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Any gamer knows the saying Sic Parvis Magna – “Greatness from small beginnings,” coined by Sir Francis Drake and popularized by his great-great-great… great nephew Nathan from Uncharted. I have always been a fan of phrases and terms of this variety and decided to put my own spin on it. I present to you Sic Parvis Obscura – Greatness From Obscure Beginnings. When a trope, character, or trait is widely known to the public at large, but its origins have been largely forgotten to time. In no particular order, here are some that I find interesting and might peak your interest as well.
Kool Cigarette – Penguin
Oswald Cobblepot is one of the most engaging and iconic foes of all time. The man has been in just about every adaptation of media to ever grace the Batman franchise: movies, games, TV, animation – this bird boy has spread his wings and flown high. Interesting to note that the inspiration for this dastardly, umbrella-wielding, top-hat-wearing kingpin was a cute, harmless mascot for a pack of cigarettes in the 1940s. Quite the contrast wouldn’t you say?
The Man Who Laughs – Joker
Keeping the Batman gravy train rolling, every hero is only as good as his archnemesis. But since his debut in 1939, the guy has cemented himself as the template for comic book supervillains. Joker was based on the character Gwynplaine from a largely forgotten film from 1928 titled The Man Who Laughs. A man disfigured with a permanent smile carved into his face and forced to live as a sideshow performer. This is actually a very well-made film for its time, and any movie buff and hardcore Joker fan should check it out.
The Bat -Batman
Last one on the Dark Knight, I promise. Batman was actually based on a villain, believe it or not. Way back in the 1920s we had The Bat – a murder mystery/haunted house film where a (spoiler) man is dressed as a bat and is on a murder spree. The film takes place in a dark, spooky mansion, very much a product of its time (and perhaps the inspiration for Wayne Manor?). It’s not just the costume that served as inspiration. This guy climbs with a grappling hook and even uses the bat signal – albeit his calling card before closing in for the kill. Crazy to think a mid-tier silent film was the catalyst for arguably the greatest superhero in all of fiction.
Sunlight killing vampires – Nosferatu
Vampire lore is incredibly murky, with the abundance of films, novels, games, etc. it’s really hard to decipher where folklore ends and pop culture begins. One of the most long-standing tropes in the vampire industry is sunlight and their famed aversion to it. However, if you actually read the novel Dracula, you might be surprised to know that sunlight does not kill him. It weakens him considerably, but he can walk out and about in broad daylight if he wishes. Sunlight being the bright blight that would end their existence wouldn’t come about until 1922’s Nosferatu.
The Monster being stitched together and brought to life with lightning – Frankenstein
The most famous monster in all of fiction: the Frankenstein monster. (No, Frankenstein is not the name of the monster, by the way.) When we think of the monster, we imagine a stitched-together, mute monstrosity that the mad doctor cobbled together from robbing graves and brought to life by electricity. This is not featured in the novel. The monster in the actual book is very intelligent, capable of speech and critical thinking. His creation and birth are intentionally kept vague – no extravagant lab equipment and knickknacks to be found in these pages. The image of the monster we hold so dear to our hearts is purely the invention of Hollywood, with the 1931 classic Universal film Frankenstein. Great film, but as we can see, not too accurate to the source material
The Monster stretching its arms out – Frankenstein Meets the Wolf-Man
Whenever people want to imitate the monster, they almost ALWAYS stretch their arms forward and shuffle awkwardly. This is emphatically not a trope in the novel or even in the original film. We wouldn’t see this well into the 1940s with Universal’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Did Bela Lugosi think this was just a clever idea? Nope. In the prior film, the monster went blind and moves in this manner because he literally can’t see where he’s going. But to keep the pace moving they decided to just drop any mention of that after the film was already completed.
I Hope you have enjoyed this deep dive into this new concept. its amazing to think how some of the most popular and beloved tropes can have their origins be so obscured and overshadowed by their own success. I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface, if you can think of any, comment below!
