Carol's Favorite Fictional Character --- Miss Scarlet

We have reached the last guest post of the year, and Carol of Carol's Notebook, has chosen to present a truly fabulous character.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Carol or her blog, you are really missing out on something great.  She is such a warm blogger, one who's personality oozes off the screen.  She brings us into her life and allows us to share in her daughter's artwork, share a favorite meal, or go on vacation with them.  She writes terrific book reviews, I can't even begin to tell you how much she has added to my wish list.  She also features her own writing, folk tales, and board game reviews, which I must admit to being one of my favorite features.  It's that love of games, that makes this guest post shine even more.  So please, after  reading this post, head on over to her blog, and say hi.

It’s hard to choose a favorite fictional character, the list of potentials is just so long, from distinctive detectives to a talking frog, from vampires to all-American girls, but there’s one character I’ve loved since childhood, the first femme fatale I knew – Miss Scarlet, from Clue. First, you have to know that I love mysteries, and have for as long as I can remember. My family and friends, both when I was a child and now as an adult, have always played board games and it only makes sense that Blue was one of my favorites. You get to be the detective, trying to figure out who killed Mr. Boddy before anyone else solves the case.  Of course, there’s always the potential that you yourself are the murderer, but that just adds to the suspense. And the character I always chose was Miss Scarlet.

Miss Scarlet’s mysterious, sexy, dangerous, a woman who keeps her own secrets. And her color in the game is red, of course, to match her name, but it also fits her personality, at least in my mind, passionate, more than capable of killing Mr. Boddy, either in moment of rage or as part of a calculated plan.

She has evolved over the years. I guess in 1949, the first British version of the game, she was actually a blonde, but the two versions I’m must familiar with are the original American Scarlett and the Master Detective version from 1988. I still own that game, although no one ever wants to play it with me- more rooms, more suspects, but not as “strategic” as a lot of the newer games out. Miss Scarlet’s personality is even more flushed out in Master Detective.  She’s known as the “Mercenary of Macao,” and is willing to do anything for money. And she’s still smoking here too, which kind of surprises me.  Of course, I guess that was 15 years ago, and we were a little less politically correct when it comes to smoking in kids shows and, apparently, board games.

Through all her incarnations, though, Miss Scarlet is deliciously charming, alluring, and deadly. She’s the kind of woman who could lure you into the library and then shoot you point blank. Or maybe poison. I never thought she would be one to bash Mr. Boddy over the head with a candlestick though or beat him to death with a pipe – just too messy.

Now that I’ve got Miss Scarlet and Master Detective Clue on my mind, I may have to play tonight. I wonder if I can convince my daughter and husband. She can be Miss Peach and he can be Professor Plum.