Smells Like Heroism

A recent article in the Kansas City Star claimed that a company called Epic-Scents has created fragrances for two video game heroes: Mega Man and Proto Man. I’d never heard of the video game characters but I was intrigued by the premise. According to the article, the goal was not to capture the smell of the characters but to express “the experience of who that character is.”

Mega Man—apparently an android who turned into a battle robot to defend the world against evil—was expressed as purity, bravery, and masculinity. What, you ask, does that smell like? A fresh tropical breeze (purity), a musky note (masculinity), and a little citrus (for bravery). The fragrance is called Cool Rush.

As for Proto Man, the notes that bring him to olfactory life are apple and cinnamon because “he’s a bit of a rebel.” Yup, if there’s a smell I associate with rebels, it’s cinnamon-crunchy Apple Jacks.

These fragrances, by the way, are only available as air freshener cut-outs in the shape of the characters at the moment, though the makers eventually hope to turn them into juice.

This got me thinking about the heroes of my own misspent youth. I was born before the days of video games. Back then, we got our kicks through things called books. And as a young girl my favorite books involved The Black Stallion. The title character was, not surprisingly, a large dark Arabian horse who rescued a boy from a sinking ship. So what could the scent notes for this Hero Horse be?  Speed, I thought, since he later became a racehorse. Heart, since he never gave up. And Arabia, for obvious reasons. But what would that smell like? For speed, perhaps a burst of menthol: bright, energizing, gone almost before it registers. This would transition into a “heart” (sorry for the pun) of damask rose. All on a base of dates, saffron, and amber. Ormonde Jayne’s Linda Pilkington should develop this scent, since the more I think about the notes, the more they put me in mind of her lovely Tai’if (minus the menthol).

But the Black Stallion wasn’t my only childhood hero. The original Star Wars movie came out when I was 10, so Obi-Wan Kenobi was an idol of mine as well. His essence? Wisdom, of course. Integrity. Courage. Translation? Frankincense and myrrh, iris, and leather. What, you don’t think courage smells like leather?

A few years later my heroes had changed a bit. I was more into the band Black Sabbath than books about black stallions. Sabbath’s notes? Iron Man, Sweet Leaf, and a drop of bat’s blood. In other words, a top note of metallic moss, a heart of sinsemilla, plus a hint of Red Hot in the drydown. Yeah, that about sums up my adolescence.

Your turn! Who were your childhood heroes—and what would their “scent expressions” be?

Image from Wikipedia