Julius Beethoven Da Vinci
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Basic Information

Immortals hoping to remain hidden from humanity are forced to move about frequently, and are likely to adopt various nicknames and aliases as the drift from culture to culture. Given that they have a lifetime to gather knowledge and master skills, it's within reason to expect at least a few of those aliases to end up in the history books. In this Characterization Trope, one long-lived character turns out to have been multiple historical figures.

Related Tropes:

Sources

Bibliography

Game and Story Use

  • A fun surprise to spring on your PCs when they Time Travel.
    • An example: Maybe they meet Napoleon I on Elba in 1819 (in circumstances similar to the plot in The Count of Monte Cristo). He recognizes them (they don't recognize him) but uses strange latinized names for them, and seems surprised they survived whatever vague circumstances he last saw them in. They play along, thinking they must be destined to eventually take another time travel trip to the 1800s, which is where/when he's met them. He's cagey, and refuses to explain when and how he met them, but apologizes for something he did, as he didn't understand at the time that they were kindred souls. The PCs fail to drag anymore information out of him, and don't know when in the 1800s they're supposed to meet him. Instead, however, some other element of the plot takes them to Ancient Rome, where they meet a Senator who's the spitting image of Napoleon. Turns out he first met them in the 1st Century, and in the 1800s assumed them to be fellow immortals, not time travelers.
  • Can also be done with Reincarnation. Then it's not one person with many names, it's one soul with many incarnations.
    • The Nephilim RPG does something similar, doesn't it? (I have a copy, but have never played it)
  • There are a few "usual suspects" from history, religion, mythology, conspiracy theory or occult lore that could fill this role. See the list of people claimed to be immortal for ideas.
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