Pippi Longstocking (Character)
From FHwiki
Contents |
Basic facts
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Name: Pippi Longstocking |
Background
FH Pippi is a mix of the books, Movies, and yes there's even a cartoon.
The basic jist of CanonPippi is that her mother died "when she was a baby", and that she was raised by her father on his ship. (My edition of the books call the ship "The Hop Toad". The cartoon calls it the "Hoppitossa" which is Swedish for something like "Hop Toad" and I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong, and the US dub of the live action movies waffle between "Hoppy Tossie" and "The Hawk". I go with "The Hawk, because I can spell that.) The only other named member of the crew is the First Mate "Fredolf", he would often try to teach Pippi things like how to read or do math. (She would try to pay attention but there's always so much to do on a ship.)
When she is either eight or nine, her father is blown overboard in a storm and she goes to wait for him at Villa Villekulla.
When she gets off the ship, the first thing she does is buy a horse (called "Old Man" in the US dub of the live action movies and just "Horse" or "the horse" in other versions) with a gold coin from her bag. She already has a monkey, Mr. Neilson (sometimes called "Sir Neilson for no good reason") as he was given to her by her father.
Her father had purchased the house and, "filled it with all sorts of treasures" when he married Pippi's mother with the intention of living there with his new wife and their children. One assumes he decides to stay at sea when she dies. Pippi is described as having a chest of drawers with that that is also full of wonderful and exotic treasures she and her father purchased in their travels. (So one can assume Pippi and her father love to go antiquing.)
Shortly after moving into the house, Pippi meets Tommy and Annika.
She makes rather a name for herself in the area after an article is written about her in a regional newspaper after saving a pair of young twins from a burning building by tight-rope walking. She goes to a fair, she tries school, has a birthday, demonstrates wonderful (and sometimes life saving) feats of strength and agility, thwarts attempts to send her to a "children's home" (orphanage), does not go back to sea with her father when he shows up, and eventually takes Tommy and Annika on a trip. (In the movies, it's to save her father from Pirates, in the books and cartoon, they go to Kurrakurradutt island where her father actually has been made king.)
In the movies, the Longstocking family fortune is mostly the result of the piratical endeavors of Pippi's grandfather, Captain Fabian Longstocking (also known as Pirate Fabe).
Where Canon and Pippi go separate ways
Firstly? I spell Mr. Neilson's name wrong. "Neilson" is phonetically how the voice over actress in the US dub of the live action movies pronounces it.
In the books and the movies, Pippi gives Tommy and Annika "pills" (she calls them "Crumulous Pills") that are supposed to keep them from growing up. In canon it isn't clear if the pills work or not, but it isn't likely. (Tommy notes they looked like dried peas.) For FH Pippi, they did work. She's actually much much older then she looks. As she is, Pippi is very anachronistic, and the pills were a good way to explain that.
Despite the whole point with the Crumulous Pills, Pippi's apparent age is older than "Only 9" as referenced in the famous theme song. This is because a few years before coming to Fandom she decided to start growing again, rather then watch her friends grow old while she stayed the same.
Canon Pippi is often described as "invulnerable". I try to play that more as "amazingly resistant to damage" rather then invulnerable. FH Pippi is ridiculously difficult to hurt, but in the case where something serious has happened I prefer to show some kind of consequence.
FH Pippi says "Huzzah" a lot. That's all me.
FH Pippi doesn't lie nearly as much as Canon Pippi and when she does lie, they aren't nearly as outrageous.
FH Pippi's birthday has been set as May 5th. No actual date is given in other sources, going by how events progress it's somewhere around spring or summer. But the birthday of Inger Nilson, the actress who played Pippi in the action movies was born on May 4th. (I decided to go with the 5th because Pippi's birthday on Cinco de Mayo is kind of amusing I thought.)
In Fandom
If she was going to grow up, Pippi was going to need to go to school. A now adult Annika discovered Fandom High and it seemed to be a good fit for her still young friend. At the apparent age of 14, Pippi's father sailed with her on The Hawk to the waters off the shores of the island and she rowed the rest of the way in on a longboat she now calls The Bag of Gold.
Skills, abilities, and "powers"
Skills:
- Dancing the Shottiche
- cooking
- plays the drums and trumpet
- drive a car
- tightrope walk
- free climbing
- demolitions knowlage
- sail a ship (by herself if need be).
- swims like a fish (can hold her breath for quite some time).
- she's very 'clandestine'
- Marksmanship (She's only really good with flintlock pistols however... And darts.)
- Fencing (Not formally trained but she can protect people if needs be. Cutlass and Saber.)
- lockpicking (thank you Alfred) and various other skills picked up in classes at Fandom High (See Classes section below.)
Abilities and "Powers" - AKA: An embarrassment of riches
- Super strength - FH Pippi is about as strong as her former roommate Molly Hayes. Except she doesn't get to turn it on and off like Molly does. (For which she is secretly slightly envious.) This, according to Wikipedia means she can lift up to 3 tons without trouble.
- Gently Gently - Pippi knows her own strength. Period. She's got "quite a grip", but she's not going to hurt somebody unless there are other factors at play. (See below.)
- Extreme Resistance to damage - Only two people have actually beaten Pippi up (to do so you have to be at least as strong as Molly Hayes and work real hard at it) and she's only been sick once. If something happens and she should be in serious pain she probably won't be, but she will be a little loopy and act like she's high. A result of all the endorphins and adrenalin her system is pumping into herself. ((If it's very bad, she'll lose control of her strength and start crushing things.) I do try to have things have an impact on her in some way.
- Enhanced Speed and Agility - FH Pippi is no Spiderman, but she does well.
- Super breath - Not only minty fresh but can knock things over.
- Scream Real Loud - If she wanted to be heard all over the island and shatter things or cause a small tremor with her voice? She could.
- Crystal Gazing - Pippi has a crystal ball she can use to see mostly vague visions the past and the present. But will not use it to see the future.
- Flight - Yes, she can fly. She can also make large objects fly, like a broken bike, a small "airplane" made from crates, and a car. This doesn't come up often, sometimes it is alluded to, but it would only ever be used in the most extreme of situations.
- Increase Density - In canon, Pippi is small and people sometimes try to pick her up for various reasons. In the books and the live action movies, if Pippi does not want to be picked up, it's not going to happen. I explain this by her becoming very very heavy suddenly. Other super strong people could still pick her up and would probably comment that she needs to lay off the pancakes, people with enhanced strength could probably drag her along with some difficulty. This has only been used once during Laundry Strike Week. But in general, please keep in mind that you may not be able to pick her up if you're horsing around with her. Normally she lets people, but sometimes she's feeling coy.
- Ally-Oop - Pippi throws things, often people, around and they land safely. If a person is giving her trouble, she will try to grab hold of them to toss them some place out of the way. Like up into a tree, or onto a particularly tall piece of furnature. This does not get used unless cleared with the opponent beforehand obviously. (Example
- Mocking Bird - Pippi can change her voice to sound like somebody or something else. Like a man, or a fog horn.
- Talk to the animals - When Pippi speaks "people talk" to an animal (even a perfectly normal one) they understand what she's saying, and often obey her requests, though she doesn't understand them (unless she's learned to do so in Creature Languages).
physiology and "mystical crap"
- The following medical information is on file at Fandom Town Emergency Clinic. Doctors examining her or people with heightened senses may notice these things.
- Accelerated heart rate.
- Accelerated metabolism. (As a result her temperature is higher then normal.
- Heightened serotonin and adrenaline levels.
- It is difficult to get a hypodermic needle into her but possible. Being gentle will only result in a bent needle.
- She has a mild allergic reaction to cortisone and the bites of goblinoid creatures. If cortisone is used to treat the symptoms of a goblinoid bite, it could cause seizures.
- Aura: Is "Wacky". Swirling and colorful. Pippi is benevolent chaos, so how that reflects in her aura is up to the person viewing the aura.
- Telepaths: Pippi is more or less an open book. She's been possessed before so she has some experience with keeping thoughts truly to herself if she concentrates but she's not usually. If you are telepathic, just about anything written in the narrative is open season for you to pick up on. (I some times make comments from "the writer" in the narrative, but will try to stay away from those with characters I know are telepathic. Anything written entirely in italics is open for you to "hear" word for word.
- Science of Magic?: Pippi's powers are "magical" as opposed to being a mutant. She doesn't use magic in the way that a witch or wizard does. She is human, but inherently magical.
Living Arrangements
See Basic Facts above.
Relationships
Make no mistake, not being listed here is no indication that Pippi doesn't love you to pieces. Unless you are a Nazi, she thinks you're absolutely wonderful and would do pretty much anything for you. (And I do realize that I just Godwin'ed my own WikiEntry, but it's true.)
- Pippi's Best Friend is Walter Dornez. Probably because the first thing they did after meeting was get detention together before school even started.
- Pippi has a tremendous crush on, and is trying to date, Pip Bernadette
- Pippi considers Nadia Santos a very dear friend and loves her oodles even though she says that makes her uncomfortable.
- Pippi has no idea that Alphonse Elric lists her as somebody on the island he wouldn't mind "fornicating" with, but she thinks he's gobs of fun... When you can get him out of his room that is.
- Pippi is also particularly fond of Belthazor/Cole Turner and Phoebe Halliwell
As mentioned above... I could be at this for a while. So lets move on and I'll work more on this later.
Classes
Spring 2006
Archaeology*, Creature Languages*, Gardening*, Math* (Finally figured out those plutterfication tables!) She was also a Freshman Rep on Student Council. Link.
Summer Session I 2006
Documentaries*, Leadership & Outdoorsmanship*, Sexual Education*, Things to do at the Beach*
Summer Session II 2006
Lying and Lying Liers*, Stealth and Deception*, Constant Vigilance*
Fall Session 2006
Humor In Medicine* Good Omens... And Bad* Dance* SCIENCE!* Constant Vigilance 2: Electric Boogaloo*
Spring Session 2007
Clubs
Other
- The model used for most of the icons on Pippi's LiveJournal is Cintia Dicker.
- Dispite her strength, Pippi is often portrayed as something of a pacifist. She never takes the first swing. In the example of the Bull, the animal is clearly threatening her very good friend Tommy, and it then actively tries to gore her. But, after she draws its attention to herself and away from Tommy, she just stands there until the bull gets tired of the whole thing and goes to have a nap. In the movies, she acts like a Matador (without the sword), again, until the bull looses interest... In the Cartoon, she's a little more proactive. The thing that really sets Pippi apart isn't so much that she is so strong; but that, for the most part, she knows her own strength and she is relatively gentle with people even if they are of a type that should be treated roughly.
- Pippi could be seen as suffering from Confabulation. FH Pippi might have this disorder, she might not. If she does, she's getting better... Really.
Adventures
Handy links
- Text of the first book online
- More random info at FH Pippi's LJ
- Wikipedia article about Pippi
- International Hero article about Pippi
- Best Pippi website EVAR (Unfortunately, not in English)
- As much as it scares me Pippi search at IMDb
