Ami memed me!
Here we go.
First, select your ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best. Then answer the questions below.
1. The Monkey King (American Born Chinese, traditional stories)
2. Bugs Bunny (Looney Toons)
3. John Carter (Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series)
4. Gimli (Lord of the Rings)
5. Rose Tyler (Dr. Who new series)
6. Inara (Firefly)
7. Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
8. Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
9. Gkar (Babylon Five)
10. Metamorpho (DC Comics)
1. Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?
Team A, aka Team Charisma:
Gkar - Leader (this is the Gkar of season 5+, obviously)
Monkey King - Lancer (b/c he could inspire the others)
John Carter - Big Guy
Inara - the Chick
Spike Spiegle - Smart Guy (street smarts mostly)
Team B, aka Beauties and Beasts:
Metamorpho - Leader
Rose - Lancer
Willow - Smart Guy (think BtVS seasons 1-3)
Gimli - Big Guy
Bugs Bunny (cross-dressing version) - the Chick
Swap: Inara & Rose. Rose makes a better Lancer, and Inara a better Chick. (Not that Rose isn't very attractive, but she's far more practical than Inara.)
Inara on Team A makes them the most charismatic group in the universe! Season
5 Gkar: religious leader and diplomat; Monkey King: wild n' crazy guy; John Carter:
swashbuckling Virginan gentleman; Spike: dark, dangerous, mysterious; Inara: beautiful, sensual, cultured. They could charm most enemies into submission!
2. Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?
Bugs, Willow, Metamorpho. None of them would require a complete personality change. Wacky female characters are a lot less common than males like Bugs, but it could work. If Willow were a guy, I think her meek behavior in the earlier seasons would be looked down upon rather than seem endearing. And her sexuality "becoming" gay later on might play differently, too, since the stereotype is that lesbians are hot, and gay men not.
3. Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?
Monkey King and Willow - uh...no.
Rose and Gkar - If we're talking the earlier, jackass-y Gkar, no way. Rose would despise him. The older, wiser Gkar, maybe.
4. Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?
Gimli gets the physical challenge (assuming it doesn't involve jumping or sprinting)
John Carter gets the mental challenge; he's a fighter for sure, but he's pretty crafty Gkar, of course, gets the social challenge. At any point in his development, his social skills were formidable.
5. 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?
Spike Spiegel as the Monkey King's boss? It's disasterous. The Monkey King is a mystical being of remarkable accomplishment, and Spike is a stubborn, strong-willed loner. The fight that ends it would be cool, though.
6. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?
Bugs Bunny inserted into the Firefly universe? I'm laughing just thinking of it! Bugs would be either the wackiest member of Serenity's crew, or a recurring antagonist who made their life hilarious hell. His inclusion would violate the more realistic feel of Firefly, but boy would it be fun.
7. 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?
John Carter and Rose. Hmm. Well, John would like for Mars to be restored, ecologically, and Rose would go along with that, b/c it would help a lot of people. Rose would want her mom to be safe and happy, and John would be for that. ... I don't know. Aside from Rose being put off by John's militaristic nature, they wouldn't disagree on each others' goals, but they don't share many.
8. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?
Monkey King and Bugs against Gimli. Sorry, Gimli, I love you and you're a great dwarven warrior, but with those two after you, you're dead. The Monkey King has godlike powers, and Bugs is insidiously clever.
9. 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?
Inara, Spike Spiegel, Gkar, and Metamorpho - Metamorpho would be Santa. He could use his chemical and shapeshifting powers to make himself look like Santa, as well as create some toys! Inara has compassion to spare, and can read people well enough to know how to care for each child. Gkar would have lots of stories, and I suspect he knows a few card tricks and silly things that would entertain the kids. Spike would be at a huge loss. Maybe he could show the kids some martial arts moves, which they would like.
10. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?
John Carter, Warlord of Mars, and Willow Rosenberg - No. Willow would get too impatient with the slowness of pre-1900 transportation. John Carter's sort of chivalric code of behavior might not meld so well with Willow's modern sensibilities, either. However...they are both strong-willed and rise to a challenge, so maybe they would be successful for that reason, despite the other drawbacks.
Okay, that was cool! At first glance, this meme seemed overly complicated, but it turned out to be fun!
Now, who do I tag? How about Joelle, Joel, and Acme?
