THE CONCEPT

As a story, The League of Extraordinary Heroes is inspired by the comic book series THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, published by Wildstorm Comics. However, it's not technically a LOEG fanfic, as it doesn't really use any of the characters from that comic, only the concept. The League comic is set in 1899, and uses a multitude of characters culled from Victorian era literature as it's basis. The story revolves around a special team of adventurers brought together by British Intelligence, consisting of several famous luminaries from that time's fiction: Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Mina Murray, the Invisible Man, Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Numerous other characters make appearances along the way, and half the fun is trying to spot the references.

My story takes that concept but, instead of Victorian Literature, uses characters from Television Shows instead (I never said I was highbrow). But not ALL television shows, as there were a few guidelines I set down for myself early on.

THE RULES

#1 - Fictional shows only. This sort of goes without saying, but we won't be seeing any visits to Temptation Island in this story (you may thank me now).

#2 - Live Action only. Basically, no cartoons. Anything goes in cartoons, and a coherent story involving them as well would be beyind my brain's capabilities. Gargamel will, sadly, not be the main villain of the piece.

However, this rule does NOT preclude puppets or the like. My amendment to this rule is that puppets are acceptable, provided they interact with humans at some point. Because I don't even want to TRY and get into all that Thunderbirds jazz.

#3 - Original series only. This means I'm not using series that are obviously and solely based on other media (barring special circumstances, which I'll explain). So no shows based on comic books, movies, etc., will be making appearances in this series. I WILL make exceptions to this rule where the series has obviously and noticeably grown beyond the source material (ie: shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Highlander, which have spawned spinoffs solely from their own material). Other exceptions will occur where I've simply made a mistake and not realized the show was based on another source...it's happened a few times already that I've noticed. :) A short list here of some shows that I won't be using (and this isn't a criticism of any of these programs, by any means...many of these are ones I have enjoyed immensely now or in the past):

Batman
Wonder Woman
The Incredible Hulk
Stargate SG-1
The Flash
Smallville
The Adventures of Superman
Lois and Clark
Birds of Prey
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Mike Hammer

There are others I'm missing right now, I'm certain. Also, if anyone has a persuasive argument why one of these shows SHOULD be included, let me know. Stargate, I'm especially wondering about.

#4 - Not really a rule, so much as an admission of the occasional cheat. I will be accepting events from movies occasionally, providing the movies were continuations of existing series. Examples of this would be the X-Files movie, the Star Trek series of films, and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Movies like the Fugitive, which were remakes rather than continuations, are not counted.

And of course, occasionally I might use a character from out of left field. If Alan Moore can cheat and reference Peaks, the Big Lebowski and Doctor Who, among others, then so can I. :)