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| Dial 'H' for Hero promotional fanart by Jason Andrew Ayala. Upper Left: Atrocitus, Lower Left: Earth-1 Green Arrow, Earth-1 Flash, Earth-38 Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Dinah Drake (Black Canary II), Vibe (Cisco Ramon), Killer Frost (Caitlin Snow), Upper Right: Earth-12 Green Arrow, Earth-12 Black Canary (Dinah Lance), Earth-12 Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern John Stewart, Earth-12 Supergirl (Kara In-Ze), Lower Right: Earth-1 Black Canary (Laurel Lance), Middle: Hikari Eto (original character) |
Since 2016, I've been dwelling in the crossroads when it comes to friendship, especially being drawn in television, especially with the Arrowverse shows on the CW. For the longest time, I was still pounding about that line from The Flash season 3 episode, Killer Frost, "Sometimes when things get broken, they can't be fixed." Wondering if that line truly means "friendship is dead." So, I wrote fan letters to the actors from the Arrowverse themselves, particularly Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Melissa Benoist and especially the one that started it all, Stephen Amell, to give me the answers I seek. But alas, they didn't respond to me, thinking they were either too busy, didn't have time to read them or they did read but threw them away and not respond to me, thinking I was a bad fan with so much emotions. But since they didn't give me the answers I seek, I figured why not bring the answers to them, when I chose to do this ambitious project I am working on. It's on the back burner at this moment (more on that later), but why don't I give you the heads up about what this project is all about.
Premise
Hikari Eto, age 17, once had a humdrum life until his life was saved by the original Black Canary, Laurel Lance. Because of that once in a lifetime moment, it inspired him to make a blog devoted to heroes. When his blog became popular, it got the attention of the other heroes, particularly Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Barry Allen (The Flash), who let him in on their exploits. Hikari felt that he was in a dream and living it off until everything changed with the death of Laurel. That moment started a chain reaction that changed his perspective on heroes, when he sees the infighting among themselves, believing that Caitlin Snow was a snow Yokai (spirit in Japanese) and so much self doubt among other things. Because of that, he ran away from home and ended up on Earth-12, believing that heroes will not lose their capacity for good there. Feeling ashamed for what they have done, the Earth-1 heroes, along with Earth-38 Supergirl, travel to Earth-12 to find Hikari and try to show him what a real hero is all about, while meeting with other heroes from other Earths, battling other villains and becoming a hero himself.
Character Profile: Hikari Eto
Name: Hikari Eto (Light Wisp in Japanese)
Age: 17
Height: 5'7"
Weight: Around 140 lbs (A little slim, but fit)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Short; Jet Black
Nationality: American; born of Japanese descent
Likes: Video Games, History, Art, Comic Books, Pop Culture, Pro-Wrestling, Computers, Science, Martial Arts (e.g. Judo)
Dislikes: Lying, Greed, Broken Friendships, Deception, Self-Doubt
Hobbies: Writing, Drawing, Blogging, Listening to Music, Playing Video Games, Practicing Martial Arts
Personality: Kind, Brave, Optimistic, Naive, Sometimes Silly, Smart, Selfless, Level-Headed, Over-Zealous, Determined
Favorite Idols: Kazuchika Okada, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods), Kamen Rider (particularly Kamen Rider Black RX) and Carol Burnett
Favorite Music Artists: Pink Floyd, Metallica, Ludwig von Beethoven
Powers: None (not yet; work in progress)
Fighting Style: Some Forms of Martial Arts, including Karate, Kung-Fu and Judo (trained by Laurel Lance)
Family: Kashi Eto (Mother); Toshio Eto (Father; presumed missing)
Education: High School Student; Central City High
Hikari Eto is a 17 year old high school student, born of Japanese descent. His name, roughly translates to "Light Wisp" or taken from the Japanese name, "Eto no Hikari", which roughly translates to "Wisp of Light." In his physical appearance, he is 5'7", weighs around 138-140 lbs., slim, but fit and very athletic. He has short jet-black hair, which is a little spikey, with 4 short bangs covering his forehead and has brown eyes. His default choice of clothing are a blue t-shirt with a Japanese kanji, colored in white, which reads his first name, roughly translates to "Light", light blue demin pants with the ankles exposed, red and gold sneakers (which resembles the colors of The Flash) and occasionally, whether the weather is cold or not, wears an emerald green hoodie, in honor of the Green Arrow himself. He is bilingual in both English and Japanese, just like his parents.
His personality goes as follows: He is mostly kind, gentle, bright, naive, level-headed, brave and optimistic. But sometimes, his emotions change depending on the situation. For instance, whenever he sees his idols and something he likes that peeked his interest based on his expertise in Pop Culture, he spazes out in the most fanboyish kind of way. But in moments of sadness, he gets emotional whether he is lied to, losing his faith in heroes and idols, being compared to his father or losing the people he cares about, which he is not good in letting go. Moments like these put him in a emotional BSOD, his personal Blue Screen of Death. But when the chips were down, no matter what problems he has, no matter what mistakes he made and no matter how hard his life is, through encouragement from his friends and his only family, his mother, Kashi, he digs deep down and becomes determined to set things right. Overall, Hikari is a determined, emotional, sometimes silly, yet kind-hearted fan of heroes with a strong sense of justice.
Being a high school student, he is skilled in science, history and most importantly, journalism, which was the basis of his blog about heroes in all forms, known simply as "Dial "H" for Hero!".
He lives in an apartment building in Central City with his mother, Kashi Eto (taken from the Japanese word, Kashiwa, which roughly translates to Oak), who is around her 50s, sporting her traditional Japanese bun hairstyle, her hair color is black, her eyes are brown, sports a purple kimono with butterfly details on it. She is a fan of Marie Kondo, and is a homemaker and a seamstress, who is wise, kind and gentle beyond her years, but sometimes acts a little overprotective like any mother would. His father, Toshio, has been gone since Hikari was around 12-13 years old at the time. His reasons for leaving Kashi and Hikari are unknown at this time.
His room is like a hero's base of operations, sometimes messy. It sports his twin size bed with a quilt that resembles a dragon, has a computer desk with a Gateway computer with an internet router, has a 32" HDTV hanging on his wall, with his PS3 gaming console hooked up and with an XBOX console on the side. On his wall are posters of some featuring those from gaming, movies, music and wrestling, including his most favorites featuring, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Kamen Rider, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E) from WWE and his idol from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Kazuchika Okada. His shelf contains his games, DVDs, Blu-Rays and music CDs, including those of Pink Floyd, Beethoven and Metallica (which are his favorite music artists), along with his collectable figures, including Kamen Rider Black RX and Kamen Rider ZO. And his door is equipped with a specially made doorbell, which sounds like the door chime aboard the USS Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
His main accessory at the time was his mobile phone, which he likes to take pictures with or keep in touch with either his mother or his friends.
Being athletic and active, Hikari was trained in many forms of Martial Arts, including Karate, Kung-Fu, Jujitsu and Judo. He was trained by the very person who he sees as his "Onii-chan" or older sister, the original Earth-1 Black Canary, Laurel Lance, who was alive at the time and was the inspiration for his blog, "Dial "H" for Hero!" after she saved his life during the war against Ra's al-Ghul and the League of Assassins. Although very skilled in self-defense like Black Canary and Green Arrow, Hikari, unlike The Flash, doesn't have any superpowers. At least, not yet...
Hikari Eto is what I describe as both an original character and a legacy character (more on that in a moment). For the original character part, Hikari is based on me, being a normal person with a great big imagination and always idolizing his heroes, from fictional ones like Kamen Rider to real life ones like Japanese pro-wrestler Kazuchika Okada and legendary comedienne, Carol Burnett. As for legacy character (not if it makes any difference whether or not this show will get picked up), in this continuity, Hikari is the son of Professor Toshio Eto. In case you don't know that name, that is the real name of the superhero known as Samurai, who never appeared in the comics. However, he did first appeared in the Superfriends cartoons, one of many superheroes born of their respective nationalities alongside other heroes like Apache Chief, El Dorado, and Black Vulcan (since they couldn't use Black Lightning due to issues with co-creator, Tony Isabella). Of all the heroes I have mentioned, Samurai was the only one to not only have a real name, but also an origin story to boot:
Toshio Eto was a college professor, studying mostly about history, especially Japan. Until one day, the New Gods of New Genesis fused him powers beyond human understanding. Now fully powered and with a code of honor, Toshio vows to fight evil under his superhero name, Samurai.
Being a fan of heroes, Hikari is based on every, single fan of their heroes or favorite TV show, movie, comic and so on and so forth. This show is basically the retelling of our favorite Arrowverse shows, but from the point of view of a fan. That, and being an anthology series, involving other heroes besides Green Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl.
Inspiration
Dial "H" For Hero! was inspired by not only by DC's rich legacy of heroes and villains alike, such as the DC Animated Universe and the main Arrowverse itself, but it was also inspired by other forms of media like movies, gaming, literature and other TV shows:
- The Wizard of OZ
- Kingdom Hearts
- Kung Fu
- Doogie Howser, M.D. (For the life lessons at the end of every episode)
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- The Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell
- Real Life Fanbases (The Point of View of Fandom)
Setting
For the most part, the show takes place on Earth-1, where Hikari lives in Central City, and it takes place before Crisis on Infinite Earths, but this is just the settting for season 1 (more on the possibilities on the seasons later). Anyway, here is the main setting for the 4-part pilot episode:
- Takes place during Pre-Crisis (First season only)
- Takes place within the respective seasons of the other Arrowverse shows:
Arrow: Seasons 3, 4, 5 and 6
The Flash: Seasons 3 and 4
Supergirl: Between season 2 and 3
*DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Between season 2 and 3
* - The Legends will be a part of this story, but they will be briefly mentioned in Part 2, but won't appear until Part 4.
Appearances of Heroes
For an anthology show about heroes, this wouldn't be a show without a who's who from the entire DC Universe, especially those in the Arrowverse. Aside from heroes from Earth-12 aka the DC Animated Universe and the main Arrowverse heroes, here is a small list of heroes that should appear on the show:
Blue Beetle (Jamie Reyes, who in this series becomes Hikari's best friend, in case Cisco isn't here)
Booster Gold
Zatanna
Swamp Thing
Vixen (Mari McCabe)
Black Lightning (who already has a show, but needs a point/counterpoint view on certain issues)
Static (Virgil Hawkins, who also becomes Hikari's friend and idolizes Black Lightning later on)
Jessica Cruz (Another Green Lantern and another friend to Hikari, and something more)
Razor (Who first appears as a Red Lantern gone good, then becoming a Blue Lantern later on)
Starfire
Kilowog
Steel (John Henry Irons, not Nate Heywood aka Citizen Steel from Legends of Tomorrow)
Orion (Son of Darkseid, but nothing like his father)
Big Barda
Mr. Miracle
Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore)
Wildcat (Yolanda Montez)
Firestorm (Earth-12 Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein)
Red Tornado
He-Man (more on that later)
Samurai (Toshio Eto, Hikari's father)
Season Rundown
Here is a short rundown of the seasons I have thought of. It isn't much, but it's a work in progress:
Pilot
17 year old Hikari Eto was a big fan of heroes, who created a blog to record their exploits. But everything changed when Laurel Lance, the original Black Canary who saved his life and was the inspiration of his blog, died protecting her city. Her death caused a chain reaction that completely destroyed his faith in heroes, when he sees his idols spend more time fighting each other than fighting evil. This prompted Hikari to run away from home and ends up on Earth-12. Feeling ashamed for their egos and selfish actions, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Kara Zor-El and Dinah Drake travel to Earth-12 to bring Hikari home and help him understand what true heroism is all about while dealing with another threat that will hinder their actions, the evil Red Lantern Corps and their sinister leader, Atrocitus.
Season 1: Pre-Crisis
After his time on Earth-12, Hikari begins his exploits, meeting other heroes and trying to understand what true heroism is all about, including his father, Toshio Eto, who is the superhero known as Samurai. And in turn, Hikari gets recruited by the Guardians of the Universe from planet Oa and becomes a Green Lantern. Hikari's hero's journey becomes a bit more interesting.
Season 2: Adventures in Space/Post-Crisis
When all the Earths were wiped out by Anti-Matter energy, most of the survivors from Earth-1, including Hikari and his father Toshio, ended up on Oa. Feeling down after the demise of the multiverse, Hikari travels to other planets and fight evil while coming to terms of what has transpired. Once the multiverse became one Earth, Earth Prime to be precise, Hikari returns to an Earth that is completely different to him while dealing with an evil that is more deadlier than Atrocitus and Sinestro combined, the fear mongering entity known as Parallax. Everything he knew was gone...or so he thought.
I would go on, but I don't want to go any further than that. But I will tell you this. Season 3 will have inter-dimensional travel from one Earth to another. But how you ask. Once I get to that, I will tell you. And in my heroes list, I put He-Man on that list and with good reason. First off, long ago, before the Filmation cartoon, He-Man did appear in DC comics, sometimes paired up with Superman and not so long ago, DC did a crossover comic with both He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and ThunderCats. And second of all, within season 3, which I call a sub-season, Hikari, instead of being on another Earth, he ends up in Eternia, where he meets He-Man and his alter ego, Prince Adam. At first he thought He-Man and Adam were different people, being that He-Man was brave and Adam was a wimpy cowardly prince. That is until he learned the hard way, during a bout against Skeletor's evil forces, that He-Man and Prince Adam are one in the same. Not to mention learning about how Adam became the most powerful man in the universe and the lineage of King Grayskull, whose castle was named after.
Everything else is a mixed bag for now. There might be a guest star or two like either WWE's New Day, especially doing their introduction that starts one episode:
Big E: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW CENTRAL CITY!! Don't you dare feel SOUR! CLAP for your world famous multiple time CHAMPS! And FEEL the POWWWWWAAAAAAAAA!!"
Anyway, or maybe one episode featuring the great Carol Burnett, which Hikari idolizes, just like me. So much so, he visits Laurel's grave site and sings the full version of the sign off end theme from The Carol Burnett Show, ear pull and all.
As for Hikari's journey, that's for another story. Let's just say it will come to fruition and Hikari becomes a true hero, just like his father.
Actors to Play the Heroes
I know most of the heroes would be played by their respective actors. But since I am working on the pilot, here is a small list of actors to play the Earth-12 Doppelgangers, at least for the time being:
Earth-12 Green Arrow - Stephen Amell
Earth-12 Black Canary - Katie Cassidy
Earth-12 Supergirl (Kara In-Ze) - Melissa Benoist
Green Lantern John Stewart - David Ramsey
Earth-12 Martian Manhunter - David Harewood
Earth-12 Flash (Wally West) - Michael Rosenbaum
Earth-12 Huntress - Jessica De Gouw
Format
With the exception to the pilot, every episode will go as follow. Hikari does a brief voice over in the beginning of the episode (unless it's a multi-parter with the opening narration in Part 1), does his usual business (going to school, playing his video games, working on the computer, hanging out with friends, etc.), stumbling across either a problem or the villain of the week or a bit of both, meeting the hero of the week, struggling with a problem, getting pep talks from friends and/or the aforementioned hero of the week, overcoming the aforementioned villain and/or problem, everything resolved and ends with Hikari doing his blog while hearing his voice over near the end of the episode almost like how every episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. ends with Doogie doing his personal blog on his computer. Like I said, this is almost a retelling of the Arrowverse, but from the point of view of a fan.
Live Action or Animation
For the longest part, I wanted this show to be live action, just like the other Arrowverse shows. However, circumstances beyond my control put this project on hold for the time being, which resulted in my writer's block, all because of two issues that stopped me from continuing.
Issue #1: Ruby Rose, the actress who played Kate Kane in Batwoman, who left the show after just one season because of:
A. She doesn't want to get hurt
B. Her sexual orientation and how she is sensitive about it, which caused her to leave social media
C. Doesn't work well with others, William Shatner-style
D. All the Above
Issue #2: Hartley Sawyer, who played Ralph Dibny aka Elongated Man on The Flash, got fired because of some offensive tweets he made 4-5 years ago, which he regrets and apologized for just being stupid, nothing more. But, rather than settling the matter like men, one of the producers of The Flash (whose name I will not mention) dimed him out, 5-0ed him, HE TATTLED ON HIM, A'IGHT!! Almost like that scene in Spider-Man 3, where Eddie Brock got fired after Emo Peter tattled on him for forging a previous photo of Spidey. HOW TRIPPED UP IS THAT?!!
(clears throat)
Anyway, I wanted to have episodes featuring both Kate Kane (the first Batwoman) and the aforementioned Elongated Man, especially with Ralph Dibny, especially with the comedy timing on Ralph's part. But because both Ruby Rose and Hartley Sawyer left under different circumstances, it has become much harder for me to do it in live action.
Which leaves me with option #2, doing it animated, just like with Vixen, Constantine and Freedom Fighters: The Ray, especially with the DCAU characters involved, hopefully done Bruce Timm-style, and with a mix of Young Justice to go with it. If live action won't do because of those aforementioned issues, then I will go with the animated route. Either way, hopefully this would be a bit epic.
Oh, and on a side note, if this show was green lit, just like with the other Arrowverse/DC shows, they will have DC and WB Shield logos, but with a twist. Since Hikari likes to do his blogs on his computer, the first browser window will have the DC logo with the DCAU versions of Green Arrow, Black Canary, The Flash and Supergirl and the second window will have the WB Shield logo with Bugs Bunny standing next to it.
Final Thoughts
With the right motivation, purpose, determination, and not to mention cutting a lot of red tape after what has happened, I think this show has the makings of greatness within. All I wanted was to remedy this dark distain of what this fanbase has created and bring light into the darkness, just like Hikari's namesake. This show will be made for the fans, of the fans, and by the fans, just like me. Whether or not the Arrowverse will end before then, one thing's for sure, just like Sting, the only thing for sure about Hikari Eto, is nothing's for sure. But only time will tell. Until next time, folks. Stay frosty.
Saraba da (Farewell)...for now.
