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Masquerade (trope)
A masquerade is a literary trope that is used to conceal the identity and certain characteristics of a figure. This concealment has the effect of highlighting some unique or noteworthy aspect of a character or situation, despite its suggested intention of subtlety. There exists the true nature of a character or situation alongside the image that is outwardly displayed and perceived by others in that universe, which can create a layered complexity that adds depth and dimension to the narrative. Common examples include preventing non-magic users from discovering the existence of magic in a setting, or hiding the existence of vampires or werewolves from most of humanity. The historical traces of this term extend deeply throughout history and its influence on the texts in which appears becomes increasingly more dynamic and a variety of genres take advantage of the masquerade trope. It's popularly employed in the fantasy and superhero genres, but there are other instances in which it c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy And Tragedy Masks Without Background
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing ''agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Jackson & The Olympians
''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' is a fantasy novel series by American author Rick Riordan. The first book series in his ''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'', the novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st century. The series follows the protagonist, Percy Jackson, a young demigod who must prevent the Titans, led by Kronos, from destroying the world. The first three books were published in the United States by Miramax Books before they were folded into Hyperion Books; that house published the remaining books. All the books were published in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books. Four supplementary books, along with graphic novel versions of the first five books, have also been released. By January 2022, the books had sold more than 180 million copies worldwide, making the series one of the best-selling of all time. Two sequel series, '' The Heroes of Olympus'' and ''The Trials of Apollo'', follow. A follow-up trilogy in the series, ''The Senior Year Adventures' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternate History
Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alternate history stories propose "what if?" scenarios about pivotal events in human history, and present outcomes very different from the historical record. Some alternate histories are considered a subgenre of science fiction, or historical fiction. Since the 1950s, as a subgenre of science fiction, some alternative history stories have featured the tropes of time travel between histories, the psychic awareness of the existence of an alternative universe by the inhabitants of a given universe, and time travel that divides history into various timestreams. Definition Often described as a subgenre of science fiction, alternative history is a genre of fiction wherein the author speculates upon how the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Identity
A secret identity is a person's code name, cryptonym, disguise, incognito, Cover (intelligence gathering), cover and/or alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pimpernel in 1903, the concept was widespread in pulp heroes and is particularly prevalent in the American comic book genre, and is a trope of the Masquerade (trope), masquerade. In American comic books, a character typically has dual identities, one overt and one covert. The false or ''public identity'' being known to the general public as the "superhero persona" and the other being the secret identity. The private or secret identity is typically the superhero's legal name, true identity, and/or "civilian persona" when they are not actively assuming the superhero persona. It is kept hidden from their enemies and the general public to protect themselves from legal ramifications, pressure, or public scrutiny, as well as to protect their frien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Men In Black (film Series)
''Men in Black'' (also known as ''MIB'') is a series of American science fiction action comedy films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and based on the Malibu / Marvel comic book series '' The Men in Black'' by Lowell Cunningham, which was itself based on a UFO conspiracy theory. The first film, ''Men in Black'', was released in 1997, the second film, ''Men in Black II'' in 2002, the third film, ''Men in Black 3'' in 2012, and the fourth film a spin-off, '' Men in Black: International'' in 2019. Amblin Entertainment and MacDonald/Parkes Productions produced, and Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label released, all four films. Films ''Men in Black'' (1997) ''Men in Black'' is the first film in the series. The film follows the exploits of Agent J and Agent K, members of a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth. After Agent K hand-picks James D. Edwards from the NYPD and recruits him for MIB, the two Men in Black ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extraterrestrials In Fiction
An extraterrestrial or alien is a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. (The word ''extraterrestrial'' means 'outside Earth'.) Extraterrestrials are a common theme in modern science-fiction, and also appeared in much earlier works such as the second-century parody '' True History'' by Lucian of Samosata. History Antiquity The 2nd century writer of satires, Lucian, in his '' True History'' claims to have visited the Moon when his ship was sent up by a fountain, which was peopled and at war with the people of the Sun over colonisation of the Morning Star. The way people have thought about extraterrestrials is tied to the development of actual sciences. One of the first steps in the history of astronomy was to realize that the objects seen in the night sky were not gods or lights, but physical objects like Earth. This notion was followed by the one that celestial objects should be inhabited as well. However, when people thought about such extraterrestrials, they though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superhero Fiction
Superhero fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction examining the adventure fiction, adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess Superpower (ability), superhuman powers and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillains. The genre primarily falls between hard fantasy and soft science fiction in the spectrum of scientific realism, often merging into science fantasy. It is most commonly associated with American comic books, though it has expanded into :Superhero fiction by medium, other media through adaptations and original works. Common plot elements Superheroes A superhero is most often the protagonist of superhero fiction. However, some titles, such as ''Marvels'' by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, use superheroes as secondary characters. A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a type of stock character possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers" and dedicated to protecting the publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Of Darkness
''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with ''Vampire: The Masquerade'', ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', ''Mage: The Ascension'', ''Wraith: The Oblivion'', and ''Changeling: The Dreaming'', along with off-shoots based on these. The series ended in 2004, and the Reboot (fiction), reboot ''Chronicles of Darkness'' was launched the same year with a new line of games. In 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently. The games in the series have a Fictional universe, shared setting, also named the World of Darkness, which is a dark, Urban Gothic, gothic-Cyberpunk derivatives, punk interpretation of the real world, where supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves exist in secrecy. The original series' setting has a large focus on lore and overarching narrative, whereas ''Chronicles o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Wolf Games
White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion RampantA Brief History of Game #10: Lion Rampant: 1987-1990 RPGnet (Retrieved 14 June 2007) and ''White Wolf Magazine'' (est. 1986 in Rocky Face, GA; it later became "White Wolf Inphobia"), and was initially led by of the former and Steve Wieck and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Whit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buffyverse
The ''Buffyverse'' or ''Slayerverse'' is a Multimedia franchise, media franchise centered on the supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel'', created by Joss Whedon. The term also refers to the shared fictional universe in which the TV series are set. Originally coined by fans of the series, it has since been used in the titles of published works, and adopted by Whedon. The ''Buffyverse'' is a setting in which supernatural phenomena exist, and supernatural evil can be challenged by people willing to fight against such forces. The franchise includes novels, comics, video games, and other media. Much of the licensed ''Buffyverse'' merchandise and media, while released officially, is not considered to be Buffyverse canon, canon within the universe. Construction The ''Buffyverse'' is a fictional construct created by hundreds of individual stories told through TV, novels, comics and other media. It be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify the settings, tropes, and lore that were employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The name "Cthulhu" derives from the central creature in Lovecraft's seminal short story "The Call of Cthulhu", first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Richard L. Tierney, a writer who also wrote Mythos tales, later applied the term "Derleth Mythos" to distinguish Lovecraft's works from Derleth's later stories, which modify key tenets of the Mythos. Authors of Lovecraftian horror in particular frequently use elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. History In his essay "H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos", Robert M. Price described two stages in the development of the Cthulhu Mythos. Price called the first stage the "Cth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
