GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Origins of Firefly/Serenity in question? *SPOILERS*

POSTED BY: THANATUS
UPDATED: Sunday, November 13, 2005 10:28
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Saturday, November 12, 2005 6:46 PM

THANATUS


OK, I've looked around and haven't seen this on the threads before, but ran across it on Wikipedia. If it's already been covered, dismiss...no sense in retreading ground that's already been trodden. It's a bit longish, but a bit intriguing nonetheless. I'm sure it'll raise some ire, but I'm just looking for a bit of discussion here...is this coincidence or a blatant ripoff? Discuss...

Quote:

From Wikipedia...
Connections from Firefly to other media

Outlaw Star

River Tam, Firefly's "Girl in a Box"
Melfina, Outlaw Star's "Girl in a Box"There are many similarities between elements of Firefly and anime series Outlaw Star.

Comparing and contrasting River Tam of Firefly and Melfina of Outlaw Star
Both are transported in a cargo box taken on by a transport hired by the box's possessor, who doesn't reveal the box's contents. River's brother Simon Tam hires Malcolm Reynolds and Serenity for their voyage. "Hot Ice" Hilda hires Jim and Gene to unknowingly transport Melfina.
Both women are revealed in their series' first-hour cliffhanger conclusion (the midpoint of a two-hour pilot), during or shortly after a gun fight. River is uncrated by Mal after a Mexican standoff with an undercover Fed looking for the fugitive girl. Melfina awakens in the middle of a battle with the Kei Pirates.
Both fugitives have unusual abilities that are programmed in by the military government in their universe. River is a genius child whose brain was experimentally altered by the Alliance, Firefly's military/commercial government. Melfina is a bio-android built by the "Space Forces", Outlaw Star's military government.
Both are stolen by tertiary parties not heard from after their first appearances. River by the terrorist organization that is only mentioned in passing in dialogue, Melfina by Hilda who dies in the second episode.
Both are aided for the majority of the series by someone other than the person who originally stole them because that person has made a promise to help unlock the mysteries of what the government did to them. Simon promises to unlock what the Alliance did to River's brain, and Gene promises Melfina he will figure out why she was made.
Other similarities:
Both series present vicious opponents who commit horrific acts of violence. Firefly's feral Reavers have no order, creed, or code of any kind and exist "on the edge of space", outside of the control and even awareness of Alliance law enforcement. Outlaw Star's Space Pirates are broken into ordered clans who live in "Pirate Territory", outside the influence of the Space Forces.
Both series are centered around the activities of outlaws. Just as Serenity's crew performs illegal salvage and smuggling along with the occasional honest transport job to get by, the Outlaw Star crew, part of the "Outlaw" clan, supplements its illegal activities through legal Starwind and Hawking Enterprises jobs.
Both ships are regarded as an additional character to their series, with its own "personality". Serenity is referred to by the cast and crew as "the 10th character", even warranting its own special feature on the DVD release of Firefly. The Outlaw Star has the more literal personality of Gilium, the in-ship AI.
Both ships have a thick-headed, muscle-bound warrior who seeks monetary reward using the fugitive. Jayne Cobb wants to turn in River (and Simon) for a reward, while Aisha Clan-Clan (crewmember of the Outlaw Star) desperately wants the valuable treasure she believes the Galactic Leyline to be, which can only be reached with Melfina's navigational abilities.
Both ships have mysterious, spiritual warriors on board with unknown backgrounds who come and go. Shepherd Book is a Christian monk who demonstrates incredible fighting abilities and an unexplained knowledge of criminal activity. "Sunset" Suzuka is a mysterious assassin with an unknown past (who often quotes Buddhist/Confucianist wisdom).
Both ships have childlike engineers who have an oft-adversarial relationship with the captain, but always make up with him in the end. Kaylee Frye is Serenity's young engineer, whose upbeat attitude and innocence often clashes with the captain's realism and dangerous plans. Jim Hawking is an actual child, a mechanical expert who often fights with Gene over their finances or the latter's wild plans.
Both series feature ominous villains who will stop at nothing to catch the fugitives. River is pursued by the murderous Blue Gloves, an insane mercenary (Jubal Early), and in the movie Serenity, a cruel person known as The Operative. In Outlaw Star, Melfina is pursed by a vicious pair known as the MacDougall Brothers.
Both series feature a repeating character who the captain dislikes, but is forced to visit for supplies. In Firefly, Mal finds Adlai Niska disgusting because he is violent, but takes jobs from him. In Outlaw Star, Fred Luo is a rich buisnessman with a homosexual attraction to Gene Starwind which Gene finds disgusting, but Gene is forced to take jobs and supplies from him.
The title of Firefly is the class of the main character's ship. The title of Outlaw Star is the name of the main character's ship.
Thus, we can see the following connections:
River Tam = Melfina
Malcolm Reynolds = Gene Starwind
Kaylee Frye = Jim Hawking
Jayne Cobb = Aisha Clan-Clan
Shepherd Book = "Sunset" Suzuka
Serenity = Gilium (AI of the Outlaw Star)
The Operative, Jubal Early = MacDougall Brothers
The Alliance = The Space Forces
Reavers = Space Pirates (particularly the Kei Pirates)
Illegal salvage and smuggling operations = The Outlaws
Full understanding of what the Alliance did to River = The Galactic Leyline (each solves the mysteries of River/Melfina)
Adlai Niska = Fred Luo
[edit]
Serenity (film)
The movie continuation of Firefly contains some further connections to Outlaw Star that cannot be ignored.

The climax of the film involves a massive battle including the three main parties of the series as a whole, the Reavers, Alliance, and Firefly. The climax of Outlaw Star involves a space battle between the Kei Pirates, the Space Forces, and the Outlaw Star.
The climactic battle in Firefly took place above Mr. Universe's planet, which had a severely ionic atmosphere so one could see what was on one side from the other. The climactic battle in Outlaw Star took place above the Galactic Leyline planet, which had a severely ionic atmosphere so no one could see what was on one side from the other.
Shepard Books dies in the conclusion of Serenity, killed by The Operative. Suzuka dies at the conclusion of Outlaw Star, killed by one of the many mercenaries (a Kei Pirate merc, this time).
In Serenity' River is the only person on Serenity who knows where the final planet (Miranda) and knows there's anything worthwhile there. In Outlaw Star Melfina is the only person on the Outlaw Star who knows where the Galactic Leyline is, and that there's anything there.
The title of Serenity is the name of the main character's ship. The title of Outlaw Star is the name of the main character's ship.



Thoughts?


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Saturday, November 12, 2005 7:02 PM

GIANTEVILHEAD


Coincidence.

"I swallowed a bug." -River Tam

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Sunday, November 13, 2005 5:38 AM

THANATUS


Yeah, I'll admit some of the stuff is pretty base level and easily explained by coincidence such as
Quote:

The title of Serenity is the name of the main character's ship. The title of Outlaw Star is the name of the main character's ship.

But when taken as an agregate, there seem to be a whole bunch of parallels. That said, doesn't concern me in the least. Haven't seen Outlaw Star, have no desire (pretty much abhore anime), and think firefly rules is outstanding regardless of its origin. My only concern is if some industrious young lawyer decides to sue Whedon et. al. for intellectual property violations on behalf of the Outlaw Star folks. That would truly suck...

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Sunday, November 13, 2005 7:33 AM

DARKJESTER


This subject came up a lot when the series first came out. I don't think it has ever been "settled", but I don't think that we have anything to worry about either. Yes, there are similarities. But, as it has often been pointed out, there are no new stories, only old ones told in different ways.

The hooker with a heart of gold, the holy man with a mysterious past, the genius mechanic, the pilot savant, the gruff leader who does what it takes to pull through.... these are all archetypes in storytelling, and I don't think there has been a new one invented since Mary Shelley created the "mad scientist" in Frankenstein. You take these types of characters and tell stories with them, and you are going to have a fair amount of overlap with other stories already told.

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

http://www.fireflytalk.com - Big Damn Podcast

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Sunday, November 13, 2005 7:40 AM

GEEKMAFIA


I recognised most of these similarities myself but I've always felt that parts like the box were an homage by joss to another good tv show not any kind of theft, that and as already stated most of the character similarities are due to the fact that these are very common character types which turn up quite alot in tv etc.



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Liu koushui de biaozi he houzi de ben erzi.

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Sunday, November 13, 2005 7:45 AM

TWODIFSOKS


Poppycosh....Still like Firefly :) Can't help it.

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Sunday, November 13, 2005 8:03 AM

GWEK


Thing that strikes me about all this is that I wonder if folks who compare them have actually SEEN "Firefly" and "Outlaw Star". I recently saw a few episodes of OS, and while there are some superficial similarities that can't be denied, the entire "feel" of the two is very, very different.

I wouldn't be surprised if Whedon was inspired by a few images from "Outlaw Star" (the "girl in the box," in particular), but don't think it was any sort of serious inspiration. Heck, Whedon has never been exactly secretive about his origins of things, so if "Outlas Star" were one, I'm, sure he would've mentioned it!

As an aside, if you folks can find it, I'd recommend checking out the comic book "Runners," which is another sci fi story about smuggler-types and a girl-in-a-box. It's very fun, and the writer/artist said that it was inspired by "Star Wars" and "Smokey and the Bandit."

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Sunday, November 13, 2005 10:28 AM

THANATUS


"Star Wars" and "Smokey and the Bandit"...isn't that a little like getting inpiration to do a project from "Chariots of Fire" and "Dude, Where's My Car?" "Runners" hmmm...this I gotta see!

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