History of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In the fictional The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen universe there have been a number of versions of the League, and in particular in the comic book The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier the membership and activities of these Leagues were fully explored, interwoven into an extensive world timeline.

The first League was established at the behest of England's Queen Gloriana recommending that Italian sorcerer Prospero and his squire Orlando found a group of extraordinary individuals after her death who would operate independently of the government. This seems to have been done in the hope of establishing a bridgehead between her own faerie realm and the mortal world, via the ethereal Blazing World archipelago in the North Atlantic, in the wake of her successor King Jacob's ruthless purge of faeriekind from the British Isles, and the subsequent retreat of those magical elements from everyday life.

This League collapsed in 1690 when the unwilling extradimensional traveler Christian found the heavenly realm he had been searching for in order to lead him to his home, the Blazing World. Some years later Prospero followed him into this realm, as did Caliban and Ariel, thereby beginning the League's connection with this otherworldly realm as per Gloriana's desires.

The second League was formed by Lemuel Gulliver in the 1750s and secretly gathered in Montague House, London, in service to the British Crown.

This League ended with the death of the elderly Gulliver in 1799. Natty Bumppo having already departed the League some time before, the remaining members continued their association for some time, though not in a capacity as agents of the Crown.

Based on some of the portraits displayed at the British Museum HQ, there has been since the first issue of the LoEG some fan speculation about the existence of mid-19th century league. Some names frequently mentioned are:

Although there are some strong hints of its existence, no reference is made, not even in the Black Dossier issue.

"Allan and the Sundered Veil", the prose short story accompanying vol. 1 describes an unsuccessful attempt by the Time Traveler (the nameless hero of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine) to assemble a League of his own. This group drew three heroes from different points in time:

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