History Literature / DocSavage

But despite Doc's amazing prowess in science and athletics, he was still only one man. So he gathered a team of five companions, each expert in their own field and totally dedicated to Doc's cause. These men were:

** In ''Land of Long Juju'', the ButNotTooBlack nature of the royal family of an African nation is explained by them being the descendents of a lost Roman legion that invaded central Africa and interbred with the local tribes.

* MushroomSamba

* TheChick: Patricia Savage, who sometimes seemed to exist solely for the purpose of [[TheSmurfettePrinciple being the female character]]. Granted she gets kidnapped a lot but on the other hand her captors usually regret it long before the guys arrive to rescue her. After all, she has repeatedly shown herself to be as capable a combatant and sportswoman as any man in Doc's crew.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs

* CoolPet: Monk's pig, Habeus Corpus, and Ham's monkey, Chemistry.

** In ''Fear Cay'', the bad guys try to capture Doc with KnockoutGas dispensed from a rigged wallet left on the sidewalk where he would find it. It doesn't work, because of his superior ability to smell ([[FridgeLogic he somehow smelled it before he breathed it]]) and (as with [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]]) his ability to hold his breath for much longer than normal. In this case it was ''not'' visible.

** "''Above the eightieth floor, an ornamental observation tower jutted up a full hundred and fifty feet more. The metal work of this was in place, but no masonry had been laid. Girders lifted a gigantic steel skeleton. The naked beams were a sinister forest. It was in this forest that Death prowled. Death was a man.''"

* StunGuns: Doc's "mercy bullets".

* ThereWasADoor: Doc's immense strength allows facilitates this a few times. In ''The Meteor Menace'' he punches a hole in the ceiling because he expects gunmen to be watching the doors and windows.

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: In ''Devil on the Moon'', the true identity of the Man on the Moon turns out to be this. It is [[spoiler:Bob Thomas, a bystander seemingly killed by the Man on the Moons mooks in the opening chapters]].

* BigApplesauce: Doc's primary headquarters were implied (but never firmly established) to be in the Empire State Building, and the stories often had a large section set in New York City before going off to remote corners of the world.

''Doc Savage'' has also had a RadioDrama, more than one ComicBook series including ''ComicBook/FirstWaveDCU'', and [[Film/DocSavageTheManOfBronze a rather campy movie in 1975]]. He was [[ProtoSuperhero a big influence]] on later pulp and comic book superheroes, including Franchise/{{Superman}} (who borrowed, among other things, Doc's Arctic Fortress of Solitude), Franchise/{{Batman}} (who took on the renaissance man traits and the utility belt), Franchise/IndianaJones (Savage was a major influence on the archetype of the adventurous globe-trotting pulp hero) and maybe even the ComicBook/FantasticFour (go [[http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/48/ here]] for more information). A new movie is being prepped by Shane Black of ''Film/LethalWeapon'' and ''Film/IronMan3'' fame, with Wrestling/DwayneJohnson as the titular Man of Bronze, who is thrilled at the opportunity to play [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCDhYSoh0x/ "A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO!"]] Unfortunately, the project has laid dormant for a while, and is presumed to be in DevelopmentHell.

* FailedFutureForecast: Doc once works with an agent of the Soviet OGPU. Since the book predates both the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and the revelations of the true horrors of [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalinism]] he's treated as just another [[{{Ruritania}} Ruritanian police officer.]]

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Inverted: Doc once works with an agent of the Soviet OGPU. Since the book predates both the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and the revelations of the true horrors of [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalinism]] he's treated as just another [[{{Ruritania}} Ruritanian police officer.]]

* AwesomeButImpractical: He had a freaking pneumatic tube to get from his HQ to his hangar on the river.

* ExposedToTheElements: Doc gets round this with another miraculous invention, a substance covering his body that prevents it from freezing (and somehow prevents his body from overheating as well) and makes a trek through UsefulNotes/{{Antarctica}} just a walk through the park.

* {{Fingore}}: In ''The Annihilist'', Leo tortures Sidney Lorrey: starting by pulling fingernails out with pliers, and then moving on to whittling his fingers down to the bone with a sharp knife.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: invariably--''invariably''--the BigBad gets caught in his own doomsday weapon.

** In ''Fear Cay'', one of the novels, the bad guys try to capture Doc with KnockoutGas dispensed from a rigged wallet left on the sidewalk where he would find it. It doesn't work, because of his superior ability to smell ([[FridgeLogic he somehow smelled it before he breathed it]]) and (as with [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]]) his ability to hold his breath for much longer than normal. In this case it was ''not'' visible.

* LongRunningBookSeries

* MasterOfDisguise: ''Despite'' his size and unusual appearance!

* TheNudifier: In the Creator/DCComics series, Monk came up with a gas to dissolve the enemy mooks' gasmasks. It also dissolved his polyester suit much to Ham's amusement.

* {{Omniglot}}: Doc can speak an anstonishing number of languages: most of them well enough to pass as a native speaker.

* PrisonShip: ''The Fortress of Solitude'' opens on a Soviet prison ship transporting prisoners to TheGulag. EvilGenius Jon Sunlight orchestrates a mutiny among the prisoners and they hijack the ship. This does not go so well, as none of the prisoners know how to operate a ship and they wind up running aground in the Arctic circle.

* PurpleProse: Lots and lots and lots, at least in the first batch of stories. The author got better as the series went along, but he started out being perhaps a ''tad'' more descriptive than he needed to be.

* RunningOnAllFours: Monk Mayfair.

* ShownTheirWork: Although the portrayal of foreign cultures usually ended up as caricatures Lester Dent (aka Kenneth Robeson) did put some real effort into learning about the languages. Many words and terms are accurate. For instance the language ''bod-skad'' comes up a few times. That really is the classical Tibetan word for the Tibetan language.

* StylishProtectionGear: Ham

* TheWorldIsNotReady

''Doc Savage'' has also had a RadioDrama, more than one ComicBook series including ''ComicBook/FirstWaveDCU'', and [[Film/DocSavage a rather campy movie in 1975]]. He was [[ProtoSuperhero a big influence]] on later pulp and comic book superheroes, including Franchise/{{Superman}} (who borrowed, among other things, Doc's Arctic Fortress of Solitude), Franchise/{{Batman}} (who took on the renaissance man traits and the utility belt), Franchise/IndianaJones (Savage was a major influence on the archetype of the adventurous globe-trotting pulp hero) and maybe even the ComicBook/FantasticFour (go [[http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/48/ here]] for more information). A new movie is being prepped by Shane Black of ''Film/LethalWeapon'' and ''Film/IronMan3'' fame, with Wrestling/DwayneJohnson as the titular Man of Bronze, who is thrilled at the opportunity to play [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCDhYSoh0x/ "A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO!"]] Unfortunately, the project has laid dormant for a while, and is presumed to be in DevelopmentHell.

* TheMovie: Its page is [[Film/DocSavage here]].

''Doc Savage'' has also had a RadioDrama, more than one ComicBook series including ''ComicBook/FirstWaveDCU'', and [[Film/DocSavage a rather campy movie in 1975]]. He was [[ProtoSuperhero a big influence]] on later pulp and comic book superheroes, including Franchise/{{Superman}} (who borrowed, among other things, Doc's Arctic Fortress of Solitude), Franchise/{{Batman}} (who took on the renaissance man traits and the utility belt), Franchise/IndianaJones (Savage was a major influence on the archetype of the adventurous globe-trotting pulp hero) and maybe even the ComicBook/FantasticFour (go [[http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/48/ here]] for more information). A new movie is being prepped by Shane Black of ''Film/LethalWeapon'' and ''Film/IronMan3'' fame, with Wrestling/DwayneJohnson as the titular Man of Bronze, who is thrilled at the opportunity to play [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCDhYSoh0x/ "A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO!"]]

* HandCannon: Pat's signature weapon is an old six-shooter handed down from her grandfather--a Colt Frontier Single Action .44 with the trigger filed off and a fanning spur welded on the hammer, which she carries in her purse.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Literally, in Doc Savage's case. All of Doc's abilities were the result of intensive training since infancy. Well, that and some very fortunate genes (according to Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer). The recent DC comic-series plays this up somewhat--witness a scene in issue 10 where Doc catches an RPG launched at some American troops by a middle-eastern insurgent, and then [[CatchAndReturn throws it back at him]]. Yes, it's as awesome as it sounds.

** Partially deconstructed in the recent DC series. A flashback shows Doc fighting alongside American soldiers in the middle-east, where his efforts to avoid killing any enemy combatants frequently endanger (and in once case, lead to the deaths of) his comrades.