Questions tagged [inspiration]
Use this tag for questions about the inspiration behind ideas (names, characters, objects, titles, etc.) in science fiction or fantasy works. Use [influence] for questions about how SF&F works have influenced other works or culture.
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Was the Hulk based on Jekyll/Hyde?
I've always wondered about the parallels between Bruce Banner and Dr Jekyll. Both are good natured men of science and both transform into questionable alter egos...
Is there any evidence that Bruce ...
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Was the foresight from the spice in Dune series inspired by psychohistory in Foundation?
Foundation (by Isaac Asimov) was published in 1951, and primarily dealt with psychohistory, a branch of mathematics that laid down all the probable paths splitting off from a point and the percentage ...
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Is the resemblance between Glen and David Bowie (c. Ziggy Stardust) intentional?
In the movie Seed of Chucky, Chucky's offspring Glen/Glenda bears a striking resemblance to David Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane era of his career.
Beyond the physical similarities, he ...
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Which fairy tales are the stories in the first two Witcher books based on?
I just started reading the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, and to my understanding in the first two books the stories are versions of popular kids' fairy tales. But I can't seem to understand ...
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Has George Lucas or another Star Wars director ever stated that Jar Jar Binks' character was in anyway influenced by C-3PO?
Both Jar Jar and C-3PO utter this phrase:
How Rude?
It seems likely to me that Jar Jar and C-3PO serve a similar purpose:
Comic ...
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Was Dr. Octavius Brine inspired by Octodad?
In the 2014 science fiction action comedy animated film Penguins of Madagascar, the villain Dr. Octavius Brine is a genetic scientist who is actually an octopus, but masquarades as a human. The ...
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What Star Trek species are represented with mostly/all non-white actors?
It is my impression that in most Star Trek episodes after TOS (across all the series), alien species are shown as white people with bumpy heads. On TOS alien species are mostly white people in ...
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What did Philip José Farmer base "The Nine" on?
Philip José Farmer wrote several books (at least two) that featured a nefarious group called The Nine. Those books were A Feast Unknown and Lord of the trees/the Mad Goblin(a two in one novel). These ...
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Have any speculative answers from this site been used in any subsequent official works? If so, what was the first instance?
On this site, there are questions that are often not directly answered by anything in canon materials. Sometimes answers need to be speculative. My question is, have there been any speculative ...
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Who are the architects of the buildings on which these fictional buildings were based?
The short story "The Woman Who Fell in Love with a Postmodern Building and Set Her Lovers’ Boat on Fire" by Thaddeus Howze features three buildings:
Churchill
(...) an old world church in New ...
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Inspiration for the Dementors
Are there any classical analogues to the dementors in the Harry Potter franchise?
Many of the creatures that inhabit J.K. Rowling's world of Harry Potter and hogwarts are taken directly from ...
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Are the different types of magic in Brandon Sanderson's books his own invention?
I initially had 2 questions here and have been encouraged to split them: Is the magic in the Cosmere connected
Brandon Sanderson's approach towards magic is in my eyes rather unique. Each story has a ...
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Were the Borg inspired by Lord Dread?
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was a dystopian science fiction television series that aired in North America for only one season (1987-1988), and which had J. Michael Straczynski as its ...
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Who is the model for Callaghan in Big Hero 6?
Background:
Professor Callaghan is the head of the robotics program at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.
It is later revealed that
About his innovation:
Callaghan's "Laws of Robotics" ...
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Does Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space reference the concept of radioactivity?
I've read several interpretations and background information on "The Colour out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft, which all say his goal was to create a kind of truly alien monster - a color instead of a ...
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Erebor's architectural influences?
I understand Tolkien drew heavily on real world architecture for the buildings and other physical structures in LOTR.
What were Erebor's influences?
I'm particularly here thinking of the recent (...
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Did Rowling borrow the prohibition on saying Voldemort's name from Tolkien?
In The Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers), Faramir refers to Sauron as "him who we do not name." Apparently the Gondorians avoided speaking Sauron's name, just as most wizards avoid speaking Voldemort'...
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Was Good Omens' character Crowley used as a template for Supernatural's Crowley?
I've been watching the TV show Supernatural for years. Last year I listened to the audio book version of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens and was astounded by the similarities between the ...
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Were parts of Harry Potter inspired by James and the Giant Peach?
James and the Giant Peach:
full name James Henry Trotter
parents killed by a rampaging rhinoceros when he was very young
lived with 2 abusive aunts until magic came into his life
Harry Potter:
full ...
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Is the Deep Purple song "The Mule" inspired by the character of the same name in Asimov's Foundation series?
On the album Fireball by Deep Purple, there's a song called "The Mule", which opens with the following lines:
No one sees the things you do
Because I stand in front of you
But you drive me ...
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Were the Observers in Fringe inspired by Marvel's Watchers?
In the Fringe universe, the Observers are bald and dispassionate and seem to do little more than observe important events throughout history. Except for once or twice when one of them can't help but ...
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Did JKR ever acknowledge being influenced by "Ender's Game"?
The whole concept seems eerily similar... a young child, groomed to be the main hope to win a war, with no adult support, and deceived about the main point of the struggle. This seems to go well ...
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Relation between Heat Miser/Snow Miser and Pokemon?
In 1974, in A Year Without Santa Claus, the Heat and Snow Misers were introduced -- one who focused on heat and one who focused on snow. This seems to carry similar concepts of the game Pokémon (fire ...
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Was Hogwarts named such because of a connection to warthogs?
Was Hogwarts named 'Hogwarts' because of a connection to warthogs?
Or was it named for hogs and warts separately, or something else entirely?
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Who is Gilderoy Lockhart based on?
J.K. Rowling has stated that Gilderoy Lockhart is the only character in the Harry Potter series who is based on a real person she knows.
Are any of your characters based on real people?
The only ...
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Warp entry visual effect
This is a real-world question about the inspiration behind a visual effect.
In the Star Trek: TNG series, several episodes depict a view out the windows of Enterprise D's Ten Forward as the ship ...
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Real-world origin of verse - "Ran! Tan! Terre et ciel!"
In the fantasy series "A Wizard In Rhyme" by Christopher Stasheff, the 2nd book "The Oathbound Wizard" contains the following verse:
Ran! Tan! Terre et ciel!
Terre et ciel, et sang vermeil!
Ran! ...
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What's "The Elephant King" setting inspired by?
It's pretty clear that Storium's pre-made settings are firmly rooted in specific popular works: "The Mysterious Island" is "Lost;" "Steampunk" is heavily inspired by the Dinotopia franchise; "Medical ...
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Was Riker based on Kirk?
I have noticed that, regarding character, both Kirk and Riker have some similarities - both are womanizers and can be cheeky. There are certainly differences, such as Kirk being much less formal than ...
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Star-wars intro inspiration
Looking at intro of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (from 01:18):
And further diving into Forbidden Planet trailer (in color):
(...
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Is James T. Kirk known to be based on Horatio Hornblower?
Kirk is known to be based on Horatio Hornblower. (from a recent answer on SFF.SE)
Is there some reference showing that ("based on") to be an actual fact as opposed to inference?
I'm not asking for ...
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Is Mister Dark part of/Homage to The Endless?
I've just started reading The Dark Ages, part of the Fables series, and Mister Dark has just been introduced.
I couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between him and the Endless of Neil ...
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Has Dynabook inspired Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age?
I'm looking for evidence about Dynabook, by Alan Kay, being the inspiration for Neal Stephenson self-learning book in The Diamond Age: a young lady's illustrated primer.
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Was the Teramin Relationship created by Isaac Asimov?
In Isaac Asimov's novel The Naked Sun and Rob Chilson's book Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Refuge, references to the "Teramin Relationship" are made.
It's stated as a sociological theorem that relates ...
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In Neal Stephenson's "Anathem," is Cnoüs' statue a reference to Freemasonry?
In Part 2 ("Apert") of Anathem, Erasmas was guiding a tour and was explaining the story of a statue of Cnoüs:
"The central sculpture was more than six thousand years old; it had
been a world-...
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Which books influenced the game Halo?
I read this post about the Ringworld series, but am curious about the main influences. I just started reading the Forever War and am reminded a lot about Halo; also, I read once that Starship Troopers ...
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Are there any creatures, species, races, or objects in Middle Earth that Tolkien totally invented?
Don't get me wrong; JRRT's Middle Earth books are awesome. I was just wondering if anything in them was entirely original, or if he borrowed everything from various mythologies (mostly Northern ...
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In Starcraft, are the Protoss inspired by anything special?
In Starcraft, the terrans are obviously humans, and Zerg are obviously inspired by Alien.
Is there any particular inspiration source for the Protoss ?
The answer would either present a source ...
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What is the origin of Stoker's idea that vampires' reflections cannot be seen?
It's a common thread throughout the vampire genre. According to Bram Stoker, you cannot see a vampire's reflection. Where did Stoker get the idea that a vampire's reflection cannot be seen?
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Is the Encyclopaedia Galactica in the Hitchhiker's Guide a reference to Asimov's Foundation Trilogy Encyclopædia Galactica or a tribute to Carl Sagan?
While reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I was thinking if the Encyclopaedia Galactica mentioned in the book is the same as Asimov's Foundation Trilogy's Encyclopædia Galactica? Could it be ...
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Was Mobile Infantry in Starship Troopers modeled on the Marines or the Army?
A comment on this question got me thinking - was Heinlein explicitly modeling Mobile Infantry on US Marines? Or More the Army?
I'll accept either a word-of-god answer (e.g. sourced from Heinlein ...
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Was Half Life 1 inspired by HP Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth"?
The similarities aren't stark, but they remind me about each other so much.
Yuggoth... is a strange dark orb at the very rim of our solar
system... There are mighty cities on Yuggoth—great ...
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Did Jordan base the Aiel on Herbert's Fremen? [duplicate]
Were the Wheel of Time's Aiel based on Dune's Fremen?
Did Robert Jordan acknowledge or otherwise address this connection?
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Did the Harry Potter movies influence JKR's later HP books?
The Harry Potter books were published in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
The Harry Potter movies were released 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011.
As can be seen, the last 3 ...
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How much was Equilibrium influenced by Fahrenheit 451?
I see some similarities between the movie Equilibrium and the book Fahrenheit 451. Does anyone know if there is actually any association? or am i just looking at the extremely basic ideas of ...
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How much did Larry Niven's Ringworld inspire the Halo game franchise?
I have heard that the First Person Shooter Halo game franchise was inspired by Larry Niven's Ringworld. How Ringworldy is it? Is there more to the connection between Niven's classic Ringworld and the ...
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Is the picture based on a real picture in Terry Pratchett's "The Picture"?
I was reading A Blink of the Screen (see Amazon) and one of the short stories "The Picture" describes a painting. Is this a real painting?
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Was 'The Thing' from the Bromeliad Trilogy inspired by the Connection Machine?
I came across this description of the Connection Machine on this wikipedia page:
The Connection Machine, a 65,536-processor parallel computer designed in the mid-1980s, was a black cube with one ...
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Was the plot of 'The One' (2001) influenced by 'Highlander'?
The two plots seem very similar:
A sheriff's deputy fights an alternate universe version of himself who grows stronger with each alternate self he kills.
Obviously it's taking form the age old trope ...
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Was Harry Potter the inspiration for Tommy Taylor?
There are so many analogies between Tommy Taylor in the Unwritten comics and Harry Potter it seems unlikely to be a coincidence (Voldemort/the Count, the grouping and make-up of the two sidekicks, the ...
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