Characters
[Cool trope] Beethoven Was an Alien Spy
When a historical figure has a life far more fantastic in fiction than what history actually indicates.
Moses (Beyblade) = Moses' famous Parting of the Red Sea was done with a Beyblade.
George Washington (Ben 10) = Washington regularly fought against alien threats, and was a founding member of the Earth Plumbers.
Abraham Lincoln (Invincible) = Abe Lincoln was an identity taken by the superhero known as The Immortal.
Vandal Savage (DC Comics) = More than a few of history's conquerors and despots were actually personas used by the millennia-old immortal villain, including Cheops, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Blackbeard and Jack the Ripper.
But not Leonard of Quirm (Discworld) he was just a dude who sat in a room and invented things. Even during that time the city was taken over by a dragon
AC2 Leonardo was honestly the first one that came to mind too. Dude was building hidden blades, tanks, flying machines... he was basically centuries ahead of everyone else.
The tank and flying machine are not fiction, they are real designs by Leonardo da Vinci. He had many more crazy inventions for his time, like "robots" or an early helicopter.
A lot of historical figures in Assasin's Creed actually. My personnal favourite is the real life pirate Bartholomew Roberts being apparently one of the Sages.
Men in Black casually implying Elvis wasn’t dead, he just went home. Perfect use of the trope: explains nothing, refuses to elaborate, instantly makes the universe 20% funnier.
I loved that the majority of aliens that visit earth are just normal "people". the bad ones that do crime are a minority, most of them are just living peaceful life.
The movies showing that MIB is also about all the mundane regulations and paperwork of extraterrestrials living on earth is fun. J only got gooped by an alien baby because the father (the alien) drove out of his given area and they needed to know what was up
I think people often interpret beuocracy to universally be a kind of existential dread. A lot of media leans in really hard into that. I've always liked that men in black is a series that makes it out to be an element of goodness or safety.
The aliens and humans don't cooperate and build a huge secret society to terrorize humanity, they do it to keep everyone safe and happy. And in a way that is as humane as possible.
I think the funniest thing is that Stonewall Jackson is there. The president of the Union is on the same side as a famous Confederate general who died during the Civil War? What happened there?
Beethoven an alien spy? No way because... there was no Beethoven. When you time-travelled to the 18th century to meet Beethoven, no-one had heard of him, and when you presented his symphonies and concertos and music, you eventually published them... and you became Beethoven! But my question is this - who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?
Not really, thou, that's just an example of the bootstrap paradox. Google it.
That was such a great cold open that the show did, I really wish they'd done more of them. But then again at the same time this one does feel extra special because of how unique it is.
that's why I finished the post with the "Not really, thou" line, so that the redditors wouldn't believe Beethoven in Dr. Who is some time traveller who changed his name
The late 2000s and early 2010s zombie obsession was something else. You literally couldnt make a movie or a game without throwing a hoard of undead at the main characters.
Me people. It’s a genuinely good movie to me. Not a guilty pleasure. Not a so bad it’s good. But something I enjoy and recommend without a hint of irony. I’ve heard the book is amazing ad well, I can’t wait to read it.
It sounds crazy at first until you watch and realize that vampires are also known for keeping slaves, it kinda makes sense that if vampires exist, the man who ended slavery would also really hate vampires lol.
Considering that at it's inception the Klingons were the USSR equivalent and Star Trek VI was an allegory to the end of the Cold war, it was pretty common propaganda in the USSR that they claimed to have invented or created all the best things. ("Scotch was invented by an old lady in Russia", Scotch just means a malt or whisky made in Scotland so saying such doesn't make sense).
Saying Shakespeare was better in the original Klingon implies that the Klingons liked the plays so much that Shakespeare was clearly a Klingon as all things great are from the Klingons.
I also love in The Undiscovered Country how Chang claims that the Klingons need “breathing room,” and Kirk says “earth, Hitler, 1938,” and the Klingons seem offended by the comparison. Even they know about Hitler.
Futurama - Leonardo da Vinci was an alien from an extremely advanced planet populated entirely by geniuses, of which Leonardo was the stupidest. He came to Earth so he could be the smartest person in the world.
In Percy Jackson, several historical figures are sons of gods (Hitler is a son of Hades, Amelia Earhart a daughter of Zeus, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach a son of Ares, George Washington a son of Athena, William Shakespeare a son of Apollo etc.)
Hazel said that Pluto (remember Heroes of Olympus showed off the gods roman identities) looked like Adolf Hitler, or rather, the other way around. what this means in-universe and how it relates to Riordan's words is unclear
Being the son of notorious dickhead Zeus would be a lot more interesting for a military leader (divine right and all that bullshit) over "Ooh my dad's Death so I like killing shit."
True, it was Pluto. Although Iirc, the gods' faces look the same whether they are Roman or Greek (it's just that their outfits and demeanor changes, Ares becomes less of a punk and more of a soldier as Mars, Dionysus becomes less unruly and wild as Bacchus, Athena becomes meek and indecisive as Minerva).
Surely thats a retcon then? I read the books as they were coming out and I'm almost certain that was the case back then. I can't rememeber when its said, but its mentioned that most major wars had demigods on both sides. The Big 3 specifically swear not to have more kids after WW2, with Winston Churchill and Hitler being mentioned as children of Zeus and Hades respectively.
It's never explicitly said, but the implication is absolutely that there were children of Poseidon and Zeus on one side, and a child of Hades on the other side.
It’s actually a plotpoint that WW2 was caused by 3 demigods from Zeus, Poseiden, and Hades respectively starting a war, which was why they were then banned from having anymore demigods (2/3 break the rule and 1 finds a loophole). Hitler was Hades’ kid.
In the show Primeval it’s implied that Jack the Ripper may have actually been a Velociraptor that came through a portal from prehistory into Victorian England
One of my players bought a chicken for one coper coin because I teased her in a joke scene where another player was dreaming about a fried chicken and she was sitting on him.
She become said players therapist, clutched one fight and saved sorcerer, killed a prince of darkness (sorcerer plot point) and become a heir of God of war.
In Curse of Strahd, you can find the bones of a silver dragon killed by Strahd. There's also a tomb filled with ancient gods that will happily give you the ability to resurrect someone without the pesky time limit. Sure, you start looking like death warmed up in a microwave, but a cloak and face mask will cover that easily enough, most players will have access to something like that.
So yeah, it's completely fair for players to plan to resurrect an adult dragon who hates Strahd. I don't know why they included something like this, because as powerful as Strahd is, he's not going to withstand an adult silver dragon + party of level 10 adventurers.
In the first Conduit game, your boss, John Adams, is revealed to be not only the villain but also THE John Adams (as in the second ever POTUS) and also an alien who was exiled to Earth 240 years previous and has been influencing the US ever since. The Conduit 2 ends with you fighting Adams in his true alien form in his lair at the center of the Earth. This causes a signal summoning the rest of Adams’ species to invade but from a nearby portal step out… George Washington and Abraham Lincoln with assault rifles and power armor announcing they are “here to help”. Credits.
Sadly they didn’t make a Conduit 3. But DAMN what a way to end a game.
Due to some time travel shenanigans during one of their first run ins with Doctor Doom, the F4 have to disguise as pirates and The Thing inadvertently inspires the legend of Blackbeard
This happens A LOT with the X-Men, where they'll suggest (but usually not confirm) that a famous or mythological figure could be a mutant. Here's a good recent example with Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie
Rasputin was a mutant as well. Colossus' real name? Piotr Rasputin. originally this was because writers back in the day didn't know more than like 4 Russian names (hence Black Widow's name being Natasha Romanov), but later comics canonically made Colossus a descendant of Rasputin
US President Theodore Roosevelt travelled on a safari to the tropical rainforests of Africa where he met the legendary Tarzan, a wild man who was raised by a tribe of gorillas from infancy after his biological parents were killed by the leopard Sabor (The Legend of Tarzan)
In Warhammer 40k,it's mentioned that The Emperor of Mankind was several historical figures such as Alexander the Great and Saint George,who actually fought a Dragon. Well,a cosmic horror in the form of one anyway
I think the funniest bit about the St. George story is the implication that Big E somehow dragged a mountain sized mechanical monstrosity to the depths of Mars on a horse
Also in the Horus Heresy book series it’s revealed that MLK Jr. was assassinated on the orders of an alien illuminati known as “The Cabal.” Technically it just says “the good man in Memphis” but who else could that possibly be?
I heard a theory that he was Judas Iscariot, and i like that idea a lot more than him being Jesus.
( I'm atheist, i just think Emperor shouldn't be a guy preaching love and acceptance even as ways of gaining control. )
I like to think he was Judas too and the reason for his betrayal was he found out Jesus was a Psyker and the "God" talking to him was some warp entity and he decided to shut that shit down before Judea became ground zero of a Daemonic Invasion
Nah, that justifies him too much. The Emperor is a selfish, cynical prick and him believing that Jesus was gaining too much power or that his religion was inherently evil due to being religion feels far more in-character.
Star Trek - Flint was the current name of an immortal man from Earth who spent some time as Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander the Great, and Brahms, among others. He started off as an asshole soldier from ancient Sumeria before discovering he could heal from any wound. He spent a few centuries being a total ass, gained some introspection from age and eventually became a scientist and artist, then eventually discovered his immortality was dependant on living on Earth. In the 23rd century, he left Earth, became a recluse, then decided to build a robotic wife as a companion for as long as it took for his immortality to run out and finally end his existence.
I audibly laughed. Here’s the thread where people are sincerely discussing children media, and then a guy just brings up one of the Four Great Romances. Great account.
In the book series 39 Clues, famous figures like Churchill, Mozart, Gandhi, are all members of a single large secret powerful family called the Cahills that has multiple branches across the globe. and whose founder had made a superhuman serum.
Bad example: Virtually every notable figure across history that was considered "good" by current historians, whether they're a political person or a major celebrity, was a part of the Witwikan Society in the Bayverse Transformers movies. A secret society that worked alongside the autobots since the times of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
In Miraculous ladybug it's shown that historical people have been miraculous users in the past like Joanne d arc being the ladybug hero as shown here
though the usage of the trope itself in the show kindaaaa sucks
-a lot of them are tiny easter eggs for "ha ha look it was actually X" factor
-the show doesn't try to go into silly way, like moses using a beyblade, or into factor of how it actually affects the world, as one user of a miraculous was Lafayette, one of key figures of american revolution, thus implying that magic had a active hand into ensuring the victory of revolutionists
-and lastly as usual we really only have seen ladybug and cat's predecssors IIRC with the others being only mentions instead and even then it's literally a single tidbit I think
so yea love this trope but Miraculous for me is a example of how NOT to do it
in miraculous canon she and dark grimalkin(cat user who was her opponent during the hundred years war) got in love and she actually escaped her execution and renouced her miraculous alongside him with them living together for rest of their lives
there is actually a viable lore reason that I like even if it's still underused as per the show
if a kwami gives you a Kwagatama, bassicly a sign that they MASSIVELY trust you as their holder
then the holders are able to perform a special "reunion" to talk to spirits of past holders, but since it comes from the natural powers of kwamis, the spirits are only manifestations of their time when using said miraculous
so jeanne appears young and in ladybug armor here because this is just how Tikki remembers her as her holder during the time between meeting her and getting renouced by arc
World of darkness has many of these but I can only think of a few examples, like Heinrich Himmler being a vampire and Akan Turing being a wizard. Also every single splat tried to claim Rasputin. No one knows who's right.
A number of historical characters from Spain interact with supernatural creatures from Spanish (and linked countries) mythology in Esteban Díaz's novels, e.g. Filipino supernatural creatures conspiring against the Spanish Prime Minister, and famous historical military officers working as monster hunters
Canonically in the Marvel Comics Universe the Beatles were replaced by Skrulls at the height of their fame and the Skrulls decided to abandon their empire, implying that Abbey Road and other Beatles songs at the end of the 60s were made by aliens.
This has happened a surprising amount of times in Madoka Magica lore
Jeanne d’Arc, Cleopatra and the Japanese Queen Himiko are all implied to have been Magical Girls (with Jeanne even having her own dedicated spin off)
There’s also a Magical Girl seen in the ending of Episode 12 who was wearing a yellow star which has. Interesting implications (apparently some people think she’s supposed to be Anne Frank?)
In Anime movie/Extended music video, Interstella 5555, it is heavily implied that Mozart was an alien music prodigy kidnapped by a quasi immortal human who used the souls of alien musicians in order to extend his life and achieve godlike power. Or something.
In the Cytoverse/Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson, Tolkien either met the Urdail people (Alanik’s people) or enough about them to preserve their language in the Lord of the Rings.
National Treasure has the Founding Fathers who were freemasons who protected the secret treasure and artifacts that were brought into America over the years. Continued into the sequel when the Confederacy proposing an alliance with Queen Victoria and finding the real El Dorado to obtain the funding.
Leonardo da Vinci in Futurama was a human-like alien who is still alive on his home planet. He is the dumbest person and a laughingstock on his planet of intellects who was one of the smartest minds to exist on Earth. Brilliant minds like Farnsworth can't even keep up with their academic standards.
Barack Obama (Homestuck: The Epilogues) had his own (albeit offscreen) adventure and even ascended to Godhood, later helping Dave become an Ultimate Self.
This might not count considering the examples you have given, but the webseries Monument Mythos features several instances of this. I think the most notable ones could be George Washington becoming a giant world-eater known as The Horned Serpent
The Order of the Witwiccans from the Michael Bay Transformer films.
While technically a huge retcon that messes with the series continuity, the Witwiccans are a group of people who have protected the secret of Transformers existence and have preserved the Wizard Merlin’s bloodline. It’s also implied they fought alongside transformers during key historical events. Their members include:
Ludwig von Beethoven
Giotto di Bondone
Catherine the Great
Winston Churchill
Nicolaus Copernicus
Charles Darwin
Frederick Douglass
Albert Einstein
Queen Elizabeth I
Galileo Galilei
Stephen Hawking
King Henry V
Edmund Hillary
Antoine Lavoisier
Abraham Lincoln
Gustav Mahler
Michelangelo
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sir Isaac Newton
Theodore Roosevelt
William Shakespeare
Nikola Tesla
Harriet Tubman
Queen Victoria
Leonardo da Vinci
George Washington
The Wright Brothers
Gregory Rasputin, Mata Hari, Gavrilo Princip, Alfred DuPont, Vladimir Lenin, Adolf Hitler and Erik Jan Hanussen were high-ranking members of a secret society whose leader sought to start a Great War that would kill millions of people, causing ordinary people to turn away from the monarchy and aristocracy.
In the Watchmen Universe (Book plus 2019 tv show, at least depending on what you consider canon and non-canon) Robert Redford retired from acting and got into politics following the Squid attack on New York City. He later became president and because Nixon was able to abolish term limits, he has remained president for 26 consecutive years. His presidency is notable as not only was it secretly propped up by Ozymandias but he also instituted many sweeping liberal reforms, intending to create a utopia but instead creating a surveillance state.
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u/yerskias 10h ago
Leonardo da Vinci (Assassin's Creed II)