaur like it was a puppet god.
* Jayne is Belkar.
* Simon has no close analogue.
* River is Vaarsuvius in capability at the end but mostly has no analogue.
* Book is Durkon, because he's older.
* Inara is the seductive qualities of Elan, perhaps a touch of Vaarsuvius in how she keeps herself apart.
* Kaylee is Hayley because she's a cute young redhead.
A common conclusion: hard to replicate Vaarsuvius in an SF setting. And recent series tend to have larger more equal casts.
Lots of others we could do. Any thoughts?