This all reminds me of one of the troubling undercurrents of fantasy fiction, that few ever consider…damn few of those characters ever wash their hands after releiving themselves (probably including the ones from the unusually “civilized” fantasy worlds, considering how often they’re out questing in the field).
They have their bottle of hand sanitizer…don’t worry.
Most of the women from the chick lit vampire books (werewolf books, etc.) since the premise is usually that they are from the ordinary world and discover the hidden one. Falling back into the ordinary world wouldn’t be much of a stretch for Betsy from “Dead and Unwed” or the early Anita Blake. (The later Anita Blake would not exist in the ordinary world - that doesn’t mean she couldn’t exist in this one, just that she’d spend her time at ‘bring your own handcuff’ parties.)
To expand on Dangerosa’s point, there are an awful lot of characters that live in worlds that our just ours + weirdness, and would slip easily into ours.
It’s probably just not portrayed in the more civilized worlds/realms; normally, there isn’t much more detail than “he/she relieved themselves and came back”. Ista in The Paladin of Souls is quite grateful when Lord Arhys gives her some soap from her saddlebags, though.
Jessica Sorrow the Unbeliever would do as well as she normally does; being invulnerable and unstoppable will do that for you. We’d be the ones to adapt to her ( mainly by running away ), not the other way around.
The Walking Man, the Wrath of God in the World of Men would be interesting. As long as he’s in the normal world ( “The World of Men” ), and keeps his faith and position he’s apparently invulnerable. He also claims to follow the Christian God and spends all his time unstoppably, relentlessly hunting down and killing sinners. An apparently genuine indestructible servant of a wrathful God would have all sorts of interesting effects.
As an OCD sufferer, that’s what I have to keep telling myself. ::shudder::
I tell ya…it’s hard to think the same of great King Elessar if you imagine him reaching for a sponge on a stick or some dry corn cobs while on the throne of Gondor. (Assuming he didn’t have a Groom of the Stool)
Merriman Lyon and Will Stanton would do just fine.
Lyra from the His Dark Materials trilogy. It’d be easier, because she’s already been here before and has a couch to crash on in this world.
Well, Ingold Inglorion from Barbara Hambly’s Darwath trilogy seemed to have no trouble making himself at home on this side of the Void. (Although he did have to study the can of beer for a moment before discerning the mysteries of the pop-top.)
:smack:
It’s one of those mental compromises you have to make when reading medieval-like fantasy - just as you know they’re speaking some strange language, but you’re reading it as English, you know they all stink to high heaven, but in your mind they’re as clean as you are. It’s part of the whole “suspension of disbelief” thing.
Corwin, and for that matter, most members of the Amber royal family, has adapted to our world. (Of course, to them, their world is the real one.) Corwin spent, IIRC, 400 years on Shadow Earth, not even knowing he was alien. Went drinking with Shakespeare. Survived the Black Plague. “I hummed a tune as we marched along, and it became ‘Aupres de ma Blonde.’” Attended the Nuremburg trials, though in what capacity he doesn’t say.
I also have a companion volume, not written by Zelazny, but with his cooperation, which states that most or all of the royals of Corwin’s generation have spent time on Shadow Earth. Gerard played halfback for the Crimson Tide. Flora was a mistress of Napoleon. Caine served in the British navy. And in the books, there was a lot of back-and-forthing. Especially for weaponry, like Shadow Earth is their ammo dump.
Anyway, those characters don’t have to struggle to adapt, because they’re the masters of all worlds, including ours.
Hey, I hear that. I’ve been around the [sub]literary[/sub] block a few times. Though ignoring the 900 lb gorilla in the corner becomes harder, although even more vital, when it’s a 9000 lb Elder God with dripping, flailing tentacles in the corner. :eek:
While I’m thinking of it, and on a related subject…I imagine a number of female fantasy characters, specifically, might make even more of an effort to fit in with the real world, if only for the…hygenic amenities.
Conan’s ability to adapt would correlate directly with his location of apparition. All he would really need is a location that would provide him with enough anonymity for him to adapt to the tech, and police structure/ basic laws of modern society. One he understands that, there would be no stopping him. The trick is giving him enough time to gain that knowledge without being arrested, or committed. As other posters noted, his ability to locate, join, and quickly dominate the criminal element would serve him extremely well.
What is that?
I think Nicholas Valiarde would do just fine.
I’m seeing Drizzt Do’Urden in New York City, fighting crime with scimitars…
'Course, he wouldn’t be able to get a taxi.
You know, because he’s black.
No question the Patrician would fit right in, and probably take over whatever governement or multi-national corporation he chose within a matter of a couple years. The ultimate politician with the added bonus of assassin skills.
As long as we’re in Discworld, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler would probably slide right into daily life with little effort, and Rincewind has an amazing capacity for adapting to any circumstances.
Usually quite against his will…
Doctor Strange was a neurosurgeon before he became a sorceror; with the right papers (including a medical license), he would thrive in this world whether he got to bring his magic powers with him or not.
A Drizzt/Nightcrawler buddy action movie is what we really need. Two good hearted guys who couldn’t get a cab in NYC.