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[Preston the Cyberdog]

[SPEC] Jan James (janissary meaning)

[evil_billy]

From the link above:

Janissaries is a science fiction novel by Jerry Pournelle first published in 1979.

The book is about a group of aliens who come to earth at regular intervals, kidnap earth people and make them work as agricultural labourers in an extra-terrestrial civilization. They are made to cultivate plants which the aliens use as drugs. Although not used as soldiers, the captive and slave-like nature of their occupation is similar to the janissaries which is the probable explanation of the book title.

[sherpa]

Interesting stuff (of course, I use the original Wikipedia link) -- elite trained forces, all male, taken young and with high social status due to their job. Not obviously relevant though, perhaps they just liked the name.

Not a common girl's name -- although Janis (Janice, Jan) is.

[Reverend_Cobol]

There's been some discussion as to whether or not Jan and James^2 are blood relatives. [or more importantly, is this fact, true or not, relevant to the story]

The blip on the pqi in the police station when he first shows up and the conversation about some past event involving "his [James'] unit" in "you knew" maybe lend creadence to a theory whereby Jan and James aren't actually blood relatives, tho it's clear that he has given her some extensive training on evasion tactics from her break in to the military base and subsequent defeat of the PQI at the station. Any comments?

[BigDog76]

Janus

[Parion]

Related, but a little ot ( so sorry if this is the wrong place), but "Durga" is Kali in the aspect of the destroyer. Aka, the Godess of war. Apparently.

[sherpa]

It's been mentioned elsewhere, but it is interesting that they both have "war" meanings. Rougher than the historical references before.

[Kyrin]

I also have a theory that James James (Janissary's "father") is possibly Master Chief. His voice and MC's sound very similar, and my guess is that either he is MC or he's part of the Spartan program. Hence the reason he's referred to as "special special forces" in Walkaway girl, and that would also explain Jan's ability to land a 3 story jump without a scratch, hide on ceilings, beat a PQI, etc.

Rampant spec, to be sure, but it's the best theory I've got, and it's certainly something interesting to chew on.

[Eck]

Especially with the newly released wav files (you_knew, blip) it seems obvious to me that Jan is a spartan, and her dad is liely as well. It's doubtful he's master cheiff, though, possibly another spartan who left the force?

[yteRYCCE]

[Motoss]

In another thread GunSmithCat and I were discussing the possibility of Jan's dad being a SPARTAN I...to fit into the timeline, I suggest the perhaps he was cryogenically frozen, but I can't really say...

[Spuddles]

[Dorkmaster]

I have to strictly disagree here. Other than the fact that there is no in-game evidence, since I'm willing to wildly-metaly-spec, I still disagree.

Here's why:

The voice in any of the .wavs that have James ² 's voice, he uses slurry diction. Not horribly like a drunk man, but he nonetheless does. I was a directing major, and still do theatre, acting and directing, so I DO know what I'm talking about. And while you can definitely change your diction to a certain degree, mild slurring would be the most technical of all acting skills and I for one have never seen it done effectively. The actor would have to be AMAZING to pull it off, and I don't doubt that he's an excellent actor, but I don't think it's him. I love the spots in that mp3 of yours. I loved Halo and the Master Chief character. I'm anxiously awaiting Halo 2! So I am not predisposed to being against this. In fact I put them side by side for a while to listen, because I thought this was a good idea...

But I conclude that it is not the same person. This diction is too subtly different for it to be the same person. Tone, inflection, volume, and to a major degree diction, can all be changed for acting. But this is too much. I'm certain that anyone here who has taken acting classes or voice acting or done serious stage or screen work can agree with me. This is not the same person. Sorry to come down hard on this, cuz it really was good spec but it just doesn't hold up to the magnifying glass.

[Spuddles]

[JTFK]