Nyctalope
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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.
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[edit] Overview
The Nyctalope is Léo Saint-Clair (or Sainte-Claire or Sainclair depending on the edition), a crime fighter who can see in the dark with his eerie eyes whose irises shift colors and, as it is revealed later, sports an artificial heart.
According to the internal chronology of the series, the Nyctalope was born circa 1877 (even though one of the later books updated it to 1892). His adventures roughly take place between 1910 and 1941.
Saint-Clair made his first appearance in Le Mystère des XV (The Mystery Of The XV) (1911) in which the villainous Oxus tries to conquer Mars and breed a new race of supermen. This book features a fictional crossover with H. G. Wells' Martians.
Oxus had previously appeared in L'Homme qui peut vivre dans l'eau (The Man Who Could Live Underwater) (1908), which was retroactively said to have taken place 25 years before and featured Leo's father, Jean Sainte-Claire, as a supporting character. In that novel, Oxus and the mad monk Fulbert, grafted shark gills onto a hapless victim, turning him into a waterbreathing man.
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 La Captive du Démon in which the hero fought Prince Leonid Zattan, evil incarnate, Red Princess Titania, her son Belzebuth, and Gorillard the Mastodon. In Les Mystères de Lyon [The Mysteries Of Lyon] (1933), the Nyctalope fought the life-stealing Alouh T'Ho, a Chinese Empress.
The last Nyctalope story was the novella Rien qu'une nuit [Just One Night] (1944), taking place in 1941, in which the Nyctalope appears to have succumbed to the charms of collaboration with the Nazis. Two more uncompleted Nyctalope novels were finished and published by La Hire's son-in-law in 1954 and 1955.
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] (1909) (features only Léo's father)
- 2. Le Mystère des XV [The Mystery Of The XV] (1911) (first adventure)
- 3. Lucifer (1921-22)
- 4. Le Roi de la Nuit [The King Of The Night] (1923)
- 5. L'Amazone du Mont Everest [The Amazon Of Mount Everest] (1925)
- 6. La Captive du Démon [The Demon's Captive] (1927)
- 7. Titania (1929)
- 8. Belzébuth (1930)
- 9. Gorillard (1932)
- 10. L'Assassinat du Nyctalope [The Assassination of the Nyctalope] (1933) (origin story)
- 11. Les Mystères de Lyon [The Mysteries of Lyon] (1933)
- 12. Le Sphinx du Maroc [The Moroccan Sphinx] (1934)
- 13. La Croisière du Nyctalope [The Nyctalope's Cruise] (1936)
- 14. Le Mystère de la Croix du Sang [The Mystery of the Cross Of Blood] (1941)
- 15. L'Enfant Perdu [The Lost Child] (1942)
- 16. Rien qu'une Nuit [Only One Night] (1944)
- 17. La Sorcière Nue [The Naked Sorceress] (written c. 1940+; publ. 1954)
- 18. L'Énigme du Squelette [The Enigma of the Skeleton] (written c. 1940+; publ. 1955)
[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.
