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Have the Rebels ever insulted the Imperials the way that the Imperials insult them? During the ground assault on the forest moon of Endor an Imperial officer captures Han Solo and his group of rebels he famously says the line: You Rebel scum! It is quite clear that the Empire did not hold the Rebel Alliance in high...
Stormtroopers are frequently called "bucketheads", a term that originated from the Republican period when clone armor were considered as little better than serving as body buckets - only good for keeping your body in one piece.
If you cut Deadpool exactly in half, which half would regenerate? If you cut Deadpool exactly in half, which half would regenerate and grow the rest of his body? Or would both halves regenerate a complete Deadpool? Has this happened in the comics? (I haven't had a chance to read them ALL). Would this be a plausible ...
In addition to Evil Deadpool, there was also the case where it was revealed that (due to an incident in 2008) Deadpool had been merged with Madcap, when Thor disintegrated them both into a pile of dust and then they regenerated together in one body: From all the various answers and from current knowledge of brain anato...
How strong is Spider-Man? Unlike other superheroes, he is generally depicted as skinny and unimposing physically. Due to the constantly changing strength classifications of super heroes I've lost track of where he fits in. I remember back in an 80s comic he's shown crushing a steel handrail on a bus by just squeezing ...
In the original Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game, Spider-Man had Incredible (40) strength, which was described as the ability to press 10 tons.
In Deathly Hallows, why didn't the Death Eaters (and Voldemort) go immediately to the Burrow after trying to get Harry at Privet Drive? I have wondered this awhile. In the Seven Harrys chapter, it seems that after being foiled at Privet Drive, the Death Eaters and Voldemort would have immediately thought of -- and th...
Voldemort didn't know which of the (many) safe houses Harry was heading to. Even the Death Eaters couldn't blast their way through the enchantments without inside knowledge gained from the Ministry.
From the bridge why can you see another ship in space, shouldn't there be no light? Sorry if this has been asked before but I searched and was unable to locate an answer. Something that has always bothered me is in Star Trek whenever the Enterprise comes upon another ship in deep space. When we see the ship, either o...
The in-universe explanation is that nearby stars and such are shining on the ships from off screen in addition to any built-in lighting.
Is pig's ear a low quality foodstuff as claimed by the Discworld? In the Discworld Series, pig's ear is portrayed as a low-quality foodstuff. From lspace: this is a necessity, forced upon the typical Agatean coolie when all the other more interesting bits of the pig have been porked by all the social strata ranking a...
In Chinese cuisine, pig's ear is often an appetizer or a side dish, called 豬耳朵
Why aren't there any nebulae in Star Wars? In Star Trek there are nebulae practically everywhere. I don't remember seeing any in Star Wars though, why is that? Why does Star Trek hog all the nebulae and Star Wars has none? If there actually is some obscure nebula in the Star Wars universe, the question rema...
The luminosities of spaceships/planets, stars and nebulae are huge factors apart, and even in observational astronomy, unless you want to see a nebula, you won't see it.
Which X-Men movies should I watch before Deadpool? I want to watch Deadpool, but I have heard the character has appeared in X-Men series too. My question is, if I watch X-Men before Deadpool, will it enhance my interest in the Deadpool character? <Q> To understand the film, none. <S> To understand the jokes, you need...
Deadpool only appears in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine , as Deadpool. But there are like 2-3 jokes about Ryan Reynolds being also Green Lantern that you would really enjoy if you see Green Lantern first.
Students expelled from Hogwarts, breaking of wands, and complete education Related to this question: What does it take to be expelled from Hogwarts? and Why Couldn't Hagrid Have a Functional Wand? TL;DR - 1a) Do we know of any other students that were actually expelled? TL;DR - 1b) What constitutes a complete educ...
Hagrid, of course, but the only other person known who was expelled was Harry Potter, who was temporarily expelled for his escapades with the dementors in OOTP, although this was later retracted.
What seal does Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) use for his letters? Petyr Baelish a.k.a Littlefinger comes from House Baelish whose sigil is "a grey stone head with fiery eyes, on a light green field". We also see he has crafted a mockingbirg to use as a personal sigil. Letters/correspondence in Westeros are sealed wi...
You can change the sigil you were born with and make that the sigil that reprsents you and your descendants.
In general, are blasters more powerful in The Force Awakens? Watching The Force Awakens , it seems like blaster technology has noticeably improved. Many blasters seem to create small explosions capable of affecting multiple targets at a time. Am I wrong, or did blaster technology canonically improve between Return o...
As far as I know, there is no published study in canon on the state of military technology or its advancement in the preceding 30 years (or any time period for that matter). The only blaster that is really more powerful is Chewbacca's crossbow shaped one.....that one holds a very very very very strong punch even so str...
Why would the other Xindi species give a race of fish-people equal standing? On Star Trek: Enterprise, 1 of the 5 races of Xindi on the Xindi council are fish-people (for lack of a better term). I am having trouble understanding how a race of under-water non-humanoids could be on equal standing with the others. Powe...
This is just a guess, but being aquatic would have several advantages on a planet where there were several dominant species competing.
Why does Seven of Nine pronounce "Futile" differently than Locutus? Before Seven of Nine was freed from the Borg collective by the Voyager crew, she was designated to speak on behalf of the Collective. Of course, she said the famous Borg phrase "Resistance is Futile". However, she pronounced it as "few-tul" instead of ...
Standardization is certainly a core Borg value, but they still recognize the need for variation in some contexts (spheres vs. cubes, for example).
Fantasy series with a hacker/programmer wizard and female protagonist, similar to Wiz Biz On Goodreads I found the Wiz Biz series : It all began when the wizards of the White League were under attack by their opponents of the Black League and one of their most powerful members cast a spell to bring forth a mighty wi...
Barbara Hambly's Windrose Chronicles has a female programmer travel to a world with magic.
How Freely Can Kilgrave's Commands Be Interpreted? When Kilgrave gives an instruction that can be interpreted in multiple ways, how free is the recipient to select an interpretation? Does the recipient always have to choose the most lethal meaning? When Kilgrave escapes from the sealed room, he tells Trish to put a ...
It might be a bit of speculation, but it seems that the victim of Killgrave's power will be trying to do exactly what Killgrave intended them to do instead of finding possible ways out:
Does the dark side always exist as a different identity within you? Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are two different persons inhabiting the same body, who agrees with such a view. The script and novelisations also show that such duality appear to exist between Palpatine and Sidious. In Disney canon, Kylo Ren also app...
Darth Sidious and Palpatine is considered to be the same person. Darth Maul has only one name and identity as mentioned earlier. It means to Vader that He killed Anakin. Luke saw his philosophical 'dark side' in ESB, when fighting image of what he though was Vader. Unlike Sidious and Tyranus they do not separate their ...
Did Ekrizdis create the Dementors? When reading the Pottermore writing on Azkaban , I took away the following highlights (emphasis mine): TL;DR - Did Ekrizdis create Dementors? The fortress upon it was originally home to a little-known sorcerer who called himself Ekrizdis . Evidently extremely powerful , but of...
So, while inconclusive, it would appear that Ekrizdis did not create the Dementors.
Would WiFi work at Hogwarts? A friend and I recently found this link: http://imgur.com/gallery/7a2S1 , the important parts shown below. It's about an IT-Guy who works at Hogwarts to install WiFi and stuff. But WiFi and computers require electricity. Would it be possible to install a power supply at Hogwarts, since it...
Wifi is blocked by stone walls , and of course Hogwarts is all about thick stone walls.
Why do magic and technology not mix in Harry Potter? I've read that, in the world of Harry Potter, magic and technology literally don't mix. If there is a strong enough concentration of magical stuff around (people, beasts etc.), it can literally cause modern tech to malfunction or even shut down and fail completely. ...
I'd say it's because "modern" electronics have been miniaturized to such a degree that they require that the laws they are based on to be stable (or at least, more stable than something like a clock would need), so it's less Magic vs. Science and
Are there any instances where technology is superior to magic? Magic is often touted to be superior to technology. While this statement is often made as propaganda or to enforce the idea of wizard-folk superiority over Muggles, it does have some merit - there are many examples problems we Muggles would love to have mag...
In conclusion; cars and radios seem to be the only widely used Muggle inventions that are superior to magic .
Does any character make an appearance during all episodes I-VII? Building off of this great question, does any character both survive and make an appearance in all seven Star Wars episodes? For example, we know that Chewbacca is certainly alive for the entire time, but he doesn't show up in prequels 1 and 2. The only...
Out of universe, Anthony Daniels is the only actor who has actually acted in all seven films.
Why did Snape want the Dark Arts job? There's a lot of talk about why Snape was denied the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching job, but why did Snape want it in the first place? He is shown to be very skilled at two branches of magic: Occlumency (enough to resist Voldemort himself) and Potions (as a student he f...
So, in addition to being a spy and informant for Dumbeldore, Severus may have wanted to groom a generation of wizards to be more effective opponents of Voldemort.
Do medicine kits in Star Trek have new kidney pills as standard? My question is about the medicine kit of Doctor McCoy. http://www.startrek.com/article/treknosis-making-dr-mccoys-magic-pills-real Check out the good doctor's miracle cure from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . When McCoy asks an old woman “What’s the ma...
He has a pill that restores perfect health and regrow organs.
How many shuttles does Voyager have, not including The Delta Flyer In the episode Nightingale , at the start of the episode when Voyager is in the process of a major maintenance overhaul there are at least 3 shuttles that can be seen. I have lost track of the number of times a shuttle has been destroyed. How many shut...
Voyager had up to 8 shuttles at any given time, with up to 17 built during the show's run.
Are there any blue Sith? In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday , I wanted to make a Star Wars version of the famous phrase: One fish Two fish Red fish Blue fish "Sith" kind of sounds like "fish", so I've got One Sith (Vader) Two Sith (Sidious and Vader) Red Sith (Darth Maul) Blue Sith (?) A "Red Sith"...
And of course, Anakin was a Sith, and when he became a Force-ghost, he was blue. You could also use Maul's hologram.
In A Clash of Kings, why does Cersei initially oppose marrying Joffrey to Margaery? In A Clash of Kings , when the Small Council hears of the assassination of Renly Baratheon, Tyrion realizes that the Lannisters can no longer depend on the Baratheon brothers decimating each other in battle before either of them reache...
Leaving the prophecy aside, Cersei is extremely jealous of other women, as well as being possessive and overprotective of her children. She may have had concerns about a convoluted plot involving marriage, that would almost certainly have involved her, at a time when she was looking to advance other plans. Perhaps by t...
When were the Clone Troopers replaced with regular humans? It is clear in the original trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) that the Storm Troopers are regular humans. Mostly because of the funny scene, where a tall Trooper hits his head on a low door while his colleagues pass through with ease. So they are not clones but individu...
Clones were subjected to age acceleration, after 20 years, new non-clone recruits were put into stormtrooper duty. Since the human regulars were said to have "enlisted after the war", it sounds like production of the clones ended with the Clone Wars and the Empire began phasing them out immediately. In Episode 7, we fi...
Are Stormtroopers paid or rewarded in any way for their service? First off, I have only seen the seven episodic films in the Star Wars franchise. I am aware of vast amounts of other canon and non-canon sources available. Much of the fun I have on this Stack Exchange site is reading the about some of these questions. ...
Stormtroopers apparently have some kind of low-paying pension scheme:
Looking for short stories differing from two Spider Robinson collections, from "Melancholy Elephants" to "By Any Other Name" I am looking for a synopsis or summary of two Spider Robinson short stories, "It's a Sunny Day" , and "Father Paradox" . This is kinda a reverse story-identification... I have name and author,...
However my copy of Melancholy Elephants end with "Rubber Soul" and doesn't contain the story "Father Paradox". I found a reference to "Father Paradox" categorized as an "Observation Resolution" take on the time-travel-paradox story, where anything the time traveler does simply makes things turn out the way they are any...
Why are canon Clone Troopers replaced? With reference to Why did the Empire discontinue the clone trooper program? Same question but strictly no Legends. I want to know the reason within the Disney canon's context, as a lot of things with respect to the clones are different. Edit : I guess I should have made it clea...
Presumably, it's because the end of the Clone Wars meant war production -- including the expensive production of clones -- was no longer needed. They have been replaced with non-clone volunteers who are "fervently patriotic and loyal to the Empire".
Why is Harry concerned that he might reveal Sirius's location to Umbridge? In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , at one point Umbridge tries to give Veritaserum to Harry in order to learn the location of Dumbledore and Sirius: 'Very well,' she said, though she looked displeased. 'In that case, you will kind...
If he’s not careful, he could find himself divulging vital information about the Order itself, which would be catastrophic and probably further fuelled the panic response to deny everything. Whilst Harry might not know how to break the charm, it is possible that Umbridge or one of her allies, would know how to circumve...
In Interstellar, why does Cooper leave Brand? Near the end of Christopher Nolan's space adventure film, Interstellar , Cooper and Brand are the only ones left to save the mission, and they're both flying around the black hole Gargantua. Cooper's plan is to detach the part of the ship containing TARS (Ranger 1) into t...
The only reason they were even near the black hole was because they were so low on resources that the sling shot maneuver from its gravity was the only way they could generate enough speed to make it back to the wormhole and return to earth before oxygen ran out.
80's SciFi short-movie where the domestic devices come to life and takes over from humans I'm looking for a short movie, probably from the 80s, I remember having watched when I was a kid... It was on a VHS (yes, I'm started to be old already), a compilation of several "horror" short movies... One of them was about the ...
Robot spiders and rogue appliances brings to mind Runaway , a 1984 Tom Selleck vehicle where he is part of a police division that deals with malfunctioning robots and other automated appliances.
How old is Tuvok? In the episode "Meld", Tuvok mentions he has been studying violence for over 100 years, but in another episode Janeway gives him a birthday cake and say it will not be long before he hits the "big 3 digits". Since these statements seem contradictory, how old is Tuvok? <Q> According to Voy: Flashback...
If you do simple math from the year of Praxis' explosion (2293) and detract 29 (because at the time, Tuvok was 29 years old according to episode 'Flashback'), then according to this, Tuvok was born in 2264. As far as I'm aware, there's no good explanation for this discontinuity other than that his records may be inaccu...
Why couldn't McCoy catch a ride with Spock's dad back to Vulcan in Star Trek III? In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Spock's father (Sarek) told Kirk to bring Dr. McCoy to Vulcan. At the time Enterprise was all busted up and being decommissioned. Kirk told Sarek that it would be difficult and Sarek basically j...
Bringing Spock to Vulcan involves visiting the restricted Genesis planet, something that the principal Federation negotiator, Sarek, could not be involved with, even tangentially.
Did Harry know that Aunt Marge will be rescued? In the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry accidentally inflates his aunt(Marge) as a consequence of the terrible things she says about his parents. Now, I know that his anger was justified. But did he just assume that the Accident Magical Reversal Squad would save her? Or did he ...
Harry didn’t know anything about the wizard prison, though everyone he’d ever heard speak of it did so in the same fearful tone. It's likely he just assumed - probably unconsciously - that "someone" would fix it.
Why are most holograms blue in Star Wars? Throughout the Star Wars saga, no matter the era, no matter who's broadcasting, blue holograms are exceedingly common. Additionally, Snoke's hologram occasionally flashes blue. However, multi- and full-color holograms do exist. If these more advanced holograms exis...
The technology of holograms remains one of light projection, and blue light is clearly the color associated with the illuminator associated with that technology.
Who was the earliest female science fiction writer? Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818. I wonder if most readers would consider the book within the science fiction genre. It certainly has claim to the Gothic and horror genres as well. If you do see it as belonging to science fiction, do you know of any earlier f...
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote Herland in 1915. The History of Science Fiction (part of the Palgrave Histories of Literature series, published 2007) discusses Shelley’s Frankenstein more as an influence on the development of science fiction as opposed to the first science fiction novel. It depends on which works you co...
Is latinum a galactic currency? In DS9 The Search , Quark explains to Cpt Sisko that's he trusts he'll be safe booking passage back to the Alpha Quadrant from Karemma, because He [Ornithar] may serve the Dominion, but I'm the one lining his pockets with latinum. I'll get passage on the next freighter back ... Scri...
When Quark talks about " filling someone's pockets with latinum... ", the implication is that " ...or whatever that person considers to be money " has been left unsaid. The Federation uses it for trade (yes, it's Ferengi-related anyway), while the Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Cardassian Union also use latin...
What was the important thing Clara said to the Doctor in the cloisters? In Hell Bent , when Clara was talking to the Doctor about being trapped in the confession dial: CLARA: No. Why would you even do that? I was dead! I was dead and gone. Why? Why would you even do that to yourself? DOCTOR: I had a duty of care. ...
I think that Clara said that she loves him
Does Naruto use Flying Raijin Jutsu? This technique is used by Minato Namikaze, but does Naruto use it as well? As far as I remember, he dodged a punch from Raikage who said that he has surpassed his father. Is this technique something else? <Q> Naruto does not use the Flying Thunder God technique at any point in the...
I think Naruto may have some knowledge of the Flying Thunder God technique, but has never showcased it in live combat. He uses Flying Raijin 2 times: against Menma in the movie and to stop Boruto from vandalizing the Great Stone Faces. Not sure if it's Canon or not, I would assume it is since the plot of the movie was ...
Are House Elves biologically compatible with humans? In Harry Potter, House Elves exist as short servants to the wizarding world, despite their superior control over magic. As there are no wild elves mentioned, the question of how they came to be enslaved brought the following to mind: are House Elves compatible with h...
No real part elves have been shown in canon.
Cartoon about a team of alien hunters from the US The cartoon used to broadcast in the late 1990s till mid 2000s. The cartoon consisted of three main characters, two guys and a girl. If I'm not wrong they were a team from the USA that hunts down aliens. One of them was a black man with metal arms. I remember that they...
I have the vauguest feeling this may be at least one episode of B.A.D.: Bereau of Alien Detectors. One of the most frequently-appearing supporting characters is Jefferson Trueblood, a Native American man:           L-R: Jefferson Trueblood, Nick Logan, Sh'lainn Blaze.
Why do zombies eat our brains? Do we know the first, or at least possibly the most influential, occurrence of zombies targeting humans for our delicious brains? And do we know why they go for that organ specifically ? <Q> In regards to why the zombies feed on brains , there is an official explanation is a quote fr...
Although Romero is noted as the source for many of the common zombie tropes, shambolic movement and a hunger for human flesh being the most prominent, zombies don’t actually eat brains in any of the six “Of the Dead” series of films he directed.
Did Marty-2 go to the Lone Pine Mall, or was is still Twin Pines Mall for him? In Back to the Future when Marty first goes to the mall to meet up with Doc he walks past the mall sign which reads Twin Pines Mall. At the end of the movie when he returns to the mall to save Doc and watches Marty-2 go back in time the sign...
From Marty's point of view, he is travelling outside of that version of the timeline, so in his mind, the name of the mall should be Twin Pines Mall.
Why was Remus Lupin on the Hogwarts Express? In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , why does Remus Lupin take the train to Hogwarts? I do not recall any other instance of Professors taking the train. A basic search online yielded the following, unsatisfactory answers: He was exhausted from a recent transfor...
It could be a school policy for all or most teachers to take the train to Hogwarts to watch over the students. Remember that Hogwarts has an anti-Apparition jinx, so Apparition would still require a little, or maybe a lot, of walking over hard ground to get to Hogwarts, whereas on the train he could--and did--sleep alm...
How does Deadpool break the 4th wall? Continuation of Does Deadpool know he is breaking the 4th wall? So Deadpool knows he's fictional. But how does he know things like what issue he's in, or where the fourth wall is so he can talk to us, or if speech bubbles are working properly. For example, even if I knew that th...
Sometimes he may be able to guess accurately based on the information available to him (like a profiler can predict what the person being profiled will do). Deadpool is not the only character who is aware of the 4th wall thing. That's an out-of-universe effect.
Looking for a story about a bad queen, living in a ice-castle, opposed by 2 children I remember an animated cartoon in the 1980's or 1990's about two children, a brother and a sister, who are in a world with a lot of snow, governed by a bad queen who lives in an ice-castle. In the beginning, the queen is kind, but she...
It could be the 1995 version of A link to the full movie can be found here. As per the original tale, there are shards of ice in his heart and eyes, which is part of the corruption.
Are there any incidents of collateral damage in Star Wars? Collateral damage is a general term for unintentional deaths, injuries, or other damage inflicted incidentally on an unintended target. In my question, I'd like that to be refined further to specifically include incidences of accidental damage on one's own "si...
During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Saba Sebatyne (was then a Jedi Knight) arrives at her home planet, Barab I, only to find it obliterated by Yuuzhan Vong forces in orbit. The Krytos Trap describes the ion engines completely incinerating all buildings surrounding it as it lifted off.
Rey wears dark goggles in dark environments? Why does Rey wear dark goggles inside a dark, poorly lit star destroyer? After all, she's using a flashlight to help her see, so wouldn't just taking off the goggles make things easier for her? Other than giving the movie suspense for about 45 seconds by not revealing Re...
They aren't sunglasses, they're the lenses of a stormtrooper helmet.
Is Kruge's pet in STIII a type of Klingon Jackal? In the TOS film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Klingon captain Kruge has a vicious looking lizard-dog at his side. The animal is never given a name, although it was called "monster dog" behind the scenes. It's obviously not a targ but later in the sixth movie, we ...
It's certainly possible that the two sets of animals are related, but more than likely they aren't.
Did Marty wipe his children from existence? At the end of Back to the Future, Part III , Marty declines to enter the drag race that was shown in the previous film to have disastrous consequences for his musical career. The 2015 fax of future-Marty being fired is now blank, implying that the future of the McFlys shown ...
I think it's fair to say that since the movie didn't state that he did, he didn't.
Why aren’t remotely-controlled robots used in Star Trek? While watching Star Trek Into Darkness , the following two scenes looked funny to me. In the opening scene, Spock almost dies while trying to save a native population from death by volcano. His death is only averted by exposing the population to the sight of t...
There seem to be a number of issues at play here; Kirk's desire to have the "steadiest hands on the ship" doing the operation, the shielding on the torpedos blocking any scans inside the casing and the risk that having an active (outgoing) signal may trigger the torpedo to explode
Is the Captain's Yacht from Enterprise-D (the Calypso) warp-capable? I'm wondering if it is mentioned anywhere whether or not the Captain's Yacht from the Enterprise-D ( the Calypso ) is warp-capable? I understand that it is described as a large, fancy shuttlecraft, and we see in the shows that even small shuttles a...
Yes, it was warp capable but at low speeds only. Yacht operational rules in the vicinity of the starship are generally the same as those for other auxiliary spacecraft, with the difference being that the yacht, during emergency undockings, may be safely deployed at velocities as high as Warp Factor 7.
Longer version of Robert Heinlein's 1951 "The Puppet Masters" It appears that both the Galaxy Science Fiction serialization and the original novel version of Heinlein's The Puppet Masters were edited down from 96,000 words to about 60,000. According to Wikipedia, one reason for the edits was the fear that the origi...
All printings of all editions since 1990 have been of the longer version.
Which characters' dead/alive status is different between the ends of Game of Thrones season 5 and A Dance With Dragons? No particular reason for asking, and please don't post any comments about spoiler-y things GRRM or anyone else may or may not have mentioned in interviews about upcoming twists in upcoming books or ...
And of course Grand Maester Pycelle and Kevan Lannister who are killed in the books by Varys And Mance Rayder probably also is still alive in the books From the Wall, Pyp and Grenn were both killed in season 4 of Game of Thrones , but are both still alive as of the end of the fifth book A Dance With Dragons .
Communcations and the MDV in "The Martian" In the book "The Martian", communication is lost with Earth after the Mars Ascent Vehicle leaves. It seems to me the Mars Descent Vehicle (MDV), which they landed in, would have had some kind of a communication system. I don't recall hearing anything about the MDV. Why couldn'...
I think its probable that the MDV did have a communications system, but there is something that is being overlooked here - the MDV communications system does not have to be a high power one, as the only time it was on Mars and manned was when the Hermes was in orbit, meaning that it could use the Hermes communications ...
Is "Force Ghost" the correct term in-universe? I realize that, out-of-universe, we have come to refer to them as Force Ghosts. However I doubt Qui-Gon or Yoda would use the words "Force Ghost" to describe what happens. Is there an in-universe word or phraseology that Jedi would use to refer to what we call "Force Gho...
Wookieepedia refers to them as "Force spirits," if you find any value in that, but I was unsuccessful in my attempt to find excerpts of any characters using that term.
Black Holes in Star Wars Black holes are a pretty common feature in science fiction, whether for warping, power generation, etc. However, I can't recall any mention of them in Star Wars. Are there any notable mentions of black holes in the Star Wars? Official Canon is preferred, but Legends and such are fine. <Q> In ...
The Deep Core was a small cluster of densely packed stars centered on a black hole in the very heart of the galaxy. In Canon, I can only think of 1 semi-example.
In The 100, where is the round skyscraper located? I have found this theory crafters map of the area that the TV show “The 100” is set in. Now I have tried searching for the skyscraper that seems to be seat of power in the show. The building is round and quite tall. I have searched Washington DC and Annapolis but tha...
St. George's Tower , although it is in the UK. It looks like the Capitol Records Tower but taller (maybe more futuristic)
What kind of plant did EVE find? In WALL•E , EVE found a plant when visiting Earth for a routine check. When reading this question about the plant , it is called a pea plant. However, it does not actually look much like a pea plant, and it got me to thinking. What kind of plant is it that is found by EVE? <Q> In u...
My guess is that it's just a "generic" plant, used by the animators to symbolize the natural world.
Why did Luke originally hate the Empire? From A New Hope : LUKE: I can't get involved! I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's ...
Although the implication is that he's hated the Empire for a long time (almost to the point that it goes without saying), it's perhaps worth noting that he just found out that an agent of the Empire killed his father . A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hu...
Can Magneto detect magnetic objects without seeing them? Could someone with a metal bullet hit magneto, when he is not expecting it? In the movies it looks like he has to concentrate on where the bullets are coming from which makes sense. More metal more control, Less metal less control. So if Magneto is in a heavy ...
Probably not Magneto seems to be able to sense metal in his neighborhood - he could sense iron in prison guard blood or example and his powers work fast enough to stop bullets.
What is the earliest worldbuilding fiction? How old is the worldbuilding phenomenon in writing? What is the earliest writing that can be categorized as such? The worldbuilding wikipedia page says that the term first appeared in 1965; however, in retrospect there are earlier stories that most would now happily class...
My suggestion would be Utopia by Sir Thomas More, written in 1516. One could argue that the description of Atlantis in Timeo and Critias as a fictional world construction, making Plato a proto-scifi/fantasy writer, though some people chose to take it as something Plato actually believed.
What events was River referring to? In Forest of the Dead right before she died, she explains what happened the last time she met him: RIVER: Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, th...
"You have always known" is in reference to the fact that the Doctor always knew how she would die.
How Do the Other Three Element Bending Nations Sort Their Avatar? The Air Nomads have their set of toys, and Korra showed impressive skill in other areas than waterbending. However the case for all of the others would likely be different. So my question is is there any evidence of the other Nation's Avatar selection? <...
So far in canon no other nation has revealed how they determine their Avatar, but my speculation for the Fire Nation is that the fire sages have something to do with it, considering what's shown in the show. In the Rise of Kyoshi (canon based novel), the Earth kingdom finds their Avatar through a form of directional ge...
Why is Trantor, from Asimov's Foundation, all underground? Is there a reason given as to why Trantor is completely underground? Seems like would be a huge waste of space for it. I know there are 40+ billion people there, but would think a planet sized city would be more like Coruscant in Star Wars. Tall buildings and u...
Trantor's buildings are all subterranean or under domes due to worsening weather conditions" as indicated by Wikipedia , sourced to Prelude to Foundation , pages 110 and 118.
Was there a literary inspiration for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland?" Numerous writers have drawn on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland . A quote , edited for length, from Wikipedia notes that, among many others, the following written works have been influenced by Alice : Finnegans Wake (1939) by James Joyc...
I think his chief influences for Alice etc were his own private in-jokes and those which would be familiar to his child audience - the rewriting of nursery rhymes, the literalisation of phrases (Mad as a Hatter, Mad as a March Hare)
What Marvel Superhero or Supervillain Has the Most Secret Identity? Secret identities are an important plot point in many-a-comics, and it's usually a big deal when a superhero's secret identity risks exposure. However, many superheroes reveal their identity to friends or allies - and supervillains frequently deduce it...
hank pym ant-man he has had 6 secret identities including goliath,giant-man,yellow jacket, smartest man in the universe, the wasp.he is the best ant-man and has the most secret identities and is a founding avenger there for making him the best I would argue that Norrin Radd is indeed another identity that he only shows...
What are the words of House Blackfyre? It is of my opinion that House Blackfyre is going to be making a comeback in the person of Aegon VI Now, all the major houses have their words. Starks are "Winter is coming", Martell's words are "Unbowed, unbent, unbroken," and those of House Targaryen are "Fire and Blood." I ...
One possibility that comes up time and again is "Blood and Fire" , the reversal of the Targaryen words "Fire and Blood", which seems quite fitting considering House Blackfyre's history.
Is there any story reason for Force users being less acrobatic? In the Prequel Trilogy, all of the Jedi and Sith are incredibly acrobatic in their fights - jumping, flipping, weaving. Incredibly fluid in their motions. Even Yoda was jumping around like an oversized bullfrog. However, in the Original Trilogy as well as...
Just considering the films, I think a possible explanation could be that the Jedi Order in its final years had become just as out of touch and corrupted by power as the Galactic Senate. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defence, never for making himself look cool. Consider the character of The Force Awakens you'r...
Will Ezra's lightsaber revolutionize dueling? Ezra's lightsaber (pictued below) features a gun attachment that can be single-handedly fired while the lightsaber is activated. The energy bolt cannot be deflected back at the firer. Regarding the lightsaber his Jedi Master, Kanan, flippantly said "Well, it's…different, ...
Ezra's lightsaber's design would have changed the rules of lightsaber combat, but not enough to save the Old Republic. It can be a low powered stun, or maybe even shoot to kill.
Can you identify these Fantasy / Sci-Fi Weapons from Grrl Power? Previously, I've been very iffy on these sorts of posts, but I figure it's worth a try. These images are from Comic #408 of Grrl Power . The author has stated: Most of these are pulled from comics, movies, etc where there is a definitive version to ...
Caber/glaive from Beastmaster Triple Sword from The Sword and the Sorcerer Excalibolg from Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan To me it looks like the hardcover illustration of "The Complete Book of Swords" by Fred Saberhagen.
What was Miller's intention for this scene of The Dark Knight Returns? I never knew what to infer from a certain scene (or panel) from The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller related to the ransom of the Ridley Chewing Gum heir. After getting rid of the big mutant Batman grabs the mutant's machine gun and shots to ano...
The most likely explanation is that Batman simply shot to wound (I recall reading that Miller himself mentioned that was what happened, but can't find the source), or that he shot right next to the Mutant's head (you can see a bullet hole there!)
Who was the first Chosen One in sci-fi/fantasy? From Star Wars to Harry Potter having a Chosen One is very common in science fiction and fantasy. What was the first science fiction or fantasy work to feature a Chosen One? I'd preferably like the first example of a character who meets the criteria of being a Chos...
One could consider the Epic of Gilgamesh (arguably the first fantasy literature ever to exist) to be one of such stories. Paul Atreides (Muad'dib) from Dune as a sort of Messiah Aragorn (Elessar) from the Tolkein canon as a fulfiller of prophecies
Why does the Republic use armor that is so similar to Mandalorian armor? I was looking at some images of clone armor. And I noticed a remarkable resemblance to Mandalorian armor. And to the Old Republic's troopers' armor Especially in the Helmet, Legs, Groin, And Shoulder areas. Why did the Republic use Mandalo...
Because the clone army consists of clones of Jango Fett, and Jango Fett was Mandalorian and he was used to use Mandalorian armor My guess about old republic trooper armor is that after the Mandalorian wars,the Republic saw how they almost got destroyed by dudes wearing head to toe armor and figured out the benefits of ...
What are all these items from the Narnia books? My favourite edition of CS Lewis's Narnia series has covers featuring a variety of significant items from the books wrapped around by twining leaves and branches, as shown in the image below (from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , although it's only the centre panel tha...
The apples are from Prince Caspian .
Was the messenger in Bruce Wayne's weird dream supposed to be The Flash? About halfway through Batman vs Superman , Bruce Wayne falls asleep and has couple of rather unusual dreams. In one of them, a person appears to be trying to give him a message. He appears to be coming out of a portal and surrounded by lightni...
It is known (from the comics, and the TV show) that the Flash can run fast enough to travel through time.
In DC Comics, who is the fastest woman alive? In DC Comics, The Flash has the epithet "The fastest man alive." Who is the fastest woman alive? <Q> There are at least two instances of the Flash being a woman. <S> From this answer by Thaddeus Howze, the Flash is a woman in Superman #349 from the 1980s. <S> The DC...
Since the Flash is the fastest man alive, presumably his female counterparts are the fastest women alive in their universes.
Why didn't Bellatrix use Legilimency on Hermione? When Bellatrix found Harry and Hermione, she finds the Sword, and tortures Hermione to see if she took anything out of her Gringotts vault. Couldn't she have done it 10 times quicker by using Legilimency? <Q> A couple of reasons spring to mind: <S> We don’t know tha...
Since Bellatrix is not under any time pressure she may be lazy and use an easy spell rather than exert herself.
Do you remember the memories that you've placed in a pensieve? If Snape was removing his memories of Lily and placing them in the pensieve every time he and Harry practiced Occlumency to keep Harry from seeing them, does that mean that Snape, in essence, could no longer remember them? Does that also mean that if you r...
If the Pensieve didn't remove the memories from your head, it wouldn't help in this situation.
Can someone be on multiple superhero teams? In the Marvel Universe, can someone be on multiple superhero teams? For example, be part of two different Avenger teams, or be part of The Future Foundation and still be on another team? <Q> Yes, as of June, 2010 , Wolverine was splitting his time across multiple teams, in...
Even Wolverine has lost track of how many teams he is a member of.
Can the Death Star kill stars? In Legends, the in-universe etymology of the term "Star Destroyer" lies in the earliest days of the Galactic Republic, when its creator envisioned a new class of ships that is powerful enough to destroy entire star systems. Well, obviously the ship models that eventually adopted the name ...
After the completion of the Death Star design and prototype project, the scientists working in the Maw moved onto the Sun Crusher , whose sole purpose was the destruction of stars.
Has the Federation ever destroyed a planet? The Federation is obviously capable of doing this, but have they? Such an extreme action need not be a belligerent act. It could be undertaken to save a nearby star system from a 'virus' originating from that planet, etc. 'Destroying' the planet could mean everything from de...
In the Season 1 finale of Enterprise, " Shockwave ", the Enterprise accidentally ignites a component of the planet Paraagan II's atmosphere and destroys all life on the planet.
Has Batman ever defeated Superman without kryptonite? Batman always seems to surprise him with kryptonite. Has he ever defeated Superman without it? By defeat I mean incapacitate, not just talk him around. This answer fails to list an instance of this (after asking, Batman uses kryptonite gum , exactly the shen...
According to Batman Wikia Anarchistic Russian Terrorist Batman, defeats Soviet Weapon Superman ( briefly ) on Earth(30):
How does Lex Luthor know Superman's identity? In the recent movie Batman V Superman , the antagonist Lex Luthor kidnaps the mother of Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman, so he can threaten him and make Superman fight Batman. He mocks Superman by calling him "Clark Joseph Kent". I read somewhere, that Lex Luthor already k...
Luthor's introducing Wayne and Kent to each other indicates he knew who they both were, presumably discovering their identities was done well in advance of what he see him doing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice . He has the money to hire as many people as necessary to comb through everything known about Superman.
Can Iron Man's robots (or JARVIS) lift Mjolnir? My friends want to know if Iron Man's suit can lift Mjolnir, or any of Iron Man's "robots" or JARVIS can do the same. They cite when JARVIS controls Iron Man suits in the 2nd and 3rd Iron Man movie. I am looking for a canonical answer, so I don't care if it is from the mo...
However, Iron Man, with the help of his suit, is able to lift Thor's hammer…in space!
What other demon types exist in The Lord of the Rings canon? When we first meet the Balrog in Moria during The Fellowship of the Ring , Gandalf explains that the creature is "a demon of the ancient world." The way that he phrased that gave me the impression that Balrogs are a type of demon, which makes me wonder if...
Technically the main type of "demons" (which are not the same thing as devils) in LOTR are more or less evil individual Ainur, spirits created before the world was made.
(Robert Heinlein?) story about a corporation made rich by investing in unlikely research projects In this story, a corporation or group becomes extremely rich by investing in long-shot research projects that, against all odds, keep succeeding. Almost like a science fiction version of Brewster's Millions . :-) The gro...
The story Time for the Stars has the Long Range Foundation which does what you say: it invests in projects very unlikely to yield any short-term profit but somehow keeps hitting paydirt.
Is There a New One Above All? In this post I made, I was wondering about the whereabouts of the One Above All in the Marvel Universe. Considering the events of Time Runs Out and Secret Wars, I have to wonder, since the Beyonders are from essentially outside the Multiverse, and they seem to be destroying everything in...
The One-Above-All is 'apparently responsible for the existence of all life in the Multiverse and possibly beyond'.
Why did Tywin Lannister allow Jaime to join the Kingsguard? I can't imagine Tywin allowing his son Jaime to join the Kingsguard. Wouldn't he insist that Jaime stay at Casterly Rock, marry, have children, and carry on the family name? He certainly did not want Tyrion to become lord of Casterly Rock. <Q> In The World of...
Ser Jaime was also Lord Tywin's heir, however, and carried all his hopes for the perpetuation of House Lannister, as his lordship's other son was a the malformed dwarf, Tyrion. Tywin was probably smart enough to realize that this was not a good time to set that precedent with tensions so high. If the King appoints you ...
How do Basilisk eyes actually work? I asked a question here , in which @Scanner (CREDIT TO THEM) pointed out that there was a fundamental part of the question that was missing. How does a Basilisk kill with its eyes? Does it sever the soul, cause instant brain melting, cause spontaneous combustion, or is there some o...
According to legend though, the only way to kill a basilisk is to make it look at its own reflection.
Who is this Superheroine? I was watching Justice League vs. Teen Titans today. At the end, there is this female superheroine (probably) She has the ability to fly or use that 'thing' under her feet to fly. She can be seen here (encircled). Also, she was coming towards Teen Titans' tower. Please help me identif...
The character that you are looking for is a girl named Terra.
How do we know that Darth Plagueis was Sidious' master? I do not know much about the Expanded Universe. I've only seen the first six movies and played some Star Wars computer games, and to me the question arises you see in the title. Was Darth Plagueis even known before Episode III? When Palpatine tells Anakin about ...
The movies themselves don't definitively tell us that Plagueis was Sidious' master for the reasons you point out, but the canon novel Tarkin mentions that fact and gives an estimate as to when Sidious murdered Plagueis:
Why was Bruce Wayne spared by the mugger? One of the fundamental aspects of Batman's origins is that one night, a mugger, usually Joe Chill, shot his parents in an alley. Barring the occasional "What If?" story, Bruce is always spared by the shooter. This criminal is obviously OK with killing, but Bruce is never shot, ...
According to the 2004 comic "Fear Itself," Joe Chill simply didn't "have the guts" to kill Bruce.
In the Harry Dresdenverse do you have to say something to use evocation? In the world of Harry Dresden we always see him use Fuego or Forzare to use his evocation magic, usually shouting it in the process. Can other Wizards say an evocation and only mouth a word? <Q> No, you do not have to speak, or even mouth a w...
There are no examples in the series so far of Harry using Evocation without a word.
Do any Harry Potter characters turn from good to evil? Inspired by this question , I'm wondering if there are any instances of characters turning from good to evil in the Harry Potter universe. There are a few people who turn from bad to good (such as Snape, Karkaroff, Regulus Black etc.), but I can't think of any in...
Grindelwald was another - he wasn't evil to begin with, just mischievous, but he turns evil in the end resulting in that duel and his lifelong incarceration in his own prison. The most obvious answer I can think of is Peter Pettigrew . In the alternate timeline created by Scorpius and Albus interfering with the second ...
Is there something in the Marvel universe that could cut vibranium in half? In Avengers: Age of Ultron , when Scarlet Witch tampers with Tony Stark's mind, he sees a nightmare of dead Avengers. There, you see Captain America's shield torn in half. It was like something cut it or broke it. If vibranium is indestructi...
Thanos breaking Cap's shield is doing it with his glowing gauntlet, so is probably destroying it with infinity gem energy, not through brute force. During the epic battle, Captain America throws his mighty shield at the Serpent, but instead of taking a beating, Serpent just catches the shield and snaps it in half with ...
Are the Animorphs the only non-Andalites with morphing technology? In the very first Animorphs book, the five human kids (Jake, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, and Tobias) gain morphing powers from Prince Elfangor before his death. These powers were created by Andalites and apparently normally restricted only to them, since t...
So really, at the end of Animorphs, only the Andalites have the morphing technology.
Back To The Future: moving in time but not in space? Every time the DeLorean travels in time, it appears in the same place as the place it left. But that's the same place relative to the Earth's surface . In space-time terms, that point is constantly moving: the Earth rotates on its axis at a speed of one revolution p...
The reason the DeLorean appears in the same place it left spatially is because it creates a wormhole through time only, the entrance and exit of which is bound by the Earth's frame of reference as the stationary place since the Earth is the dominant gravity in the local area of the DeLorean's departure.