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Book about humanity's war with a species of bird-like aliens I’m trying to remember a book I read about 4 years ago (though I'm sure it was older). It was military sci-fi portraying humanity’s war with a species of bird-like aliens that were rather martial in nature and had a fondness for swords. I don't remember too ...
The Earthlings, humans and genetically modified chimps, fight the Gubru, which are an authoritarian avian race who invade the planet Garth. I don't remember bird-like aliens, but there were certainly insectile enemies. Empire from the Ashes by David Weber.
How large exactly is the mosasaurus in Jurassic World? In Jurassic World , we meet a mosasaurus. We see it again in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom , for instance in this trailer (at 1:53) . It seems quite a bit larger than the maximum estimate of the largest actual mosasaurus, which is about 17m. How large exactl...
Now, this picture doesn't show it very well, but it's clear from the movie that the head of the Mosasaur is much bigger than that of Indominus Rex, which http://www.jurassicworld.com/ states to be 15 m long.
Old animated film with bald blue people What is it? An animated movie, full length (I think ) What it isn't: It's not La Planète sauvage/Fantastic planet and it's not Gandahar What made it memorable: Animation was very trippy (at least in my memory) and main protagonist was a child with blue skin and bald head...
Could this be Blue, Child of the Earth (AKA Bleu, l'Enfant de la Terre).
Is Spider-Man's blood really radioactive? The theme-song for the 1967 Spider-Man TV show has this part: Is he strong? Listen bud, He's got radioactive blood. I assume that "radioactive" in this case means that it is currently producing radiation. While the spider that bit Peter Parker was certainly radioa...
The original Spider Man powers came from a radioactive spider bite , as seen in Amazing Fantasy 15
Who won the Quidditch Cup in Harry's first year? Who won the Quidditch Cup in Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts? We know that Gryffindor didn't win it, as Oliver Wood says in Harry's third year: “This is our last chance — my last chance — to win the Quidditch Cup,” he told them, striding up and down in front o...
And Contradictory There is no definitive answer, mostly because the issues of how the Quidditch Cup is awarded and how Quidditch wins contribute to the House Cup are controversial. There simply is not enough information, most games and match scores are not reported.
Is Enfys Nest affiliated with anyone? In Solo: A Star Wars Story , we learn that Enfys Nest and the supposed "marauders" aren't actually self-serving, but rather they seek to aid the oppressed and downtrodden, such as those on Savareen. I've seen the film twice so far and it seemed to me like Enfys Nest and company we...
Although Enfys Nest are rebelling against the empire, they are not the sole creators of the Rebel Alliance we see in A New Hope.
Why are The Incredibles villains technologically-based? In the Incredibles films, it seems that the villains all rely entirely on technology, while the heroes (while they can use it) have innate powers. We don't have as many examples as Marvel, but I think there's enough at this point to see a pattern. Screenslav...
Another interesting aspect that may pertain to the villains' use of technology is that in both Incredibles movies, the stakes are heightened not just by the immediate danger to general welfare, but by the danger to Supers' right to be themselves.
Does Mickey Mouse exist in the Ducktales universe (Or even the general Duckverse)? Does Mickey Mouse exist in the DuckTales universe? (or even the general Duckverse). I don't mean hidden Mickeys or cameos, I mean referenced in a way that acknowledges his existence. Both television series and comics are canon. <Q> No...
Most of the time, in alternate universes Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are shown together.
Why were Anakin and Obi-Wan the only Jedi who were assigned to rescue the Chancellor? During the Battle of Coruscant, Anakin and Obi-Wan were the only 2 Jedi who were tasked with rescuing the Chancellor. Now similar to the Battle of Geonosis, Yoda and Mace Windu bring all the Jedi on Geonosis for a rescue mission of An...
In Revenge of the Sith novel , also part of Legends now, it is revealed that Palpatine planned to kill Kenobi and seduce Anakin to Dark Side, no other Jedi were mentioned: Lastly, we now have all of the Clone Wars series (the canon one) showing Anakin grow as a Jedi.
What's the big deal about "Corellian" star ships? Many times in the Star Wars movies we hear reference to "Corellian" space ships. An example, Han Solo says in the cantina: Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. Now in Solo: A Star Wars Story , we see the planet Corel...
The CEC megacorporation When people say "Corellian ships", they don't mean "ships made on Corellia", they mean "Ships made by the Corellian Engineering Corporation".
Which was the first sci-fi story to feature human transfer of consciousness into an artificial body for eternal life? I was reading about Galaxy Express 999 (1978), and I saw this manga featured the idea of human transfer of consciouness into an artificial body for eternal life similar to Altered Carbon or with som...
According to the Technovelgy.com website, Lord of Light (1967) by Roger Zelazny is the first story to have scientific reincarnation, transferring memories to a new biological body and brain.
What did Thanos mean by this? In the end of the Avengers: Infinity War movie, Thanos and young Gamora had a conversation in the realm of Soul Stone. The conversation went like this.. Young Gamora: Did you do it? Thanos: Yes. Gamora: What did it cost you? Thanos: Everything. What's the meaning of Everyth...
Everything likely refers to the sacrifices Thanos made during his journey to retrieve all the Infinity Stones. At the moment of his victory he 'felt' for all it had cost and the scene with young Gamora is his acknowledgement of the cost but He explained to the child what he was doing and why.
Story about alien race which evolved from plants instead of animals I recall when I was young (about 30+ years ago) I saw on TV a movie about a humanoid alien race which evolved from plants instead of animals. I was about 6 or 8 so I don't remember much about it, but it might have been in black and white (though not co...
The original is from 1956 and in black and white, also called Invasion of the Body Snatchers . The first thing that comes to mind is the really terrible, from the point of view of a fan of the book, movie rendition of Day of the Triffids from '62 or '63. Looking into it further, the 1978 version is not the original fil...
Can Pyro control The Human Torch? Pyro 's powers involve controlling fire, which is exactly what the Torch's abilities are. I'm interested to learn whether Pyro can control The Human Torch in any way? The only thing that makes me wonder is due to the fact that it's fire produced by exposure to cosmic radiation. C...
As long as Pyro knows where Torch is, he can control him.
Which Sci-Fi work first showed romance between a human and an android? Here, by android, I mean "an AI robot which looks and acts like a human." It shouldn't just be "Sex Robot". Emotions between both parties need to be involved. At this time, there are two examples in my mind: Relationship between Vision and Wanda ...
If we're going to exclude written works, I believe The Twilight Zone 's The Lonely beats Star Trek by ten years, airing November 13, 1959:
Short story about a young man stranded alone on Mars who runs out of air I read this story in approximately 1979 (plus or minus a year); I found it in an anthology when I was systematically reading my way through all the SF in my library's YA section. Note that the book may have been much older; at the same time I rea...
Its only English publication was in The Air of Mars and Other Stories of Time and Space (1976) edited (and translated) by Mirra Ginsburg.
How fast was Soren's probe traveling to have reached its destination in approximately 10 seconds? In Star Trek: Generations , Dr. Tolian Soran shoots a solar probe into the nearest star in order to shift the Nexus. So, if the star is approximately the same distance away from Earth, how fast would the probe act...
Then, assuming the distance from the planet to its star to be around 1AU, the probe should be travelling at warp ~3 in order to hit the star in around 10 secs.
That's what's unique about humans among all species—"they die" My friend read this science fiction story as a kid, probably written prior to 1970. Forgive me it's a second hand description: Earth is visited by aliens. The aliens note that every race in the galaxy is "unique" in some way; but humankind does not seem to ...
Humans are the only race that dies; other sentient races are all immortal (they reproduce by fission.) It was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories , December 1948 , which is available at the Internet Archive , as are the Dimension X and
Story based in the future where magic is facilitated by microscopic computers So I read a couple of ebooks many years ago which described a sort of a post-apocalyptic earth where (it is later revealed) magic is facilitated by a nano computers which realize the will of the user (presumably by reading their mind, or thro...
This could be Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny.
Film about some dude who fell in love with a star (a literal stellar object) Yes, the plot is pretty weird. There is this "star" (whose incarnation is a woman dressed in white) and some random guy who falls in love with her. There's the arc of "if you cross a specific border you'll die" which applies to our lady "star"...
Tristan enters the magical world to collect a fallen star to give to his crush Victoria, in return for her hand in marriage.
Do Hogwarts and Ilvermorny outlets exist in Falkland Islands and Hawaii? Ok, so let me explain. Hogwarts is in Britain. Falkland Islands is part of Britain. Falkland Islands is next to Argentina. Also, we know that Narcissa Malfoy didn’t want Draco to go to Durmstrang because it’s far away. Many parents might fee...
There's no good indication that separate parts of the world have separate outreach centres to service children who live far away.
Animated movie or TV series including floating islands and ships I remembered a TV series or movie that I watched when I was a kid. It was on DVD, I think. It was animated, and the color scheme was bright. I watched it around 2002-2010. All I remember is that there are floating islands and ships, and I think there was...
It could be Dragon Hunters (originally "Chasseurs de dragons" in French).
Can a Star Trek transporter transport a precise volume of space? Examples:Could it remove a cubic inch of material from the center of a bowling ball? Could it remove and replace a single electrical component from the circuit board (which would require a complexly defined volume)? <Q> Precision transports do seem to b...
Klingon transporters can, at least.
Does USS imply a Starfleet vessel? Does the “USS” in “USS Enterprise” imply that this is a Starfleet starship? I.e., that it’s under quasi-military or government (or whatever you consider Starfleet to be) command rather than purely civilian? Much as the “USS” in “USS Ronald Reagan” denotes that it’s a US Naval vessel...
No, a USS name prefix does not imply a Starfleet vessel in 100%, but it is a good approximation. Indicates the origin/owner of the vessel.
Who was the first superhero to wear a cape in comics? Plain simple question: Who (and when) was the first superhero to wear a cape in comics? By cape I mean: Superman man type Mandrake type By cape I DON'T mean: Pelts, e.g., Hercules lion pelt By comic book I mean: comic books itself comic strip By com...
And yeah, we could list any number of pulp heroes, literary characters, figures from legend, all having been adapted to comics at one point or another. Superman was the first "superhero", as in he had "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men", and he wore a cape.
When does Ant Man and the Wasp take place? All things created equal, Ant Man and the Wasp should pick up 2 years after Civil War , but shortly before Infinity War . Ant Man wasn't called during Infinity War because he was still under house arrest. Infinity War seems to take place over only a few days. Given t...
A little more than two years after the end of Captain America: Civil War , and prior to the snap in Avengers: Infinity War .
Which hero has this costume (yellow lightning with blue and purple circle)? I need to know which hero has a costume like this: yellow top with a logo of a lightning above a blue and purple circle on the chest; red pants (or underwear, I don't know exactly, I saw it from a puppet). I think the puppet was supposed to be...
Iris West II : female speedster, with yellow top and lightning. It could also be Kid Flash : (Image from Wikipedia ) Again, I'd check out Google image search to see if it matches what you saw.
What made Jabba immune to Jedi mind tricks? As I learned from the answers to this question: In what adaptation of Return of the Jedi did Jabba brag about killing Jedi in the old days? , in the novelization of Return of the Jedi , Jabba the Hutt states that I am not affected by your human thought patterns. Seeing...
Simply put, some species are more susceptible to force abilities like mind tricks than others. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , where Qui-Gon tries to use the Jedi mind trick unsuccessfully on Watto, where I think Watto points out his mind tricks won't work on him. According to Jedi Path: A Manual for Studen...
Cartoon about manned robots that would drive instead of walk I used to watch this show in, possibly, the late 90s, about manned robots that were operated by humans. Kind of like the machines in the Avatar movie, however, they didn't really walk but instead drove and were fast. If I can remember correctly, there were ...
The Robotix weren't supposed to be inhabited by computer version of the aliens, they were supposed to be driven, which is where the Humans (Crash landed in the film) come in. The good team is called the Shadow Dragons and the bad team is called The Vanguard of Justice.
Were all titans as powerful as Thanos? In Guardians of the Galaxy we learn that only someone with great power can touch an Infinity Stone, yet we see Thanos pick them up with no issue. Even without the stones, Thanos is shown to be extremely powerful and feared throughout the galaxy. Were all Titans as strong as Th...
Thanos simultaneously has these perfect Eternal genes, giving him great power, but also carries Deviant genes, which also gives him great power. Ronan and Loki could handle their stones easily when affixed to staffs, and Doctor Strange can handle his stone when it is in the Eye of Agamotto.
Why is everyone surprised that Jack-Jack has powers? It didn't "hit" me before Incredibles 2 , but why is everyone (or at least the Parr family and Edna Mode) surprised that Jack-Jack has powers? While this answer doesn't really explain where Supers get their powers from, it concludes that two Supers should produc...
Edna assumed he did have powers which tells us (along with the fact that Dash and Violet were powered) that it was common for children of supers to be supers themselves: It's just how parents are.
What do the acromantulas eat in the Forbidden Forest? As described in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there are a lot of really big spiders in the forest, and they are all carnivorous. I know "what does X eat?" is a kind of obnoxious form of poking holes in fantasy universes, but I can't help wondering i...
The Acromantula is carnivorous and prefers large prey.
Where are these floating eyeball creatures from? I feel I saw these creatures somewhere (in a movies or a TV series...) but I can't remember a single detail. Can anyone identify what they are? Here's a drawing representation. <Q> This is the 'Garden of Eyes' scene from Kubo and the Two Strings . <A> The classic ...
They were presumably inspired, however, by monstrosities like H.P. Lovecraft 's Old Ones , The visual effects in the episode are similar to the drawing. It also reminds me of Omi the Dianoga from Star Wars . The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death! It also reminds me the alien twins Bwelelyang and Bob from the movie...
How can a tricorder determine the progress of a world over thousands of years? In "Errand of Mercy," after being on Organia for a short time, Spock tells Captain Kirk that their information was incorrect. The civilization was not just primitive, but utterly stagnant. He states that his tricorder says that "for tens of ...
On Organia, Spock could have scanned for pollutants with long chemical and/or radioactive half-lives , using a technique similar to radiometric dating in the real world.
Possible TV anthology series about a man unfrozen in the future, a man revived in a female only future and a backwoods witch reanimating a corpse I'm trying to remember what shows I saw these on. They were TV anthology series much like Outer Limits or Tales From the Crypt, or something. These two episodes about which I...
"The Outer Limits" (TV series 1995-2002) Season 4 episode 17: " Lithia " I believe this is the 2nd anthology episode you were looking for.
Can one person have multiple souls? When Voldemort tried to kill Harry in the first book, a fragment of his soul split off and continued to live in Harry. Harry had his own whole soul and the part of Voldemort's soul in him from then on. Due to him having more than one soul in him, he could not be killed by Voldemort ...
If his blood wasn’t externally tethering him to life in the Dark Lord, then the Killing Curse would have simply killed both the piece of the Dark Lord’s soul and Harry himself. However, whether or not it would work would still depend a great deal on variables that are not understood. It’s definitely possible to use a l...
What was the first work set in a post nuclear war earth? The first one I know of is A Canticle for Leibowitz, 1959. Are there any earlier ones? <Q> A good candidate is the 1913 (Published 1914) novel by H.G. Wells, The World Set Free . <S> Synopsis of the novel : <S> The novel tells the prophetic story of man’s ...
Robert A. Heinlein's Solution Unsatisfactory , published in 1941, details the lead-in to nuclear war and its immediate aftermath (using radioactive dust, not bombs).
Are there insects or spiders on Voyager? At the end of "Homestead," as Neelix is preparing to permanently leave the ship, Tuvok stops him. Before he's able to speak, Tuvok looks down and grinds his foot into the ground for a few seconds. Is he smashing a bug? This is but one piece of circumstantial evidence. There ...
They are "Spawn Beetles" used in the Hydroponics Bay for pollinating flowers.
Have we ever seen a Stargate in the Ori galaxy or isn't there one at all? I have recently read the article about the Stargates and I have been comparing the designs in each galaxy. I tried to recall any Stargate from the Ori/Alteran home galaxy for comparison, but I couldn't. We know that the inventor of the Stargat...
Answer: I don’t believe they were. We only ever see a small town square and the City of Celestis (where the Ori wall of fire was), but we never see a stargate at either location.
Why did the Weasleys decide to have so many children? Is there any specific reason why Arthur and Molly decided to have so many kids?First they had six male children. Then, after giving birth to Ginny, they stopped. Was it their intention all along to keep having children until they gave birth to a girl? <Q> In Ron's...
Mrs Weasley is repeatedly shown to care about family above all else.
Story about Earth scientists taking alien technology and using it for weapons The plot began with an advanced society with space travel visiting Earth to evaluate the potential to take over. During the visit, Earth scientists were able to take note of various devices in use by the visitors and converted them into weap...
They modify the "idiot sticks" at random; each modification causes the stick to become unstable and to kill its operator. Eventually a pattern is found that is stable and that is lethal to the aliens. Earth has recently received an alien ship with two kinds of very helpful aliens - Greks & Aldarians, Greks the senior o...
Are the edges of Captain America’s shield blunted or sharp? When Captain America throws his mighty shield, does it hit things with a razor-sharp edge that can cut or a blunt edge that can bludgeon/bruise? Or is it some sort of modified edge that could do one or the other depending on how he throws it? I'm interested i...
The shield can be used for cutting or smashing. For the film version, the edges are definitely not sharp. Its indestructibility and the speed with which it strikes Cap's targets concentrates all of that force in a very narrow band.
If the T-1000 didnt know what John looked like as a kid then why did the T-800 know what he looked like? In the scene when the T-1000 arrived at John’s foster parents' house, he asks for a picture of John (thinking that SkyNet doesn’t have any files of what he looked like as a kid). A few scenes later, the T-800 catche...
It knows what Skynet knows from interrogating John's soldiers; John Connor's name, his mother's name, his approximate age and approximate location and that's about it.
Did Gandalf Visit Bree between the fall of Mordor and the hobbits' journey home? In Chapter 7 of Book 6 of The Return Of The King , Homeward Bound, Barliman Butterbur compliments Gandalf's horse Shadowfax, saying: "And you’ll be taking your horse to his stable yourself, Gandalf, I don’t doubt. A fine beast, as I sa...
Gandalf rode Shadowfax to Bree - via Hobbiton - after escaping from Isengard.
Which loyal space marine chapter currently has the most members? The codex astartes specifies that a chapter should have 10 companies, each of the first 9 have 100 marines. The 10th company is the scouts company and has no formal limit. Not all chapters follow the codex strictly with the Black Templar and Space Wolves...
The Black Templars not as much ignore the Codex Astartes (as Space Wolves do), but rather found a loophole: in the Codex, each chapter was allowed to gather additional numbers, whenever they were participating in a crusade.
Young adult fantasy trilogy with a large symbol and coloured background I'm looking for a trilogy of books that I was reading at school, back in the early- to mid-2000's. The school library had all three so I guess they might have been published a couple years before that. The main bits I remember are, the book covers...
The Farthest Shore in which Ged, now archmage, journeys with a young prince whose true name was Lebannen (I don't recall his use-name), speaks to dragons, and journeys in to the land of the dead to once again save all of Earthsea from disaster.
What happened to the crew and guards of the Tantive IV? In Star Wars: A New Hope , we see a number of Alderaanian consular guards that were on the Tantive IV being escorted away by Stormtroopers. But what was the fate of these guards and the crew of the ship? I dived into Wookieepedia and found that one of the gua...
They were most likely killed and the Tantive IV was destroyed . The Tantive IV was the historic Alderaanian consular ship that shuttled the Death Star plans away from Scarif after the Rebel Alliance's first victory.
In universe, why do we see almost no Chinese people in Firefly? Firefly takes place in a universe where Chinese and American cultures have fused, as evidenced by Chinese signage, and the frequent use of spoken Chinese in the series. Yet, for a universe that's supposedly half Chinese, there are exceedingly few appeara...
Firefly's culture is a mixture of American and Chinese, but there's no indication that it's 50/50.
Are there any clear predecessors to the idea from Harry Potter of wands with special cores? It now seems like a common idea, perhaps one with a long reaching tradition. But my Google results seem to be solely dominated by Harry Potter references. I've found references to wands with different things affixed to them li...
The Sekhem (associated with the god Anubis) and Was scepters (associated with both Seth and Anubis) are symbols of power worn by Pharaohs from the earliest dynasties up to the time of Cleopatra, so many other examples exist . Yes Harry Potter is the first piece of fiction to do so.
What's the pyramid joke? In The Light Fantastic , after talking about the dimensions of the Pyramid of Tsort, it says All in all, it was a lot of effort to go through just to sharpen a razor. What's the joke here? <Q> Pyramid power refers to the belief that the ancient Egyptian pyramids and objects of similar sha...
In the real world, there is or was a belief, brought on by the Egyptomania of the early 20th century, that pyramids had special powers —including, specifically, the power to sharpen or maintain the sharpness of razor blades.
Early 80's cartoon with a robot where a pilot would sit in its head As a kid I fell in love with a certain cartoon and I just cannot think of the cartoon's or robot's names. It must not have been on very long. It had to be early 80's. I remember the robot having a controller... A pilot who would sit within the head of...
The description seems to fit Tetsuya Tsurugi, pilot of the Great Mazinger. The pilot was sitting in the head, the robot has very Optimus-Prime look (it does even transform from a truck) and the "Struggling against the pain" was a must-have part of every episode.
Why didn't the Jedi sense Dooku is a Sith Lord? The Jedi could feel on what's happening about them. Like a disturbance in the force. This question is somewhat similar to Why couldn't the Jedi detect Senator Palpatine as having powers? But prior to Attack of the Clones, Dooku is already a Sith Lord called Darth Ty...
The Jedi council were under the assumption that the Sith were extinguished for a long time (Ep I), and I also that think because the Sith were laying low for so long, maybe that impaired the Jedi ability to sense them. As a member of the council, and a leader in the Jedi Order, Mace Windu's judgement would have been re...
Why did Hermione warn Umbridge not to insult the centaurs? In The Order Of The Phoenix , Hermione takes Umbridge into the forest in order to get rid of her: We only came in here because we hoped you'd drive her off for us! - Hermione Yet when Umbridge insults the Centaurs by calling them 'half-breeds', she tries ...
Hermione most likely reacted on an instinctively emotional level once she heard Umbridge insult the centaurs, despite her plan being for them to chase Umbridge away.
Why did Rufus Scrimgeour station Aurors at Hogwarts if they were not powerful enough to stop Voldemort? In book 6, why did Scrimgeour station Aurors at Hogwarts Castle to protect the students? Did he not know that Aurors are not powerful enough to stop Lord Voldemort himself? <Q> While not definite proof of Scrimgeou...
Indeed, Scrimgeour probably thought that aurors could provide protection from Voldemort.
How could Sirius have rounded up the old Order of the Phoenix? When Voldemort returns in Goblet of Fire , Dumbledore attempts to reorganize the Order of the Phoenix as soon as possible. In pursuit thereof he gives the following instructions to Sirius: Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lu...
However, when Dumbledore tells him to alert the 'old crowd' he means to alert the remaining members of the original Order of the Phoenix who are still alive after the first war.
What do Chocobos eat? My knowledge of Chocobos is lacking in the sense that I'd like to know more about their eating habits and preferences concerning the different types of foods available to them in Gaia/Planet . More precisely, is a Chocobo considered herbivore or carnivore; no doubt they must be omnivore? <Q...
Chocobos eat "Greens" which according to
Do any empaths or telepaths in Star Trek follow a code of conduct? In Star Trek: The Next Generation there are multiple species who can, to various degrees, read the mind and/or emotions of other beings. This brings up a host of privacy concerns , and this question made me wonder if we've ever seen this being deal...
In the TNG episode Tin Man we see a Betazoid ( Tam Elbrum ) who was "woke" to his telepathy at birth.
What happens to Spider-Man's webs? A favorite view of Spider-Man (at least in movies and games) is of the hero web-slinging his way through the streets of New York City. But what becomes of all the web ropes that Spider-Man discards as he moves from building to building? We don't see them hanging around the city, so pr...
The general idea, although the exact answer varies by Universe, is that the webs dissolve after a few hours.
What is this creature on the back of Harry Potter 2 Illustrated Edition? I was just looking at this dust cover of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated Edition) and noticed this creature. My first guess as to what it was was a Bowtruckle but Bowtruckles aren't that big. Maximum of eight inches in hei...
In short it is a Green Man which was a reference to Jim Kay's work on A Monster Calls . While many of these details come from Harry Potter canon, the appearance in Diagon Alley of Kay's dog Leroy is whimsical, just as a hidden publisher's logo might be.
Is there a depiction of Superman as an Asian? Along the lines of Is there a depiction of Superman where he is an African American? Was there ANY depiction of Superman as an Asian in the comics or even elsewhere? <Q> Dean Cain, who played Superman in the 90's TV show Lois and Clark, is actually 1/4 Japanese , and doe...
This version of Superman has the appearance of a dark-skinned Caucasian of South Asia. He is raised by a fisherman who names him Hoshi, his son of the stars. The inspiration of the original is lost, if there was any to begin with.
Was there ever an Asian Batman? Given the recent popularity of questions regarding various portrayals of Superman (as Asian or African American ), I noticed that I don't remember ever hearing about an Asian Batman. I know of the popular Bruce Wayne, an African-American one and even a Russian one, but has there ever...
There have been a few Japanese adaptations of Batman, but one has sort of crossed over into the "official" US continuity.
When did toons come to life? Who Framed Roger Rabbit had toons and people living together. Now my question is this: when did toons and people start living in the living universe or did humans start living in the toon universe instead?I would like to know if there’s a in-universe answer if possible. <Q> In the film's s...
I believe in the book there is a single sentence about Columbus encountering toons for the first time when he landed in North America.
What was the first depiction of Robots/Androids performing faster than humans in movies? In the movie Aliens , there is a scene where Bishop does his "thing with the knife" , showing speed and accuracy that no human would have. In Star Trek:TNG we often see Data entering commands/queries into the computer more quic...
In Fritz Lang's groundbreaking 1927 film, Metropolis , Maria (Brigitte Helm) is depicted as a robot with humanoid skin, and in one scene is shown to dance seductively enough to drive men to distraction -- in fact, she was indistinguishable from human until her skin was destroyed.
Book I was reading in the mid to late 90s about a private detective werewolf I remember the main character was a private detective as well as a werewolf. There was an island he went to where all the inhabitants were females as well as werewolves. In one part they capture a group of Nazi soldiers that believe they're go...
"The Compleat Werewolf" is the story of Professor Wolfe Wolf, an expert on German philology.
Why did Thanos slaughter half of this population at the start of Avengers: Infinity War? Why did Thanos slaughter half the population of the Asgardian survivors at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War ? I understand that he believes half the population of the universe needs to be sacrificed in order to ensure ...
Sidenote: He also doesn't seem to care about or honor the "half" rule when he deals with the dwarves on Nidavellir, so the 50% rule may be a vast simplification of what he actually wants. He was looking for the Tesseract which he knows the Asgardians have. The population of a single planet 'pre-snap' is not even a blip...
Why did Kingsley Shacklebolt replace Pius Thicknesse as the Minister for Magic after the war? After the end of the second wizarding war (ultimate defeat of Lord Voldemort), why was Kingsley named the new Minister for Magic? I recall that Pius Thicknesse was the Minister for Magic in book 7? Why wasn't he allowed to co...
Per Pottermore , Pius Thicknesse was removed from office after it was discovered that he had been under the Imperius Curse for the whole time he'd been Minister for Magic. It is not uncommon after the end of a war for war heroes to be elevated to office, by appointment or election, and in this case it was both.
Is movie Deadpool's fourth wall breaking a "mutant power"? In the first Deadpool movie, Deadpool gains his powers as part of attempting to force a mutation. And he does get a mutation: the incredible healing factor. He also gains the ability to break the fourth wall and recognize he's in a comic book movie some time ...
Deadpool gained his powers through torture 1 , which mentally broke him. Ryan Reynolds has told Empire that he’s insistent on Deadpool‘s habit of breaking of the fourth wall to carry over from the comics to the big screen. This is in the comics, but not depicted in the movies. If you are looking for a character whose p...
How did Black Widow hold her own in Infinity War? In Infinity War , Black Widow fights against Thanos' female henchman (or henchwoman, I guess). They have a stand off in which they lock staves and are pushing against each other, and neither seems to have a real advantage. Presumably, Thanos' agent has strength above t...
Black Widow manages to disarm Proxima Midnight but afterward Proxima literally beats her back with her bare fists! If you look closely at the scenes in Avengers: Infinity War , she never fights Proxima Midnight on her own. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-19999) has not given us a complete backstory on the Black Wi...
Did Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen know that Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Jedi? This was inspired by a related question about whether Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru knew that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. Did they know that Obi-Wan "Old Ben" Kenobi was a Jedi? Or did they think Kenobi was just an eccentric old hermit living out...
Being brothers, it's highly likely that Owen knew Obi-Wan was a Jedi. In the original conceived story, neither Owen or Beru were related to Anakin at all.
How did Obi-Wan know what Darth Vader looked like in Episode IV? How did Obi-Wan know what Vader looked like before he confronted him? "He is more machine now than man" <Q> Vader quickly became a highly visible symbol of the Empire, serving as Palpatine’s fearsome enforcer. <S> He hunted down fugitive Jedi who had es...
Because Vader was a well-known individual in the Empire. If Vader could sense Obi-Wan's presence by the force alone, logically Obi-Wan could sense Vader/Anakin too. Obi-Wan is probably just guessing about Vader's cybernetic enhancements, but he has good reason to make the assumptions he does, because unlike most people...
How well known was the name "Castrovalva" in Britain in 1982? When I (an American) first saw Peter Davison's first story as the Doctor, the name of the place where he is "supposed" to recuperate from his regeneration, "Castrovalva" just seemed to me to be another made-up science fiction name. Only recently, did I lear...
and I can guarantee to you that the majority of Italians do not know Castrovalva as a village... Imagine how few British people ever knew it! Certainly, there could have been a number of people who may have recognised the name and made the connection.
Why did Hermione modify her parents' memories before sending them to Australia? At the start of DH, Hermione tells Harry and Ron that she modified her parents' memories. "I’ve also modified my parents' memories so that they’re convinced they’re really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and that their life’s ambition ...
Also so that if she died searching for the Horcruxes or even fighting Voldemort then they wouldn't be affected by it.
Why do house elves struggle with English grammar? In the Potterverse we see house elves speak broken English. Winky is the best example House elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter...but my master sends me to the top and I comes, sir. But in fact they all speak oddly. Given the f...
In my opinion, the house elves not speaking proper English is to symbolize slavery.
Is Enfys Nest's name meant to be a pun? In Solo: A Star Wars Story fans are introduced to a new character named Enfys Nest, a leader of a rebelling pirate group called, the Cloud Riders. Later in the film it is revealed that Enfys is a female character! I have read that the character's aesthetic was a combina...
Almost certainly not Her name is actually Enfys Nest (pronounced "Enfis" as noted by @PatrickWynne ) and she is only 18 in Solo , barely old enough to have kids (of which there is no evidence)
Are American witches and wizards forbidden to use magic before Ilvermorny? The British Ministry does not care about underage magic, before students go to Ollivander. Is MACUSA stricter on preschool magic? <Q> It’s unclear - but MACUSA was stricter on school-aged wizards. <S> It’s unclear what the rules for young wiza...
America does certainly have stricter laws for school-aged wizards, as they don’t allow young wizards to have wands at any point outside of Ilvermorny. Until the 1965 repeal of Rappaport’s Law, which enforced very strict conformity with the Statute of Secrecy, no child was allowed a wand until they arrived at Ilvermorny...
When was the Jedi cult the strongest? The Jedi cult had its up and downs. When were they the strongest? Was it somewhere in EP1-EP3? Definition of strongest: most followers, most influence, most respect (, most power?) <Q> I cannot speak to their respect or influence, but their power seems to have peaked thousands o...
it was most certainly before the events of episodes 1-3 In Legends, Jedi were most powerful before the Ruusan Reformation during New Sith Wars .
Why did the Marauders not find the room of requirement? The Marauders found every secret passage out and into Hogwarts and every shortcut, hidden passage, and hidden room in Hogwarts, how did they miss the Room of Requirement? <Q> It's possible they did. <S> It's possible they never had need for the Room of Requireme...
While it does seem that a few people (e.g. Dumbledore and Filch) may in fact have stumbled upon it by accident, there doesn't seem to be any reason to think that this would be likely to happen to any given person – even someone who spends a lot of time exploring the castle.
Creepy film with tentacle alien attacking crew members in a vessel in space or underwater I think it must have been before 1991 the film came out. I think it was set in space or maybe deep underwater. The vessel had narrow rounded sci-fi corridors. They seemed trapped so definitely a station of sorts. The alien/creatu...
This creature was like oozy tentacles which were brown and slimy and would reach out and grab the crew members and drag them away. A clip of the "baked beans" scene can be seen here: Among the materials, Sixpack finds a flask of Vodka. It could be DeepStar Six (1989) .
In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, what did the Ministry do to increase the security at Hogwarts? In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince , what did the Ministry do to increase the protection around Hogwarts, apart from stationing Aurors at Hogwarts? <Q> Possibly more protective charms were put up. <S> Whe...
So, the protection included strengthening the magical protection surrounding Hogwarts as well.
11th Doctor Who episode with Rory and Amy getting split up I am trying to remember an episode of the 11th Doctor Who when Rory and Amy were his companions. I've tried looking through episode summaries in the TARDIS Data Core wiki but can't seem to find it. In the episode, Amy and Rory are split up - they are either ...
I believe this episode is "The Doctor's Wife" .
In the Battle of Department of Mysteries, why were only 5 Order members sent to rescue Harry Potter? In the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, there were more than 12 Death Eaters, why were only 5 Order members (Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks) sent to rescue Harr...
All of the members of the Order contributed in some way, but not all of them were fighters. It is possible that had they known there would be so many Death Eaters they would have attempted to gather reinforcements.
What does the circular symbol mean that is worn by many men of the House of El? If you look at images of members of the House of El (Jor-El, Zor-El, Zim-El), they all seem to have a circular symbol on their chest instead of the S symbol. Is this the symbol for Krypton or did they change their family crest? I thought t...
Ultimately, it seems that the visual reason for placing some kind of icon in the center of the chest may have simply been mostly to make Jor-El's appearance more closely mirror that of Superman. In early appearances, there was not a lot of consistency about what exactly the symbol on Jor-El's chest looked like.
What were Darth Vader's day-to-day tasks/duties? Vader's role in the Empire/Imperial Forces was already discussed multiple times ( here for example ). I understand that he has a special role, not comparable to any position in real world military and he primarily executed special tasks given by the emperor, like findin...
Palpatine often tested him by pitting him against other Imperials, Vader tried to clandestinely work for his own interests, but Palpatine mostly foresaw this. Overall, Vader was not tied to specific unit, system or Galactic Sector, so he didn't regularly attend boring administrative meetings if they didn't concern his ...
in the 41st millenium Are the Space wolves still the Emperors Executioners? In the Horus Heresy books Leman Russ indicates that the whole purpose of the Space Wolves is to act as the Emperors Executioners/Enforcers dealing with all threats to the Emperor and, it is suggested, were involved in fall of the 2 lost Legions...
The Space Wolves themselves no, but the Minotaurs probably have that role moreso now though it's never been confirmed to my knowledge. The role of executioner (and I guess lap dogs of the high twelve) at the time of the 41st Millennium would go to the Minotaurs .
Why is the Butterfly Miraculous seemingly the most powerful? In Miraculous Ladybug, the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses are supposed to be the strongest. We know this from the fact that, when combined, they give ultimate power, and from their fact that their kwami are the oldest and most fundamental (creation and destruct...
Chalk this up to a strong Miraculous in the hands of a skilled wielder.
1960's or 1970's TV movie about about a futuristic society seeking pleasure "Who are you engaging tonight?" I'm trying to find an obscure 1960's or 1970's movie I once saw on tv. It's about a society where bodily pleasures are encouraged, and pain & discomfort hidden with a "Soma" pill, they even taught this lifestyle ...
The use of "Soma" as a "chill pill" is distinctive to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
If BB-8's head is attached by magnets, how can it be extended away from his body? According to Star Wars and other questions ( In-universe, how is BB-8's head adhered to his body? ), BB-8's head is attached magnetically to his body. That's fine and all, but, in Episode VIII , when Poe is attacking the Dreadnought a...
If you're using only one magnet and you reversed it, it would eject his head away from his body, this is true. However, also note than in this scene his head is moved forward quickly so it likely wouldn't have fallen down even if they weren't attached. BB-8's six swappable circular tool-bay disks can be replaced and up...
Why did the Vulcans feel only Nixon could go to China? In Star Trek VI , we have this odd (but amusing) quote "There's an old Vulcan proverb: Only Nixon could go to China." Why did the Vulcans have this proverb? <Q> A popular use of the expression came in the 1991 film Star Trek VI: <S> The Undiscovered Countr...
Spock's line is an ironic joke to us , but my take was that Vulcans, reasonably being well-schooled in the political histories of all the major Alpha Quadrant civilizations, found the Nixon/China story noteworthy enough to proverbialize it in their own civilization.
Novel where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound I am trying to discover the name of a book recommended to me by my school physics teacher some 48 years ago. The premise of the book is that the proponents visit a world where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound and how this affects a...
While this is clearly not the answer you're looking for, the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett would fit the bill (if not for the recommendation being 48 years ago).
Why does Naruto run with his arms behind his back? Why does Naruto run like this? It looks silly to me, and I'm not seeing the advantage. <Q> This isn't at all unique to Naruto . <S> In fact, it's so common, it has its own TV tropes entry: Ninja Run . <S> It seems to be a stylistic choice in anime and manga. <S> ...
There is no historical evidence of that, so probably it is just a stylistic decision in anime and manga to add some mystic vibe to legendary Japanese martial arts. They went on to say that when running downhill, your arms should be trailing behind you to maintain balance.
Can you read Isaac Asimov's Rest of the Robots without reading I, Robot? How catastrophic is it to read Asimov's "Rest of the Robots" without having read the first book of the robot series: "I, Robot"? If the knowledge gap is too big, is it possible to simply watch the movie I, Robot (the one with Will Smith as the...
As far as I remember, there is a lot of overlap between his other collections of robot stories, like 'The Complete Robot' and 'The Rest of the Robots' and they are all loose collections of stories, so I don't see anything wrong with reading any of them in any order, as long as you enjoy them and find them thought-provo...
When does the copyright on Isaac Asimov's works expire? I read in another answer that Fox produced the film I, Robot because they had just acquired the rights to the Asimov collection and wanted to get a big budget movie out of it. I would have thought his books are old enough to already be in the public domain, bu...
Under current U.S. law, the copyrights for his works published before 1978 will not expire until 95 years after the copyrights were obtained, and those published from 1978 onward will remain in effect for 70 years after his death.
Are humans in Pokemon as strong as Pokemon or as weak as humans? Pokemon are known to be able to withstand tremendous physical abuse before being KOed (death happens very rarely, if at all): being burned, shocked with millions of volts, subjected to Light That Burns the Sky itself, etc etc. What about humans, though? ...
Chuck, the gym leader in the episode "Machoke, Machoke Man," trains his pokemon by physically fighting them.
Shielding in Star Wars: X-Wing vs new TIEs As we can see in this fragment of an X-Wing during the trench run: An X-Wing with shields set to "all power to rear" is able to block a few shots. After this, it must be evacuated or will be destroyed. However, in Star Wars Rebels we can see that TIE Defender gets 2 dire...
Vader also had shielded TIE advanced , and First Order modified basic TIE fighter design to include shields . Empire doesn't give rat's a.s about crew survivability, at least if we are talking about average Imperial pilots. In the Star Wars movies rebel fighters and TIE fighters all seem to blow up after two or more hi...
If being "unseated" by a bludger is a common occurrence, why did everyone freak out about Harry falling off of his broom? On several occasions in the early Harry Potter books we're told that the purpose of a Bludger is to unseat riders from their brooms. The Bludgers rocket around trying to knock riders off their ...
Being knocked off one's broomstick is a serious incident with the potential for injury; it's natural that there will be concern that this potential may have been realised whenever it occurs. The reaction in the books is in keeping with how people react to life threatening events in real sports.
Why are there so few ancient ships in the Milky Way? We learn at the beginning of Stargate: The Ark of Truth that the Ancients came to the Milky Way via starship. At the time, they did not have working Stargate technology but developed it in the Milky Way prior to launching Destiny and the Seed Ships Presumably, ...
Since the Atlanteans didn't have a substantial fleet after the war, they could not have afforded to leave ships in our galaxy during the war's later stages, and they would have had an easier time recovering lost ships from the Milky Way (where Atlantean power was unrivaled) than from Pegasus.
Where did the idea of using bottle caps as money come from? Being a fan of both the DuckTales and the Fallout series, I have only recently noticed that in the former there was an episode The Land of Trala La where the main characters introduce a concept of money (in the form of bottle caps) to an isolated society...
The idea of using an item as currency that in most cultures is considered of little or no value is not unique to DuckTales , as seen by this TV Tropes page: Weird Currency .
Can the Doctor mentally manipulate his sonic screwdriver or otherwise remotely control it? Having seen the Doctor seemingly need to use his hands to manipulate the sonic screwdriver, I was wondering if the Doctor could instead utilize it via just his mind or some other form of remote control to use the sonic instead. S...
It has a psychic interface, but there's been no seen cases of it being used while not in the user's hand.
Which SFF movie or TV series first showed Hitler? Hitler is very famous in fiction world and SFF is no exception. For example, Captain America Comics has shown Hitler countless times since early 40s. But, I am only interested in the movie and TV series. Some examples: In the episode Let's Kill Hitler of Doctor Who...
According to the list Adolf Hitler in popular culture , the first three appearances of Hitler on a television all occurred on The Twilight Zone:
Movie/TV series with a scene of spiky, black goo growing out of a lab container? There was a scene from a sci-fi horror video, not animated, don't know if it's a movie or TV series, where there was this black goo in a glass container and some scientists were looking at it under a microscope. The pitch black goo grew ...
I remember it being very similar to what you describe. However, I am not convinced there is a large difference in special effects used in mid-90s movies compared to early 2000s, so it seems close enough to the right timeframe. The end section of Lucy seems to describe some parts of what you're looking for.