# Pick your modern day League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036 "2013-09-05T00:09:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/21 "2013-09-05T04:56:25Z")
Well done with the Good Omens suggestions. ---
**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 5, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/22 "2013-09-05T05:09:11Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > The characters origins must also be set in contemporary times. So no medieval fantasy figures magically transported to 2013. I take it Percy Jackson is fair game? ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/23 "2013-09-05T06:02:43Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I take it Percy Jackson is fair game? Fair game. He lives in the present. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/24 "2013-09-05T06:14:09Z")
As long as we’re going fantasy… I would definitely take Hermione over Harry Potter, but I’d prefer Dumbledore over either one. And how about Russell Edgington from the Sookie Stackhouse books (I think Charlaine Harris originally called the series “Southern Vampires”)? He’s a serious badass. > [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Slippery Jim DiGriz(_The Stainless Steel Rat_) Good choice, but I seem to remember reading those books in the 1970’s, and they weren’t new then, so the OP’s rules would exclude Slippery Jim. ---
**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 5, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/25 "2013-09-05T06:18:43Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > The problem with opening it up to movie/tv/comics is that it’s too easy for your team to be obscenely overpowered. On the one hand, I see your point. On the other hand, Soon I Will Be Invincible. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/26 "2013-09-05T13:40:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Slippery Jim DiGriz(_The Stainless Steel Rat_) Sadly, he neither lives in modern times, nor was first introduced after the mid nineties, both requirements from the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/27 "2013-09-05T13:49:06Z")
No one has mentioned the _Twilight_ series or _Fifty Shades of Grey_? Good! ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/28 "2013-09-05T14:00:24Z")
Can’t remember when Remo Williams (The Destroyer) was introduced, but I suspect it was before 1990. If not, then add him. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/29 "2013-09-05T14:06:21Z")
The Remo Williams movie came out in 1985, and the books predate it by quite a distance. Too bad. I’d be more interested in adding Chiun. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/30 "2013-09-05T14:22:51Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > The problem with opening it up to movie/tv/comics is that it’s too easy for your team to be obscenely overpowered. Plus, it keeps in the tradition of Moore’s original graphic novel. Unless I’m mistaken, all characters in the original were just literary characters. One could argue that we should evolve as the entertainment mediums diversify. I prefer our lists to be literary. IIRC one of the modern teams alluded to in Moore’s books included Bo “Bandit” Darville, so films weren’t ruled out. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/31 "2013-09-05T14:29:24Z")
How about Media from Neil Gaiman’s _American Gods_ (2001)? ---
**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 5, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/32 "2013-09-05T14:30:29Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > IIRC one of the modern teams alluded to in Moore’s books included Bo “Bandit” Darville, so films weren’t ruled out. At that, “Emma” – the British operative who excels at everything from chemistry to fencing, as befits the daughter of industrialist Sir John – is clearly Emma Peel. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/33 "2013-09-05T15:22:13Z")
**Christopher John Francis Boone** from _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time._ A young autistic man with the power of SOLVING MYSTERIES!!! WITH MATH!!! somehow. - The brains. **Ernessa Bloch** from _The moth diaries_. SHE’S A VAMPIRE! AND A GHOST! SHE’S A GHOST VAMPIRE!!! - The rogue. **Piscine “Pi” Molitor** from _Life of Pi_. a troubled young man with a traumatic past and the ability of MAGICALLY CREATING A GIANT TIGER TO LAUNCH AGAINST THE BAD GUYS!!! - The enforcer. **Call “Callie” Stephanides** , from _Middlesex_, who can CHANGE GENDERS AT WILL!!! and with that he/she can. Um. Use any bathroom? - The spy **Henry DeTamble** , from _The time traveller’s wife_. He can move around the timestream… BUT HE HAS NO CONTROL OVER HIS POWERS!!! Also, he’s a bit on the whiny side. - The Redshirt (the character who dies unexpectedly during the first act.) Together they must fight the spreading of the **SHEVA** virus from _Darwin’s Children_.!!!eleven ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/34 "2013-09-05T15:56:11Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > I already see a problem > With my list in that there isn’t a proper combat specialist. Though Pendergast can hold his own, I think there should be a proper spy/martial artist in the group. You want a proper combat specialist? Gotta go with Michael Harmon. Former SEAL in John Ringo’s Ghost and sequels. The BAMF killed Bin Laden years before he really died. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/35 "2013-09-05T17:16:17Z")
Ok. So it seems Moore may have alluded to a character that wasn’t strictly literary, so ill open it up to tv as well as books. But, in order for this not to be a super hero free for all, no comic book characters. I’m hoping we can be creative enough to put together a cool, effective team that doesn’t rely on getting bit by a radioactive spider. Some really great suggestions. Since I’ve broken my own rule and allowed tv…Buffy must make the list then. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/36 "2013-09-05T18:13:43Z")
With TV, Capt. Jack Harkness (Torchwood) is a must. And maybe Patrick Jane, the Mentalist. ---
**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 5, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/37 "2013-09-05T18:30:47Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > Some really great suggestions. Since I’ve broken my own rule and allowed tv…Buffy must make the list then. Nimbly bodyguarding, and going snark-for-snark with, brilliant diagnostician Gregory House MD. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/38 "2013-09-06T09:23:19Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > **Call “Callie” Stephanides** , from _Middlesex_, who can CHANGE GENDERS AT WILL!!! and with that he/she can. Um. Use any bathroom? - The spy They’ve already had Orlando who in addition to gender-swapping is, if not immortal, incredibly long-lived. Anyway: I nominate Harold Finch off “Person of Interest” - or perhaps just The Machine. In a similar vein I’m also tempted to add the eponymous Chuck, although he is a bit silly. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/39 "2013-09-06T09:34:39Z")
Lord Havelock Vetinari. While “the Patrician” existed earlier, he wasn’t really fleshed out until the 1990s so I’d argue that he qualifies, and he is the Chessmaster _par excellence_ along with being surprisingly dangerous in his own right (more so before being shot in _Men at Arms_, admittedly). A number of other Discworld characters would also make the shortlist, but I assume we’re rationing ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036/40 "2013-09-06T11:41:01Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Lord Havelock Vetinari. While “the Patrician” existed earlier, he wasn’t really fleshed out until the 1990s so I’d argue that he qualifies, and he is the Chessmaster _par excellence_ along with being surprisingly dangerous in his own right (more so before being shot in _Men at Arms_, admittedly). > > A number of other Discworld characters would also make the shortlist, but I assume we’re rationing ourselves. Not contemporary. Or in our world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-your-modern-day-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen/668036.md?page=3)