People who influenced me and my life?
Too many to name, and the list always changes the more people I discover, and the more others let me down.......

Here goes......

Rozz Williams
Diamanda Galas
Carl McCoy
Blixa Bargeld
Glenn Danzig
Nivek Ogre
Anna Varney Cantodea
Genesis P. Orridge
David Tibet
Brendan Perry
Brian Lustmord
Dead and Euronymous from Mayhem
Ihsahn from Emperor
Michael Ford (Psychonaut 75/Valefor/Black Funeral/Darkness Enshroud)
Nortt
Shaamaatae of Arckanum
Andrea Haugen (Aghast/Hagalaz' Runedance)
Aleister Crowley
Austin Osman Spare
H.P. Lovecraft
Edgar Allan Poe
Charles Beaudelaire
J.R.R. Tolkein
Clive Barker
Doug Bradley
Lord Byron
Lord Dunsany
H.R. Giger
Zdzislaw Beksinski
Theodor Kittelsen
Joel-Peter Witkin
Kazuo Ohno
Hijikata Tatsumi
Maro Akaji(whom I've had the pleasure of meeting once)
Manga writer Junji Ito

..... and I know I'm forgetting droves of others.

This was only part of the genius from wikpedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Telsa

And I do mean PART. This is a man that history forgot. Einstein rippped off an idea from another man. This is a man that is sadly forgetten by history. WE are lead to believe that there would be ZERO elecricity withouth edison.

Tesla Wanted free energy before such a belief became popular. Free energy. 100 years before it was something we needed.

Really?...

...cause I think that modern history has vindicated Tesla.

Every single geek (like me), every single science teacher, every single modern-day scientist, knows who Nikola Tesla is. Right now, he is revered as one of the great scientific genuises of the past, right there with Albert Einstein. In fact, many people I've talked about said that none of the technology we use today would be possible if it wasn't for Tesla's ideas and inventions.

But a goth idol? Really? Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft I understand (and where is Stephen King in that list?), but how is a real-life scientist a goth idol? A nerd idol, maybe, but a goth idol? What is goth about Nikola Tesla?

Also, why is Tolkien there? "The Hobbit" is very much a children's novel, and "Lord of the Rings" is enjoyed by childrens and adults alike. It's the series that gave birth to the "sword and sorcery" fantasy genre. How is that goth? That's like saying "Harry Potter" or "Star Wars" are goth series.

Well, I'm putting him there solely for the Silmarillion and his creation of the character Melkor, whom in my view, is about as goth as it gets, right up there with Leautremont's Maldoror character.
However, I'm also putting H.P. Lovecraft on the list more for his Dream Cycle era than his generic horror contributions, mainly because I've always found my love for the dark and paranormal dreamworlds also deeply rooted in my love for high fantasy.
Fantasy, especially of the high or dark variety, has had about as much influence on the gothic culture(notice how I'm leaving out "subculture") as surrealism or traditional horror does.
Not only that, but also his flair for medieval antiquity and mythology became a neverending source of inspiration for darkwave.

Stephen King just never really clicked with me. His settings and aesthetics were always too mundane, too American, too modern, for me to really relate to.

I forgot to mention my list had nothing whatsoever to do with regurgitating heroes and pioneers within a single music subculture everyone already knows(or should know about), but more my personal heroes who always influenced my love for the dark.

And where's the rule saying sword and sorcery can't be goth??? Michael Moorcock's Elric character makes for an interesting gothlike sword and sorcery hero.

Tesla is only a modern "goth" idol. I don't know where you live. But I have never seen any teacher show anything but utter meh towards him. Due to ignorance. How is he not goth? The man wore black and pratically danced in lighting! Goth he may not have been. Badass he was either way!

He is essentially the basis for every modern day mad scientist. Stupid as they may be. He gave fear into the hearts of those that did not understand him for decades. He had knowledge when there was none.

Also tolkiens work was pretty "dark" for the time. Not the "Darkest". But LOTR with an evil sauron with his evil black orcs that killed every man woman and child they crossed paths with. Also saruman who built an army to kill every man woman and child in Rohan. Every single part of tolkiens work that was evil was black. And it wasn't just ok herp derp this is evil blackness. It set the stage for most evil characters we have today.

Nikola Tesla is actually a steampunk idol. In fact, the topic of Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison frequently crops up in online steampunk discussions (with many steampunks expressing their disdain for Edison and how he stole from Tesla).

-- Nephele

Tesla (who is a Serb, I must proudly add ) was a scientist who had some strange fears (per instance, he was afraid to let someone touck his head or to touch someone else's hair.) All he cared is science. Only "goth" thing about him are his black suits. He didn't want to have anything with politics - he didin't despise nor loved it; he didin't care about society and didin't have much friends.



But, in my opinion, I don't think he was a goth. Just a man of science.

I agree with all of your choices Midi, especially the divine Ms. Scuito

Inkubus Sukkubus have only released one song which I find I can no longer listen to, which is Preacher Man (which deals with the topic of child molesting priests, I shudder whenever I hear it).

Rozz Williams, Robert Smith, Lucas Lanthier, Vision from Tragic Black

I can't believe no one has mentioned the brilliant Jillian Venters who, in my mind, has done more to bring peace and understanding between norms and goths than any person before. Her video "What is Goth?" has meant that all my family who previously looked at me like I had crawled off another planet now go "Oooooh...so that's what it's all about....".

Honestly I like Jillian Venters. A lot. But I tend to think of her as being more neo-Victorian. Although goth encompasses that, too.

-- Nephele

Male: Voltaire
Female: Siouxsie Sioux (runner up would be Jillian Venters though)

Fictional Character: Definitely Abby Sciuto...hands down! I find I am much like her in real life.

Real Life: Hand down Siouxsie Sioux, and I can only hope I look as good as she does when I get to be her age.

She is a self-proclaimed Cupcake-Goth.

Also, you cannot separate neo-victorian from Goth! The entire London Gothic is primarily Victorian-Goth. She is also a vocal spokesperson for Goth as a whole and is working as a consultant for the "My Summer as a Goth" movie.

I apologise if my tone sounds a bit defensive, but I feel I have to defend the "Goth cred" of someone I admire.

I can't decide between Veljanov from "Deine Lakaien", Robert Smith from "The Cure" and ASP, who gave me some of the deepest trances on the dancefloor in the last decade. But I wouldn't call them idols. Except of The Cure it is just dancefloor sound.