Line #35 Literature/LegionOfNetHeroes


1	[[quoteright:130:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lnh2.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:130:Logo by Wil Alambre]]
3
4	->''"To tell the truth, I didn't even remember creating the LNH: when I found it recently, I was quite surprised to learn that I was credited with it. A bit of research turned up an old email with a tossed-off joke that apparently grew into a social network of which I can only say, I hope the participants truly enjoy it."''
5	-->-- '''Dan'l Danehy Oakes''', AKA "Spelling Boy"
6
7	A SuperHero-parody, Internet-parody creative writing SharedUniverse.
8
9	In April of 1992, during a discussion on the Platform/{{Usenet}} newsgroup rec.arts.comics.misc, one poster declared himself "Spelling Boy". Another suggested that they form a Legion of Net.Heroes (in imitation of [[Creator/DCComics DC's]] ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes''), and others piled in, making up silly superhero names for themselves. Eventually, one declared himself as the [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate villainous]] "Doctor Killfile", leading into the first true LNH story, the ''Cosmic Plot Device Caper''.
10
11	Thus began a tradition of silliness and NoFourthWall that continues up to the present day. When the Legion outgrew rec.arts.comics (and spinoff rec.arts.comics.misc), they moved to alt.comics.lnh, and later, their permanent home, rec.arts.comics.creative (which also hosts other WebOriginal {{Shared Universe}}s such as ''Literature/AcademyOfSuperheroes, referred to as "imprints"). With thousands of stories, hundreds of series, and dozens of authors in the archive, it touches (and, usually, parodies) every aspect of the SuperHero genre.
12
13	The Legion is headquartered in the city of Net.ropolis, in [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield no particular state]], in the Loonited (or possibly Useneted) States of Ame.rec.a, on the Loonivearth. Well-known members include Cheesecake-Eater Lad, Ultimate Ninja, Sister State-The-Obvious, Multi-Tasking Man, Limp-Asparagus Lad, and Adamant-Authority-on-Everything.
14
15	rec.arts.comics.creative can be reached through Google Groups [[http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.creative/topics here]], with a nice graphical interface (but no posting capability) at [[http://wil.alambre.ca/racc/ Wil's Ego]], or through your local Usenet provider. The LNH Archive is [[http://archives.eyrie.org/racc/lnh/ here]], and the LNH Wiki is [[http://www.lnhq.info/ here]]. As well, there's a Tumblr that regularly reposts older stories with commentary and added graphics [[http://netheroes.tumblr.com/ here]].
16
17	To coincide with the ComicBook/{{new 52}} and the LNH's 20th anniversary, a new AlternateContinuity[=/=]UltimateUniverse called {{LNH20}} is currently being drawn up. Stay tuned...
18
19	----
20	!!This universe contains examples of:
21
22	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: As many as are in the comics it parodies.
23	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The end of ''[[http://www.lnhq.info/wiki/Constellation_%28series%29 Constellation]]''.
24	* CelestialBureaucracy: The Multiversal Office, which fought the LNH in the Bad Forms storyline, is a particularly nasty example.
25	* {{Author Avatar}}s: Most of the early LNH members were "Writer Characters" loosely based on their creators' net personae.
26	* CaptainObvious: Sister State-The-Obvious. Obviously.
27	* ContinuitySnarl: Parodied with Convoluted Origin Man.
28	* CrossOver: With the other superhero parody shared universe, {{Superguy}}, in Dvandom Force's Grand Tour storyline. Constellation, which Dvandom Force spun out of, was itself a spinoff of Dave Van Domelen's RPG campaign, which eventually was used as background for [[Literature/AcademyOfSuperheroes ASH]].
29	* CrisisCrossover: A whole bunch, including {{Retcon}} Hour, [[FlameWar The Flame Wars]] and its sequels, and most recently the Infinite Leadership Crisis and its sequel Beige Midnight.
30	* MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks: Since the LNH was created right in the middle of this, it contains many, ''many'' parodies.
31	* ForWantOfANail: Retcon Midnight, where Pliable Lad is removed from history. The results are [[CrapsackWorld not good, to say the least]].
32	* FunWithAcronyms: Quite a few, including the A.A.A., Authority on Absurd Acronyms, a CosmicEntity who can be bargained with through the use of acronyms.
33	* FullFrontalAssault: This is Nudist Man's modus operandi, and one of the reasons the LNH isn't an actual comic.
34	* IdiotPlot: Invoked. ''[[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comics.lnh/browse_thread/thread/c2d8ad9392d9ecfa/27e8b26d8931045f Legion of Net.Heroes Vol. 2 #25]]'', "Idiot Plot", was written in response to a challenge to write a ''good'' story with one of these.
35	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Nudist Man, of course.
36	* {{Ninja}}: The leader of the LNH is the [[http://www.lnhq.info/wiki/Ultimate_Ninja Ultimate Ninja]]. He's exactly what he sounds like.
37	-->"I moved my internal organs aside to avoid the bullet."
38	-->"You can ''do'' that?!"
39	-->"Of course! Am I not ''ninja''?"
40	** There are a couple of others too, including Ultimate Ninja's niece Nina and UN wannabe Ultimate Mercenary. One of Multiple Personality Lass's personalities is also a ninja.
41	* MindHive: Multiple Personality Lass of Teenfactor
42	* MoodWhiplash: LNH stories can veer between being goofy parody, epic drama, and both simultaneously at the drop of a hat. Beige Midnight does this within individual paragraphs.
43	* NoFourthWall: Not only are most characters aware of the Writers, this is built right into the cosmology; the Looniverse needs Drama to survive, while the Writers naturally produce excess Drama, thus creating a symbiotic relationship.
44	* PowerCreepPowerSeep: Always-Powerful-On-His-Own-But-Gets-His-Ass-Kicked-In-Crowd-Scenes Boy.
45	* RedShirt: Cannon Fodder, whose power is [[DeathIsCheap to come back from the dead]].
46	* SeriesFranchise: There's the original LNH and THREE different UltimateUniverse versions: LNHY (with more [[RefugeInAudacity blasphemous/tasteless]] and SurrealHumor), LNHX (a loosely Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse-inspired, more centralized version) and the currently in-development LNH20. As if one version wasn't confusing enough..
47	* SomethingPerson: The vast majority of [=LNHers=] have these kinds of names, playing off their ubiquity in the Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes.
48	* ThirdPersonPerson: Obscure Trivia Lad
49	* TrenchcoatBrigade: The [[Creator/VertigoComics Vertigo]]-inspired spinoff Net.Trenchcoat Brigade.
50	* UnderNewManagement: The Infinite Leadership Crisis. Ultimate Ninja has to quit due to stress, and whenever a new successor is chosen they vanish at midnight. Just about every other Legionnaire (as well as the receptionists and members of both the LNHQ's resident species of birds) gets a turn leading the team.
51	* WalkingTechbane: [[http://www.lnhq.info/wiki/Glitch_Girl Glitch Girl]]'s power.
52	* WestCoastTeam: LNH Europe, and to a lesser extent, various "spinoff" teams like Dvandom Force.
53	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Net.ropolis doesn't actually ''have'' a fixed position; it floats from state to state.
54	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The modus operandi of supervillain ''Acton Lord'', who grants "absolute power" to heroes just to see how long it takes them to become "absolutely corrupt."
55	* {{Unobtanium}}: Variations of this in the Looniverse include Strongstuffium and Plotdevicium.

Context Literature / LegionOfNetHeroes