toomanyfanficsnotimetowriteem:
I’ve been wanting to write a fantasy- or at least medieval-based Tron AU for a while. I’ve seen it done in the past (particular with a tragically unfinished Princess Bride AU that I got obscenely invested in), but I want to put on my spin on it. I wouldn’t be actually writing it for a while (as I want to finish at least one of my other big projects first), but it doesn’t hurt to think about it for now.
Obviously, Tron is one of my big obsessions. However, it’s not the only one. One obsession that waxes and wanes throughout my life happens to be Robin Hood. If one is to blend both properties, who becomes who?
Given the variety of Robin Hood movies I had previously consumed, I came up with an initial list. This list is Flynn as King Richard, Clu as Prince John, Dyson as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Tesler as Guy of Gisbourne, Yori as Maid Marian, Tron as Robin Hood, Beck as Will Scarlet, Able as Little John, and Friar Tuck as Dumont.
Now, the list is imperfect. It leaves out to frequent members of the Merry Men Alan-a-Dale and Much the Miller’s son. I do not know who I want Ram to be. Initially, I thought he could be Alan-a-Dale, but if I were to instead make Beck Much, I would want Ram to be Will Scarlet. Like I said, I’m not sure. (Alan-a-Dale has a dog in one movie that I would definitely be adding in some capacity.)
One might also argue that it would make more sense for Tesler to be the Sheriff of Nottingham with Pavel as Guy of Gisbourne. I admit that this does work, but then I didn’t know what to do with Dyson, besides giving him a new position. I watched or rewatched a few movies for further research. In one movie, there was a minor antagonist named Red Gill I could use for Pavel. Jarvis could also definitely fill some equivalent of Sir Hiss from the animated Disney Robin Hood.
I also do not have a role for Paige yet. I wrote down that I wanted to do a plot with her and Yori. “Consider Ivanhoe” is beside this, but using that would open up a whole other can of worms. There is one movie where Marian has a maid that falls in love with Much. Making Paige with this maid (or potentially switching her to be Yori’s guard) is one point towards making Beck Much instead. I have even less idea of what I would do with any of the other Uprising characters I haven’t already named or Quorra.
A wild suggestion just occurred to me. One movie features Will Scarlet as Robin’s half-brother. If I manipulate the timeline and make them full brothers instead, I could consider making Jet Will Scarlet. I made the initial list before I played any of the games. I could also add Anon in somewhere, potentially as Little John, though I’m not sure what I’d do with Able then.
The idea is to take my favorite bits of all my favorite Robin Hood movies, as well as other Robin Hood information I know, and play around with the Tron characters in those scenarios instead. However it shakes out, I’ll at least have fun writing it. I’m putting this all out here right now to see if anyone else with this niche intersection of interests has any suggestion. Feel free to give them. Suggestions for more Robin Hood movies and where to watch them are also welcome.
Below the cut is more rambling on details I’ve picked up so far:
Ooooh WOW
Hmm
Okay my own Tron fixation is heavily fixated on 1982, and i don’t have NEARLY the Robin Hood knowledge you have, and my only attempt at a crossover between those things was that drawing of Firefox as Robin Hood shooting flame arrows at a giant Ring-Game-esque target with Chrome in the middle instead of Crom, and that was not so much a crossover as just a bit of angry RPF (Real Program Fic) so I am limited in what I can suggest… BUT
I notice you’re mostly presenting Users as the programs’ parents in this analogy, but I feel it just might work better with your story to put them in the role of deities or saints (as their role mainly was in 82). Thus Alan becomes something like the Virgin Mary that Robin is so devoted to– not dead but distant, never seen but always present and always loved.
If you still want him to have had a role in creating Tron/Robin… perhaps Robin was born after his parents spent a long time wanting a child and then prayed to St. Alan and/or St. Lora for help? (I don’t remember enough saint lore to figure out who would be the best equivalents to put in their role, but it’s a thought.)
Not saying that Users have to always be divinities throughout your adaptation. There are ways of working some of them into other roles. For instance, your concern about having Flynn as King Richard and thus being unable to include Sam. Perhaps Flynn is the deity and Sam is the king arriving with the blessing of the divine.
Just my thoughts, take anything you find helpful. I’m fascinated with the idea, no matter what.
… Including who Ram would be. Of course. I shall research some of this lore and get back to you on that.
💜
Okay, my own thoughts so far:
Will Scarlet –Beck, agreed. He fits best into the role of Tron’s “nephew” as Will Scarlet is sometimes portrayed.
Allan A-Dale– Ram, agreed. As we’ve discussed elsewhere, Ram is very much a bard to Tron’s Paladin. (I also 100% ship them as we all know, so I’m not sure how I feel about Allan-a-Dale having a girlfriend throughout the story, but HEY I can’t exactly complain about that since I also view Tron and Yori as extremely open to polyamory and Ram as a downright slut. Yay.)
(Funnier detail is Ram suddenly has the same name as Tron’s god/patron saint. This probably won’t actually carry over into the crossover but I find it hilarious to imagine. WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT NAME)
Much the Miller’s Son– Crom, rerezzed. (His apparent death in 1982 could translate to some fight where he was lost and presumed dead before showing up to become a merry man.) In 82 Crom doesn’t canonically meet Tron, but the novelization shows them meeting briefly in the cells and Crom being starstruck by Tron, who’s already known as a hero and rebel at the time. Easy to imagine him going from that to a loyal follower, devoted to the point of jealousy. Not to mention the description of Much as a “portly” cook.
…I looked up Saint Alan just for fun. There’s a Wiki disambiguation page of four of them, only one of which has enough info to be interesting.
Alan de la Roche/ Alanus de Rupe/Alan of the Rock seems to be known mainly for his… autistic-level fascination with keeping track of stuff by moving beads around.
Not an abacus, in this case, but the rosary and the Hail Marys it keeps track of. So there’s a direct connection to Virgin Mary too.
This, unfortunately, makes him one of the forefathers of what eventually turned into the corrupt-as-hell selling of indulgences. The man created a monster (which could be a Rinzler analogy, idk.)