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crack_van2010-12-02 11:30 pm
palmaceae.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2010-12-02 11:30 pm
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Fandom Overview: Sanctuary
Spoilers up to 3x10
PREMISE
The premise of Sanctuary is that there are people and animals who are basically mutants with strange powers known as Abnormals. The show follows Dr. Helen Magnus, a 158 year old British scientist, on her quest to protect and research Abnormals through the Sanctuary network she has set up around the world.
BACKGROUND
Sanctuary is a Canadian science fiction-fantasy TV show on Syfy created by Damian Kindler. As of this writing, Sanctuary is in the middle of its third season. Sanctuary started out as an eight part web series that was released on the internet for free and eventually picked up by Syfy. The webisodes were reshot and turned into the first three episodes of the television series. Sanctuary is an unusual show due to the fact that it relies heavily upon green screen and virtual sets. I’m shocked the actors manage to do such a good job while doing a major portion of their acting in front of a green screen. While Sanctuary is by no means the greatest show ever, it certainly has moments of sheer, absolute unadulterated glory, some fantastically brilliant actors and a lot of silly - and I daresay, a tad bit cheesy - fun.
FYI, due to Sanctuary being filmed in Vancouver and created/headed by Stargate veterans, many of the cast and crew on the show are alumni of Stargate, including Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Damian Kindler, Peter DeLuise, Kavan Smith, Michael Shanks, Jonathon Young, Christopher Heyerdahl, Peter Wingfield, David Hewlett and Paul McGillion. Now if only Richard Dean Anderson and Christopher Judge would guest star...
CHARACTERS
Note: Character summaries are based on the TV show. There are a few minor differences between the TV show and webisodes, but most fanfic is based on the TV show so you’ll be fine.
THE FIVE
Helen’s backstory deals with revisionist history. When Helen was younger, she attended Oxford and became part of a group known as The Five. Together they pushed the boundaries of known science. The Five conducted an experiment in which they injected themselves with vampire blood (aka the Source Blood), resulting in each of The Five developing abnormal powers. Excluding Helen, each of The Five was inspired by a historical or literary figure. They include John Druitt, a leading suspect in the Jack the Ripper case; Nikola Tesla, the world famous inventor; James Watson, supposedly the true inspiration for Sherlock Holmes; and Nigel Griffin, supposedly the true inspiration for HG Well’s novel The Invisible Man. A good chunk of Sanctuary fanfic focuses on these characters during their Oxford days or throughout the 1900’s.
DR. HELEN MAGNUS (Amanda Tapping)
Helen is a 158 year old British doctor and scientist. She is the founder of the Sanctuary Network, a group of safe houses worldwide dedicated to the protection and study of Abnormals, and the head of the Old City Sanctuary. Born in the mid 1800’s, Helen was one of the first women to ever attend Oxford University. As a result of injecting the Source Blood, Helen developed the power of longevity. She was engaged to John Druitt until she found out the devastating news that John was Jack the Ripper. Helen was pregnant with John’s child, but chose to remove the fetus and cryogenically store it until a century later when she finally decided to continue the pregnancy and give birth to their daughter Ashley. She hates coffee, flies helicopters, wears the most gorgeous shoes, has met everybody worth knowing (“And no doubt you've watched the sun come up with The Beatles.” “Just one of them.”) and been involved in countless world events (“The 45 bordeaux. Bastard! It was a gift from Winston… Churchill… D-Day… Long story.”) Comments made by Amanda Tapping suggest that Helen is bisexual and has certainly been around.
JOHN DRUITT (Christopher Heyerdahl)
John is Helen’s ex-fiancée and the father of her daughter Ashley. As a member of The Five, he develops the power of teleportation. John disappeared for decades, only reappearing in Helen’s life in the first episode. Originally, the theory is that John was driven insane by his power, which caused him to become Jack the Ripper. His insanity is somewhat cured when Nikola electrocutes him. However, later on Helen discovers that John was actually being possessed by a malevolent energy creature. John is freed from the creature, but takes it back in order to contain the creature and stop it from wrecking havoc. His current status is unknown – after being repossessed by the creature he teleports away, with the possible implication that he has committed suicide. John is still very much in love with Helen, cares deeply about his daughter Ashley, was very good friends with James and is an eternal rival of Nikola’s.
NIKOLA TESLA (Jonathon Young)
Nikola Tesla is a world famous electrical engineer, inventor, master of snark, “acquired taste” and soon to be ruler of the world (just give it a bit more time). The Source Blood caused him to become part-vampire, granting him enhanced strength, healing powers, immortality and a supposed blood lust. He also developed the ability to control electricity. Much of Nikola’s backstory stays true to actual historical events: during the 1900’s, Nikola rocked the scientific world with his work in radio and electricity, and duked it out with Edison. Helen helped fake his death in 1943, and Nikola went underground for the next sixty plus years. Nikola reappears in Helen’s life in an attempt to persuade her to join him in his efforts to resurrect the now extinct race of vampires and take over the world. Later on, Nikola loses his vampiric and electrical powers by accident, but gains the power of magnetism in the process. He desperately tries to find a way to turn himself back into a vampire, but to no avail. Nikola has a major crush on Helen dating back to the 1800’s, can empty out Helen’s wine cellar in a matter of days, has the most ridiculously adorable moustache in the flashbacks, and oh, the poufy hair and the cravats! <3
DR. JAMES WATSON (Peter Wingfield)
James was the head of the London Sanctuary, a close friend of Helen’s and John’s and a medical doctor. Already an incredibly intelligent man, the Source Blood enhanced his intelligence even further. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes off of James, but James was modest and asked Doyle to make him the sidekick instead of the detective. James was part of the Jack the Ripper investigation, and would spend hours debating the case with John. He was ultimately crushed to find out that his dear friend John was the murderer. James and John were estranged for a very long time, but were able to mend their friendship before James’ death. James kept himself alive for decades with a powered exoskeleton he built. The exoskeleton eventually fails at the end of Season 1, and James dies of old age.
NIGEL GRIFFIN (Vince Gail)
Very little is known about Nigel. What is known is that Nigel developed the power of invisibility due to the Source Blood. He was the father of Anna Thayer Griffin and the grandfather of Clara Griffin. He died in the 1960’s due to natural causes.
THE SANCTUARY TEAM
DR. WILL ZIMMERMAN (Robin Dunne)
Will is a psychiatrist whom Helen recruits to be her second in command and protégé. He is an incredibly intelligent man and gifted observer who can learn things from the tiniest overlooked details (Will has the makings of a fine detective, according to James Watson - high praise indeed!), as well as a caring person and friend to Helen. Before working with Helen, he worked with the FBI and police, where his theories and abilities were mocked and unacknowledged by his colleagues. Best described as a cross between Daniel Jackson and Fox Mulder in the early episodes, but thank God he grows out of it and becomes his own character.
ASHLEY MAGNUS (Emilie Ullerup)
Ashley is the twenty-something daughter of Helen and John. She was conceived in the late 1800’s, but her birth was delayed until a good hundred years later. What she lacks in her social skills she makes up for in her tracking and fighting abilities. She is very close to her mother and has an understandably strained relationship with her father. Ashley is captured by The Cabal, brainwashed into working for them, turned into an incredibly powerful Abnormal and sicced onto the Sanctuary network. Helen tries to save her, but in a final moment of lucidity Ashley essentially commits suicide to save her mother and the Sanctuary. Helen is devastated by her death. So far Ashley hasn’t shown up since her death, but according to Amanda Tapping, there’s still a chance we'll see her again.
HENRY FOSS (Ryan Robbins)
Henry is the Sanctuary’s tech/security guy and a major geek. Helen found him abandoned on the moor as a child, took him home and raised him in the Sanctuary along with Ashley. He is a werewolf, but Henry prefers people call him a HAP (class nine hyper-accelerated protean live form). He is very conflicted over his werewolf nature when it first begins to emerge, but eventually comes to terms with his abilities and concedes that being a werewolf is pretty useful sometimes. Henry also has nipple rings - I'm sure this is important somehow.
BIGFOOT/ “BIG GUY” (Christopher Heyerdahl)
Bigfoot is Helen’s manservant and good friend. He is an Abnormal who used to enjoy terrorizing people – until he met Helen. After she treated him he refused to leave her, so Helen gave him a position on her staff. He is fiercely devoted to Helen, loves Ghost Hunters type shows and eating salted cod for breakfast.
KATE FREELANDER (Agam Darshi)
Kate is an Abnormal hunter who originally worked for The Cabal. Seeking refuge from her backstabbing employers, she turns herself in to Helen. After seeing the work Helen does, the sassy and street smart Kate switches sides and become a valued member of the team. Kate has a brother named Thad. Her father was killed by a bomb when she was young. She blamed this event for everything going wrong in her life, but eventually realizes that she is responsible for the way she lives her life, not some event in the past.
OTHER
GREGORY MAGNUS (Jim Byrnes)
Gregory is Helen’s father, a highly respected doctor who in the 1800’s who introduces Helen to the world of Abnormals. Gregory disappears, his fate unknown to Helen until he reappears in present day with no memory of his previous life. It turns out he was kidnapped by the Cabal and kept in stasis until they revived him so they could pump him for information on Abnormals. After Helen restores his memory, he leaves because it isn’t safe for her to be with him. When Will temporarily dies so he can contact Kali, Gregory shows up in his vision to give him a message for Helen.
CLARA GRIFFIN (Christine Chatelain)
The granddaughter of Nigel Griffin, Clara also has the ability to turn invisible. Clara is tough and street smart, and uses her powers to steal. Clara first learns about her legacy as a descendant of The Five when Helen and the others need her help. She begins to date Will, but their relationship is cut short when she is killed while trying to defend the London Sanctuary against the Cabal.
TERRENCE WEXFORD (Paul McGillion)
Terrence is some kind of reptilian Abnormal that can spit acidic saliva. He is the head of the New York Sanctuary and Helen’s political rival. He tries to get Helen removed as head of the global Sanctuary network, but fails and instead is removed himself.
DANA WHITCOMB (Lynda Boyd)
Dana is the Director of Logistics and Operations of the Cabal. One of the primary antagonists in the show, she is responsible for several nefarious schemes having to do with Abnormals. Ruthless and determined to take down the Sanctuary network, she kidnaps Ashley and as such, is indirectly responsible for her death. It is implied that John kills her.
DECLAN MACRAE (Robert Lawrenson)
Declan is an agent of the Sanctuary network primarily based in London. He takes over as head of the London Sanctuary after James’ death and is a strong supporter of Helen.
SALLY (Amanda May)
Sally is the nickname given to a mermaid who lives at the Old City Sanctuary. She is a friend of Helen’s and is able to communicate telepathically.
ADAM WORTH (Ian Tracey)
Adam is a genius psychopath and the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was a classmate of The Five's in Oxford. Helen believed Adam to be dead, and blamed herself for his death - until Adam time travels to the future to confront her.
LIVEJOURNAL COMMUNITIES
Fanfiction
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sanctuaryficsanctuary_ficsanctuaryfanficsanctuary_slashsanctuary_ff Ship
foralleternity - John/Helenteslenites - Helen/Nikolahelenwill - Helen/Willkate_and_henry - Kate/Henryinthefighting - Kate/Willashley_henry - Ashley/HenryGeneral
sanctuaryforall sanctuary_news - Sanctuary NewsletterFANFICTION ARCHIVES
Sanctuary Fiction [dot] net
Sanctuary @ fanfiction.net
Sanctuary @ Archive Of Our Own
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Sanctuary Wiki
Aligning the World of Sanctuary With History
Sanctuary For All [dot] com
Sanctuary @ Syfy.com
RECOMMENDED READING
When was the last time a TV show inspired you to do some good old fashioned reading? After falling head over heels in love with The Five I wanted more, so I turned to the original source material:
The Invisible Man by HG Wells
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
My Inventions by Nikola Tesla
Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney
The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden
Casebook: Jack the Ripper
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Adam Worth: The World in his Pocket
If you have any corrections or additional communities you think I should list, please let me know.
In conclusion, if you're not watching this show, you should definitely give it a try. Hopefully some of the awesome fanfic coming out of this fandom will persuade you. Now onto the fanfic!
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I'm SO GLAD someone else has the same fixation as me. NIPPLE RINGS. I don't care if they're actually RyRo's, the fact that he left them in somehow makes Henry SO FREAKING AWESOME.
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