10 Science-Fiction Heroes Who Don’t Need Origin Stories
Of the ten listed, here are my two favorites, Deckard and The Tick!:
Deckard (Blade Runner):. Let’s just sidestep the whole question of whether Deckard is a Replicant, shall we? I’m serious. Because whether you believe Ridley Scott (who insists Deckard is a replicant, and reworked the Director’s Cut to bolster that viewpoint) or Harrison Ford (who’s pretty sure Deckard’s a human) neither answer is an Origin Story. Deckard can be a Replicant, or a human, without us knowing how he became a blade runner, and why he quit doing it, and why he has such an ambivalent relationship with his job and his colleagues. In the movie version — let’s leave Dick’s vastly different novel out of this — Deckard is sort of the archetypal noir detective, and part of what makes him an archetype is that we don’t get told that he is the way he is because his diapers weren’t changed enough when he was a baby, or his fifth-grade sweetheart trashed his locker, or what have you. I live in dread that any day now, some movie studio is going to announce a Blade Runner prequel movie, in which we get to see Shia or Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the young Deckard, busting heads and learning about Replicants. The stuff. Of. Nightmares.
The Tick (The Tick): Spoooooon! I mean, why would you want to explain the Tick? He’s the Tick, the ultimate goofy superhero parody, and somewhat ineffectual do-gooder. Like another Ben Edlund creation, Bad Horse, the Tick is archetypal and stands alone, without any need to fill out his early life. There are hints in the comic that he escaped from a mental institution, but it’s best just to think the Tick appeared, fully formed, when we needed him most. Maybe as a manifestation of his Drama Powers, bringing him into existence when the situation demanded — cried out for — it.
Catch the other 8 at io9.
EXCLUSIVE: Katee Sackhoff is in final negotiations to play the female lead opposite Vin Diesel in the untitled Chronicles Of Riddick sequel. In the movie, written and directed by David Twohy, the Battlestar Galactica alumna will play Dahl, a Nordic mercenary tracking Riddick (Diesel). Production on the sequel resumed recently in Montreal after a two-month break due to financing issues. Sackhoff, who had long been rumored for the choice for the role, will segue from Riddick to her new A&E series Longmire. The actress, who co-starred on the final season of 24 and did an arc on CSI, has movies Haunting In Georgia and Evil Sexy Genius coming out later this year. She is with Gersh and Bleu.
The Lawgiver Mk II (Judge Dredd)