FANGARIUS: The DW-RPG Chronology

Rather than compose an endless blog entry about the DW-RPG Club's exploits (which would give me Writer's Cramp and a major headache), instead here's a brief Chronology on how FANGARIUS series ran through its 'high school' seasons:

1983

• During Doctor Who's Twentieth Anniversary, the DW-RPG Club debuts, heralding FANGARIUS' Series Premiere.  

•  Although 25 plots were conceived for the Fourth Fanger, only 14 episodes were produced. 

•  The Inquisitor (aka Bishop) makes his debut in Destination:  ZERO.  The Inquisitor would start making other enigmatic appearances throughout the series itself, and later become Fanger's Paradox Incarnate, Jidai Sakugo's adversary.

• Next to his cousin, Kiptom, Fanger's older brother and sister, Dunestar and Zaralynn ('Lynn), make their debut appearances in different episodes.  Not to mention revealing some of Fanger's secret Past.

•  The F-Clones--the Daleks' new mortal enemies--debut, becoming the most frequently recurring adversaries of the series.

• The Michael J. Fox craze with the female members brings forth a completely-reinvented Alex P. Keaton.  Mr. Fox's popularity also fleshed out many other characters within F4's era:  Brannl (Rassilon's Son), Glaceséche (Last Frigidonian), and Grandier (Gallifreyan Ancient).

 1984 (Spring)

•  After seven episodes, during an attempt saving Gallifrey, Fanger gets caught by the Time Lords.  Placed on trial by the High Council, Fanger's found guilty of violating Non-Intervention Laws.  The Fourth Fanger gets sent to Earth--during the Third Doctor's Timeline (1970s)--while the Third Fanger gets placed into a specialized SuspensRoom, completely sealed off from The Doctor, inside the TARDIS.  Thus preventing any possible Paradox Effects from occuring.

• Fanger's Exile ends (c. 1976-79) while persuing ANACHRONOS back to Gallifrey.  On his homeworld, Fanger successfully dispatches the cybernetic intruder from the symbiotic computer, The APC Net (aka Matrix).

• GENFAR, the confidential Fangarian BioSphere, is revealed as Fanger attends a special reunion with his Clanstribe and other Wolf-Clans in hopes of preventing another Great War from occurring.

• The Fourth Fanger episodes draw to a close, as the members elect Fanger should undergo a Regeneration per school year.  Consequently, since this decision came after the last F4 episode, Deathtrap (where Fanger and Nyssa--his bethroed--reunite, and later become married), the Regeneration Plots were transcribed as a means for bridging the gap between the Fourth and Fifth Fanger.

1984 (Fall)

• Next to Fanger entering a new Incarnation, the first major change hits FANGARIUS:  all episode plots are now limited to 18, rather than 25, as a basic preventive towards possible conflicts with school business.

• After much deliberation and endless attempts, the Fifth Fanger makes his debut, appearing as a lupine Michael J. Fox.  Besides being married to Nyssa, Fanger ends up having two sons: Fanstar and Ianstar.  And later one daughter:  Achika Barbara.

• The first Fangarian Trilogy emerges in the series, The Fangarian Planets.  The saga focuses on the Fifth Fanger saving the last surviving Tellurians (Earth) from The Great Fall Out.  Afterwards, Fanger discovers and establishes two new planetary colonies:  Fangaria and Earth II.  Unlike the Fourth Fanger episodes, the three-episode saga contains major gaps in Time.  By the end of the Trilogy, Fan, Ian and Achika are practically grown (reaching their 100s), and the Fifth Fanger uncovers a plot by the unknown Conspirator.  Later, Fanger and Nyssa decide on resuming his TimeSpace travels, in order to save everyone from the Time Lords' unexpected wrath.  Eventually Nyssa stays behind on Gallifrey, in hopes for keeping her husband safe from the High Council.

• James Atkinson II --one of the Fourth Fanger Companions--makes a brief return.

• While visiting a now-neglected AssaultLab base, Fanger receives an unusual Companion, Scott Compstar.  Scott is actually a genetic-cyborg, once designed for militaristic combat, until the company behind his creation was taken over by the infamous MeglaCorp. 

• Returning briefly to the late-20th Century Earth, the Fifth Fanger teams up with a UNIT Operative, Harry Hupermeister (later changed to Harry Hooperman).
  

1985 (Spring)

• Since four members were becoming Seniors (meaning their Graduation rehearsal took precedence over our club), 1985 only allowed a few episodes.

• In the final episode, The Genesis of the F-Clones, taking a page from Terry Nation's classic story, but The F-Clones are the antagonists.  The Time Lords send the Fifth Fanger back to the point of F-Clone creation, where he finds the Fourth Fanger trapped within a SuspensCapsule.  He discovers Davroan is really Davros' brother, and the F-Clones are actually mutant Thals within specially-engineered cyber-symbiotic automatons.

• Although managing to foil the F-Clones' advanced development slightly, and saving his former self, the Fifth Fanger unwittingly gets ensnared within a neutron explosion.  The intense radioactive exposure prompts another Regeneration, but in a way no one expects.

 1985 (Fall)

• Fanger's Eighth Anniversary (1977-1985) - In celebration of this occasion, a special mini-series:  The Ultimate Trial was done containing six episodes:  the first four were simply undone plots of the Fourth and Fifth Fanger; the remaining two had the Sixth Fanger contending with The Inquisitor, Tris Gunhul and Omega.

• In The Ultimate Trial, The Inquisitor is finally revealed as an unknown Future Incarnate of Fanger.

• In conclusion to the Fifth Fanger's cliffhanger, Fanger stuns the members by entering a humanized Incarnation for the first time.  The Sixth Fanger actually received his Incarnation through a BioData Transfer from Harry.  Thus explaining why this new Fanger resembles John Ritter.

• Even though the Sixth Fanger survives his harrowing ordeal, Rassilon and The Inquisitor decide on temporarily exiling the Paranormal Time Lord once again on Earth.  Covertly, they both want Fanger to investigate the strange goings on in 2357-Earth.  After about thirty-two episodes of FANGARIUS, the TARDIS 2's exterior is transformed from a multicoloured police box, into a blue telephone kiosk.

• Stranger than fiction:  Coincidentially, about the same time the BBC places Doctor Who on hiatus, leaving the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) in the lurch, FANGARIUS receives the same fate.  The problem begins when two head members expel an unruly player from the club without my consent (my Choir duties kept me away from a majority of club meetings).  Afterwards, word inexplicably leaks out about our club, prompting a local Anti-D&D organization to come and investigate on-campus.

 1986 (Spring)

• The DW-RPG Club resumes business, but only after promising the PTA it would be disbanded and FANGARIUS would end at the 1986-87 School Year.

• For about ten episodes, the Sixth Fanger remained.  The first five focused on his 2357-Earth Exile, while the remainder had him pardoned, allowing him to resume his TimeSpace travels. 

• While visiting another planet, the Sixth Fanger gets enigmatically poisoned by The Rani, prompting him into entering his Sixth Regeneration

1987

• After another four-month hiatus in the Fall of '86, Fanger enters his Seventh Incarnation, this time resembling Martin Short.

• The final episode was another mini-series, The Gallifreyan Connection, where it primarily tied-up loose ends and revealed some outlandish identities and secrets--especially the Conspirator's.

Although the DW-RPG Club's lifespan had been severely limited, FANGARIUS would still survive through the odd-assorted short stories, drawings and strips.  In fact, though the role-playing game had cease, I had never imagined the Paranormal Wolf-Being would keep on travelling through my college years and beyond.  Not only having some special stories, but also spawning two new Incarnates, one in the form of Jerry O'Connell, and the current one who was inspired by Ashton Kutcher.

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FANGARIUS: The Preliminary Concept

As with most series, you essentially need a primary foundation.  Although the Dr. Who & Fanger plots had established Fanger's unique relationship with the Time Lord, eventually I had required something which motivated Fanger's solo adventures.

Commencing with Fanger's Fourth Incarnation, I had shaped his new form in the appearance of a young man in wolf's clothing, not discerning the fact Fanger was now 121 years old!  Nonetheless, I had decided Fanger was sent back to Gallifrey.  Back on his homeworld, Fanger continues his advanced studies at the Prydonian Academy, with his cousin, Kiptomtrevelundarian.

The concept tells of how Fanger not only becomes a Paranormal Time Lord, but also embarks upon his own personal adventures:

While awaiting Graduation Day--where the High Council decides upon whether or not promoting students to Time Lord status--The Master makes another attempt seizing control of Gallifrey.  The infamous Renegade is now assisted--with the aid of a psionic amplifier--by some displaced F-Clones.  Realizing the real potential threat, Fanger cleverly foils The Master's vile scheme by acquiring the amplifier, then ordering the F-Clones into destroying themselves (Fanger instructs them into piloting their crafts into a neutron star.).  Although The Master escapes, Fanger's heroic and resourceful acts are rewarded, as he and Kip have now been given Time Lord status.

Privately, the current political situation between the Clanstribes and Gallifreyans make Fanger reconsider his newly-gained position.  Unknown to the Council, the Paranormal Time Lord has been covertly engineering his own type of TARDIS, a Model 92 Deluxe, or TARDIS 2, as he denotes it.  Not wanting to be simply a Council figurehead, Fanger escapes Gallifrey within his craft.

To make matters worse, unknown to Fanger (at first), Kip has secretly stowed on-board the transdimensional vehicle, leaving the planet as well.  Not to mention, during a trial run, Fanger accidentally short-circuited his TARDIS' chameleon circuit, placing it in the form of a multicoloured police box. 

Establishing this as the cornerstone of Fanger's adventures, FANGARIUS had officially made its debut.  And over just the span of four School Years, the series evolved into something of its own, as well as the DW-RPG Club itself.  Leaving Fanger with three other new forms (making a total of Seven Incarnates at the items), and the Rise and Fall of the Club itself.

The Doctor Who Role-Playing Game Club (DW-RPG)

The interesting thing about RPGs, no matter what genre you prefer, is the fact they're configured exactly as a film or television series.  The rules are your basic character limitations, the GM is your director and the players are the characters.  But more importantly, RPGs have special books providing invaluable backgrounds and settings, helping the players and GM with understanding the RPGs' scenario better.

When I had purchased The Doctor Who Role-Playing Game, I really had no intention of establishing a club, nor orchestrating one together.  The original intent was for me accessing better research material from the BBC series.  This way Fanger could be safely integrated into the series without any more faux pas like the Peter Cushing Incident.  The television shows and literature--regardless of the well-conceived plots and episodes--had provided little, if any, background information about The Doctor and his Universe.  Therefore, recalling how TSR is extremely thorough with their mythical realms, I presumed FASA had done the same for Doctor Who.

Meanwhile, my family and I had recently moved to Baytown, and my father got a promotional job at Crosby Middle School.  He was now an Assistant Principal, rather than a teacher.  Consequently, because Crosby was such a small town, my father was also considered an administrator.

Bill Cosby had once indicated the problem when you're a (presumed) genius, people have this appalling habit of ignoring the fact you're still normal. Because I could read at 2 1/2 years, I was always being tested and retested, ending up in advance classes, until I had nearly burned out on educational venues.

Calculating this into the equation, because my dad had become an administrator, many had gone under the misapprehension I was exceptionally well-suited for specialized school activities.  So when I had become a Freshman at Crosby High, I had ended up being shanghaied into yet, another extracirricular scheme.  This time I was requested in creating an afterschool reading club, designed for both Middle and High School students, in hope of improving academic reading skills.

Not that I discovered the concept being distasteful, the idea just didn't appear very practical.  For most of you recall, school meant getting up at the crack of dawn, and starting classes around 7 a.m.  You'd  have classes non-stop--with the occasional homeroom period and lunch break--until about late afternoon, then you furiously had to recall exactly what assignments needed to be done at home.  In all the while, you also had ensuring you didn't miss the bus home.

Taking all this into account, the last thing anyone wants to do is stay after school, meeting within the Athletics Building, and talk about books which you're supposed to have read.

Nevertheless, I had found myself committed to at least attempt such a venture.  The tentative membership had consisted about ten people.  Due to this extremely last-minute bombshell, I had unwittingly brought my DW-RPG stuff to the Athletic Building.  Totally amazed, I had discovered every person there was an avid Whovian.

Derik, one of our members, had come across some of my FANGARIUS sketches and preliminary background sheets, everyone had become sold upon the prospect of forming an RPG Club.  Before I had immediately jumped into this, I had first explained some basic guidelines.  Naturally, the club had to be kept secret from the school district.  Despite the RPGs winning the war, there had still been some restrictive rules not permitting the playing of RPGs on campus.

Another was prophetically breaking the strict perimeters of role-playing, making our club more of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format.  One reason was due to the time constraints, we couldn't realistic set up a proper RPG game, or environment.  The other was, I had felt this essentially avoided the dreaded Syndrome (TCLS), and allowed every member to participate equally in the series itself.

Last, but hardly least, in keeping with the original intent of the club, my only major requirement was each FANGARIUS episode contained some type of reference from famous written works and/or subtly deal with current issues. 

Basically the way an episode worked was this:  members would propose concepts and story ideas for Fanger, we'd vote on one, and I'd work on a beginning script, then we'd go from there, like a genuine episode.  Thus, FANGARIUS and The Doctor Who Role-Playing Club was established.  But as with all good things, Fanger had to have a start, and in the next brief entry I'll tell you about the Preliminary concept behind FANGARIUS, which would become the cornerstone of the Paranormal Wolf-Being's Tales through Time and Space.

The Age of Role-Playing Games

Before we dive directly into FANGARIUS and The Doctor Who RPG-Club, I thought I'd first educate you with some background info upon the Role-Playing Game itself.

Now before you start clicking away, thinking Oh, God, Fanger's become the freakin' History Channel, I'm going to give you a more subtle, condensed version, which will help serve as a reference point for later posts focusing upon the series in relation to the club itself.

The Ancient Days of Role-Playing (RPG)

In the days long before World of Warcraft, Age of Conan and even, Final Fantasy, there was simply the Role-Playing Game.  Though many have argued its exact origins, the RPG's popularity emerged from the late-Seventies/early-Eighties, right out from the ashes of 8-tracks, disco and incredibly-bad movies.

Basically many know the concept of role-playing, because when you were a kid, you probably played some type of pretend game like 'cops & robbers,' 'cowboys & indians,' (remember, folks, pre-PC days here) or even your favourite space hero. Or to put it in simpler terms, similar to acting.  Where, as with your pretend game, one assumes the role of a character within a specific setting and usually must contend with a series of situations.

In the case of RPGs, the goal usually focuses upon one's survival.  And RPG's also implement certain regulations (hit points, attributes, etc), primarily dictated by the head (or Game Master), while success/failure is determined with a mere roll of the dice.  This sort of prevents the old 'I-got-you-no-you-didn't' debate one gets into when you played as a child.  Though some might argue on how some mechanics of an RPG work at times.  Naturally, those who've played their digital counterpart (sans the dice) are well-familiar with the concept.

One of the most popular RPGs is Dungeons & Dragons series, which was arguably inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolken (specifically with The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings saga), and for awhile, became the archetype for most RPGs being produced.  Of course, an observer would probably never suspect something this simple, yet, complex, would ever develop into a major problem.  Regrettably, as with most fads, Role-Playing also possessed an unexpected dark side towards its participants.


The Dark Side of RPGs
About 1981, there were various reports of D&D participants who had literally gotten intensely involved being their characters.  The result would turn even more dangerous whenever the character ended up deceased, for it would inexplicably result in a psychological condition, sending the player completely out of Reality.

Even though I'm no Dr. Phil, nor dare I ever pretend to be, I have witnessed some people who did enter this trauma.  Thus, I had formulated my own hypothesis behind this curious ailment:  The Creation Loss Syndrome (TCLS).

Being a cartoonist and writer, it's naturally known whenever a person creates anything from an actual person, to a completely ficitional being, the person begins developing an affinity with that character.  Translation:  Killing off said character would be akin as if one killed your own child or best friend.  Therefore, in my own theories, I suspected the Game Player (GP) would foolishly put so much into their creations, they couldn't dare visualize its death, despite harsh rules and regulations.


One solution I proposed in combating TCLS, was having the GP produce alternate characters from the one creation.  Thus, if the alternate gets killed, their original character remains intact, preventing any psychological damage.  Naturally, one of my associate's thought if one got that involved with RPGs, one should quit and acquire a life.


Consequently, the TCLS Outbreak with game participants had immediately spawned an immensely hateful reputation for RPGs.  As a result, as most loathed items which are secretly liked by its followers, war within society would soon follow.


The Great RPG War

As with most addictions, RPGs had received attention from watchdog groups who wanted to do nothing more than simply eliminate the problem.  At the time, TSR officials had simply dismissed the problem, noting their D&D system was never designed for teenagers, nor kids, but rather a more collegiate group.  Similar to the adult magazine, RPGs could no longer be sold except in certain specialty shops, and only to persons over 18.  Regrettably, these restrictions didn't hamper the craze, nor halt the TCLS Epidemic one bit.  Ironically, it had taken a flawed legislative bill to make a dent in the RPG War.

Around 1982, the Senate allegedly passed a bill outlawing public participation of RPGs, but the act possessed a highly, short-lived enforcement.  Not considering the obvious fact, most RPGs were done in private, but the bill specifically denied TSR games.  More precisely, D&D, since it stated the TSR-based systems failed giving participants a clear discrepancy between fact and fiction.

However, little did Congress realize they would single-handedly revolutionize RPGs with just a few overlooked loopholes.

The TV/Movie/Literature RPG
RPG Companies had immediately noticed the bill only prohibited games constructed upon pure fantasy.  But what if a RPG was based on something where one could indicate to players the vital difference between fantasy and reality?  About October 1982, FASA and West End started releasing RPGs based on such popular television, movies and books, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones.  Remarkably these new formats helped RPGs win the war, though some people have formed Anti-D&D groups, in hopes of abolishing all RPGs.

And it was one game in particular by FASA, The Doctor Who Role-Playing Game, which would unwittingly start the debut of our club and the FANGARIUS series.

From Fanger to FANGARIUS

About the end of 1982, a realization came to me concerning the Toon anthropomorphical form of Fanger.  Despite coming up with background plots and essentially giving Fanger an in-depth background, one thing was true about what Jon had commented about the character:  no matter what I did with Fanger, he'd never be taken seriously as The Doctor, or his Companions. 


During the Peter Davison episodes, I had thought long and hard of having Fanger undergo a physical transformation.  One which the Fourth Fanger possessed a more humanesque Incarnation, while retaining his lupinesque (hence where the term Wolf-Being originated).

One might think this was an easy task.  Then again, so's, 'reversing the polarity of the neutron flow.'

One notable problem was, of course, not wanting Fanger appearing as a wolfman reject.  Mainly because he'd then be an anti-thesis to what Fanger was primarily all about.  Meaning it would've undermined the true reason behind his creation.  Another dilemma was the reason why I preferred the Toon realm from the realistic (?) superhero form.

Throughout the media, we've always stereotyped a standard for men and women.  And, regrettably, that was also proven in comics, since heroes seemed to be well-built, and shapely-figured.  When in truth, most people aren't like that, and the reason I liked characters like Bugs, Daffy, Woody and others were, they were heroes by just being themselves.  So the problem also was, I didn't really want Fanger being too muscular, nor looking too rugged.

Strangely enough, it was Chuck Jones who saved me out of this jam.  After all his style inspired how the Third Fanger had 'regenerated' from his first form, and I recall how he illustrated human figures.  Not to mention, one rule about keeping things simple when creating a character.

Armed with that knowledge, I began working on sketches, some loosely from Super Fanger until I had come up with a prototypical image for the Fourth Fanger.  Of course, the real challenge wasn't as so much transforming Fanger, as it was given him a new nom de plume.

As most people know, Doctor Who is simply the name of the programme, since the star is more commonly referred to as The Doctor.  Thus, I felt Fanger deserved a slightly better name than just 'Fanger.'

Naturally, there was one smart alec--who shall remain nameless--had suggested the peculiar title, Fanger What,  but I prefer not to get into it...

Seriously, though, I wanted a name which not only fit this new Incarnation, but also revealed an air of importance.  Stranger than fiction itself, I had happened on discovering the perfect name while conducting research for a Math project.  While studying Greek mathematicians, I had come across an obscure name, Fangkarius,who had performed the unthinkable of his time:  Fangkarius had disproved the Pythagorean Theorem. 

Nonetheless, the name had imprinted itself upon my brain, and by simply removing the k, I had ended up with Fanger's real name, Fangarius.

But despite all the trouble I had gone through with revamping, and renaming, Fanger, little did I suspect in 1983, Fangarius--The Role-Playing Series, would be spawned.  Not to mention a whole new set of episodes, characters, as well as Incarnations, would be set into motion.