Avatar Influences

The Aviatrix, Zoe Connolly asks us to name the influence in the creation of our online personas.

I guess I'll start at the beginning. Bloodwing's persona evolved from reading Milton and Dante and listening to way too much VNV Nation. I also recycled a mythological tale I wrote in grad school about Hades and Persephone bearing a daughter. (I flipped the gender.) He was offered a role in a "vampire circus", he said he preferred a kabuki design that an actual clown. A very Japanese sense of honor and duty crept in. His facial markings were identified by several Japanese SL residents as a that of a dragon protagonist from one of the plays. It's good to know I have a classical reference if I ever wanted to rebuild him...

Dr. Mason, the man buried beneath the demon, was inspired by my comic book heroes (and villains), Dr. Strange, Reed Richards, and Dr. Doom (especially using magic and science in tandem to accomplish his goals). There was the archetypal Mad Scientist, Victor von Frankenstein, constantly pushing the boundaries of what should not be done just to prove it could be done. There's also some of Stoker's van Helsing, using the latest medical advances (blood transplants!) and the occult to save lives and defeat the unholy.

When Dr. Mason and Bloodwing were fighting for control of the same body, someone said it reminded them of the BBC series Jekyll, and I watched an episode and took notes. I should also point out that I had not read Girl Genius or become a fan of Doctor Steel before I built Dr. Mason, but subsequent influence is unavoidable. Doctor Steel has his Toy Soldiers, Doctor Mason has his Dolls (you can blame the Dauphine too.)