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)
- Also referenced by Brother Otto ✣ as an example of worldly corruption. Zibbiz (talk) 16:59, 2 August 2021 (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)
- Remember, though, that the basic plot wasn't original with Shakespeare (I don't think that any of his plays with the exception of The Tempest had a genuinely original plot, although Shakespeare often improved on those he
plagiarzedborrowed from). Zeetha could be referring to Brooke's or Painter's versions. Akitsumikami (talk) 12:11, April 12, 2013 (UTC)
- Remember, though, that the basic plot wasn't original with Shakespeare (I don't think that any of his plays with the exception of The Tempest had a genuinely original plot, although Shakespeare often improved on those he
Meton of Athens[]
- The famous geometer is mentioned in Act 2 Volume 2 Page 92 as being referenced in van Rijn’s journal. Agatha recognizes him as a “famous spark of ancient Greece.”
Archimedes of Syracuse[]
- Archimedes was referenced by van Rijn in the name he gave the Storm King’s sword, Archimedes Lever, in Act 2 Volume 3 Page 87.
Mariano “Taccola” di Jacopo[]
- Agatha uses a reverse Taccola field oscillator to free the Muse of Time from van Rijn’s lab in Act 2 Volume 3 Page 39. Since Taccola was an inspiration of Leonard da Vinci, it is a reasonable speculation that da Vinci also existed in the historical timeline of Girl Genius, but he has not been referenced yet.
American Inventors[]
- Richard Jordan Gatling’s invention, the Gatling Gun, is mentioned in Act 2 Volume 7 Page 106. Martellus added a hidden Gatling gun to Agatha’s costume. Since the Americas are largely closed to European advances in the story – the native Americans presumably having either sparks or an equivalent all their own – this implies an alternative history for Gatling. And if Gatling can have an alternative history, so could other European American inventors.CM Edwards (talk) 02:12, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
The Professors Foglio[]
Though not yet identified by name in the text of the main story, the recurring characters of the Professora from Transylvania Polygnostic University (who has been everything from an opera announcer and expedition roadie to self-appointed chronicler of the Lady Heterodyne) and the Storyteller (who also happens to be a relative of Oggie the Jagermonster and is renowned for boring people to sleep) have appeared repeatedly as self portraits of Kaja and Phil Foglio in various comic-related announcements by the Foglios. The Professors Foglio have their own side story in the comics (“A Mechanicsburg Solstice Story” in Act 2). Thus, as characters in Girl Genius and real people in our universe (and by all accounts, real characters), they can be used to establish the timeline for the Girl Genius universe. Assuming that the GG universe’s calendar syncs with our own, their appearances place the action of the story in our late twentieth and/or early twenty-first centuries of the common era, during the decades before the first comic book when the authors and illustrators were creating the story.
Girl Genius is set in a contemporaneous alternate universe with advanced technology and asynchronous (not historical) development. This lack of a historical setting with highly and independently advanced technology also settles another question about the comic’s genre. Girl Genius is steampunk in the same way that Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is a nature film – which is to say, not at all. CM Edwards (talk) 19:25, 6 August 2021 (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.
An Obverse Winters’ Alteration[]
The idea of a role-playing game based on a devastating magical event creating an alternate timeline for the whole world dates back to at least the Shadowrun RPG system, but they apparently didn’t care to name the thing, so we all had to sit around and wait for Ben Winters’ Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters to learn its name: The Alteration. Since I’m exploring a game idea for when I finally receive the Girl Genius RPG from Steve Jackson Games, with characters from our universe dropped into GG’s Europa, I was naturally interested in whether there had been an Alteration in the GG Universe. So, I looked for common examples of the Spark from both real history and the Foglios' vibrant setting. I am pleased to report that clear evidence of a devastating transition – a Winters’ Alteration – is immediately apparent from charting available data on manifestations of the Spark over time.
When charting examples of the strength of Sparks over time – and particularly for those sparks such as Archimedes who existed in both timelines – it is apparent that our worlds were much the same in the distant past. Albia and her contemporary, Imhotep, apparently began their careers as strong sparks in both timelines. However, by the time of Archimedes a divergence is clear between the two universes, with a decided drop in the strength of sparks in our world versus the GG storytelling universe after Archimedes. This pattern of decrease continues for the next thousand years before beginning to level out around the time of the European Renaissance. There is also some indication from the absence of European innovation in certain eras (The Dark Ages, etc.) that the effect started in Europe and spread outward. This double inflection – accelerating downward and then leveling out again – is charactereistic of a phase transition. This phase transition shows that an Alteration clearly took place beginning around the time of Archimedes of Syracuse.
The equivalent graph for the GG Universe is relatively flat, showing no phase transition. Agatha Heterodyne at her breakthrough as a major spark is approximately as strong as Albia was at her breakthrough five thousand years earlier. This is a major difference between the two timelines.
The obvious explanation is that a Winters’ Alteration happened in our timeline, not that of Girl Genius. The GG universe never suddenly gained sparks. Instead, we lost them.
Unfortunately, this is a small problem from the standpoint of a GG RPG. Players in the GG Universe would find no records of an Alteration, because it never happened in that universe. The GG Universe history is the obverse of our own Winters’ Alteration, which is itself lost in antiquity.CM Edwards (talk) 02:12, 2 August 2021 (UTC)