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One of the foundational works of modern fantasy, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' were written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Caroll) in 1865 and 1871, and have been a source of stock shoutouts in RPGs (and other media) for a ''very'' long time. | One of the foundational works of modern fantasy, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' were written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Caroll) in 1865 and 1871, and have been a source of stock shoutouts in RPGs (and other media) for a ''very'' long time. Very much operates on dream logic and the surreal. | ||
One of the first full cases of [[Isekai]] and the "All Just A Dream" ending, but because both were rare at the time, it gets a pass for both. | One of the first full cases of [[Isekai]] and the "All Just A Dream" ending, but because both were rare at the time, it gets a pass for both. |
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One of the foundational works of modern fantasy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There were written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Caroll) in 1865 and 1871, and have been a source of stock shoutouts in RPGs (and other media) for a very long time. Very much operates on dream logic and the surreal.
One of the first full cases of Isekai and the "All Just A Dream" ending, but because both were rare at the time, it gets a pass for both.
A favorite mining spot for RPGs in a hurry for new content, Wonderland's monsters and creatures are very much a stock reference.
Here are a few common items to get the nod in /tg/-related stuff:
- The Jabberwocky: A dragon of some kind.
- The Jubjub bird: From the same poem as the above.
- A Vorpal Blade: From the poem about the Jabberwocky. If you see one of these, it's descended from a nod to Caroll (who invented the word "Vorpal"), but after so many washings through the "designer in a hurry" machine, it's probable that that reference is forgotten.
- Snarks: Again, word made up by Caroll, in a semi-related work that gets a lot of shout-outs on its own, The Hunting of the Snark[1]. If the referrer is clever, they'll make the Snark in question a "Boojum", which is much more dangerous.
The following are more rare except in direct Lewis pastiches, although all have been very influential.
- The Cheshire Cat: A talking cat whose ability to vanish except for its smile has influenced a lot of horror works. Intelligent, and somewhat friendly, but quite insane.
- The Mad Hatter: The other major figure to get a lot of shoutouts. Friendly, but quite quite insane, and he knows it.
- The Queen of Hearts: Crazy, and much less friendly.
- The Walrus and the Carpenter: A pair of very Evil villains (Lawful vs Chaotic pending, but both are hardcore liars); note that there is no religious allegory here, despite what a lying Angel from that one movie will tell you, as the Carpenter was chosen by the illustrator (the other options were a butterfly and a baronet).
- The Mock Turtle: An animal who insists his species is used to make Mock Turtle Soup. [2]
As a side note:
- Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Humpty Dumpty predate Lewis (they were both figures from children's rhymes), but if they appear in a modern work, it's usually because of their appearances in Through the Looking Glass.
- Both tend to show up in non-Lewis pastiches for their poetic natures. (Humpty Dumpty for something that once broken cannot be fixed, the Tweedles for petty feuds).
Among notable /tg/-related shoutouts:
- Monster Girl Encyclopedia has just about all of 'em, in a special "Wonderland" made by an "Alice". Like we said, stock reference plus public domain = of course it's a thing he'd rip-off.
- "Dungeonland" and "The Land Beyond The Magic Mirror", a pair of notorious early Dungeons and Dragons adventure module written by Gary Gygax based more or less directly on the Duology.
- Just about all the creatures mentioned in the Jabberwocky poem have had a Dungeons & Dragons monster made for them at some point. Some have had it happen to them several times.
- JAGS Wonderland, a psychedelic horror RPG very loosely based on the Wonderland setting. Has a reputation for being an interesting setting stuck to a mediocre system.