I think Rama Kushna has actually said on a few occasions that she's not the supreme being (she's frequently talked about her limitations). Unfortunately, if you try to tie it to closely to actual Hinduism, you risk charges of cultural appropriation. On the other hand, there are plenty of manga and anime series out of Japan that build off (and in many cases, butcher completely) Roman Catholicism, and no one says boo about that.
Yes, I've been somewhat fearful of such charges ever since JK Rowling's History of Magic in North America started generating all the wrong sorts of waves. So, I figured that if I'm going to including lore that interests me but comes from other cultures, then there's only one recourse: go straight for the source, and talk to people that live this stuff and have far greater investment in it than I could. That way, there's a greater chance of me giving the material a fair shake.
edited 9th Jul '16 2:15:31 PM by LizardOfAus
I felt a certain disturbance in the force that told me I should come here.
On one hand I'm not thrilled with the idea of someone screwing around with Hindu mythology for a story but on the other hand I've enjoyed stuff like 'Supernatural', 'Lucifer', 'Preacher', 'Good Omens' etc for years so I'd kind of be a hypocrite if I protested here.
Duly noted. I guess on some level, I thought maybe the original story was screwing around with Hindu mythology, and that it ought to be 'fixed' in this day and age. But, again, I'm probably not the best person for the job.
Well, it doesn't really purport to be Hindu mythology. It's it's own mythology that's been designed to sound like Hindu mythology.
'Rama-Khushna' is clearly based off of the Lord Rama and Krishna two avatars of Vishnu.
Although both of them are male. in fact Krishna is literally described as being more male than any other man on the planet as evidenced by him having no nipples so the name is pretty much just thrown together.
Well, right. That's what I mean by it not really being Hindu mythology. Clearly it's meant to evoke Hindu mythology, to sound like it, but it plainly isn't Hindu mythology, nor is it trying to be. A lot of the stuff in the Wheel of Time series is meant to sound like Christian and Arthurian mythology (Lews Therin, if you say it quick, sounds a lot like Lucifer, just as one example) but it plainly isn't Christian and Arthurian mythology.
So, one thing that's been on my mind every now and again is Deadman, and his tentative relationship with a vaguely Hindu-ish religion. For those not in the know, the ghost of Boston Brand was given the power to possess people by Rama Kushna, a "Hindu goddess" who may or may not be the supreme being of the universe, and watches over the hidden tibetan city of Nanda Parbat. The tweaks to the names are fairly self-evident, as is the twinge of orientalism.
Now, one thing I love doing with superheroes is dreaming up reinventions of them, and how I might create reimagined versions of them if given the chance. If given reign over Deadman, I think I might like to try bringing his origin closer to actual Hindu belief. See if there was a way to tie this deity into actual gods and goddesses of that religion, maybe make her an alternate nom de guerre or avatar of someone. Of course, being a caucasian, raised-catholic know-nothing who barely remembers Religious Studies, it's entirely possible I'm not in the best position to be doing this. So I guess what I'm asking is for any hindu comic fans roaming the Tropes forum to maybe share a couple of cents. Could it be done? Should it be done? Would it be worth weaving this stuff in, or is it best to leave unbroken stuff unfixed?