Neumian Lion – The Nemean Lion and Alfred E. Neuman(?)
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/Creature:Neumian_Lion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemean_lion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman
Tyler the Aero Smith needs your wizard’s help to deal with a cranky Bull Meowl. Following the tracks into a tunnel you discover not a Bull Meowl, but something Tyler says is impossible. It’s a nightmare come to life. It is the Neumian Lion.
When children are naughty and keep on cryin’, they become prey to the Neumian Lion!
“ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!” – The Neumian Lion
The Nemean lion was a monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. Eventually, it was killed by Heracles (Hercules). Because its golden fur was impervious to attack, it could not be killed with mortals’ weapons. Its claws were sharper than mortals’ swords and could cut through any strong armour.
The first of Heracles’ twelve labours, set by King Eurystheus (his cousin), was to slay the Nemean lion. While searching for the lion, Heracles fetched some arrows to use against it, not knowing that its golden fur was impenetrable; when he found the lion and shot at it with his bow, he discovered the fur’s protective property when the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature’s thigh. After some time, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances, one of which Heracles blocked; he then entered the other. In those dark and close quarters, Heracles stunned the beast with his club. He eventually killed it by strangling it with his bare hands.
After slaying the lion, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt, but failed. He then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Finally, Athena, noticing the hero’s plight, told Heracles to use one of the lion’s own claws to skin the pelt.
I’m not 100% completely sure that Alfred E. Neuman is the inspiration for the Neumian Lion’s name spelling, but it is the most famous listing in a Google search of Neuman. Also my source at KI informs me the Lion is named for the Nuema area of Empyrea, though he cannot be certain that area was NOT named for old Alfred.
Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine Mad. The character’s distinct smiling face, parted red hair, gap-toothed smile, freckles, protruding ears, and scrawny body dates back to late 19th-century advertisements for painless dentistry, also the origin of his “What, me worry?” motto. The magazine’s founder and original editor, Harvey Kurtzman, began using the character in 1954. He was named “Alfred E. Neuman” (a name Kurtzman had previously used in an unconnected way) by Mad’s second editor Al Feldstein in 1956. Neuman’s likeness has appeared on all but a handful of the magazine’s covers, over 550 issues.
The current list of all the (known) Empyrea references can be found here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages
Neumian Lion image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.
Hercules and the Nemean Lion image is borrowed from Wikipedia. It is the public domain.
Alfred E. Neuman image is copyright Warner/Discovery
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
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