Intertextual Influences
Morph (Knox) bears similarities to a number of other heroes and fictional characters:
- His alien landing on Earth is very similar to E.T.’s in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Like E.T, Morph befriends human characters and eventually goes on an exciting adventure (in this case crime fighting) with them.
- Morph was also influenced by the Marvel hero, the Punisher. Morph sometimes throws caution to the wind and uses his powers a little excessively, which is, in a minor way, similar to how Punisher uses a variety of brutal methods to stop crime.
- Morph’s sense of black and white justice can be traced back to Watchmen’s Rorschach who believes in moral absolutism. Morph is not that black and white when it comes to justice but we drew a small portion of that to give him depth.
- Morph’s origin story has a resemblance to Goku from Dragon Ball Z. Goku is another powerful being from outer space who comes to Earth. Also like Goku, Morph is based on an animal we can find here on earth. Instead of being an ape like Goku, Morph is a squid-humanoid alien.
Morph's Journey as a Hero
Knox’s journey very well fits within the formula as laid out by Joseph Campbell. Each component, though we did not expressly follow the chart when developing the character of Morph, is still applicable to events across the Morph storyline. The only components that did not completely fit to our storyline was Everyday World, and Return. Knox really didn’t have an everyday normal life that we explored through the narrative, so it was hard to picture what that would look like for the character. He also doesn’t return to his home planet, although he does become “the master of two worlds” through his eventual actions of saving the human race from his people, as well as ultimately overthrowing the dictatorship, though not expressly stated in our narratives, but implied. The other step that caused trouble in Campbells chart upon implementation onto Morph was the Nadir/Abyss, where instead of having a goddess, we replaced with Trell, Knox’s closest relationship after his parents, and one that has been left in turmoil. The most important aspect of the Morph story is that the impact and actions he takes aren't always positive, he often trusts the wrong people ultimately resulting in harm to others, but often especially himself. This is what sets Morph apart from other heroes, he falls into traps and gives into his emotions, making him a more relatable character.