NAME/ORIGIN
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Character name
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Song/Album
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Ziggy Stardust/The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars
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Act
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David Bowie
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Writer
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David Bowie
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Release Date
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1972
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ABILITIES
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Powers
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-Literally devastating smile that flattens people like a punch
"He could lick 'em by smiling"
-Place people in mid-air as if hanged (cf Darth Vader's "Force choke")
"He could leave 'em to hang."
-Suspended time while performing
"Ziggy played for time"
-Ability to become pure thought
"Ziggy sucked up into his mind"
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Skills
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-Left-handed guitar playing
"Ziggy played guitar, jamming good... he played it left hand"
"Boy, could he play guitar"
-Singing
"Ziggy really sang"
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Attributes
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Is not a very nice person, anymore, at least; thinks his talent is an excuse for misbehavior, because he does get away with it.
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Vulnerabilities
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-Victim of success
"made it too far"
[See The Kids under Relationships and Enemies]
-Tendency toward excess/ point of diminishing returns
"He took it too far"
-Skin sensitivity
"Like a leper messiah"
"Snow-white tan" -Suspended time only while performing, so could not use that time to do anything else, although his bandmates might. |
Formidability
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Moderately high
"Ziggy... became the special man" |
Attractiveness
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-Straight, flat hair
"Screwed-down hair"
-Very pale/ Albino?
"Snow-white tan" (implying no tan at all)
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Source
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N/A
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POSSESSIONS
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Weapons
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N/A
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Amulets
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N/A
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Objects
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Guitar
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Clothing
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N/A (but we know how Bowie dressed when playing Ziggy)
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Vehicles
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N/A. Tour bus, limo, private jet? (speculation)
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Dwelling
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Milieu
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The Road (in touring-musician terms)
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BIOGRAPHY
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Gender
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Male
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Age
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N/A (Bowie was 25 in 1972)
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Physique
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-Seems to be fit without effort
"...with a God-given ass"
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Ethnicity
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not Asian
"Like some cat from Japan" implies that he was not that. |
Origin
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N/A... possibly Mars?
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Ancestry
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N/A
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Profession
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Musician-- singer/ guitarist
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Education
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N/A
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SES
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Very wealthy
"He became so loaded"
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Relationships
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-(former?) bandmates nicknamed "Weird" and "Gilly"
-former backing band The Spiders from Mars
-new backing band "Then we were Ziggy's band." [emphasis mine]
-The Kids-- fans, possibly a fan club
-His own "ego"
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Pets
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N/A
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PERSONALITY
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Morality
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Low. Self-centered.
-Lying "Jiving us"
-Lying to himself
-Knows no one will hurt him, as his musical skill is their meal ticket "Should we crush his sweet hands?" |
Intro/extrovert
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Extrovert in actions;
Introvert in thoughts
His self-centeredness encouraged the same in his new band, who "bitched about his fans," the very ones supporting them with ticket and record sales |
Intelligence
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Fairly high, given musical skill, powers, emotional manipulation skills
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Emotions
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Center mostly around himself
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Sanity
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Low, but mostly a danger to himself
-Denial/ procrastination
"Playing for time"
-Delusions of grandeur
"Making love to his ego"
"Like a... messiah... He was the Naz" (i.e. the Nazarene, as in Jesus)
-Self-involvement
"Ziggy sucked up into his mind"
-Possible alcoholism/ drug addiction "Just the beer light to guide us" "He became so loaded" |
Enemies
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-The Fly, possibly a loan shark or other shakedown artist (speculation)
whose prefered threat/attack was aimed at, um, the testicular region
"Where were the Spiders/ When The Fly tried to break our balls?"
-The Kids
A gang (speculation) or possibly his fans or specifically his fan club; they rebelled and killed him (or at least his career)
"The Kiss were just crass...we bitched about his fans"
"When The Kids killed the man..." |
Narrative Function
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Antagonist, despite his talent
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Other Notes
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Ziggy seems to be the prototypical self-involved rockstar, following the usual arc of fame to excess to death.
He was right about one thing-- we was the engine of the gravy train. When he is killed, the speaker "had to break up the band." |
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