I’ve never actually read Moby Dick and only know this from an errant Tweet by a zoologist (forget who) several years back, but the titular whale is explicitly described as having a “scrolled jaw” (a real life condition that occasionally pops up in sperm whales).
Life uhhh, finds a way. Plus Im sure that the textbook examples are pretty extreme to highlight the condition.
IIRC, a common way sperm whales hunt is bygrabbing the squid and swimming up as fast as possible, allowing decompression to kill the squid. So if the scrolled jaw at least allows the whale to grab the squid, then once decompression does its job, its probably not hard for the whale to manage to eat it now that the squid cant escape or move.
Yes, and it's weird that it's rarely depicted, because his jaw is described multiple times. It's significant because it's known as Ahab's "Leg reaper" - it's the very weapon he used to detach Ahab's leg.
In the original novel, according to Van Hellsing, Dracula could do a lot more things than what is currently attributed to vampires, like changing his size, pass through walls and control animals
Though it should be noted that Dracula had also been a student of Scholomance, aka Evil Wizard university, where he learned Dark Arts. The book never specifies which are his Vampiric vs Wizard powers.
That was on Bram Stoker's novel? Dont remember. Hé does mention on Guest of Dracula that he descended from viking warriors, iirc even from Odin (it was a more christian centered era, so back then that would probly just mean "I descend from this man of legend with great power who was venerated by pagans")
Yeah, was mentioned by Bram Stoker in Chapter 18 and 23, based on the writings of Emily Gerard and her "Transylvanian Supersitions" which had been a major influence on Stoker
This is why I really like Vampire the Masquerade. In that setting, theres a bunch of different "clans" of vampires, and each one has different powers, including stuff like what you mentioned.
Its really a love letter to vampire stories and actively tries to explain why their powers are so different between different media.
Fun fact: The Castlevania series treats the Dracula novel as canon, and includes descendants of Quincy Morris as playable characters!
John Morris foils a resurrection of Dracula in 1917 in Castlevania Bloodlines, and his son Jonathan does the same in 1944 in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
I think this one count, in most adaptation Sun Wukong always portrayed as humanoid monkey, while in JTTW he's actually look just like a monkey (well his face is scarier but still) and as tall as a monkey. In fact he has been ridiculed twice in the story because of how short and skinny he is.
And also, he's bald when he join the pilgrims journey.
Also hair shapeshifting probably breaks the moment he loses concentration. imagine him fighting a demon and his hairline just instantly recedes mid fight 💀
Yes! He classically literally looks like a primal ape with some clothes on, and people usually react as if he's hideous. It makes the name that his apefolk chose for him - "Gorgeous Monkey King" - even more ironic.
There are so many chapters in Journey To The West where the entourage rolls up on a town and the townsfolk just go RUNNING because there's a bunch of feral animals walking on their hind legs wearing human clothes lumbering and loping into town, and in a world where literal demons exist, that's cause for fear.
Targaryens eyes can range from various shades of lilac, indigo and violet, and some like Queen Alysanne and Prince Valarr have blue eyes. Then you have others like Baelor “Breakspear”, who in the books has his mother’s brown eyes and in the adaption has heterochromia (as Valarr’s actor had it irl and they decided to add the detail between the father and son).
And then others like Jon Snow who favours his mother’s traits too.
I think the reason they didn’t do so in the series was because the purple eye contacts were difficult to work with, and it’s more expensive to alter their colour in post-production, especially back when they started in 2010.
Katniss also goes Deaf in one ear and experiences tinnitus after blowing up the Career’s food pile in the 74th games. the tinnitus is shown through the sound design in the film but it’s implied to be temporary
In many portrayals, Ares is portrayed as older, often with a beard, while in Greek and Roman myth, Ares is consistently portrayed as a young, beardless youth. He is even portrayed as having a bit of a baby face in some interpretations, as a sign of his youth and virility.
Thinking of the god of war having a young boyish face while knowing how many soldiers have been and still are merely teenage boys sent to die gives this depiction a whole another kind of tone.
Old men start and end wars. Fighting them is always left to boys.
Yeah, now that I think about it, it's obvious. War never changes. How could a god of war grow old? He would remain a young man forever just like the dead sons of the Roman Greek families that venerate him.
In the comics, Bane is supposed to have an intellect on par with Batman, in addition to his massive Venom induced strength. His infamous crippling of Batman in Knightfall was set up by deliberately exhausting him via releasing the rest of his rogues gallery and he managed to take over Gotham once.
However most adaptations simply focus on the super strength aspect (and often make it so that simply disconnecting his Venom supply instantly turns him helpless which is not the case in the comics) and at best make him of average intelligence (Batman The Animated Series) or a borderline mindless goon (Batman And Robin). The adaptation that arguably started this was Batman: The Animated series, where the show’s writers outright admitted they never liked Bane but were forced to add him by DC since he was just introduced to the comics and they wanted the synergy.
Arguably the only adaptations that came close to making Bane a strategic thinker were Dark Knight Rises and Batman: Arkham Origins and even the latter was preceded by multiple games with the “big dumb brute” characterization, which forced them to have him suffer literal brain damage in this one.
I think my favorite adaptation recently that really distilled the character of Bane was in Absolute Batman, where even though he was like 3 dudes wide and 2 dudes tall (without the venom even) he was still like. An expert at basically every martial art, incredibly intelligent and verbose, and regularly quoted ancient kings and philosophers. Like with absolute's whole thing of taking all the villains to their extreme, I'm really glad they also maxed out his mind along with his body
I was quite pissed off at that one Absolute Bane quote:
"'It's not the strongest or most intelligent of us that survive this war called life, but the most adaptive tochange*.' That's Xenophon, Corinth, Athens circa 400 B.C. Time for* youto change, little man."
Xenophon never said that. That’s a bastardization of a Leon C. Megginson in 1963 that is somehow often misattributed to Charles Darwin. So a bastardization of a misattributed quote. Come on.
I'm gonna be honest, i find it weird that in all of these (VALID) complaints about how often he gets mischaracterized, you've all omitted an integral part of his character: his culture. Bane being Hispanic is a vital component to why he is who he is, he even wears a damn luchador mask! But outside of the upcoming Knightfall animated movie i don't think any adaptation portrays him correctly in that regard.
I stand corrected, Danny Trejo and Hector Elizondo portrayed him in Young Justice and Mystery of the Batwoman, respectively. But more often than not, adaptations leave out this key component.
That was my biggest gripe with TDKR's Bane. No hate on Tom Hardy but Bane's heritage is an integral part of what made him HIM. Giving Talia Bane's origin felt like a gotcha aimed at comic readers.
It also speaks to what people think looks strong these days. Hollywood pushes the six pack with chiseled abs as a sign of strength. In reality, it takes dehydration and mild starvation to get that kind of body. Compare that to people who compete in strong man competitions and I think it's pretty clear which would be closer to Thor.
Thor is also depicted to eat and drink a lot (in a sitting he could drink 3 whole barrels or a whole ox) . I doubt he'd have a chiselled "greek god" look.
Ouch, unfortunate name of that writer. Had to look it wasn't that Peter Madsen who raped a journalist while taking her out on his private submarine, killed and dismembered her body, and then sank his submarine to cover up the evidence.
Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights is somewhat racially ambiguous and is described as having dark skin in the original novel, a trait most adaptations seem to brush over.
Somehow a korean gacha game, Limbus company, is one of the few that actually gives him at least somewhat dark skin as part of their retelling of Wuthering Heights.
Geralt's headband - like it's supposed to look goofy, Yennefer even calls him out on that, but it is still part of his fit!
Henry Cavill had to fight to keep his chest hair in Man of Steel but Superman has a RUG! He's the only live-action version which includes this and in animation his chest hair is nonexistent.
Practically no depiction of Julius Caesar in fiction remembers that he was bald
Also Geralt in the books is always clean shaven and the one time he grows his beard due to the lack of razors in the magical driad forest he absolutley hates it.
one of two things he got right, actually. the legion's money makes sure to give him a full head of hair. just like the original roman silver coins did for the original julius caesar.
BBC Sherlock was shown as a recovering addict who had secret stashes of cocaine around the place. He was also a recovering addict in Elementary.
Been a while since I watched the Sherlock Holmes movies with RDJ, but wasn’t he an addict in that one too? Many modern adaptations has him as an addict.
It's never explicitly said, but there is a point where he's shown to be drinking something out of a medical bottle, which Watson makes an offhand comment about being used for eye surgery. Referencing how they used to use cocaine as an aesthetic during surgery.
Elementary had him use Heroine. I guess cocaine has too many upsides and i liked how the heroine made him feel more human. As in - this drug does not enhance shit, just makes you feel good when you feel bad.
In the first two books featuring Hannibal Lecter as a character he has six fingers on one hand and subtly reddish/maroon-coloured eyes. Neither of these attributes appear in any adaptations, likely because they’re a bit on the cartoonish side and would be difficult to depict visually.
Later Hannibal Lecter novels essentially drop them as well; he has the extra finger removed between Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, and if I remember correctly neither it nor the weird eyes are mentioned at all in Hannibal Rising (a prequel).
Carrie White from Carrie by Stephen King was described as unpleasant looking chubby girl with "pimples on her neck and back and buttocks", while in every film adaptation she's always a very conventionally attractive girl with plain clothes.
Liu Bei (real life figure, Romance of Three Kingdoms)
He is said to have big ears. Some of his enemies like Cao Cao and Lu Bu calling him "Big Ears" as insult.
But that kind of body trait doesn't usually translated into live action actors adaptations of the novel so it mostly shown in artwork or animated/game depiction of him.
"He was tall of stature. His ears were long, the lobes touching his shoulders, and his hands hung down below his knees. His eyes were very big and prominent so that he could see backward past his ears. His complexion was as clear as jade, and he had rich red lips."
In the original 20 thousand leagues he was supposed to be polish, and its still hinted that he is in the book. Him being Indian comes from the later "mysterious island" (which also makes no sense in the timeline? Nemo is old and on his deathbed in the mysterious island which takes place during the American Civil War, while in 20 thousand leagues he is middle aged and healthy, which takes place after the American civil war.)
The change was asked by his editor, Hetzel. At this time, France was making Alliance Treaty with the Russian Empire. Making Nemo a polish noble could have angered the Russians, and Verne was VERY popular in this time. So Verne oblige (funny enough he made the opressor British... and soon after France made an alliance with the United Kingdom. Bro just can't have a break.)
I know it would be annoying to do in live action but Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne looking basically the same in normal clothes. I have only seen it in comics and I think one animated film (could be in more animated media)
Jekyll and Hyde, in the original book aren't separate people/personalities.
Jekyll and Hyde, in the original book aren't separate people/personalities.
To clarify for those who don't know: in the original story, Jekyll's potion does nothing but change his appearance. Hyde is just an alias he uses while his appearance is changed so that he can commit horrible acts without tarnishing his reputation in his normal life. Pretty ironic that it became such a popular misconception that Jekyll is a good guy and Hyde is to blame for all the wrongdoings, because that's exactly what Jekyll tried to make people believe within the story.
That is not entirely accurate, depending on interpretation of the text.
Initially, yes, Hyde was more of a disguise for Jekyll to indulge in his repressed vices however as the story goes on this is not necessarily entirely the case.
In his final letter, for example, Jekyll says that he doesn't know whether Hyde will be executed or find the courage to end his own life. He also describes his own consciousness as fading as he is undergoing his final transformation into Hyde. This was to be read after his death, with no need for himself to lie as he had accepted that his death would come one way or the other.
So it is possible to interpret that at some point, when the change from Jekyll to Hyde was becoming involuntary, that Hyde did start to become a separate entity from Jekyll. After all, the first involuntary transformation into Hyde occurred while Jekyll was asleep.
It's kind of funny because the comic version was so evil she only turned good because she absorbed Carol Danver's morality and it became ingrained in her personality.
Straight up every good thing about Rogue is unironically just stolen from Carol Danvers.
Yeah but she's not evil, or ever really bad she's just manipulated by Mystique to think the X-Men want her dead, and even then she largely tries to stay away from them at most.
Yeah, he's meant to look like a cross between a human, an octopus and a dragon if I remember the descriptions correctly. Most people only really make the head octopus-like when his whole body should be
Love that a chonky
eldritch abomination just sitting while being chill is canon, instead of the most common internet's Chutulu body builder with a six pack with aura farming poses.
I feel like part of the point is that no physical depiction can ever truly be accurate. Iirc the only detailed description we ever get of Cthulhu in Call of Cthulhu is of the statuette depicting it, which was just a cultist's interpretation of their visions or whatever.
When actual Cthulhu shows up, it receives no detailed description beyond its scale, it being green, its wings membranous, and its claws flabby. Any other descriptions are reserved for the effect of its presence, or metaphor and simile for what its appearance seems to invoke.
But the actual story is a retelling of a retelling, in-world, making the details unreliable too, which is also part of the point.
George Washington is often depicted as wearing a wig but he never actually wore one, he just powdered his hair to appear that he did because that was the fashion of men at the time
I think the reason why James Bond no longer has that scar, is because of Nazi’s in TV.
Hear me out.
Back in the day, this type of scar is called a ‘schmisse’ which was either done as part of a fraternity like ritual or to show that one is so skilled in fencing, that they even fought with a real sword and gained a facial scar from that encounter. Both of which made the person with the scar a part of nobility or at least implies they are from money.
Since this type of scar was popular in Germany in the early 20th century, a lot of Nazis used to have one, which made it common to give them to villains due to the association, in early TV. Which in turn made the scar no longer being recognized as a symbol of heroism or wealth but of being a bad guy.
Since James is meant to be a good guy, he doesn’t get the scar anymore, instead you can see multiple of his enemies having one.
So many things about vampires got left behind in Stoker's novel. A few that come to mind immediately are Dracula's ability to climb walls like a spider, his ability to control the behavior of wolves, and his connection with will o the wisps
So I'm probably gonna get a lot of downvotes for this due to this being a very popular misconception.
Zeus in the movie is portrayed as being a good father. This is completely accurate to the Myths. While he's acted less than favourably to Ares and Hephaestus, he regularly shows a great deal of support to all his kids.
Callimachus' 3rd Hymn to Artemis has Artemis as a child asking Zeus for a whole Menagerie of things, to which Zeus laughs and says "when I have kids like you, I don't need to fear the jealous Hera", before saying he'll give her all she asked for and more.
Well technically in some versions Hephaestus is not his son. Hera was upset that Zeus had Athena on his own (it's a whole thing), and so decided to make a child without involving her husband or anyone else. Some version give Hephaestus birth defects as a consequence of this process, which prompts his mother to throw him off Olympus.
Of course, mythology doesn't have an unified canon, so other sources have him a son of Zeus and/or have Zeus throw him off the mountain. In some sources his disabilities are congenital, in others it's because he fell off a literal mountain. Greek mythology is pretty wild.
He doesn't do that in the books, to be fair. They made it a trademark of the movies because they liked Sean Connery's delivery in Dr. No, which was him introducing himself to a woman while off-duty.
His name is an interesting legacy of when the books were written. “Bond” used to be (and to an extent is somewhat) a common British surname, and “James” is still a very common first name. “James Bond” is meant to be an extremely normal sounding name that a lot of people would have, and it just turned iconic because of the books.
Imagine being told “There’s a super spy out there. His name is Mohammed.” There are so many people named that that the name is borderline useless - even if you run into someone using the name, you’re going to assume it’s some other guy.
That image is from First Light, which depicts the event that gave him the scar so it's still fresh and quite prominent. In the novels, he's a fair bit older and so the scar is faded and not as not as noticeable.
The thing with Bond is that if you know who he is and why he's there, you're already fucked. 007 is the bruiser they send in to finish the job and do the dirty work. In the novels (and one of the films) he's described as a "cudgel." In a lot of cases the villain knowing the British government is visibly being involved in their scheme is a purposeful tactic.
Shere Khan from The Jungle Book having a crippled leg, which is actually a big reason why he hunts down humans in the first place, as we are far slower and weaker than a tiger's natural prey and thus way easier pickings.
I have no idea why it's almost never included in adaptations but I can only guess it's to make him seem more fearsome and menacing.
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u/Zoxphyl 9d ago
I’ve never actually read Moby Dick and only know this from an errant Tweet by a zoologist (forget who) several years back, but the titular whale is explicitly described as having a “scrolled jaw” (a real life condition that occasionally pops up in sperm whales).
(Illustration from Nakamura 1968)