Nyctalope
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Le Nyctalope is the name of a lesser known fictional superhero who appears in a book series of novels written by French writer Jean de La Hire, a prolific author of popular adventure series, many of which include science fiction elements.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The Nyctalope is Léo Saint-Clair (or Jean de Sainte-Claire depending on the edition, continuity not being La Hire's strong point), a crime fighter with superpowers who can see in the dark with his eerie yellow eyes and, as it is revealed later, sports an artificial heart.
According to the most reliable internal chronology one may derive from the series, the Nyctalope was born circa 1890 (the years of 1879 and 1892 are mentioned in different books). His adventures roughly take place between 1908 and 1940.
Saint-Clair made his first appearance in L'Homme qui peut vivre dans l'eau (The Man Who Could Live Underwater), serialized in the daily newspaper Le Matin in 1908. In that novel, two megalomaniacal villains, Oxus and the mad monk Fulbert, graft shark gills onto a hapless victim, turning him into a waterbreathing man. Saint-Claire is only a supporting character in the novel.
Oxus returned to face Saint-Clair in Le Mystère des XV (The Mystery Of The XV) (1911) in which the villains tries to conquer Mars and breed a new race of supermen. This book features a fictional crossover with H. G. Wells' Martians.
After an interval of ten years during which La Hire wrote other novels, the Nyctalope returned in Lucifer (1921). There, he was challenged by Baron Glo von Warteck who, from his citadel in Bermuda, tried to enslave humanity with his Omega Rays.
More novels followed, introducing grander villains and more incredible perils, such as L'Antéchrist in which the hero fights Leonid Zattan, evil incarnate, and Les Mystères de Lyon [The Mysteries Of Lyon] (1933) in which the Nyctalope fought the life-stealing Alouh T'Ho, a Chinese Empress born in 1852.
The last Nyctalope story was the novella Rien qu'une nuit [Just One Night], written in 1944 but taking place in 1941, in which the Nyctalope appears to have succumbed to the charms of collaboration with the Nazis.
The Nyctalope, even more than Rocambole, Arsène Lupin and Fantômas, was the first, full-fledged superhero in the history of French pulp literature.
[edit] Bibliography
- 1. L'Homme Qui Peut Vivre dans l'Eau [The Man Who Could Live Underwater] (serial. 1908; rep. 1910; rep. in 2 vols., L'Homme Qui Peut Vivre dans l'Eau & Les Amours de l'Inconnu [The Loves Of The Unknown], 1921)
- 2. Le Mystère des XV [The Mystery Of The XV] (serial. 1911; rep. in 2 vols. as Le Secret des XII [The Secret Of The XII] & Les Conquérants de Mars [The Conquerors Of Mars], 1954)
- 3. Lucifer (serial. 1921-22; rep. as 2 vols. as Lucifer & Le Nyctalope vs. Lucifer, 1922)
- 4. Le Roi de la Nuit [The King Of The Night] (serial. 1923; rep. 1943; rep. as Planète Sans Feu [Planet Without Fire], 1953)
- 5. L'Amazone du Mont Everest [The Amazon Of Mount Everest] (serial. 1925; rep. 1925; rep. as La Madone des Cimes [The Madonna Of The Mountains], 1933; rep. as Le Mystère de l'Everest [The Mystery Of The Everest], 1953)
- 6. L'Antéchrist [The Antichrist] (serial. 1927; rep. as 2 vols., La Captive du Démon [Captive Of The Demon] & La Princesse Rouge [The Red Princess], 1931)
- 7. Titania (serial. 1929; rep. as 2 vols., Titania & Ecrase ta Vipère [Squash the Viper], 1929)
- 8. Belzébuth (serial. 1930; rep. as 2 vols., Belzébuth & L'Île d'Épouvante [The Island Of Terror], 1930; 1954)
- 9. Gorillard (serial. 1932; rep. as 2 vols., Gorillard & Le Mystère Jaune [The Yellow Mystery], 1932; 1954)
- 10. L'Assassinat du Nyctalope [The Assassination Of The Nyctalope] (1933)
- 11. Les Mystères de Lyon & Les Adorateurs du Sang [The Blood Worshippers], 1933-34)
- 12. Le Sphinx du Maroc [The Moroccan Sphinx] (1935)
- 13. La Croisière du Nyctalope [The Nyctalope's Cruise] (1936; rep. as Wanda, 1953)
- 14. La Croix de Sang [The Cross Of Blood] (1941)
- 15. La Sorcière Nue [The Naked Sorceress] (written in 1941; publ. 1954)
- 16. Rien qu'une Nuit [Only One Night] (1944)
[edit] Other appearances
The Nyctalope has appeared in several short stories published in the anthology Tales of the Shadowmen.
The Nyctalope is mentioned in Volume 2 of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
