Midnight Man

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About

Based in Hamburg, Germany, Midnight Man works at the design department of an airplane industry supplier. His nickname is taken from a Flash & the Pan song and linked with the time when he took the final step into active Rangerphilia and registered at the Acorn Cafe—on March 1, 2006, at midnight (Central European Time); for now, he prefers keeping his real name mostly secret.

He is also a Ranger Wiki contributor.

Ranger Code

RRC+ R- P--@ TH(A+;I;X;Hu!;Mu;My+;R!;P;Su) ME-- Ix! CR>+ Cc++d+g+++m+z+f++t+fc+nrc- Ec+d@g++m-f@ D-> M++ Zm++ GH+ L Ge(61%) Pc++d-@o(Rat Capone)--- SSs(1>2)d(12)

Fan Fiction

The works are listed in chronological order of their release.

The Joyride

Midnight At The Café

Too Huge To Be True

A Hero That's None

First Date

Lost And Found

Last Date

December

Dinner For One Mouse

Midnight Man's Rangerverse

Characters

Notes to Canonical Characters

Like in many other Rangerverses, there have been some additions to what makes the canonical characters themselves in Midnight Man's Rangerverse, too. For example, the four male Rescue Rangers all have the same frequently used set of last names assembled by the J.A.M. for Death of a Comedian.

Chip

Not only has Midnight Man used the well-known last names established by Michael Demcio, but he has also declared "Chip" a nickname. So the full name of the Rescue Rangers' leader is Charles Maplewood.

Chip has started dating Gadget in 1990, shortly after Dale has met Foxglove. But it is hard for the two of them to reveal their feelings to each other and to establish a relationship.

Dale and Foxglove

Like Chip, Dale has the last name which had been given to him for the first time in Rhyme and Reason, Oakmont.

It was easy for Foxglove to conquer his heart after the events of Good Times, Bat Times. Dale and Foxglove have been a loving couple since then.

Gadget

Gadget Beatrice Hackwrench has the same romantic interests in Chip as he has in her; they have developed since he has started dating her. However, in a strong contrast to her technical and scientific knowledge, she has learned way too little about love in her youth to be able to judge her own feelings.

Monterey Jack and Zipper

They both have last names now, too. Colby (for Monterey Jack) has been used by several writers before and is based on the name of his ancestor, Sir Colby, whereas Lightringer (for Zipper) is a creation of Natasha Kashefipour.

Tammy and Bink

The two squirrel girls have grown up to be young women by the time most of Midnight Man's stories take place. Bink goes on living her obsession for the Ranger Plane: Gadget gives her flying lessons. Besides, Tammy and Bink have a last name, too: Chesnutt.

Important Original Characters

Midnight

Midnight is Midnight Man's self-insertion character. He appears in Midnight At The Café, A Hero That's None and December, but he has also been inserted by RangerReady23 into some of his Acorn Cafe Adventures.

Dawn van Zant

There are actually two Dawn van Zants. One of them appears in Too Huge To Be True only, and therefore, she is nothing but a creation of Gadget's subconsciousness. She is a young archaeologist striving for jobs in Cape Suzette and an almost exact Gadget look-alike.

The other one appears in A Hero That's None for the first time. She has a remote resemblance to Gadget, too, and although she is not yet another "Gadget clone", she is still cute enough to draw Midnight's attention. Her parents, Franklin and Stephanie van Zant, run a restaurant called The Morning Sun.

Vincent van Thomas

A villain from Lost And Found. Being a former Mouse of NIMH gave him a certain amount of extra intelligence. But he decided to use it in a not necessarily honest way. His name kind of reflects his attitude.

Devices

Rangergull

The Rangergull is a Conwing L-16 seaplane like Baloo's famous Sea Duck, but it lacks the countless nifty improvements, it even still has its old REV-1 engines. In fact, it hasn't been moved for years until the Rangers bought it for incredibly cheap. Although even Wildcat has pronounced it run down and damaged beyond repair, Gadget manages to get it running again and calls it the Rangergull for its white color. The plane serves the Rangers on several occasions throughout the story.

The Rangergull appears exclusively in Too Huge To Be True.

Marabou

Between the Spruce Moose and the Titanium Turkey, Howard Huge has conceived yet another oversized seaplane, even larger than his other two creations. The Marabou is a freight aircraft with two cargo decks which, due to the immense fuselage diameter, are big enough to carry a number of complete, ready-to-fly standard seaplanes such as the Conwing L-16 plus their cargo. The cockpit has seats for four pilots, and the twin-tailed behemoth is powered by a dozen 12-cylinder engines which are heavily modified former marine diesels made of aluminum to reduce their weight, running on gasoline and being aspirated by superchargers. Fitting its name, it is painted cherry red.

The Marabou project has been kept absolutely secret so that aviators are making fun of those who believe in it. This is why nobody has ever tried to retrieve it in the Great Uslandic Desert where it had to ditch on its second ever flight some years before. But now, Huge wants his plane back as he would be almost broke if there wasn't still a certain amount of cash hidden in that bird.

The Marabou appears exclusively in Too Huge To Be True.

The Storm

The Storm is a rodent-sized replica of a North American P-51D "Mustang" built in 1957 by the Ultra-Flite Laboratories. It used to be the property of Jefferson van Zant, but after his death, his son Franklin stored it. The old warbird-style plane hasn't flown since then, even after it has been passed on to Midnight.

Its hull, rudders and wings are all black, and the name is written in white letters under the canopy. The aircraft is powered by a genuine scaled-down Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 combustion engine. As it was never intended to be a fighter, it lacks any kinds of weapons. Instead, it has a baggage space behind the cockpit. Although it has spent most of its time under a cover and not been moved at all, time didn't pass by this old plane without leaving its marks.

The Storm premiered in A Hero That's None and is limited to self-insertion stories. Furthermore, it has been used in several round robins and roleplaying situations at the Acorn Cafe in which it has revealed that its technical equipment has decayed about as much as its exterior.

Beatrice

In the events explained in Lost And Found, Geegaw Hackwrench finds this former radio-controlled model airplane which a mechanically skilled rat is working on. Geegaw takes it over and gives it the same colors which his daughter Gadget wears and her second name, Beatrice.

Beatrice is modeled after a human aircraft. Her closed cabin contains two seats, one for the pilot, which are accessible via lateral doors. She is powered by one single electric motor.

So far, she appears in Lost And Found and December.

Song Parodies

The works are listed in chronological order of their release. All first releases were at the Acorn Cafe.

My Head's In New York City

Just some random Rangerphile thoughts, kind of matching the original lyrics.

Parody of: My Head's In Mississippi by ZZ Top

First released: March 21, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Still On Duty

A song for the Rangers and the Rangerphiles. Highly re-written, yet highly recognizable.

Parody of: The Heart Of Rock'n'Roll by Huey Lewis & the News

First released: April 13, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Acorn Café

The Cafe needed a song of its own.

Parody of: Hard Rock Café by Carole King

First released: April 13, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Tad Gave Chip And Dale To You

A hymn for two chipmunks, and an incentive for fans to be creative.

Parody of: God Gave Rock And Roll To You by KISS

First released: May 26, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Lady Ranger

Dedicated to Gadget Hackwrench.

Parody of: Lady Writer by the Dire Straits

First released: May 26, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Clarice

Clarice isn't even a character from the show, it was the Rangerphiles who put her into the world of the Rangers in several ways. Nevertheless, changing only a handful of words in the lyrics of this song (the second verse stayed entirely untouched) made it a kind of hymn for the rabid stalking Claricephiles.

Parody of: Marliese by Fischer-Z

First released: June 10, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Monterey Jack Is Waiting

Monterey Jack deserved a song of his own. The idea came easy, and so did the chorus.

Parody of: Robert De Niro's Waiting by Bananarama

First released: June 17, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Fat Cat Fever

If there's a villain about whom a song should be written, it's Fat Cat.

Parody of: Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent

First released: June 29, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Widget Hackwrench

Something unusual: This is a song about a fan fiction character.

Parody of: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

First released: July 11, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe (Warning! This song parody is based on John Nowak's fan fiction Under the Bridge and contains spoilers.)

The Ballad Of Gadget Hackwrench

Midnight Man's 10th jubilee parody. Unlike most other song parodies, it is very moody as it deals with Gadget's suffering from the loss of her father.

Parody of: The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan by Marianne Faithfull

First released: August 16, 2006

Awards: 2006 Golden Acorn Awards: Best Song Parody

External link: Acorn Cafe

Don't Cry For Me Little Gadget

This parody on an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical song served as a song break in the publishing of Lost And Found, and it has been written to match said fanfic.

Parody of: Don't Cry For Me Argentina from the musical Evita

First released: September 26, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

They're All Coming Back To You Now

The parody of a song written in the early 80s, performed in the late 80s, and covered by the originally intended singer in the mid-2000s takes the reader back to the mid-90s.

Parody of: It's All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion

First released: November 01, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Welcome To The Café

Another song parody dedicated to the Acorn Cafe.

Parody of: Welcome To The Machine by Pink Floyd

First released: December 19, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Zanzibar

The second song parody based on the fan fiction Lost And Found.

Parody of: Cambodia by Kim Wilde

First released: December 19, 2006

External link: Acorn Cafe

Gypsy Moth

A parody about Cassandra.

Parody of: Crystal Ball by Styx

First released: January 29, 2007

External link: Acorn Cafe

I Heard It On The Oak Tree

The lament of a Foxyphile turned into song lyrics. Another spontaneous parody.

Parody of: I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye

First released: January 29, 2007

External link: Acorn Cafe

Die Retter gehen um/The Rangers Are In Town

The Rangers Are In Town was Midnight Man's first rap parody, his first parody on an Austrian song, and his first bilingual parody, because a German/Viennese version called Die Retter gehen um has been written simultaneously with the English version.

Parody of: Der Kommissar by Falco (Die Retter gehen um)/After The Fire (The Rangers Are In Town)

First released: February 19, 2007 (Falco's 50th birthday)

External link: Acorn Cafe

Nineteen Eighty-Nine

This was written spontaneously to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the first episode's airing. The title is spelled out to avoid confusion with Neal Wolf's song parody 1989.

Parody of: 1999 by Prince

First released: March 5, 2007

External link: Acorn Cafe

Northern Flanders Song

A wacky parody on a wacky song, and an unofficial hymn for the 2007 EuroRangerCon.

Parody of: Alabama Song by The Doors

First released: April 4, 2007

External link: Acorn Cafe

Chip And Dale

Another classic rock parody. It lay unfinished from September 20, 2006 to May 5, 2007 before it was completed and released.

Parody of: Rock And Roll by Led Zeppelin

First released: May 5, 2007

External link: Acorn Cafe

I Love Chip 'n Dale

This parody was already written in its entirety on September 4, 2006. But it took Midnight Man eight months to decide to publish it.

Parody of: I Love Rock 'n Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

First released: May 5, 2007

External link: Acorn Cafe

Awards

2006 Golden Acorn Awards: Most Helpful Rangerphile, Rookie of the Year