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Line 3: Like [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]], but applying to the artistry rather than the artist. * This seems to happen to [[William Shakespeare]] '''a lot'''.▼ {{examples}} == Comic Books == ▲* This seems to happen to [[William Shakespeare]] '''a lot'''. ''[[The Sandman]]'' has [[William Shakespeare]] putting on his debut performance of ''[[A Midsummer Night's ~~Dream\|A Midsummer Nights~~ Dream]]'' for Oberon, Titania, Robin Goodfellow, and Morpheus. Robin Goodfellow escapes into the world to pester others, and it's implied that Titania is responsible for the death of Shakespeare's son Hamnet. It's explicitly stated that Morpheus commissioned both ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and ''[[The Tempest]]'', in exchange for making Shakespeare a skilled writer. In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]: The Black Dossier'', one of Shakespeare's fictional plays (''Faerie's Fortunes Founded'') is basically the minutes for the meeting in which the first League was founded.▼ ''The Science of [[Discworld]] II: The Globe'' has the wizards of Unseen University visiting the "Roundworld" to fight off the elves as they disrupt ''A Midsummer's Night's Dream''.▼ * ''SOD III: Darwin's Watch'' uses this trope as well with the wizards trying to make sure that Darwin completes ''The Origin of Species''▼ == Anime and Manga == ** ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "The Shakespeare Code": Shakespeare's lost play, ''Love's Labours Won'', was influenced by a trio of aliens to serve as a summoning ritual for their species. ▼ * The ''[[Read or Die]]'' [[OVA]] features a half-literal [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]] (the "alien spy" part is figurative) which also applies here: one of Beethoven's symphonies {{spoiler\|drives [[Brown Note\|anyone who listens to it to suicide]], earlier researchers who examined the music killed themselves, but the I-Jin were drama queens, hence why their method consisted of a clone of him flying around on a massive rocket-powered steam organ}}.▼ * Another ''[[Doctor Who]]'' example is "The Unquiet Dead". At the end, [[Charles Dickens]] is inspired to write the episode's monsters into ''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood]]'' so the world will know the truth. Of course, he suffers [[Author Existence Failure]] before finishing it.▼ ▲ In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]: The Black Dossier'', one of Shakespeare's fictional plays (''Faerie's Fortunes Founded'') is basically the minutes for the meeting in which the first League was founded. == Literature == ** [[New World of Darkness]] sourcebook ''Reliquary'' has Shakespeare's lost play, ''The Witches'', serve as a summoning ritual that opens a portal to... well, it's not a very nice place. The backstory says Shakespeare got the entire audience together after the first performance to promise that it would never be used again. ▼ * ''Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within'' has a few scenes revolving around a [[Richard Wagner]] opera that was capable of outing werewolves.▼ * In the [[Tim Powers]] novel ''Three Days To Never'', it turns out Charlie Chaplin worked symbolic imagery into ''City Lights'' as part of a magical ritual to attempt to bring his son back from the dead. An earlier movie he'd worked on but never shown to the public is part of the [[MacGuffin]]; Albert Einstein (yes, ''Einstein'', this is Tim Powers we're talking about) had to talk Chaplin out of showing the movie, as the mojo generated by the imagery would likely fry some audience brains. * In ''[[Songs of Earth and Power]]'' by Greg Bear, ''any'' sufficiently great work of art is magical.▼ ▲* The ''[[Read or Die]]'' [[OVA]] features a literal [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]] which also applies here: one of Beethoven's symphonies {{spoiler\|drives [[Brown Note\|anyone who listens to it to suicide]], earlier researchers who examined the music killed themselves, but the I-Jin were drama queens, hence why their method consisted of a clone of him flying around on a massive rocket-powered steam organ}}. ▲* In ''Songs of Earth and Power'' by Greg Bear, ''any'' sufficiently great work of art is magical. * In ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' by [[Douglas Adams]], [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] was possessed by an alien ghost, who left messages in his poetry. The title character was revealed to be the infamous "A Person from Porlock" that disrupted "Kubla Khan" because, if completed -, the poem would've caused the end of the world. Also, {{spoiler\|the entire works of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] are actually the music of the motions of every particle of matter as read by an alien supercomputer and injected into history by a time traveller because he felt bad about blowing it up.}} * ''[[Tabletop Game/Promethean The Creted\|Promethean: The Created]]'' hints in one sourcebook that the poem "Kubla Khan" was inspired by a ''qashmallim'' for purposes unknown. The visitor that interrupted Coleridge and ruined his vision was a Promethean who feared dire results if the poem was finished.▼ * Similar to Shakespeare, ''[[Dracula (novel)\|Dracula]]'' is mentioned in almost every [[Urban Fantasy]] with vampires, and [[Bram Stoker]] usually having an ulterior motive of some kind in writing the book. In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', ''Dracula'' was commissioned by [[Horny Devils\|White Court vampires]] for the explicit purpose of teaching humans how to kill [[Our Vampires Are Different\|Black Court vampires]]. Because of this, the few surviving Black Court vampires are exceptionally clever and dangerous. ''[[The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries]]''. A short story revealed that Bram Stoker was one of the vampires who wanted to come out early. [[Dracula\|His sire]] wanted to be the main character. ▲** ''The Science of [[Discworld]] II: The Globe'' has the wizards of Unseen University visiting the "Roundworld" to fight off the elves as they disrupt ''A Midsummer's Night's Dream''. * In [[Jekyll]], it is revealed that {{spoiler\|the story of [[Jekyll and Hyde]] was a trap to kill anyone seeking Jekyll's abilities, as the potion described is poison. The real source of the abilities was [[The Power of Love\|Jekyll's maid]].}}▼ ▲* ''SOD III: Darwin's Watch'' uses this trope as well with the wizards trying to make sure that Darwin completes ''The Origin of Species'' == Live-Action TV == ▲ ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "The Shakespeare Code": Shakespeare's lost play, ''Love's Labours Won'', was influenced by a trio of aliens to serve as a summoning ritual for their species. ▲*** Another ''[[Doctor Who]]'' example is "The Unquiet Dead". At the end, [[Charles Dickens]] is inspired to write the episode's monsters into ''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood]]'' so the world will know the truth. Of course, he suffers [[Author Existence Failure]] before finishing it. ▲* In ''[[Jekyll]]'', it is revealed that {{spoiler\|the story of [[Jekyll and Hyde]] was a trap to kill anyone seeking Jekyll's abilities, as the potion described is poison. The real source of the abilities was [[The Power of Love\|Jekyll's maid]].}} == Tabletop Games == ▲* ''[[~~Tabletop Game/Promethean The Creted\|~~Promethean: The Created]]'' hints in one sourcebook that the poem "Kubla Khan" was inspired by a ''qashmallim'' for purposes unknown. The visitor that interrupted Coleridge and ruined his vision was a Promethean who feared dire results if the poem was finished. ▲** [[New World of Darkness]] sourcebook ''Reliquary'' has Shakespeare's lost play, ''The Witches'', serve as a summoning ritual that opens a portal to... well, it's not a very nice place. The backstory says Shakespeare got the entire audience together after the first performance to promise that it would never be used again. == Video Games== ▲* ''[[Gabriel Knight]]: The Beast Within'' has a few scenes revolving around a [[Richard Wagner]] opera that was capable of outing werewolves. {{reflist}} [[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]] [[Category:~~Literary Work of Magic~~{{PAGENAME}}]]