Using literary characters as NPC's

If you've read or watched "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" or read the comic book series "Fables", you've noticed how literary characters can be brought into play in different settings outside of their specific books. Another good example of this would be the TV series "Once Upon A Time".

As I'm currently reading the latest volume of the "Fables" trade paperbacks, I was thinking how interesting it might be to add literary characters into a game setting. I'm sure that all the purists who are reading this (if there are any that actually do) are cringing at the idea.



For franchise games such as Star Wars and Star Trek, I've already admitted to being "one of those guys" who usually includes some of the major characters from their respective series when I GM a game. The last Star Wars game I ran had the PC's fairly buddy-buddy with the high rollers of the rebellion. Yes, I occasionally allow twinkies in my less than serious games. Even though he's actually stated in one of the published books, I've never actually used Dracula in any of my World of Darkness games... but I've been tempted. With the topic of this post in mind, he is a literary figure.



I'm wondering if any of you have used literary characters in your games, and if so, how did they work for you or were they just added fluff in your game? Did they make an actual contribution or just sit there being pretty?



Just an FYI to my regular readers who don't follow me on Twitter or haven't friended me on Facebook... You may have noticed that my year-end post is missing. Unfortunately, while I was working to get rid of another post I was developing for later this year, I accidentally deleted the year-end post. Blogger, the platform I use to post my blog, does not have a recycle bin where I can un-delete from. I could try to re-create it, but I usually write in the moment, and the message I originally conveyed would be lost if I attempted to.