What is Pulp?

Pulp is both a medium and a very broad genre. Many popular magazines were once printed on cheap, wood-pulp paper, and included a variety of types of stories (detective, war, action/adventure, science fiction, westerns, romance, etc.). For the purposes of this page, "Pulp" includes not only the stories that appear in the original pulp magazines, but movies, radio, TV, and other media based on them, as well as modern tributes such as "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "The Mummy", and "Sky-Captain and the World of Tomorrow". They are typically set anywhere from the 1920s through the 1940s, and have a more "black and white" view of morality.

These cliches are divided up into some of the popular pulp sub-categories.

COMMON CLICHES

Stage Magician	sawing people in half without hurting them, making dramatic gestures, wearing tuxedo and top hat, pulling rabbits out of hats
Femme Fatale	seducing the rich and powerful, falling in love with square-jawed hero
Jaded millionaire playboy/girl	throwing around lots of cash, drinking gallons of champagne, expecting to be waited on
Circus Performer	walking tightropes, getting shot out of cannons, swinging from trapezes
Shell-shocked Veteran	(being terrified by loud noises, using rifles and bayonnettes, reminiscing about the Great War, having nightmares)
Movie Star	looking glamorous, being idolized by millions, partying into the wee small hours
Stunt Man	escaping from certain danger, looking kinda like a movie star
Nosy Reporter	scooping other reporters, protecting sources
Wonder Dog	going for help, communicating by barking, scenting danger
Aviator/Aviatrix	storming barns, tinkering endlessly with engines, walking away from crash landings
Football Player	eating like a horse, dating cheerleaders, squashing poindexters
Poindexter	stammering around girls, getting leaned on by football players, being a walking encyclopedia
Concert Pianist	practicing constantly, acting snobbish, dressing impeccably
Daredevil	Escaping from crashing vehicle, leaping across crevices
Human Fly	Climbing the Empire State Building without gear, tightrope walking over Niagara Falls
Beat Cop	interrogating criminals, drinking gallons of bad coffee, [protecting donut shops
Linguist	translating ancient inscriptions, pronouncing the unpronounceable
Hobo	hopping freight trains, doing odd jobs, drinking anything alcoholic
Physician	making house calls, scrawling illegibly
Psychiatrist	Asking pointless questions, making everything relate to sex
Soldier	staying awake during guard duty, sleeping whenever you can
Clergyman	sermonizing, saving souls, damning sinners
Frat Boy	boozing it up, chasing girls, hazing freshmen

Western

Singing Cowboy	being followed by unseen musicians, shooting guns from outlaws' hands, helping widows and orphans
Handsome Stranger	wandering from town to town, inadvertantly getting into trouble, being the object of unmarried townswomen's desires
Gunslinger	never refusing a challenge, soaking up the redeye, being asked to get out of town by sunset
Crooked Sheriff	harassing the player-characters, taking bribes, doing what the bad guys say
Incorruptible Sheriff	refusing bribes, facing down the bad guys, getting shot in the back
Town Drunk	cadging drinks, sleeping in gutters, staggering
Saloon Girl	having a heart of gold, dancing for ruffians, falling in love with handsome strangers
School Marm	looking bookish, being prim and proper, falling in love with the handsome stranger
Sodbuster	hating sheep-herders, being a widower, forbidding beautiful daughter to fall in love with handsome stranger
Meek Townsfolk	hiring gunslingers to chase the outlaws out of town, gossiping about the other townfolk
Goofy Sidekick	behaving eccentrically, getting into trouble, having confusing plot points explained to you
Town Fathers	making deals with the local railroad barons, getting rich, selling out the townsfolk
Greenhorn	coming from Back East, not knowing anything about what's going on, being easy prey for the bad guys
Black Hats	stealing cattle, robbing banks, getting shot
Card Sharp	being lucky, pulling out hidden cards, being run out of town on a rail
Faithful Steed	pulling rider's chestnuts out of the fire, knowing how to count
Hanging Judge	hanging them all, letting God sort them out
Bounty Hunter	being gruff and cynical, trailing fugitives
Clueless Deputy	bungling arrests, letting the bad guys go, mistaking the good guys for outlaws
Doc	Being cantankerous, patching up bullet holes, drinking daily
Cattle Baron	Waging war with the rail barons
Rail Baron
Civil War Veteran	having physical or psychological wounds, encountering reminders of the War
Determined Widow	proving you don't need a husband to succeed, evading potential husbands
Snake Oil Salesman	putting on a good show, selling fake medicine
Preacher Man	quoting the Bible, prechjing fire and brimstone, condemning sin
Indian Chief	negotiating with white men, commanding tribes
Savage Indian	scalping, terrorizing, drinking firewater
Noble Savage	acting with honor, shunning firewater
Medicine Man	rain-dancing, casting curses, summoning spirits

STILL IN PROGRESS (Guy Hoyle)

CRIME and DETECTIVE CLICHES

Hard-Boiled Detective	spying on cheating husbands, dodging the landlord, hitting the bottle
Cheap Hoodlum	pistol-whipping victims, taking it on the lam, planning heists
Reformed Gangster	keeping nose clean, getting pulled in by the cops, repaying old debts of honor without getting thrown back in the slammer
Crime Boss	ordering your lieutenants around, having people rubbed out, running rackets
Gun Moll	being sexy in a cheap and tawdry way
Gangster	carrying a tommy gun in a violin case, talking like Edward G. Robinson or Jimmy Cagney
G-Man	nabbing Public Enemy No. 1, wearing snappy trenchcoat
Mouthpiece	defending bad guys in court, making objections, making deals
Stool Pigeon	betraying the bad guys, getting fitted for a pair of cement overshoes
Fence	Receiving hot property, paying off the cops
Obtrusive Police Official	stymieing investigator, hold press conference, arrest the wrong people
Psycho Killer	raving maniacally, skulking, wading through gore offscreen
The Butler	doing it, diverting attention from the ones who really did it
Amateur Sleuth	being smarter than the police, being resented by the police, having an eccentric hobby
Master of Disguise	Imitate absolutely everybody, wear several sets of clothes on top of each other without discomfort
Gentleman Thief	owning a tuxedo, going to posh events, stealing jewels stylishly during the party
Defective Detective	acting eccentrically, outwitting crooks
The Fat Man	being really fat, wearing white suit, being an evil manipulator

Science Fiction

Weird Science

Jetpack Jockey	scorching everything behind you, zipping through the sky like a bat out of hell, walking away without a scratch
Earthman Gone Native	getting stuck on alien planet, being better at what the aliens do, marrying an alien princess
Alien Princess	getting kidnapped, falling in love with handsome earthman, screaming piercingly, postponing “fate worse than death”
Gadgeteer	fixing almost anything with enough chewing gum and bailing wire, inventing half-baked contraptions, stammering and sweating around women
Rocket Pilot	counting backwards, looking good in uniform, out-running space torpedoes
Ship’s Engineer	complaining about poor abused engines, hide still, know every nut and bolt in ship
Absent-minded Professor	forgetting non-attached heads, meddling in God's domain
Robot	making whirring and buzzing sounds, interpreting all commands literally, going berserk at inconvenient moments
Stoic Intellectual	calculating probabilities in your head, expressing no emotions, being a wet blanket
The Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter	being sheltered, falling in love with the Hero, betraying Daddy at an innoportune time

Lost World

Unfrozen Caveman	reminiscing about the Ice Age, hunt for mammoths, unfamiliar with modern world, spooked by modern gadgets, decorate apartment with cave paintings
Jungle King/Queen	swinging on vines, talking with animals, having great tan
Handsome Stranger	foretelling eclipses, getting into and out of trouble, rescuing Native Princess
Native Princess	falling in love with Handsome Stranger, having weird customs, misinterpreting handsome stranger’s actions
Tribesman	menacing outsiders, selling tribal lands for beads and trinkets
Gladiator	wearing antiquated armor, fighting to the death
Rebellious Slave	learning about freedom, rebelling against masters
Overbearing Shaman	talking to spirits, slinging curses, sacrificing virgins
Jealous Prince	plot against Handsome Stranger, yearn for Native Princess
Native Sidekick	assisting Handsome Stranger, knowing the lay of the land
Great White Hunter	decorating your home with stuffed animals, knowing the ways of the natives, surviving in the wild

Villains

Evil Genius	plotting elaborately, torturing fiendishly, revealing plans prematurely, escaping secretly
Bloodthirsty Fiend	wielding axes, laughing maniacally
Mesmerist	hypnotizing damsels, creating illusions, bending wills
Snivelling Toady	worshipping the Master, obeying the Master, failing the Master
Menacing Beast	Grr. Argh.
The Baroness	wearing black leather outfits, having an accent, enjoying pain and suffering
Second Rate Second Banana	feeling inferior, making others pay for it
Evil Cultist	worshipping Evil, doing Evil's bidding, chanting
Corrupt Hick	tormenting city-slickers, marrying your sister
The Mole	being secretly evil, betraying your friends
Enfant Terrible	being adorable, being Satanic
Evil Vizier	corrupting the leader, usurping power
Evil Counterpart/Evil Twin	being just like the hero, only evil
Evil Minion	being disposable
Nitsche Wannabe	ranting about how the world is nothing but grave mold and maggots, plotting the destruction of mankind
Red Scare	spreading Communism, forming evil unions
Evil In A Bottle	trying to escape from the bottle, wreaking evil genie havoc, being put back in a bottle
Implacable Stalker	apparently dying, suddenly showing up again
The Vamp	seducing good guys, eroding morals, looking damn good in a tight dress
Well-Intentioned Extremist	having worthy goals like ending human suffering, employing things like mass murder to accomplish them
Worthy Opponent	having a sense of honor, negotiating honestly, allowing wounded hero to escape again to fight another day
Yellow Peril	being inscrutible, spouting mystic wisdom, using mystic powers

Weird Stories

Tales of strange monsters, eerie settings, nightmares, hauntings,and the occult. H.P. Lovecraft was a master of this form, and his close friends Clark Ashton Smith, R.E. Howard, and Richard Bloch were but a few who followed him into this strange realm. Florian Edelbauer’s “Risus R’lyeh” page at http://www.edlbauer.de/risus/rlyeh.html is a good source for this kind of adventure.

• Ghost Chaser
  Know all about ghosts, set up cameras to catch ghosts on film, disprove fake ghosts, get rid of real ghosts
• Occult Scholar
  Know weird phenomena, remember strange names, find ancient incantation
• Bookshop owner
  Obtain obscure titles, dust shelves, know where any book in the shop is, know what’s in all the books
• Antiquarian
  Quote from obscure authors, know obscure facts, cite reference
• Librarian
  Sort books, find newspaper articles, shh!, find obscure information, repair books
• Anthropologist
  Know aboriginal folktales, know tribal customs, eat disgusting things, speak obscure languages
  

Masked Crusaders

• Solving unusual crimes or unraveling bizarre mysteries, Masked Crusaders are the predecessors of the superhero. Though usually possessed of great strength and cunning, they may also have a strange, signature power (like the ability to cloud men’s minds or immunity to pain) or a special gadget (anaesthetic dart gun, smoke grenades).
• Masked Adventurer (wearing strange costumes, foiling dastardly crimes, escaping from certain death, endangering clueless assistants)
• Clueless Assistant (Performing senseless tasks for masked adventurer, blunder inginto traps)