From BluWiki

The original list was found in the Exalted core book, but includes comments (as appropriate) by Nerdvana and additions from other Exalted Books and items added by Nerdvana.

Contents 1 Sources Listed In Both Editions 1.1 Literature 1.1.1 Recent Fiction Works 1.1.2 Classical Works 1.2 Video 1.2.1 Anime 1.2.2 Movies 2 Sources Listed Only In First Edition 2.1 Literature 2.1.1 Recent Fiction Works 2.1.1.1 Additional Items 2.1.1.1.1 From Aspect Book: Air 2.1.2 Classic Works 2.1.3 Comic Books 2.2 Roleplaying Game Books (Non-Exalted Books) 2.3 Videos and Movies 2.3.1 Anime 2.3.2 Movies 2.4 Video Games 3 Sources Listed Only In Second Edition 3.1 Literature 3.1.1 Classical Works 3.1.2 Manga 3.2 Movies and Video 3.2.1 Anime 3.2.2 Movies 3.3 Video Games 4 Additional Sources 4.1 Literature 4.1.1 Recent Works 4.2 Video 4.2.1 Anime 4.2.2 Movies 5 Contributors 5.1 Adding To These Lists

Sources Listed In Both Editions

Literature

Recent Fiction Works

• The Complete Pegana by Lord Dunsany

White Wolf's Description: From 1st Edition Arguably the most influential fantasy writer in the history of the sword-and-sorcery genre, and probably neck and neck with Tolkien for his influence on fantasy in general.

Lord Dunsany's work is seminal to almost everything in the genre. If you like fantasy, you really owe it to yourself to check it out - this guy is the bomb.

White Wolf's Description: From 2nd Edition The third great literary influence to Exalted, Dunsany's Pegana tales birthed a number of ideas that made their way into the game. The gods, especially the Five Maidens, owe a great deal of their character to his work.

Nerdvana's Comments: I have not had the honor to ever read these works before but have been hearing about them for years. I intend to check them out sometime in the not too distant future.

• Hawkmoon by Michael Moorcock

White Wolf's Description: From 1st Edition The other major literary inspiration for Exalted. Hawkmoon has it all - fantasy set in the ruins of a lost golden age, a decadent empire whose twisted sorcerous rulers seek to conquer the world and lots of strange artifacts of the time before the fall.

White Wolf's Description: From 2nd Edition The magitech of Exalted in particular owes a lot of its look and feel to this seminal work. In it, the hero strives to save the world from being overrun by a decadent empire of sorcerer-warriors lead by an immortal king. These tyrants consider themselves and their system of beliefs to be in all ways superior to those around them.

Nerdvana's Comments: I haven't read this either, however I used to own the roleplaying game based on the series by Choasium and what I remember about it isn't a fantasy world with magic, but a science fiction world with "forgotten science" that the inhabitants viewed as magic. Because of this, combined by the fact that White Wolf itself publishes a book that is a compelation of all of the Hawkmoon stories [1], I suspected that this book wasn't as great an inspiration as they would like us to believe - that was before reading 2nd Edition and their comments on it there, I have to conceed that its a much better fit than I originally thought.

• Tales From the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee

White Wolf's Description: From 1st Edition One of the most finely crafted fantasy novels ever written. Night's Master and the rest of the stories of Tanith Lee's Flat Earth were the single most influence on Exalted.

White Wolf's Description: From 2nd Edition This collection of stories originally released as three separate novels - Night's Master, Death's Master and Delusion's Master - that with two more novels Delirium's Mistress and Night's Sorcerer - make up Lee's Flat Earth Series. These novels formed the single largest influence to Exalted's development as a game.

Nerdvana's Comments: I haven't read any of this series... Yet.

Classical Works

• The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer

White Wolf's Description: of The Illiad from 1st Edition Pretty much the classic story of a flawed hero. If you just can't bear to read it in a verse-type presentation, Penguin produces a very fine prose-format Iliad.

White Wolf's Description: of The Odyssey from 1st Edition (specifically in Exalted: The Abyssals) Included because of the ghost summoning scene in Book XI, which contributed greatly to the rituals of summoning the dead in Exalted and to the character of ghosts as well.

White Wolf's Description: from 2nd Edition The Illiad is basically the template story of the flawed hero from which every other story in Western civilization draws its inspiration. And if you want to see the classical underworld from which grew the Underworld of Exalted, look no further than The Odyssey. Besides, there is no greater juxtaposition of Dawn Caste and Eclipse Caste than Achilles and Odysseus in these two works.

Nerdvana's Comments: What more can I say? (Although it does look like my children will get exposed to alot of classics while I research this!)

• Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en

White Wolf's Description: from 1st Edition (specifically in Exalted: The Sidereals) How the impudent monkey Tripitika was ordered by Heaven to accompany Hsuan-tsang. You just need to get the first volume - the celestial politics in that volume alone will give you a dozen plots in the Celestial City. A must for any Sidereals game and a major inspiration for Yu-Shan.

White Wolf's Description: from 2nd Edition The cornerstone of Asian myth follows the quest of the priest Sanzang and his three desciples (Pig, monk Sand and the Monkey King) as they travel from China to India to retrieve the Buddhist Sutra. More than perhaps any other tale of Asia, this has found its way into world culture via everything from anime such as Dragonball and Saiyuki to live action productions such as A Chinese Odyssey and The Lost Empire.

Nerdvana's comments: Haven't read this.

Video

Anime

• Ninja Scroll (1995)

White Wolf's Description: from 1st Edition An absolutely stunning anime - the supernatural martial arts in it were very strong inspirations to the combat and Charm system in Exalted. This is a really good movie to show your players before they make up characters, telling them "characters in Exalted can do things like this."

White Wolf's Description: from 2nd Edition This anime was one of the main inspirations for Exalted, and there's not a better depiction of Wyld mutants out there. The later series is also good inspiration.

Nerdvana's Comments: I have seen this but do not possess a copy. There are two rape scenes (one very quick cut away from and the other interrupted by other story actions before it could go very far) and a sex scene that is not too graphically protrayed (those wacky Japanese men and their desire for porn). The rest of it was good and, unfortunately, if the rape was cut out it could make some of the immedietly following events more confusing as it affects a combat following it.

IMBD Page

Movies

• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

White Wolf's Description: from 1st Edition While long on dialogue and somewhat short on action, this film, staring Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, is a masterpiece of wirework. Whiel it isn't nonstop swordplay, this film's lavish costuming and complex and passion-driven plot make it an excellent inspiration for character-centered games.

White Wolf's Description: from 2nd Edition Probably the most popular wuxia film ever made - winning foru Academy Awards - this film served as many Americans' first exposure to wire-fu. This film rises above the many such films released from Hong Kong studios every year though its gripping story of love and honor, brought to life by the gripping performances of Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh - not to mention the beautiful visuals, pulled off by its director Ang Lee.

Nerdvana's Comments: I've seen this. It was an incredible experience but I do not remember it well enough to satisfy myself, so I intend to see it again.

IMDB Page

Sources Listed Only In First Edition

Literature

Recent Fiction Works

• The Black Company by Glen Cook

White Wolf's Description: The Lady and The Ten Who Were Taken are excellent inspirations for Exalted. Shapeshifter would make an excellent Lunar Exalted, and The Lady would make a very fine Solar. Also, the slow but very powerful magic of this world is a good inspiration for Storytellers trying to imagine what Exalted's sorcery looks like.

Nerdvana's Comments: I haven't read this one yet either.

• The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (White Wolf listed it as Shadow & Claw and Sword & Citadel but that leaves out the more recent fifth book in the series The Urth of the New Sun

White Wolf's Description: Set in an unimaginably distant future of our own world, these books (collectively known as The Book of the New Sun) are an absolutely fabulous combination of magic and science-fiction elements.

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Air This series of novels is so good that there could never be enough recommendations to read them. Further, they present a view of a decadent and self-absorbed government that is very accessable to modern readers who may be unfamiliar with that sort of thing.

Nerdvana's Comments: I have this series in audio format. I've listened to some of them and while they do a wonderful job of exploring a fantastic world they aren't very action oriented, so their value as inspiration for Exalted is limited IMO. Also, I don't know that it is all that the Aspect Book: Air comments make it out to be.

• The Compleat Traveller in Black by John Brunner

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Sidereals The Traveller in Black is probably the classiest powerful destiny-manipulating sorcerer out there. While they decline somewhat in quality as the amount of chaos in the Traveller's world decreases, the earlier stories, especially "Imprint of Chaos," were the major inspiration for the Sidereals. You should check them out.

Nerdvana's Comments: I probably will.

• The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Earth This excellent novel tells the science-fiction tale of Voctorian society in futuristic China and how a young girl, Nell, changes it forever. Nell is a very grounded character, focused on her ideals and goals. Whenever anything new is thrown at her, she accepts it and finds a place for it in her plan. Nell's teenage years give her the power to study people and to figure out how they think, which naturally leads to discvering how to manipulate them - much like in court intrigues of the Exalted world. The latter fourth of the book shows Nell's unflappable strength as a warrior, while chaos engulfs China and she has nothing but her sword and her wits to save herself and those dear to her.

Nerdvana's Comments: Like much in this list, I was unaware of this book before now.

• A Game of Thorns by George R. R. Martin

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Air This book and its sequels are unbelievably packed with political chicanery, intrigues, alliances made and broken, betrayals and every other sort of power game. They are all very good books and are also full of nasty politics - just like the Realm.

• The Great Work of Time by John Crowley

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Sidereals A beautiful and baroque story of a man's involvement in a conspiracy to shape history to see that the Victorian British Empire never ends. This can be a difficult text, but it's the other major inspiration for the Sidereal Exalted.

Nerdvana's Comments: Haven't read it, but it is a time travel story - so I probably will!

• The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Abyssals Thomas Ligotti's short horror fiction describes a strange world of industrial ruins, wicket puppets and terrible nihilistic gods. This book is an omnibus collection of Ligotti's earlier fiction. While the material is slow paced, the actual ideas are a very intelligent, creepy sort of horror. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but a major inspration for Exalted's Underworld.

Nerdvana's Comments: Another item I'll have to keep an eye out for...

• Resurrection Man, The Night Watch and Galveston by Sean Stewart

White Wolf's Description: These books are really unexcelled in their ability to show just how terrifying living in a world full of spirits and fairytale magic is like. The depiction of spirits in Exalted was very strongly colored by these books, and they are hightly recommended, particularly the second two.

Nerdvana's Comments: I'm reading Resurrection Man currently (and it is slow going). I will add comments later.

• Taltos Series by Steven Brust

Specifically Jhereg, Yendi, Taltos, Teckla, Athrya, Phoenix, Orca, Dragon and Issola

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Air These books are all part of a high-action fantasy series about Vlad Taltos, a master assassin in the vast and highly magical city of Adrilankha. His interactions with his fellows in the criminal organization that is House Jhereg and the various jobs he takes form a wonderfully epic series of stories of murder, betrayal and high adventure. Though these books have been recommended more than once, the constant power struggles and politics make them especially good inspiration for a Dragon-blooded series.

Nerdvana's Comments: I haven't read all of these, but those I have are excellent!

Additional Items

These items recieved only passing comments in the Exalted books.

From Aspect Book: Air

• David Drake and S. M. Stirling's The General series and Stirling's Draka series, despite both being on the science fiction shelf, feature great depictions of really hardcore militarized cultures or groups, of obvious application to your Dragon-blooded game.

Classic Works

• The Art of War by Sun Tzu

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Air This book remains concise and thought provoking, despite its age, and the tone of the work alone is a great place to find inspiration for Exalted.

Nerdvana's Comments: Between this and its references in Firefly/Serenity I'm going to need to finally read this work.

• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Air This book remains concise and thought provoking, despite its age, and the tone of the work alone is a great place to find inspiration for Exalted.

Nerdvana's Comments: I've read this one, it is very thought provoking indeed.

• Enkidu in the Underworld (author unknown)

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Abyssals Possibly a shamanic narrative given epic trappings, this early story of descent into the Underworld involves Gilgamesh dropping his drumstick and drum into the land of the dead and Enkidu climbing down to fetch it.

Nerdvana's Comments: I hadn't even heard of this part of the Gilgamesh myth before.

• The Histories by Herodotus

White Wolf's Description: An amazingly good illustration of how cosmopolitan and advanced the ancient world was, compared to the squalor of the medieval period.

Nerdvana's Comments: I hadn't even head of this before picking up Exalted.

• Ramayana

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Sidereals Very anthropomorphic gods and godlike heroes combine in a setting where holy men eat devils and wicked spirits can engage in ascetic meditation in order to force the gods to grant them immortality. Another excellent resource for running games where gods and men walk together.

Nerdvana's Comments: Sounds interesting, no personal experience however.

• Volsungasaga

White Wolf's Description: Later mixed together with a different version of the same story and synthesized into Wagner's "Ring Cycle," the original is far more relevant to Exalted and a pretty good read, too.

Nerdvana's Comments: There is a Volsungasaga entry on Wikipedia. Again, this is something I was not aware of but am now intrigued by.

Comic Books

• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Earth This epic comic series contains several characters that can be assumed to be representative of Aspects of Earth, especially the titular character, Morpheus. It chronicles his story, including his lovers, siblings and the mortal lives he influences. Morpheus is a serveral millennium-old stoic who is dedicated to tradition and duty. When the time comes that he must review some of his decisions in his life and face regret and change, he remains as duty-bound and unmoving as an Earth Aspect. The Sandman's command of dreams and sorcery can also give one a sense of the sorcery used in Exalted.

• Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai

White Wolf's Description: from Aspect Book: Earth This comic about a rabbit samurai contains the phenomenal martial arts and swordplay that epitomizes Exalted while the tital character, Usagi, has a strong samurai mentality that Earth Dragons mirror. Sometimes silly (though the art is fantastic), the comic still shows the violent, honor-bound world of feudal Japan and the need for solid, loyal heroes such as Usagi.

Roleplaying Game Books (Non-Exalted Books)

• Wraith: The Oblivion by White Wolf Games

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Abyssals Now largely out of print, this was a little-appreciated game with a lot to offer. Much of Exalted's Underworld is directly drawn from the Deadlands of Wraith, particularly from the excellent Dark Kingdom of Jade, Wraith: The Great War and Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth.

Nerdvana's Comments: Ok, yes - Wraith was under-appreciated. Ok, yes - it could have been a great concept, but it was a bad fit with the other World of Darkness games. But it is sad that White Wolf had to toot their own horn this way. What is worse is that they tried to hide it by attributing it to "WWGS, Atlanta, GA" (i.e. they used their abbreviation instead of owning up to the fact that they were tooting their own horn). And I must also add that, yes, the rules from Wraith fit well into the world of Exalted - so this is alright in my opinion; I just wish that WW was braver in how they cited it.

Videos and Movies

Anime

• Doomed Megalopolis (1991)

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Abyssals An OVA about a supernatural assault on 1890s Tokyo. A useful resource for Exalted and for Abyssals in particular due to its evil ghostly villain, its incredibly cool-looking magic and a plot that at one point involves giant shadow puppets pulling down the moon. Kato is the picture of a powerful Abyssal, and the plot of the movie could easily be transferred to any of Exalted's large cities.

Nerdvana's Comments: Interesting. Haven't seen it yet though.

• Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

White Wolf's Description: A really terribly serious animated drama about two Japanese children struggling to survive in World War II Japan. Its not really related to Exalted, but if you're reading this and going, "nah, anime can't tell serious stories," you'll want to see this film. Fair warning - you will cry.

Nerdvana's Comments: Oh my god. It is beautiful. It is sad. It is beautifully sad. This is a must see for anime fans in my opinion.

IMDB Page

• Streetfighter (1996)

White Wolf's Description: The anime, not the live-action movie. Set in the modern day, but it has some absolutely great supernatural martial arts fights. Also worth seeing for the totally deadpan way it handles a world full of martial artists who are vastly more powerful than any normal mortal.

Nerdvana's Comments: I wasn't even aware of this until I got Exalted.

• Vampire Hunter D (1985) and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Abyssals The older one is slower and uglier, while the newer one is pretty and talks about spacefaring vampires. I'd suggest seeing the newer one and skipping the older one. There's a great example of the Great Curse in action when the vampire abducts his beloved and all the holy symbols in the city are ruined, all the mirrors break, etc.

Nerdvana's Comments: I have seen the older one, but barely remember it (the mouth in his hand is the only real memory I have of it). I probably aught to see both of these again.

• Vampire Princess Miyu (1988)

White Wolf's Description: from Exalted: The Abyssals The story of a young girl, touched by darkness and dedicated to forever tracking creatures of darkness called "the Shinma." The original four-episode OVA is incredible stuff, mostly focusing on the pain the character experiences from her ageless adolescence and cool sorcerous battles with demons. Definately worth seeing for the demon-fighting stunts and the ghosts.

Movies

• Swordsman II (1991)

White Wolf's Description: Starrign Jet Li and Brigitte Lin, this film is to live-action swordplay what Ninja Scroll is to anime. The wirework, the superbly choreographed swordplay and the amazingly cool martial-art movies make this flm great. Another "the game feels like this" movie.

Nerdvana's Comments: I haven't seen this one, but I am likely to in the not too distant future.

IMDB Page

Video Games

• Final Fantasy VII by Squaresoft

White Wolf's Description: The huge weapons and the over-the-top special-effects of the magic are absolutely the best.

Nerdvana's Comments: I have fond memories of watching a (now) ex-roommate play this game while my wife, my young son (he was two years old at the time) and I watched. Playing these games is another thing all together, I dislike the interface.

• Thief by Looking Glass Studios

White Wolf's Description: A quirky game with an incredibly cool feel. A decaying pseudo-Edwardian fantasy setting.

Sources Listed Only In Second Edition

Literature

Classical Works

• The Bible

White Wolf's Description: That's right. It's not just a book of commandments and begetting, it's also a story of epic heroes given power by God and a mandate to go out and right what is wrong in the world.

Nerdvana's Comments: It really made me feel warm to see this text listed in the same category as Chinese and Greek myths - where it belongs in my opinion.

Manga

• InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi

White Wolf's Description: This manga, featuring a modern girl flung back in time to feudal Japan, is excellent in its depiction of larger than life characters in battles versus demons while the normal folk just take it all in stride. Besides there are few better descriptions of a daiklave in action than InuYasha's sword, the Tetsusaiga. If you're not a fan of manga, at least check out the anime based on it and the movies it's spawned.

Nerdvana's Comments: I will be trying to find this!

• Ragnarok by Myung-Jin Lee

White Wolf's Description: Though more properly a manwha (a Korean comic book), this reinterpretation of Norse myth is full of over-the-top combat and sorcery, and its conflict between larger-than-life demigod heroes striving against the forces of undeath greatly mirrors the Solar/Abyssal conflict of Exalted.

Movies and Video

Anime

• RG Veda (1992)

White Wolf's Description: This series has everything; equivelants to many of the major Exalted types - Solar, Sidereal and Terrestrial - beautiful animation, an engaging story, and great depictions of what Exalted would term Charms and sorcery. What it lacks is an ending. Only two episodes were ever completed, so it's a bit of a tease, but it's a fun ride nonetheless.

Nerdvana's Comments: Sounds interesting.

Movies

• Kung-Fu Hustle (2004)

White Wolf's Description: Yes, it's silly and irreverent, but this movie features probably the best depiction of Exalted-level martial arts ever committed to film. Besides, it's a great story that will leave you with a smile on your face long after the credits roll.

Nerdvana's Comments: Hrm. Interesting.

Video Games

• Dynasty Warriors 5

White Wolf's Description: Admittedly, this Dynasty Warriors game is a little different from those that preceded it, but it and its predecessors do one thing quite well, and that is showing heroic characters leading units of mundane forces against other such heroes and their units. There's no place where Exalted mass combat is better illustrated.

• Jade Empire

White Wolf's Description: This game is just awesome. It's beautiful; the threats, look and tech are very Exalted; and its got maybe the best supernatural martial-arts system ever devised.

• Thief: Deadly Shadows

White Wolf's Description: Like the Night Caste? This game is all about sneaking, spying, stealing and assassination, just like the sterotypical member of the Daggers of Heaven. And you fans of Wood Aspects, check out the moss arrow. It's greenery-gagging good fun.

Additional Sources

Literature

Recent Works

• The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock

The culture and geography of Melnibone could easily be an inspriation for that of the Dragon-Blooded and the Realm.

Added by Nerdvana on 19 March 2006

Video

Anime

• Marmalade Boy (1994)

I am including this for the same reason that White Wolf included Grave of the Fireflies. It is totally unrelated to Exalted but it does illustrate the fact that anime can tell stories with a serious nature.

IMDB Page

Added by Nerdvana on 19 March 2006

Movies

• The Star Wars Saga (1977-2005)

I am including this because it has the epic scale, the grand schemes and other elements of Exalted. Also, the Deathlord "The First and Forsaken Lion" has been compared to Darth Vader by many, so not including his story as an influence seems to be a crime.

IMDB page for "Star Wars"

Added by Nerdvana on 23 March 2006

• Warrior Queen (2003)

This movie shows a "barbarian tribe" fighting the legions of Nero's Rome. It is great for the feel of an anti-Realm game in my opinion.

IMDB page for "Warrior Queen"

Added by Nerdvana on 26 March 2006

Contributors

This list excludes the White Wolf authors, not because I want to discredit them, but because I don't know which of them wrote the comments about the inspirational sources - which makes it hard to properly credit them.

• Nerdvana

Adding To These Lists

If you think you have other inspirational sources to bring to Nerdvana's attention, post them in the same format used above on the discussion page. Nerdvana will review them and add them here and add you to the above list of contributors.