Alice in Wonderland
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Revision as of 13:30, 7 June 2020 by Saarlacfunkel (talk | contribs) (I was dreaming when I wrote this, so excuse me if it goes astray... (Feel free to edit, in other words.))
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 for a very long time.
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 it's just thought
- 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. If the referrer is clever, they'll make the Snark in question a "Boojum", which is much more dangerous.
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 been done to them several times.