Editing Babylon 5 (section)

== Influences ==

''Babylon 5'' draws upon a number of cultural, historical, political and religious influences to inform and illustrate its characters and storylines. Straczynski has stated that there was no intent to wholly represent any particular period of history or preceding work of fiction, but has acknowledged their influence on the series, inasmuch as it uses similar well established storytelling structures, such as the [[hero's journey]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/find/Usenet/jms95-03-usenet/142.html |title=Usenet post by JMS |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=March 19, 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021102170520/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/find/Usenet/jms95-03-usenet/142.html|archive-date=November 2, 2002|access-date=February 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu/pipermail/b5jms/1995-December/000212.html |title=JMS conference on Compuserve: full logged text |date=December 3, 1995 |access-date=February 8, 2019 |quote=I knew that the best series set up where the stories come to you, in a police station or a hospital or a law office, and decided in an SF environment a space station would work well for that...added the backdrop of myth and archetype, constructed a Hero's Journey, and took it from there. |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620051951/http://www.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu/pipermail/b5jms/1995-December/000212.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are a number of specific literary references. Several episodes take their titles from Shakespearean monologs,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/091.html |title=Guide Page: "The Paragon of Animals" |date=July 13, 2004 |website=The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 |access-date=February 8, 2019 |quote=The title is from Shakespeare's "Hamlet," specifically Hamlet's [[What a piece of work is a man]] speech in act 2, scene 2 |archive-date=December 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227214353/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/091.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/021.html |title=Guide Page: "The Quality of Mercy" |date=July 13, 2004 |website=The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 |access-date=February 8, 2019 |quote="The Quality of Mercy" title is drawn from the same source as Compton's book, Shakespeare. |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126095710/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/021.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and at least one character quotes Shakespeare directly.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/004.html |title=Guide Page: Infection |date=November 5, 1999 |website=The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 |access-date=February 8, 2019 |quote="How sharper than a serpent's tooth." (His reply to Garibaldi's joking guess that Sinclair's interview would get him shipped off the station and himself promoted into Sinclair's position.) This is a quote from Shakespeare (King Lear.) |archive-date=January 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129021437/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/004.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Psi-Cop [[Alfred Bester (Babylon 5)|Alfred Bester]] was named after the [[Alfred Bester|science fiction author of the same name]], as his work influenced the autocratic [[Psi Corps]] organization the character represents.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/literary.html |title=Babylon 5 Behind the Scenes: Literary and Historical References |website=midwinter.com |access-date=February 2, 2019 |quote=The antagonist in "Mind War" was named after Alfred Bester, author of "The Demolished Man," a classic SF work about telepathy. The novel also featured a telepaths' guild similar in many ways to B5's Psi Corps. |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310040111/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/literary.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are a number of references to the [[legend of King Arthur]], with ships named ''Excalibur'' appearing in the main series and the [[Crusade (TV series)|''Crusade'']] spin-off, and a character in "[[A Late Delivery from Avalon]]" claiming to possess the [[Excalibur|sword]] itself. Straczynski links the incident which sparked the Earth-Minbari war, in which actions are misinterpreted during a tense situation, to a sequence in ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', in which a standoff between two armies turns violent when innocent actions are misinterpreted as hostile.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/031.html |title=Guide Page: "The Coming of Shadows" |date=July 13, 2004 |website=The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 |access-date=February 8, 2019 |quote=The G'Kar-Emperor thread was similar to the King Arthur legend: Arthur's and Mordred's armies are poised for battle but make one last attempt to negotiate, but a soldier raises his sword to kill a snake and everyone attacks. There's another applicable metaphor for the sword story; you'll see it a little later [in season 3]. |archive-date=July 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716181148/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/031.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The series also references contemporary and ancient history. The [[Centauri (Babylon 5)|Centauri]] are in part modeled on the Roman empire.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/237868/1/babylon-5-asked-answered-centauri-excerpt-b5-creator-j-micha |title=Babylon 5 Asked & Answered: B5 Creator J. Michael Straczynski Answers 5,296 Questions About Babylon 5 & Beyond |website=smashwords.com |access-date=February 7, 2019 |quote="to some extent the Roman civilization is one of the sources for constructing the Centauri" |archive-date=July 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722140617/https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/237868/1/babylon-5-asked-answered-centauri-excerpt-b5-creator-j-micha |url-status=live }}</ref> Emperor [[Cartagia]] believes himself to be a god, a deliberate reference to [[Caligula]].<ref name="Killick">{{Cite book |title=B5: No Surrender, No Retreat |last=Killick |first=Jane |publisher=Del Rey |year=1998 |isbn=978-0345424501 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nosurrendernoret00kill/page/36 36] |quote=(Quoting J. Michael Straczynski) Caligula is probably the most obvious comparison, hence why I had that name reflect that sound a little bit. I wanted someone who you would be very much in fear of, not because he was rampaging around screaming all the time, but because he was completely and totally arbitrary.|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nosurrendernoret00kill/page/36}}</ref> His eventual assassination leads to the ascension of Londo and eventually Vir, both unlikely candidates for the throne, similar to [[Claudius]]' improbable ascension after Caligula was assassinated.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sf-foundation.org/publications/academictrack/keen.php |title=I, Cartagia: a mad emperor in Babylon 5 and his historical antecedents |last=Keen |first=Tony |year=2007 |publisher=The Science Fiction Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316172902/http://www.sf-foundation.org/publications/academictrack/keen.php|archive-date=March 16, 2007|access-date=February 8, 2019}}</ref> The series also references the novel ''[[I, Claudius]]'' by [[Robert Graves]] when Cartagia jokes that he has cured a man of his cough after having him beheaded, something also done by Caligula.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sf-foundation.org/historical|title=I, Cartagia: a mad emperor in Babylon 5 and his historical antecedents {{!}} The Science Fiction Foundation|date=2010-12-31|website=www.sf-foundation.org|access-date=February 7, 2019|quote=...there is a clear reference to ''I, Claudius'' included in Babylon 5. In 'Falling Towards Apotheosis', Cartagia introduces Mollari to his secret 'council' of the severed heads of senior figures he has had executed. He mentions that one was always coughing, but that he has now cured this (by cutting his head off). This is a clear reference to a scene in ''I, Claudius'', in the episode 'Zeus, by Jove'. Gemellus, co-heir of the previous emperor Tiberius and therefore rival of Caligula, has a persistent cough. Caligula has him executed, and when his severed head is brought into his presence, he tells Claudius "I cured his cough."|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921193030/https://www.sf-foundation.org/historical|url-status=live}}</ref> In the episode "[[In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum|In the Shadow of Z'ha'dhum]]," Sheridan ponders [[Winston Churchill]]'s [[Coventry Blitz#Coventry and Ultra|Coventry dilemma]], of whether or not to act on covertly gathered intelligence during a war. Lives would be saved, but at the risk of revealing to the enemy that their intentions are known, which may be far more damaging in the long term. The swearing in of Vice President Morgan Clark invokes the [[John F. Kennedy assassination|assassination of President John F. Kennedy]], being deliberately staged to mirror the scene aboard [[Air Force One]] when [[First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/022.html |title=Guide Page: "Chrysalis" |date=July 13, 2004 |website=The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 |access-date=February 8, 2019 |quote=[Straczynski] I gave very particular instructions to re-create the staging of the photograph in which Lyndon Johnson takes over from JFK after the assassination. The same layout, posture, background, and so on. We even had a photo on set for reference. The creepy thing is that the day we shot the scene was the anniversary of the day it actually took place; very weird atmosphere on set that day. |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126013729/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/022.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several episodes have titles referring to Biblical and/or Christian traditional narratives or texts, such as "[[Passing Through Gethsemane]]", "[[A Voice in the Wilderness (Babylon 5)|A Voice in the Wilderness]]," and "[[And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place]]," the latter being a line from the [[Gospel music|gospel song]] "There's no Hiding Place Down Here."