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Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu ( zh, t=傅滿洲/福滿洲, p=Fú Mǎnzhōu) is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comic strips and comic books for over 100 years, and he has also become an archetype of the evil criminal genius and mad scientist, while lending his name to the Fu Manchu moustache. Background and publication According to his own account, Sax Rohmer decided to start the Dr. Fu Manchu series after his Ouija board spelled out Chinaman, C-H-I-N-A-M-A-N when he asked what would make his fortune. Clive Bloom argues that the portrait of Fu Manchu was based on the popular music hall magician Chung Ling Soo, "a white man in costume who had shaved off his Victorian moustache and donned a Mandarin costume and pigtail". As for Rohmer's theories concerning "Eastern devilry" and "the unemotional cruelty of the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein (1931 film), Frankenstein'' (1931), his 82nd film, established him as a horror icon, and he reprised the role for the sequels ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935) and ''Son of Frankenstein'' (1939). He also appeared as Imhotep (The Mummy), Imhotep in ''The Mummy (1932 film), The Mummy'' (1932), and voiced the Grinch in, as well as narrating, the animated television special of Dr. Seuss' ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special), How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' (1966), which won him a Grammy Award. Aside from his numerous film roles (174 films), Karloff acted in many live stage plays and appeared on dozens of radio and television programs as well. For his contribution to film and television, Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supervillain
A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary adversary of a superhero in the same story. Description Supervillains are often used as foil (literature), foils to present a daunting challenge to a superhero. In instances where the supervillain does not have superhuman, mystical, or alien powers, the supervillain may possess a genius intellect or a skill set that allows them to draft complex schemes or commit crimes in a way normal humans cannot. Other traits may include wiktionary:megalomania, megalomania and possession of considerable resources to further their aims. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real-world dictators, gangsters, mad scientists, trophy hunting, trophy hunters, corrupt businesspeople, serial killers, and terrorism, terrorists, often having an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bayard Taylor
Bayard Taylor (January 11, 1825December 19, 1878) was an American poet, literary critic, translator, travel author, and diplomat. As a poet, he was very popular, with a crowd of more than 4,000 attending a poetry reading once, which was a record that stood for 85 years. His travelogues were popular in both the United States and Great Britain. He served in diplomatic posts in Russia and Prussia. Life and work Taylor was born on January 11, 1825, in Kennett Square in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was the fourth son, the first to survive to maturity, of the Quaker couple Joseph and Rebecca (née Way) Taylor. His mother was of half Swiss origin His father was a wealthy farmer. Bayard's youngest brother was Charles Frederick Taylor, a Union Army colonel killed in action at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Bayard received his early instruction in an academy at West Chester, Pennsylvania, and later at nearby Unionville. At the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to a printer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mystery Of Dr
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chung Ling Soo
William Ellsworth Robinson (April 2, 1861 – March 24, 1918) was an American magician who went by the stage name Chung Ling Soo (). He is mostly remembered today for his extensive use of yellowface in his act to falsely represent himself to be a Chinese man who spoke little English, as well as for his accidental death due to a failed bullet catch trick. Early years Robinson was born in Westchester County, New York, the first of three children born to James Campbell Robinson and his wife Sarah Robinson (''née'' Titus). Both of his parents were of Scottish descent. The family settled in Manhattan while James Robinson toured in Charles "Charlie" White's minstrel shows. James Robinson variously performed under the names "James Campbell", "H. J. Campbell" and "Professor Campbell", and his specialties included impersonations, "dialect singing", hypnotism, ventriloquism and magic tricks. He later taught his son how to perform magic tricks. Career Robinson performed his first mag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinaman
''Chinaman'' () is an offensive term referring to a Chinese man or person, or widely a person native to geographical East Asia or of perceived East Asian ethnicity. The term is noted as having pejorative overtones by modern dictionaries. Its derogatory connotations evolved from its use in pejorative contexts regarding Chinese people and other East Asians, as well as its grammatical incorrectness which resembles stereotypical characterizations of Chinese accents in English-speaking associated with discrimination. The usage of the term ''Chinaman'' is strongly discouraged by Asian American organizations. Historic usage Use in Australia Historically, words such as ''Chinaman'', ''chink'' and ''yellow'' have been used in Australia to refer to Chinese Australians during the Australian gold rushes and when the White Australia policy was in force. Use in the United States The term ''Chinaman'' has been historically used in a variety of ways, including legal documents, literary w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouija
The Ouija ( , ), also known as a Ouija board, spirit board, talking board, or witch board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", and occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and graphics. It uses a planchette (a small heart-shaped piece of wood or plastic) as a movable indicator to spell out messages during a séance. Participants place their fingers on the planchette, and it is moved about the board to spell out words. The name "Ouija" is a trademark of Hasbro (inherited from Parker Brothers), but is often used generically to refer to any talking board. Spiritualists in the United States believed that the dead were able to contact the living, and reportedly used a talking board very similar to the modern Ouija board at their camps in Ohio during 1886 with the intent of enabling faster communication with spirits. Following its commercial patent by businessman Elijah Bond being passed o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fu Manchu Moustache
A Fu Manchu moustache or simply Fu Manchu, is a full, straight moustache extending from under the nose past the corners of the mouth and growing downward past the clean-shaven lips and chin in two tapered "tendrils", often extending past the jawline. An expansion of the Fu Manchu sometimes includes a third long "tendril" goatee, descending from a small patch on the chin. The Fu Manchu moustache derives its name from Fu Manchu, a fictional character created by English author Sax Rohmer, who is shown wearing such a moustache in film adaptations of Rohmer's stories. The literary Fu Manchu did not wear a moustache. The famous facial hair first appeared in the British serial ''The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1929); the Fu Manchu moustache then became integral to cinematic and television Stereotypes of East and Southeast Asians in the United States#Fu Manchu: "evil" East Asian, stereotypical depictions of Chinese villains. The facial hair style is often us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mad Scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly ambitious, taboo or hubristic nature of their experiments. As a motif (narrative), motif in fiction, the mad scientist may be villainous (evil genius) or antagonistic, benign, or neutral; may be psychosis, insane, eccentricity (behaviour), eccentric, or clumsy; and often works with fictional technology or fails to recognise or value common human objections to attempting to Playing God (ethics), play God. Some may have benevolent intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidental antagonists. History Prototypes The prototypical fictional mad scientist was Victor Frankenstein, creator of his Frankenstein's monster, eponymous monster, who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novel ''Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archetype
The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that other statements, patterns of behavior, and objects copy, emulate, or "merge" into. Informal synonyms frequently used for this definition include "standard example", "basic example", and the longer-form "archetypal example"; mathematical archetypes often appear as " canonical examples". # the Jungian psychology concept of an inherited unconscious predisposition, behavioral trait or tendency ("instinct") shared among the members of the species; as any behavioral trait the tendency comes to being by way of patterns of thought, images, affects or pulsions characterized by its qualitative likeness to distinct narrative constructs; unlike personality traits, many of the archetype's fundamental characteristics are shared in common with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fah Lo Suee
Fah Lo Suee ( zh, t=花露水, p=Huā Lùshuǐ, j=faa1 lou6 seoi2) is a character who was introduced in the series of novels Dr. Fu Manchu by the English author Sax Rohmer (1883-1959). She is the daughter of Dr. Fu Manchu and an unnamed Russian woman, sometimes shown as an ally, sometimes shown as a rival. The Character (arts), character featured in cinema and comic strips and comic books alongside her father, sometimes using another names, and she has also become an archetype of the Dragon Lady. History The character of Fah Lo Suee was created in 1917 by Sax Rohmer as the Lady of the Si-Fan in the novel ''The Hand of Fu-Manchu'' (original UK title: The Si-Fan Mysteries). In the novel ''Daughter of Fu Manchu'' (1931), she is called Fah Lo Suee, a nickname meaning "Sweet Perfume". Fah Lo Suee, is a devious mastermind in her own right, frequently plotting to usurp her father's position in the ''Si-Fan'' and aiding his enemies both within and outside the organization. Her real na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
