Your own LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN!

[berk]

This is tougher than it looks at first glance. I think Kirayoshi is the only person besides RR so far to come up with a team whose members all come from the same time period. I'm gonna have to think some more ...

[Shem the Penman]

For an all-female fantasy team, I'd suggest Corson and Nyctasia from the "Silverglass" books. (Think female versions of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser -- the parallel isn't exact, but it's close.)

[howyadoin]

I think Kirayoshi is the only person besides RR so far to come up with a team whose members all come from the same time period.

Well, nobody said they have to.

But yeah, it is tough. I was gonna put together a team of detectives, but they were all loners. They'd never work together.

[thehod]

Not so much characters from books this one, but I think I’ve got the theme down.

May I present the 1960’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Operating much more in the shadows, and with much closer ties to the British government, this team is Britain prime espionage group, defending the realm from hostile outside attention, and from other unlikely sources.

The leader of the group is Britain’s premier agent, James Bond, 007. A spy of many years, Bond has been licensed to kill by the British Secret Service. Usually working alone, his superiors hope that an element of command may temper Bond’s normally cavalier attitude.

They are advised on all scientific matters by Professor Bernard Quatermass. One of Britain’s foremost rocket scientists, Quatermass, or Q as he is sometimes called, is the eldest of the team, and dislikes Bond’s whimsical approach.

As well as being an exceptional agent, Simon Templar is their connection to the more shadowy elements of their work, although his habit of leaving his “Saint” calling card is an element that causes Band concern.

The mysterious Number 6 is another British agent that has been drafted into help. Sometimes assuming the alias John Drake, he has a haunted look about him, and he refuses to discuss his past.

Looking a little out of place is Jeff Randall. A competent investigator, his presence in the group is based on his relationship to the deceased Marty Hopkirk, a ghost who can go where the others cannot.

John Steed and Emma Peel are a team within a team. With experience with the slightly more fantastic elements of intellegence work, they bring a sense of the incredible to the group.

They are joined from time to time by an eccentric, but brilliant older man who refers to himself only as The Doctor. With a knowledge that surpasses Professor Quatermass’s, The Doctor refuses to discuss his presence on the team, only saying that he has his reasons.

I was going to go with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen FC, starring characters such as Billy Dane, Hotshot Hamish, Billy the Fish and Roy Race, but a football team needs 11 players, and no-one would’ve had a clue who I was talking about.

[berk]

howyadoin said:
But yeah, it is tough. I was gonna put together a team of detectives, but they were all loners. They'd never work together.

Come on, tell us anyway! Seriously, I think a potential problem with all these teams, including Alan Moore's original concept, is that they'd be unlikely to function well as a team. Would someone like Captain Nemo take orders from anyone? I think it unlikely, though not completely outside the realm of possibility.

So give us the team of loners; their inability to work as a team could be a big part of the story.

[Tobias March]

Nice Idea...

John Silence, our own holistic detective.

The Time Traveller something of a period cheat I know, but nevertheless.

Melmoth the Wanderer they keep him chained in the basement, but he's an important source of information ;)

Carmilla kept subdued by Silence and though still a threat potentially.

Charon and the Baron Munchausen from the Houseboat on the River Styxx grown weary of the social chit-chat, they escape Limbo with the aid of the team and re-enter the world.

:)

[Rabid Trekkie]

Sherlock Holmes: The great detective himself and leader of the team. I know there are people who think of him as being a team breaker but oh well.

Abraham Van Helsing: A skilled doctor and knowledgable about a great many things that are outside the realm of what we consider normal. When dealing with things of an occult nature he would go about it the same way Holmes would, except that Holmes doesn't really believe in the supernatural.

Arsène Lupin: Excellent thief and makes an interesting edition to the team. While helping the team him and Holmes are always trying to match wits.

Mogli: The boy raised by wolves from Jungle Book.

Ned Lands: The main macho guy of the group, him and Mogli do most of the fighting.

[Indigo Al]

My sci-fi league:

Hari Seldon from Foundation
Duncan Idaho from Dune
Michael Valentine Smith from Stranger in a Strange Land
Bob Arctor from A Scanner Darkly
an Uplifted chimp from the David Brin Uplift series
and for the "Mina" spot I'd have either Lessa with Ramoth from the Pern series, or Killashandra Ree from Crystal Singer - MAYBE Moreta and her Dragon.

the team would travel on Helva, the Ship who Sang.

The whole story may or may not take place on the skin of the Illustrated Man.

Team Fantasy S&S

Well, sure, why not Frodo from LOTR
Shea Ohmsford from Shannara
Lord Thomas Covenant
St Camber of Culdi from Deryni series
Ged from Earthsea
and for the Mina spot.....Sybel from Forgotten Beasts of Eld. (First runner-up includes Eilonwy from the Chronicles of Prydain)

Team random cross-time cross-universe mix it awwl up!!!!

Detective Alex Cross from the James Patterson novels
Rick Deckard from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie novels
Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat
Merriman from The Dark is Rising
and for the Mina spot - Eowyn from LOTR; first runner-up, Rowan Mayfair from Witching Hour

[Solaris]

...Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat
...

You made me LOL! That was great. :)

[Kirayoshi]

Okay, how about this more present day League?

Diana Tregarde from Mercedes Lackey's "Children of the Night" and related stories. A Guardian witch and capable martial artist. We'll throw in Andre, her vampire boyfriend.

Felicity Fortune, from Elizabeth Anne Scarborough's "The Godmother". Professional Godmother(as in Fairy). "Fair fates facilitated, questors accomodated, virtue vindicated."

Mick Callahan and Lady Sally McGee from Spider Robinson's Callahan books. Immortal time travelers, with incalcuable knowledge of science, as well as future events. Plus, the best bartender and madame(respectively) in the known universe.

Harry Potter from--oh, come on, do I gotta say it? Potentially the greatest wizard in the world.

Lestat from various Anne Rice novels. He's more the money man behind the team, not a field agent.

[Kirayoshi]

Dark Ages League:

Sir Wilfred Ivanhoe. Natural team leader.

Lady Marian of Lieford(presuming the story is set after the death of Robin Hood). A dab hand as an archer.

The Green Knight. He's our Mr. Hyde character.

Aladdin(1001 Arabian Nights took place around then, right?). With lamp, naturally.

Brother Cadfael. A keen deductive mind, a man of learning and faith.

[Slam_Bradley]

Old West League...put together to take care of menace in the American West. I tried to keep this away from comic book and TV characters, as that would have been too easy. Though I did fudge.

John Reid - The Lone Ranger. Govt. liason.

John Carter - Warlord of Mars. Let's not forget that Arizona cave. And the time that he spent on Earth between trips to Mars. Also ties to the 1898 League; see Allan and the Sundered Veil.

Hondo Lane - I had to have somebody here created by Louis L'Amour. Hondo is not only a bad-ass, but is pretty well known based on the movie starring the late great Duke Wayne.

Phileas Fogg - I felt like we needed some international color. And he's clearly a mechanical and scientific genius.

Barbara Meridith "The Whip" - From a Republic serial. Here's where I really fudged. I was hard pressed to get a woman in to the League without going to comics or TV. I considered going to Calamity Jane, whose fictionalized life was extensively documented in dime novels, but she was a real-life person. The Whip is essentially a female Zorro, using a bullwhip instead of a sword.

[Kirayoshi]

Okay, last one for tonight. Not the same time period, but I still like this idea.

The League of Extraordinary MICE!

Martin of Redwall

Stuart Little

Basil of Baker Street

Mrs. Frisby(Secret of NIHM)

Ralph(The Mouse and the Motorcycle)

The Mouse and his Child(yeah, I know, they're mechanical clockworks, but it's still a cool book)

Organized by the two pan-dimensional beings who assumed the forms of white mice in order to monitor the Earth in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[Roquefort Raider]

Great ideas in there!!! Keep it up, folks!

I agree that this exercise is much harder than it appears, especially if we try to get characters from the same time period. I've got a few ideas from different time periods, but it's hard to get at least five people who could work together and be roughly the same age.

Here's a new group from around 1913:


The insidious Dr. Fu Manchu abducts many members of the royal family of England and threatens to have his associate, the Swiss Dr. Lerne, transfer their brains into the bodies of great apes! The fiends are aided in their activities by the twisted imagination of Fantômas, the French master of disguise and mayhem, and the master thief Irma Vep, from Louis Feuillade's Les Vampires.

Sequestered in the African city of New London, itself peopled by intelligent Mangani, the hapless Royals must rely on the resourceful Fantastic Fusiliers to save their bacon!

Miss Marple, the youthful detective from St. Mary Mead, uses her keen intellect to try and outwit the fiendish doctor's plans. (We'll know her as a clever spinster later in her career, but in 1913 she still kicked butt).

Korak the killer, son of Lord Greystoke and heir apparent to Tarzan of the apes, relies on his jungle-bred abilities to lead the group all the way to New London.

Professor Challenger, ham-fisted scientist, intends to show Fu Manchu what real brains are! He is constantly arguing with Miss Marple about how the group should be led, but finds his theatrical bluster to be no match for her gentle persuasion.

Benedicte Masson, now better known as Gabriel or La poupée sanglante, is a gentle soul who was doubly cursed by a misshapen body and a wrongful accusation of murder, for which he was executed. However, his brain was preserved by a master artesan and put inside an automaton of stunning beauty! As long as he doesn't lose the key with which to crank his mechanism, Gabriel could live forever. After the events depicted in the novel by Gaston Leroux, at the end of which we thought him destroyed, Gabriel has been rescued by the French government and his services are now lent to the Fusiliers by inspector Juve, Fantômas' nemesis.

and lest we forget:

Reginald Jeeves, the impeccable butler, is ever the haven in the storm for the Fusiliers. No matter where they find themselves, Jeeves can always provide for their needs. Whether there be a sudden desire for tea in the middle of the Sahara, or a #3 screwdriver to dismantle the clockwork of a bomb, Jeeves is always ready to provide.

[Corrina]

Ooo...gotta love a thread that includes not only Professor Challenger but Lord John Roxton as well.

I have an eclectic group:

Sherlock Holmes, for all the reasons stated.

Dr. Watson because Holmes works best with a partner and because a doctor on the team is a very good idea.

Cordelia Naismith, from Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. A trained scientist, a leader and someone who thinks very fast and creatively in a crisis. I thought about including her son Miles but the boy is far too unpredictable for my taste. :)

Aral Vorkosigan, Cordelia's husband, for strategy and long-range planning. The overall team leader.

Kerowyn, from Mercedes Lackey's "By the Sword." I see Tarma and Kethry have been proposed but Kero has the best qualities of both and she's got the magic sword, too.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, from Laurell K. Hamilton's books. However, this would have to be the early Anita, not the sex-obsessed idiotic current Anita.

Eve Dallas, from JD Robb's futuristic mystery series. The most kick-ass female cop ever. And because it'd be fun to see her and Holmes interact.

Robinton, MasterHarper of Pern, from Anne McCaffrey's books. The team diplomat and front-man. Also, because *someone* has to keep the peace on the team with all the alpha females around. He can entertain with playing and singing and he also is a master at analyzing people and situations.

The Black, from the Black Stallion by Walter Farley? Because sometimes machines don't work and you need to get away fast. The Black rescues people from shipwrecks and first and also finds seaweed need to survive.

Their mission? To defuse conflicts before they get out of control. We have strategists (Robinton, Aral, Holmes to some extent) to anticipate the problems that will happen, we have investigators (Holmes, Eve Dallas) to get to the truth and we have some firepower (Anita Blake, Kerowyn and most of the others have fighting skills, even the Black) to kick some serious ass when the time comes.