# Pick a fictional character to get you through the post-apocalyptic world. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316 "2010-09-19T20:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/121 "2010-09-24T16:41:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You’re still getting Nimitz as a buy-one-get-one-free, though, which is kind of against the spirit of the rules anyway, and he’s definitely telempathic. > > I thought of another one, though: Princess Mononoke. Like Tarzan, she has a strong rapport with animals, but the animals she can talk with are actually found abundantly in my part of the world. And of course she’s a badass warrior, too, and unlike Tarzan, it’d be possible for her and me to repopulate the world (though on the downside, **she might prefer that humans go extinct** ). And this distinguishes her from Tarzan in that…? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/122 "2010-09-24T17:45:48Z")
Oh, yeah, I had another nomination: Ayla from Clan of the Cave Bear et seq., who apparently in the course of the books invents fire, animal husbandry, the atl-atl, surgical sutures, and the wireless internet router. Plus the whole repopulation thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/123 "2010-09-24T18:26:55Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Apropos of the reponse (2) above me… > > Is Bear Grylls fictional enough to count? 😃 Bear, really? He’d have the two of you try and clime down a waterfall or some other stupid thing, and you’d end up getting killed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/124 "2010-09-24T19:22:51Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > Even if we discount her genetically-enhanced heavyworlder strength, telempathy is certainly a superpower, and she’s also pretty significantly cybernetically enhanced, counter to the “no high tech” rule. > > I’ll settle for Commander Harrington, who has not yet developed any kind of telempathic power and still has all her original parts. She still has a few anger issues, but I’ll deal. I think Captain Signy Mallory would be possibility, or maybe Pyanfar Chanur. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/125 "2010-09-24T19:44:37Z")
Virgil. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/126 "2010-09-24T21:33:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Virgil. You’re going to have to be a little more specific here, because I don’t see how writing a mostly-plagiarized epic account of the starting of your new civilization is going to help. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/127 "2010-09-24T23:11:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Virgil. > > You’re going to have to be a little more specific here, because I don’t see how writing a mostly-plagiarized epic account of the starting of your new civilization is going to help. Maybe he meant the Million Dollar Man’s bodyguard from 80’s WWF? ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/128 "2010-09-25T11:37:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Oy](#): > > > > I’ll settle for Commander Harrington, who has not yet developed any kind of telempathic power and still has all her original parts. She still has a few anger issues, but I’ll deal. > > I think Captain Signy Mallory would be possibility, or maybe Pyanfar Chanur. I don’t know either of these; can you point me in the right direction? ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/129 "2010-09-25T13:04:18Z")
Stephen Maturin. Good with a gun, knows his natural philosophy, plays a fine cello. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/130 "2010-09-25T17:47:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Virgil. > > You’re going to have to be a little more specific here, because I don’t see how writing a mostly-plagiarized epic account of the starting of your new civilization is going to help. Dante’s Divine Comedy… Anyone getting one through Hell like a Cook’s Tourist is OK by me. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/131 "2010-09-25T18:58:48Z")
Tony Stark. No powers when cut off from his tech, so he’s not DQ’d, and you know he’d wind up being able to cobble together something awesome out of whatever’s left in the world. He’s like McGyver on brain steroids. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/132 "2010-09-25T19:06:04Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Tony Stark. No powers when cut off from his tech, so he’s not DQ’d, and you know he’d wind up being able to cobble together something awesome out of whatever’s left in the world. He’s like McGyver on brain steroids. Well, sure, but he needs a CAVE!!, and at least one BOX OF **SCRAPS**!!!, which I’m not sure would be so easy to come by in Post-Apocalyptia. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/133 "2010-09-25T19:25:18Z")
He might not be super-strong or able to fly or the like without his tech, but I think his ability to make the tech in the first place probably qualifies as a superpower. He’s a metatechnologist. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/134 "2010-09-25T22:30:57Z")
Magnus, Robot Fighter of the year 4000, was created by Ross Manning based on Tarzan. He is able to hear the robot to robot communications and can tear them apart. His “father” robot taught him all he needs to survive. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/135 "2010-09-25T23:07:45Z")
> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > I suppose there are three kinds of answers: > > 1. Someone to help you fight off those who seek to prey upon you. I suspect that he may count as super-powered, but I’d go with Brock Samson – frighteningly competent, can fight off hordes of well-armed opponents bare-handed, and (if brusque) not really a bad guy. If that’s unacceptable, then maybe … movie Rambo, or perhaps John McClane. > > 2. Someone to help you survive/rebuild. MacGyver and the Professor are both good choices. > > 3. Someone with whom to – um – _begin anew_, if you catch my drift. I’m not much into kids, but if the responsibility falls to me, then I suppose a circa-1990 Helen Hunt would be acceptable. If we need a survivalist who specializes in off-the-grid fighting tactics and looked hot circa 1990, how about Sarah Connor for the trifecta? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/136 "2010-09-25T23:20:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > If we need a survivalist who specializes in off-the-grid fighting tactics and looked hot circa 1990, how about Sarah Connor for the trifecta? Bad form to quote yourself, but I somehow missed that she’d already been mentioned; maybe I’ll swap in Leela, from DOCTOR WHO. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/137 "2010-09-26T12:54:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He might not be super-strong or able to fly or the like without his tech, but I think his ability to make the tech in the first place probably qualifies as a superpower. He’s a metatechnologist. I don’t think so. For one thing it wasn’t (in the movies) truly a box of scraps; he was repurposing high-tech materials of his own design. For another thing I’ve always taken it that he’d already had the idea for the armor and done most of the design work back in California. (Remember, when he gets back home, he has Computer!Jarvis pull up the specs, which he then places in a hyper-encrypted file). For a third thing, I can’t see letting Stark in but not MacGuyver. Admittedly Mac’s never developed a suit of hyper-weaponized armor, but that might just be because his mind doesn’t work that way. (That is, towards making dedicated weapons). Having said all that, he won’t have access to his tech, and assuming we’re talking about Movie!Stark, I’m not confident in his ability to survive without Jarvis. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/138 "2010-09-27T05:15:42Z")
To survive with style: Phineas and Ferb. They can build a fun treehouse to live in an afternoon. I’d also bring along Perry, though being a platypus, he does not do much. Also, Kim Possible , she can do anything! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/139 "2010-09-27T17:08:31Z")
I still think there’s a qualitative difference between Macgyver and Stark. All of Mac’s gizmos are easily understood, once you see them, and none break the known laws of physics (well, OK, aside from using a pair of binoculars to focus sunlight on a gun from ten meters away and heating it red-hot, but that was just a bad writer). At most, he’s clever at coming up with the ideas, and has a good sense of timing (knowing exactly how long it’ll take for a piece of ice to melt or a candle to burn to trigger one of his contraptions). He never made a repulsor ray or a hand-held fusion reactor or a nigh-indestructible alloy or a strong AI. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316/140 "2010-09-27T18:09:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I still think there’s a qualitative difference between Macgyver and Stark. All of Mac’s gizmos are easily understood, once you see them, and none break the known laws of physics (well, OK, aside from using a pair of binoculars to focus sunlight on a gun from ten meters away and heating it red-hot, but that was just a bad writer). At most, he’s clever at coming up with the ideas, and has a good sense of timing (knowing exactly how long it’ll take for a piece of ice to melt or a candle to burn to trigger one of his contraptions). He never made a repulsor ray or a hand-held fusion reactor or a nigh-indestructible alloy or a strong AI. Yes, but Stark is an enormously bigger jackass. And an alchoholic. I just don’t have any confidence in him if you take him so far out of his own environment. (And, if we’re talking movie Stark, I’m not sure how long he’s gonna survive without Jarvis around. If you insist on an Avenger I’d want Hawkeye. (Well, Cap, but he, like Tarzan, is awfully close to being super-powered.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-fictional-character-to-get-you-through-the-post-apocalyptic-world/554316.md?page=8)