I was thinking about the setting as a whole, and how it corresponds, or more appropriately differs, from our own world, and got thinking about actual historical figures and their counterparts in the GG world. So far, only one person is known for fact (as much as can be) to exist in both universes, the Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn; in our world a famous painter, in GG a legendary clankmeister. For purposes of this discussion, I'm not counting sly references, such as The Storm King/The Sun King and Her Undying Majesty/the famously long-reigned Queen Victoria. The particular figure that got me wondering was Napoleon Bonaparte, extremely significant to European history, and only a couple generations earlier than our current setting. Was he a particularly successful warlord in the Long War? Did he pick a fight with Albia and get smacked down? Did he ever even come to power? Did he even exist in this world? I feel questions like these are important to solidifying the world, particularly how it differs from ours. Don't get me wrong, Napoleon is by no means the only figure worth considering in this regard. I propose that this page right here, be the place to put forth theories and ideas about the larger-than-life characters of our world, and their place in the GG universe.--Necrotas 04:39, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure the Storm King/Sun King would fit here anyway, since the Storm King is Andronicus Valois, a name that suggests he not only isn't Louis XIV, he's from a different branch of the dynasty that got booted based on Salic law.... PersephoneKore 00:59, February 22, 2010 (UTC)

I'm just adding section header names as a way to get started, anyone interested in this experiment should feel free to add more people.--Necrotas 07:49, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

In-Comic Evidence

Rembrandt van Rijn

• The famous van Rijn who built the Muses and lived "over 200 years ago", corresponds perfectly to real-world Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. In both worlds he seems to have been a great artist, in ours a renowned painter, in their's a genius clankmeister.--Necrotas 20:59, February 21, 2010 (UTC)

House Borgia

• In the Kitchen Moloch explains to Agatha that this particular kitchen belonged Venthraxus Heterodyne's favorite chef. Moloch specifically refers to this chef going crazy "think he was a reincarnation of a Borgia or something" and poisoning everybody. This implies the Borgia family existed, and acquired a notorious reputation assassination by poison.--Necrotas 07:35, February 20, 2010 (UTC)

Giovanni Mirandola

• Author of Oration on the Dignity of Man, as referred to here.

William Shakespeare

• At Mamma Gkika´s, Zeetha comments on Gil´s feeling for Agatha with "Good one, Romeo." - that would suggest that Romeo and Juliet exists in the GG universe, and Zeetha (as a circus artist and presumably actress) and Gil (as a very educated person) both know it; there is no pressing reason to suggest that it wasn´t written by Shakespeare, like in the real world. -Sir Chaos 14:52, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

Creative Speculation

Napoleon Bonaparte

• I haven't been able to sparkify it yet, so instead of a real bio, more of an outline. After the fall of the Storm King, France and particularly the city of Paris were left without a real leader to call their own any longer. Paris, through some twist, became a haven for mad political scientists. One of them even believed his invention, the Gravitic Cranio-Abdominal Reorganizer (Now more Efficient!) could single-handedly create a peaceful utopia in Europa. 1,285 people died. During this period, the heir of a Corsican military family that had fought for the Western Coalition against Bludtharst Heterodyne, Napoleon Bonaparte, saw an opportunity. He overthrew The Directory, five sparks that had divided the city into sections with chalk over which oarts belonged to whom, and destroyed the Council of Eggs, thus establishing himself as the de facto warlord spark of Paris. However, instead of building an army and marching on the world, like everybody expected him to, he instead focused inward, establishing Paris as a recognized city-state and power throughout Europa, naming himself the "Master of Paris", a position he would hand down to a chosen successor at the end of his life.--Necrotas 21:45, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

William Shakespeare

• A young artist from the English village of Stratford-under-Avon, William Shakespeare wrote plays using themes and language intended to appeal to the lower classes, instead of just the erudite aristocracy that traditionally dominated theatrical audiences. Unfortunately, Her Undying Majesty proved not to be a fan, forcing him to leave his beloved dome and travel to the mainland to pursue his art. On the continent, he found the audience and fame that had always eluded him in his homeland, and he spent years traveling Europa and performing his shows, until settling down with his own theater in Paris. Despite his fame in life, after his death he generally fell into obscurity, until the 1670's when the Storm King himself requested a performance of the classic comedy The Taming of the Horrible Rat Monster for his court. This led to sudden, large resurgence of popularity Shakespeare's works which persists to this day, although some historians have started debating the authenticity of his identity. Still not too popular in England, though.--Necrotas 20:15, February 19, 2010 (UTC)
• Romeo and Juliet: Two young lovers, heirs of rival spark dynasties, try to run away together after their families fighting destroys Romeo's childhood friend, the nine-legged wit-monster Mercutio. But their escape plan involves a fake death, which Juliet doesn't know about! Seeing her lover dead, she plunges a dagger into her breast, to meet him in the afterlife. Waking up, Romeo sees her ill-informed suicide, and in his grief revives her as a freakish abomination of nature, which in a shocking twist, kills him and escapes to prowl the Italian countryside as an anguished wraith for all eternity. Based on a true story.--Necrotas 18:16, February 19, 2010 (UTC)
  • Being a spark, Juliet of course built a dagger-plunging clank to do the deed for her. Though the anguished wraith part would explain Von Pinn ;-) -Sir Chaos 19:08, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

Albert Einstein

• I just thought of something. Accepting both Rej Maddog's timeline and the calendar actually synching up with our own, Albert Einstein should be 13 years old, and living in the equivalent of either Württemberg, or Munich. Now, Einstein is already one of the real-life models for the Mad Scientist as a concept, what would be the result of him being in a Sparky world?--Necrotas 07:49, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

Petrus "Teufel" Kipp

• (This is not my theory, but whoever originally suggested it hasn't dropped by here and I don't feel like digging up the thread.) In some other strange world, Petrus Jacobus Kipp (1808-1864) invented the Kipp apparatus to produce small volumes of gas (notably hydrogen sulfide) for laboratory purposes, shifting his business from chemical to instrument sales. In this one, of course, his inventive genius was matched by his enthusiasm for weaponry, and he scaled up his operations and led the Black Mist Raiders under the name Petrus Teufel until Baron Wulfenbach squished him. PersephoneKore 00:59, February 22, 2010 (UTC)

Hedyrodyne Lamarr

• Actress and Femme Genius found a way to communicate more clearly through noisy confusion using eighty-eight notes and a melody. Used the knowledge to help build and control death dealing devices for a good cause.

Karl Marx

• Some nut in Brussels with a manifesto. You know they're a dime a dozen.--Necrotas 21:52, February 19, 2010 (UTC)
  • He Wrote The Capital Letter - probably a Mad Linguist -Sir Chaos 22:46, February 19, 2010 (UTC)

Nikola Tesla

• Like the Einstein idea above this one really requires Rej Maddog's timeline and the calender to synch with ours. If they are, then Tesla would be in his mid-thirties and given that he was more or less a Spark in real life (Genius, check. Bonkers, check. Deathray, possibly check) you have to wonder what he'd have managed to accomplish in a world that's a good deal more 'mad scientist friendly' then ours.