Lightning War was a Journal Roleplay set in an alternate version of the United Kingdom in 1942, where World War II is consuming the parallel magickal world and the realms of faeries, angels and demons.
Lightning War began as a Harry Potter RPG, but split from canon largely after the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Around 2008, it split away from Harry Potter all together and characters with Potterverse names were renamed.
The game itself can still be found here
on InsaneJournal, although there has been no activity since 2009.
Lightning War contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Demelza Leffoy and Abraxas Mablin. Demelza was emotionally abusive, even cruel and Abraxas was neglectful.
- Henry Dashwood was certainly emotionally abusive and obsessed with turning his son straight as well as occasionally physically abusive.
- All Jews Are Ashkenazi: Averted: there are many Jews who are Sephardic.
- Alpha Bitch:
- Dimity Ducas, Olivia Goulston, Maeve Pritchard, and Patricia Rosier are Type I.
- Amalthea Flint, Isabella Malaspina, Colette Saint-Germain, Jessica Walsingham, and Cynthia Vieira are Type II.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Iberians who aren't Basque or Jewish, are likely to be The Fundamentalist as well as cruel, sadistic, treacherous, and deceitful.
- Artistic License – Biology: The Gentry's social structure is supposed to based on that of bees, but in real-life bees are not examples of a Hive Mind and their use of pheromones is a form of communication, not Mind Control.
- Artistic License – Geography: The city of Rennes in Brittany seems to have been confused with the small commune of Rennes-le-Château in Languedoc. The latter is the community with a church dedicated to Mary Magdalene and the centre of conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail.
- Artistic License – History:
- The Benandanti are portrayed as being allies of the Inquisition, though, in reality, they were actually persecuted by it. Similarly, the term Benandanti is also applied to Spanish and Portuguese characters, but in reality, there were confined to Italy.
- The Blitz is depicted as still happening in the summer of 1942 when it actually ended in May of 1941: by 1942, Germany had declared war on the Soviet Union and was devoting more of its resources to the Eastern Front.
- Artistic License – Religion: The term Anusim is used in game to refer almost exclusively to the descendants of Iberian Jews who were forced to convert in the late 15th century. In reality, they are more correctly known as the Sephardic Bnei Anusim because Anusim is a blanket term applied to all Jews who were forced to convert, from the Rhineland Jews in the 11th century to the Mashhadi Jews in the 17th century.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Zig-zagged. There are attractive villains, but most unattractive characters are either villainous or less important to the storyline.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Aleister Crowley, John Dee, Leó Szilárd, Nikola Tesla, and Alan Turing are all secretly wizards.
- Black Shirt: Domitian Leffoy is blond and a Nazi collaborator.
- Brainy Brunette: Irma Crooms, the Royal Academy's librarian.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Nathaniel and Ianthe Pritchard. Vilém and Stepán Zitek and Alessio and Nicodemo Malaspina are examples of Brother-Brother Incest.
- Captain Ersatz: Tons:
- Sebastião Aiona (Ronon Dex from Stargate Atlantis)
- Corinne Allison (Allison Cameron from House)
- Surya Ayyar (Suzie Costello from Torchwood)
- Viresh Ayyar (Mohinder Suresh from Heroes)
- Vikram Ayyar (Chandra Suresh from Heroes)
- Prudence Bainbridge (Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter)
- Herodotus Blackwell (Cuthbert Binns from Harry Potter)
- Philippa Brown (Cassandra Hughes from HEX)
- Rosalind Clutterbuck (Amber Volakis from House)
- Josette Cooper (Roxanne Davenport from Hex)
- Bartholomew Cross (Bartemius Crouch from Harry Potter)
- Aracely Cruz (Vala Mal Doran from Stargate SG-1)
- Thecla Device (Thelma Bates from Hex)
- Lucy Dolloway (Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter)
- Bran Evans (Ianto Jones from Torchwood)
- Elena Ferrer (Teyla Emmagan from Stargate Atlantis)
- Tom Forrester (Tom Riddle from Harry Potter)
- Fujiwara Kenjiro (Hiro Nakamura from Heroes)
- Esteban García (Isaac Mendez from Heroes)
- Olivia Goulston (Olive Hornby from Harry Potter)
- Halász Sharolt (River Tam from Firefly)
- Christina Howe (Samantha Carter from Stargate SG-1)
- David Kerensky (Silas Botwin from Weeds)
- Raissa Kerensky (Nancy Botwin from Weeds)
- Király Ilóna (Remy Hadley from House)
- Yegor Kiryakov (Igor Karkaroff from Harry Potter)
- Josefa Kreuz (Tracy Strauss from Heroes)
- Natalia Kreuz (Jessica Moore from Supernatural)
- Tatsuko Kurita (Toshiko Sato from Torchwood)
- Edward Kyteler (Sir Edward Pellew from Horatio Hornblower)
- Charles Lamercier (Eric Foreman from House)
- Yvon Leffoy (Robert Chase from House)
- Leah Lindsey (Poppy Pomfrey from Harry Potter)
- David Locke (Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis)
- Chandrasekhar Lockhart (Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter)
- Alastor Mablin (Alastor Moody from Harry Potter)
- Minerva MacAlister (Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter)
- Angus MacAran (Walden Macnair from Harry Potter)
- Alessio Malaspina (Peter Petrelli from Heroes)
- Nicodemo Malaspina (Nathan Petrelli from Heroes)
- Valeria Malaspina (Claire Bennet from Heroes)
- Parsival Mathers (Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter)
- Pyramus Mathers (Armando Dippet from Harry Potter)
- Rob Mitchell (John Sheppard from Stargate Atlantis)
- Naszvadi Lili (Ruby from Supernatural)
- Lalage Parkinson (Angela Petrelli from Heroes)
- Althea and Arcadia Peverell (Kaylee Frye from Firefly and Jennifer Keller from Stargate Atlantis)
- Joachim Piccard (Sylar from Heroes)
- Irma Coombe (Irma Pince from Harry Potter)
- Ileana Popescu (Ellen Harvelle from Supernatural)
- Jenica Popescu (Jo Harvelle from Supernatural)
- Dominic Prewett (Dexter Morgan from Dexter)
- James Randall (Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Torchwood)
- Anton Rasputin (Antonin Dolohov from Harry Potter)
- Laurens van Rensselaer (Gregory House from House)
- Gareth Rosier (Owen Harper from Torchwood)
- Llewellyn Rosier (Evan Rosier from Harry Potter)
- Ximena Saenz (Ofelia from Pan's Labyrinth)
- Ilan Sayar (Matt Parkman from Heroes)
- Antonetta Sforza (Elle Bishop from Heroes)
- Teresa Silveira (Inara Serra from Firefly)
- Leo Szilard (the real Leo Szilard and Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1)
- Édouard Thibault (Lestrange Senior from Harry Potter)
- Gregor von Thorwald (Gellert Grindelwald from Harry Potter and Adam Monroe from Heroes)
- Mavis Trevelyan (Sybil Trelawney from Harry Potter)
- Dylan Vieira (Mulciber from Harry Potter)
- Bitsy Wilkes (Celia Rhodes from Weeds)
- Emmeline Wilkes (Isabelle Rhodes from Weeds)
- Jameson Wilkes (James Wilson from House)
- Jeremy Wood (Leon Taylor from Hex)
- Stepán Zitek (Sam Winchester from Supernatural)
- Vilém Zitek (Dean Winchester from Supernatural)
- Cold Iron: Faeries and those of faerie descent are vulnerable to it. Dracaena is the most prominent example.
- Conflict Ball: Parsival Mathers hates all members of Avalon College and the Leffoys in particular. No one knows why.
- Dean Bitterman: Parsival Mathers runs the the Royal Academy of Wizardry with a fist of iron and enjoys oppressing members of Avalon College for no particular reason.
- Derailing Love Interests: Ercole Malaspina was originally portrayed as Dracaena's true love. Yet after the introduction of Nicodemo Malaspina as a new love interest for Dracaena, Ercole suddenly became an unstable, possessive alcoholic. There were an awful lot of hints in the prequel that Ercole drank too much, particularly when his bipolar disorder was getting the better of him—to the point where Dracaena had to take over his finances so he could pay the condottieri. And he repeatedly tried to discourage Dracaena from physically transitioning. The relationship was initially very loving, but still doomed.
- Dirty Communists:
- John Crockford and Ellen Jacobi-Crockford, who were executed for being spies for the Axis. (Even though the Axis was actually extremely anti-Communist.)
- Another example is Lucas Bettony, who disliked aristocrats and the bourgeoisie.
- Double Standard: Christians who hate people of other religions are portrayed as extremists and intolerant bigots; pagans, Hindus and Jews who hate Christians are not.
- Dragon Lady: Fujiwara-no-Kiritsubo, the head of arcane Imperial Japan.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Charis Leffoy drows her sorrows after her ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Garnier, marries Martin Travers.
- Easy Sex Change: Dracaena got one courtesy of magick.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Presumably why most characters in the Ministry Arcane are elites.
- Everyone Is Bi: With a few exceptions.
- The Fair Folk: Downplayed. Most of the faeries aren't particularly otherworldly or malevolent.
- Fantastic Racism: Averted, though not surprising given many of the mods' stances on blood prejudice in the Harry Potter 'verse.
- Fille Fatale: Cordélia Hawkwood is twelve and likes makeup and tight clothes and is in a sexual relationship with a seventeen-year-old boy.
- Gay Paree: Other than Brittany, Paris is the only part of France that anyone seems to be from.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: The arcane Axis powers seem to be nothing but Generic Doomsday Villains. Gregor von Thorwald, Julius Evola, and Fujiwara-no-Kiritsubo want to take over and/or destroy the world... just because.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry:
- Hypatia and Lavinia Scalara, with Hypatia as the smart one and Lavinia as the pretty one.
- Dracaena Leffoy and Poppaea Rosier, with Dracaena as the pretty *and* smart one and Poppaea as the Straw Loser.
- Hair of Gold: Most of the Leffoy family possesses this, especially Dracaena and Juliana.
- Hammer and Sickle Removed for Your Protection: Despite being set during World War II, we don't even know who's in charge of the arcane Soviet Union.
- Happily Married: Samuel Craven and Catalina Vieira are the only happily married couple.
- High-Class Call Girl: Delilah Lockhart and Teresa Silveira both run upscale brothels. Lavinia Scalara also used to be one.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Aleister Crowley is portrayed as a jolly, ingenious joker. The fact that he was also a drug addict, a chauvinist, an anti-Semite and a racist is completely glossed over.
- Husky Russkie: Every single Russian male, but especially Anton Rasputin. Most of them are also Straw Misogynists
- Idiot Ball: Marcus Pendry, when he decides to attack the much-more powerful Ercole Malaspina.
- If It's You, It's Okay: Yvon Leffoy and Alessio Malaspina for each other.
- Incest Subtext: Martial and Mercuria Casaubon seem just a little too close for comfort.
- Informed Loner: For a loner, Tom Forrester sure has a lot of close friends.
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople): London is Londinium, Paris is Lutetia, et al.
- Kissing Cousins: Domitian Leffoy and Claudia Delgardie, Dracaena and Alphonse Leffoy, Demelza Leffoy and Gregor von Thorwald
- Kudzu Plot: Lightning War started off as a Harry Potter RPG of the opening of the Chamber of Secrets during the 1940s, but that has since been buried in about a thousand other plot threads.
- Lzherusskie: Scottish Hans Matheson as Anton Rasputin, Italian Asia Argento as Ekaterina Rasputina, American Skeet Ulrich as Yegor Kiryakov, and American Sarah Michelle Gellar as Nadezhda Kiryakova.
- The Mentally Disturbed: Alec DeVries, Gemina Dee, and Asher Greengrass are either joke fodder or evil.
- The Mole: Francis Baddock, Julian Baddock, Zenobia Craven, Hubert Crockford, John and Ellen Crockford, Apollyon Gibbs, and Septimus Starn
- Monster Misogyny: The incubus attacks on the Royal Academy claimed the lives of three girls.
- Most Writers Are Adults: Very few of the child or teenage characters act their age. So we have loads of fourteen-year-olds already planning to get married and eleven-year-olds with career ambitions. It's jarring to say the least.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Hephzibah Abbott murdered her husband's lover, Demelza Leffoy.
- My Girl Is a Slut: Ianthe Pritchard and Olivia Goulston share these kind of relationships with their lovers/fiancee.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Eliot Gardiner and Philip Redferne are very obviously based on Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.
- Violette Lausson is based on Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.
- Laurent Vigoreux is based on Pete Wentz.
- Jehanne-Marie Stuart is an unflattering caricature of J. K. Rowling.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Called the Gentry, they are human sized and shaped and are ruled by Queens. On the whole, though, they seem a whole lot nicer than most actual folkloric faeries.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: You can tell whether someone is good or bad based on their opinions of the Leffoy family. If they like Leffoys, they're good. If they don't, then they're bad.
- Rape as Drama: It is heavily implied that Dracaena was raped while being held captive by von Thorwald
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin:The members of the Dee family all have this colouring.
- Rule of Cool: Presumably why the Arcane parts of cities are referred to by their Latin names.
- Sex Equals Love: According to the prequel, Ercole and Dracaena knew each other for approximately 72 hours before having sex. Not long after, Ercole was professing his undying love and swearing that no one will ever separate them.
- Shout-Out: To Dune, by way of the Atreides family and Good Omens, by way of Thecla and Jerome Device.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Dracaena Leffoy, whose beauty as a male was so great, it enraged heterosexual men who mistook her for a woman.
- Succubi and Incubi: The Royal Academy of Wizardry suffers from countless incubus attacks.
- Unnamed Parent: A ton, particularly the parents of Demelza and Hywel Leffoy.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Alberich von Thorwald, son of Gregor von Thorwald wants to impress him, but instead has proven himself to an overconfident bungler.
- The Wild Hunt: The Gentry can call on it to punish those who oppose them.
- Yandere: Definitely Hephzibah Mablin who murdered Demelza Leffoy out of resentment about her husband's affair with her.
