Pick 12 fictional characters to repopulate the earth?

Cafe Society
1

Here’s an odd little topic that I’ve been pondering lately—mostly when I was waiting to be dismissed from jury duty, and I’d already finished the novel I’d brought.

That is: say you had to pick 12 fictional characters to restart human civilization with, after the apocalypse or somesuch.

The rules?

No superpowered characters. That skews things too much. No de-powered versions of superpowered characters, either.

The characters have to be of Earth (preferably human) decent and capable of reproducing with another human. So, a human who’d been born on a Mars colony would count, the “humans” from Star Wars would not. Arwen would count; Spock would not. Almost all androids couldn’t qualify.

No fictionalized versions of historical characters. (So no Teddy Roosevelt because he was in The Alienist) Fictional or legendary characters heavily based on real people, however, are in.

The characters can be from literature, TV, movies, anime, ancient mythology, or epic poems. Anything goes, as long as it doesn’t violate the first, second, or third rules.

So…my picks, so far?

For the guys…

•Sherlock Holmes
Genius, master detective, chemist, and swordsman. On the other hand, he’s also a possibly autistic, borderline asexual, former cocaine addict.

•Jean-Luc Picard
Man of culture, man of action, natural leader. Pretty sure he knows the complete works of Shakespeare by heart.

•Dr. Benton Quest
Father of Johnny, “partner” of Race Bannon, top scientist.

And the ladies…
•Patricia “Pat” Savage
Doc Savage’s cousin. Pilot, sailor, fluent in several languages, several types of combat.

•Lara Croft
Archeology, adventurer, U2 fan.

•Agatha Heterodyne
From the Girl Genius comic series. Noted mad scientist…although her abilities may or may not cross the line into an outright superpower.

At which point, to my shame, I’m hitting a dead end. Polymaths are great, but I should try to reduce redundancy. Y’know, include some more thinkers, artists, etc. (Not to mention more ethnic diversity…I mean, it wouldn’t matter after a couple of centuries anyway, but I don’t want it to look like a freakin’ Lebensborn revival.)

So…anyone else want to join in?

2

The Ladies:

Wyoming Knott

Athena

Minerva

Deety

(Heinlein fans can identify all of them)
The Gentlemen:

Angus MacGyver

Lazarus Long

3

Bruce Wayne, if he’s up for it.

4

I’m not sure if Lazarus Long counts as “superpowered”… All he has that’s above and beyond human-normal is his lifespan. Everything else, he’s really good at, but humanly so. He also has the advantage of being completely free of disease and defect genes, something that’s going to become very important with as thin as our available gene pool is. Anyway, if he’s allowed under the rules, he’s in.

MacGuyver would be another strong contender. He’s physically fit and decent in a fight, but more importantly, he can make anything from anything. We’ll need that kind of resourcefulness.

Another Heinlein character, Caroline Mbutu (Tunnel in the Sky), heads my list for the ladies. She’s shown herself quite capable of the whole “rebuild civilization from scratch” thing, and in the meantime while it’s being rebuilt, she’s one heckuva hunter.

Next up on the list, Ripley, from Alien. Resourceful, fearless, and tough as nails, but she still has a strong maternal instinct, which we’ll need.

I’d strike Sherlock Holmes from the list, due to his complete lack of interest in sex (or in fact, in pretty much anything aside from crime, of which there probably won’t be much with only a dozen people), but I will nominate Irene Adler. She’s the only person ever to outwit him, which should be enough said, and unlike him, she’s assuredly not asexual (having managed to ensnare the heir to the throne of Bohemia).

5

Well, you’d want only 1 or 2 males along with 10 or 11 females to give the remaining humans the best chance to reproduce quickly, and thus give the community the best chance of surviving into future generations. 11 males and 1 female might have trouble churning out enough offspring even to replace those members of the group who were dying off.

And of course you’d need a really good doctor or geneticist to deal with the concesquences of having such a small breeding population.

6

Nice simulpost, silenus! Your post honestly wasn’t there when I composed. But Wyoh might not be the best choice, with her motherhood issues. And I’m not exactly sure whether Minerva and Teena qualify, under the OP’s rules…

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Great minds think alike! :smiley:

They’re human…sorta. To 99 decimals anyway. And Wyoh got her tubes re-connected, so she is good to go. I’m sure Mannie and Greg managed to settle any “issues” she had with Motherhood years ago.

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Maureen Long

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First my post gets eaten then I hit enter too soon.
Why is this thread attracting all the Heinlein fans?
I also strongly suggest that Mr. Holmes gets left off.

Maureen Smith Long might be a better choice than Minerva and her sister Athena. They don’t seem to qualify by the Op’s intent.
Hazel Stone would be a good addition. Of course it would have to be her from between Moon & Rolling Stones.
Meg Murry O’Keefe would be a good non-Heinlein female.

Jamie Rowan of Without Love would probably be a good addition. She would probably take charge of the small colony.

Jim

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From the OP: The characters have to be of Earth (preferably human) decent and capable of reproducing with another human.

Teena and Minerva count. The only thing Maureen Long brings to the table is sheer productiveness, breeding-wise. Give me Teena any day.

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We only have 12 people, Maureen breeds prodigiously and her offspring are very healthy. Teena & Minerva are kind of a tough case. Their bodies are not of earth. Their intellect is from AI computers. I guess even Hazel might not count, she was born on Luna.

Jim

12

How are their bodies “not of Earth?” Try to prove that, genetically. Besides, both Teena and Minerva carry a number of Maureen’s genes. They also have many other talents and skills that Maureen doesn’t have. Face it, as nice as she is, she’s just a breeder, not a builder.

Gods, I’m such a geek!

13

When I read the thread title, the first character I thought of was Atticus Finch. I’m not sure how he’d fit in with these others (most of whom I’ve never heard of), but in addition to physical attributes, civilization needs people with a strong code of ethics, dignity, common sense, and moral strength.

The other male can be Conan.

14

Tell you what, I will concede and leave it up to op. He probably will have no idea what we’re arguing over anyway. Lets pick all three and leave it up to Ranchoth.

Jim

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The OP says they must be of Earthly descent, and Minerva and Teena arguably aren’t of any descent, even though the end result is indistinguishable from and interfertile with “normal” humans. On the other hand, Hazel isn’t a problem, since the OP says that humans of Earth descent but born on other planets are OK.

The gender ratio question is a tricky one… In the short term, one man and 11 women will breed fastest, of course, but by not even a factor of 2 over an even split. And of course, by the next generation, the numbers will be equal, anyway. On the other hand, an even split offers the greatest number of possible pairings. With one man and 11 women, everyone in the second generation will be half-siblings or closer, so if that one man’s genes are anything less than perfect, you’ve got to be seriously worried about the third generation. But with 6 and 6, you could go for quite a while without any inbreeding at all, and when it does eventually occur, it’ll be much less close. The only thing we can say for sure is that we shouldn’t have more males than females (the worst of both possibilities), but I think that the ideal would probably be 6-6, or at most 7-5.

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In case any mysteries need solving now that Sherlock Holmes has been kicked off the island, I nominate Sir Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. They’ll reproduce like bunnies.

I seem to have detectives on the brain, because Dr. Benjamin January also comes to mind. He solves crimes AND he’s a doctor. Granted, he’s a 19th century doctor, but he’s always very quick on the uptake so I’m sure he’d do fine.

I think we need someone who is good at agriculture. Not just in theory, but actual on the job experience is a plus. I’m coming up blank for this one. I considered candidates from the Joads, the Waltons, and the Ingalls, but I think we need someone who had not merely a farm, but a successful farm. O Lan, from The Good Earth, maybe? Steady, smart, and I think she’d be a lot better off with our 12 pioneers than with that whiny husband of hers.

I like the nominations of MacGuyver, Conan, and Meg Murray.

17

Some suggestions :

Thandi Palane from Crown of Slaves, the descendent of a breed-a-better human program. She’s big, fast, strong ( "What did she hit them with, a sledgehammer ? " ), and tough; her major weakness is a massive appetite and an inability to swim well ( bones are too dense ). Her ancestors did come from Earth ( Africa ), and she can breed with normal humans, so she qualifies

Ludmilla Leonovna from The Apocalypse Troll is also Earth descended; she’s also a “Methusulah”, which means she carries a symbiont that grants her many advantages. These include fast healing, immunity to disease and aging, fast wound closure and moderately superhuman reflexes. She can breed with normal humans and pass on the symbiont.

I don’t think either of these are quite “superpowered”, but they’ll have a huge advantage in this scenario, as will their descendents.

The Nexialist guy from Voyage of the Space Beagle will be invaluable in any attempts to restart technological civilization.

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They’re not very well known, but the characters in Jeffrey Lent’s book “In The Fall” not only had a successful farm, but it was in rocky Vermont. (I’ve never thought of Vermont as good farming country.) I learned a lot about livestock, gardening, and food preservation from that book, and they could build anything.

19

What’s wrong with John Holmes?

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From what I’ve dug up, Minerva was an AI consciousness transferred into a bio-engineered human body, right? Then she may or may not qualify, depending on the bioengineering. If all the genes came from Earth fauna (including humans, however far removed by generations), but not extraterrestrial DNA, then that part is OK. If, however, her biology gives her powers grossly beyond human possibility—like telepathy, or being able to pick up tanks—she’d be out on the “superpowers” rule.

AuntiePam—heh. You know I actually thought of Conan, but I didn’t know if anyone else would go for it? :cool: