147
votes
Accepted
Who or what inspired the character Geordi La Forge?
A long-time Star Trek fan and quadriplegic named George La Forge had been following the original series and was an avid fan. His unfortunate passing in 1975 inspired creator Gene Roddenberry to focus ...
- 5,766
100
votes
Was the mythology in "Moana" based on an established myth?
The film is based on stories from myths of various Oceanic cultures, although they take typical Disney liberties to make their own story. Maui is a popular character in Polynesian mythology, and most ...
- 4,693
87
votes
What story is Shrek's donkey from?
Donkey, and Shrek and (technically) Princess Fiona are all from...
Shrek!, a children's book by William Steig.
The plot of the book is considerably different from that of the film, with the exception ...
- 8,328
83
votes
Accepted
Did Tolkien create any characters based on people he knew?
Beren and Lúthien
Beren and Lúthien's story, from the Silmarillion, was based on Tolkien's wife Edith dancing for him in the woods near the military hospital where he was recovering after he was ...
- 68.6k
83
votes
Accepted
Is the Joker based on anything?
According to this article, Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger created the Joker based on a combination of the playing card (obviously) and the character played by Conrad Veidt in the 1928 silent ...
- 56.1k
83
votes
Accepted
Why is the name "Rigel", and especially "Rigel VII", used in multiple universes?
Because it's a bright "star" (it's actually a group of stars, and the 7th brightest in the night sky) and its name is familiar with budding star gazers.
It's also enormous and placed in the obvious ...
- 13.3k
80
votes
Accepted
Was the mythology in "Moana" based on an established myth?
Some of them have backings, but others don't. Most of the characters are based on characters from Polynesian myths, but the details in some cases do not line up with the mythology.
Let's take a look.....
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72
votes
Accepted
Was the Hulk based on Jekyll/Hyde?
Yes, Stan Lee said he was inspired by Jekyll/Hyde and Frankenstein's Monster
Lee explained this in an interview with Rolling Stone
When you read the first issue of the Incredible Hulk, it doesn’t ...
- 134k
64
votes
Accepted
Was Douglas Adams specifically joking about British small talk?
At the time he wrote the original radio series and first novel, Adams had lived his entire life in England, and was writing for a British audience, so a lot of the cultural references are based on ...
- 1,809
62
votes
Were any Star Wars aliens based on national stereotypes?
Watto the Toydarian is indeed a racial stereotype (but not the one you're thinking of...)
According to Andy Secombe (the actor who portrays Watto), his character is openly intended to be based on a ...
- 667k
60
votes
Accepted
Did Tolkien base the beacons of Minas Tirith on a real world communication system?
There is historical basis for similar warning beacons that Tolkien would have been aware of
Tolkien has never spoken about his inspiration for the beacons of Gondor, but warning beacons have ...
- 87.3k
53
votes
Accepted
Did Lucille Ball have a creative influence on Star Trek?
Yes... ish
By all accounts, no other studio / network was willing to take on Roddenberry's new project called "Star Trek" - so her approval for producing the series at Desilu is probably the most ...
- 39.9k
52
votes
Accepted
Was Daenerys Targaryen based on Cleopatra?
Real Answer
The answer is We do not know.
As far as I know, George has never talked about his inspiration behind Daenerys Targaryen, which of course we must note, there need not be any.
GRRM has ...
- 48.3k
48
votes
Accepted
Was the name "Thanos" derived from "Thanatos", the name of the Greek god of death?
Yes, "Thanos" is indeed derived from the name "Thanatos", the name of the Freudian concept of death drive (which in turn is named after the Thanatos of myth), according to Vulture:
...
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45
votes
Did Tolkien create any characters based on people he knew?
Treebeard's voice was based on that of Tolkien's good friend C.S. Lewis.
From Humphrey Carpenter's J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, p. 258:
When work was resumed, Tolkien drew up outlines for the end of ...
- 134k
44
votes
Why is the name "Rigel", and especially "Rigel VII", used in multiple universes?
SciFi authors select stars that can be seen in their backyard, are close by, or both.
Rigel is featured because it is bright and therefore well known. But it is not close, compared to other bright ...
- 8,902
43
votes
Are there any real-life parallels to the Night's Watch and their fall from prestige?
The French Foreign Legion A.K.A. "Légion étrangère" or FFL have some similarities:
it is a military branch of french army established in 1831 based on volunteering of foreign people.
Similarities:
...
- 8,211
39
votes
Did Tolkien create any characters based on people he knew?
Gerontius "The Old" Took, whose longevity (his sole defining character trait, given that he never appears in the book) was based on Tolkien's grandfathers:
[The Old Took] has part of his origin in ...
- 162k
38
votes
Accepted
Were Tolkien's Ents inspired by Blackwood's "The Man Whom the Trees Loved"?
There is no mention of Algernon Blackwood in the Letters, and neither in the HoME, Unfinished Tales or The Silmarillion. Tolkien seems to suggest that the main inspiration for the Ents would've been ...
- 76.8k
36
votes
What story is Shrek's donkey from?
In Shrek 2, Donkey claims to have belonged to Jack of Beanstalk fame.
He then meets Puss in Boots, and becomes jealous, as he is spending a lot of time with Shrek. By the end of the film, they are ...
- 212k
34
votes
Accepted
Was Batman based on The Count of Monte Cristo?
No. This is Likely a Conflation of Batman’s Three Musketeers Origin With Other Notable Works by Alexandre Dumas
1. Bob Kane’s inspiration: like many old comic book characters, there are legal and ...
- 10.5k
33
votes
Accepted
Is there a Batman-Lovecraft connection?
In-universe
Gotham City isn't in the same universe as Lovecraft's writings, but Lovecraftian monsters appeared in Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham in the year 2000. It is an Elseworlds story which ...
- 4,732
32
votes
Accepted
Has GRRM ever confirmed that he named some ASOIAF characters after the Muppets?
Yes, George R. R. Martin did intentionally name the three Tully Lords after the Muppets.
As confirmed by Elio Garcia via Twitter:
Yep. Not sure why exactly, other than it amused him, but the ...
- 45.2k
31
votes
What story is Shrek's donkey from?
Given the heavy preponderance of Brothers Grimm characters and motifs throughout Shrek, it would be very surprising if Donkey wasn't at least partially inspired by the titular diminutive donkey in the ...
- 667k
30
votes
Accepted
Was Constantine's appearance based on Sting?
Yes.
Alan Moore has stated that in an interview: Steve Bissette and John Totleben, the artists drawing the Swamp Thing (that Alan Moore was writing at the time) sent him notes, expressing a desire to ...
- 1,030
30
votes
Were Tolkien's Ents inspired by Blackwood's "The Man Whom the Trees Loved"?
Tolkien himself described the process (or as much as he consciously can make of it) in a footnote to Letter 163:
Take the Ents, for instance. I did not consciously invent them at
all. The chapter ...
- 669
30
votes
Was the mythology in "Moana" based on an established myth?
It is based on Polynesian Mythology
Disney explicitly researched Polynesian Mythology and intended to make the movie based around that.
The most obvious example in the movie is that of Maui who was ...
- 32.5k
29
votes
Are there any real-life parallels to the Night's Watch and their fall from prestige?
Roman Legions
One of George R. R. Martin's main inspirations for the Night's Watch are the Roman Legions who manned Hadrian's Wall, as that is the inspiration for the Wall.
Hadrian's Wall, of ...
- 142k
26
votes
Accepted
Has George RR Martin admitted Historical Influences?
George R.R. Martin has explained his historical influences in a rather long correspondence with a fan.
From Citadel SSM Entry "Historical Influences":
Q: Firstly I'd like to apologize for wasting ...
- 48.3k
26
votes
Accepted
Was the Tumbler Nolan's creation or did something similar already exist?
From an interview with the production designer Nathan Crowley (here), it's mentioned that the Tumbler was partially inspired by random toys from Toys R Us (bizarre, I know).
Crowley told Collider that:...
- 26.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible