Nerds Unite!
Lorthyne — Tue, 2006-11-07 18:44
I'm mostly just trying (rather pathetically, too, I might add) to breathe some more life into our forums, but let's take a vote on various nerdy subjects. Please include explanations along with your answers.
Favorite and least favorite Lord of the Rings character?
Favorite and least favorite Star Trek and/or Star Wars character?
Favorite and least favorite fictional character?
(For us younger folk) Favorite and least favorite Final Fantasy character?
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy book/series?
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy movie/series?
Favorite character weapon/method of combat?
(If not same as above) Favorite absurdly improbable weapon?
Favorite video game moment?
Feel free to add addtional criteria that I may have left out.
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I'll lead off.
1. F - Samwise Gamgee. His loyalty and friendship to Frodo just get me every time.
LF - Frodo Baggins. I realize that you've been twisted by the One Ring and all, but you could at least behave like a normal human being for once (or hobbit being, I guess)?
2. F - Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. I may take crap for this, but I love Anakin simply because he does what he knows to be wrong for the entirely right motivation, and people like that are almost as rare as those who do the right thing for the right reason.
LF - New Trilogy C-3PO. They broke his character for the new movies, and I hate the new version. He seems more like he's along for the ride and to make the kiddies laugh than as an actual character.
3. F - Hard to choose, but probably Andrew "Ender" Wiggin from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and its sequels. Ender is brillant and heroic, and yet still has his personal demons. Perhaps the fact that he is a very believable, human character just gets me.
LF - Hard to say, again, but probably Cloud Strife from FFVII, simply because he is incredibly lacking in depth of personality for a main character.
4. F - Either Auron from FFX or Vivi from FFIX. Auron is a freakin' awesome ronin transplanted into a Final Fantasy setting, and Vivi's innocence and quest for a meaning to his life is so simply honest that I love him for it.
5. Prolly the Ender's Game series, just because I love Ender and his personal development.
6. I'd have to say Firefly/Serenity, for obvious reasons.
7. Maybe I'm just a nut, but I love Japanese sword style, particuarly that of the samurai.
8. Probably the Spirit Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, although the end is pretty awesome as well.
Favorite and least favorite Lord of the Rings character?
-favorite: Gandalf...he kicks mucho ass, and still comes across as kind to the kiddies (and hobbits) despite being that can of whoop ass everyone is always talking about. "Do you take me as some conjurer of cheap tricks?!?"
-least: Totally Frodo, and it's Elijah's fault...he bugged me in the books, but Wood made me wanna curb stomp that whiny little bag of bones.
Favorite and least favorite Star Trek and/or Star Wars character?
-favorite: Q, nuff said
-least: Data, nuff said
Favorite and least favorite fictional character?
-favorite: Elric of Melnibone, hands down the coolest antihero ever.
-least: Spongebob Squarepants, you must die
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy book/series?
-The Homecoming Series by Orson Scott Card, tied closely with Pastwatch by the same author.
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy movie/series?
-Firefly...best character development ever. Followed closely by Babylon 5; something about that series made me watch it all on DVD back to back.
Lol. Yes Lorth. It is very wrong to like anything of the prequels.
LOTR: F: Big Orc general in the first movie. Pulling the sword into your own gut. Now that's hardcore.
LF: Gandalf. Mostly because of what he does in The Hobbit. Always running off and doing his own thing, acting mysterious, and being a douche bag.
Star Trek: F: Picard and any Romulan. LF: Deanna, Kirk, Riker, entire Enterprise cast.
FF: F: BLACK MAGE. Hado friggin kin. LF: Guys with long hair who are sexually ambiguos.
Book Series: Sword of Shadows Trilogy by J.V. Jones. An earthy, hard edged take on magic and fantasy.
Combat: Shotguns vs. the undead.
Absurd weapon: Automatic crossbow (it's possible).
Video game moment: The end of Baldurs Gate II.
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy TV show: Definately the contemporary and vastly superior BattleStar: Galactica
-Mr. Rogers is pissed-
Oh my crap, Sponge Bob Square Pants didn't even occur to me. I think I need to remedy my previous statement.
And I think I would enjoy the Homecoming series a lot more if I didn't know the plot going into it. For those of you who may not know this, Card's Homecoming series is actually based off of the Book of Mormon. The similarities between the two really got to me after reading the first book, and I never bothered to finish the set. As far as I can tell, even the protaganists' names are nearly identical (Homecoming's Nafai vs. Book of Mormon's Nephi) Yes, along with Orson Scott Card, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Yes, everyone calls us Mormons, but that's the actual name of our church.
For those of you who may be wondering, no we do not have horns, yes, we are Christians, and no, we have not practiced polygamy since the 1800's. I'm also perfectly happy to dubunk any other strange rumors you may have heard about us.
I do love Pastwatch, though. Great stuff.
Again, sorry 'bout the tangents.
Favorite and least favorite Lord of the Rings character?
F Aragorn. Movie version.
LF Frodo (weak)
Favorite and least favorite Star Trek and/or Star Wars character?
F Darth Maul and Kai Gon Jin
LF Jarjar binks
Favorite and least favorite fictional character?
F Drizzt DoUrden
LF all cutesy stupid creatures/characters. Too many to list.
(For us younger folk) Favorite and least favorite Final Fantasy character?
Too old... I'm too old...
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy book/series?
Song of Fire and Ice.
Memory, Sorrow, Thorn
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy movie/series?
Battlestar Galatica
Firefly/Serenity
Favorite character weapon/method of combat?
Two scimitars.
(If not same as above) Favorite absurdly improbable weapon?
Double bladed spear.
Favorite video game moment?
The end of Knights of the Old Republic when you find out the you are Revan. Cool...
Kay, just to be a fun-loving jerk type...let's argue about our choices. Calamar...you always struck me as reasonable; why Drizzt?!?
Favorite and least favorite Lord of the Rings character?
Gonna go with Gimli as fave. It was really a draw between Legolas and Gimli (from the books) , but the scottish accent (movie) gives the dwarf the edge. Least favorite has to be Gandalf. He is not a PC, but a plot vehicle used to handily move characters on to the next scenario.
Favorite and least favorite Star Trek and/or Star Wars character?
Fave is Alexander sonofaworf. Great combination of desire to please his father and rejection of his fathers ideals. Least fave is any ferengi.
Favorite and least favorite fictional character?
I'm sending Robinson Crusoe to the head of the list here. Primarily for character development, the man finds God through his daily struggle. Least Favorite is Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever who is the main character, but really just along for the ride.
(For us younger folk) Favorite and least favorite Final Fantasy character?
Haven't played any of the games or seen any movie/TV versions of this line. There is something organically wrong with having FINAL Fantasy (>1).
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy book/series?
David Drakes Hammer's Slammers. The future of armored combat without giant robots. I'm going to throw in Wheel of Time (Jordan) as an honorable mention, not becasue it's great (merely good) but it's the first series in a long time where I've been eagerly awaiting the next book.
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy movie/series?
This was a difficult choice becasue so much of it is crap. Picking "The Prisoner" for use of psychology as a tool. I'm saying the weird science makes it sci-fi. Otherwise I'm picking "Weird Science" but just for Kelly LeBrock.
Favorite character weapon/method of combat?
All of the weapons in AmericanMcGee's Alice. When is a croquet Mallet like a billy club? Whenever you need it to be.
(If not same as above) Favorite absurdly improbable weapon? Joker's pistol in Batman (Nicholson/Keaton). Pulling the 4 foot barrel out of his trousers is great, then pushing it down to a more traditional length puts the insanity of the cake. Er, icing I mean. I think.
Favorite video game moment?
Secret Cow Level in Diablo II. Moo, moo moo.
Is it bad that I actually am nerdy enough know the origin of the whole "Final Fantasy" name? Back in the old school days, Squaresoft was going under, and had they enough money to finance one last video game for the old Nintendo Entertainment System. Figuring that it would be their last contribution to the video gaming world, they named it "Final Fantasy".
Needless to say, this last ditch effort was a smash hit, and Squaresoft has played off of the success of the first game ever since.
How's that for random trivia?
Long term effects of naming and marketing are not always considered. The Chevy Nova didn't do well in Mexico becasue it means "doesn't go". Dr pepper markets to people who are not one of the crowd with "don't you want to be a pepper too?".
Your comment implies that a more honest name would have been "desperate fantasy", which I suspect is a porno, or will be now.
Whut
Has anyone picked up FFXII yet? I'm getting it for my fiance for xmas...she loves those games. Except maybe X2...that one was too lame for her tastes.
A friend of mine nabbed it back on Halloween, and from as much of it I've been able to see it looks just as epic and majestic as all of the rest of the bunch. It's received some stellar review scores.
My aunt is a native of Brasil, and over this summer I went along with some family to spend a week or two down there. Some of my Brasillian relatives informed me that Coca-Cola is translated into Portuguese as Queka-Quela(that's spelled phoneticallly in English, I don't really speak any Portuguese other than names of fruit), which has no actual meaning in Portuguese. This term is also used over the river in Paraguay, and, interestingly enough, they speak Spanish. I'm told that it translates into Spanish as "underwear cola". For some reason they still love the stuff.
Typically I don't like uber powerful characters. Drizzt is close to a god with his swords, but he earned it by first training with his father, the best weapon master in the city state of Menzoboranzon (sp) for ten years or so, and then an excellent school of fighters, were he excelled, for another ten years. He wandered the Underdark for a third decade and lived what other fighters and rangers only trained at.
Some people have gifts and talents that the rest of us do not. Drizzt's gift is swordplay.
He isn't a cocky or immune to damage or pain though. Far from it. He is a troubled, conflicted, human character who goes through terrible times.
I loved Homeland, Sojourn, and the Icewind Dale trilogy. The others were stupid.
Oh, and as silly as they are, I like his little essays and poems. ya, I'm a goober sometimes...
I hope that answers your question.
That's cool brother. I liked Drizzt too...till Thousand Orcs. And that wasn't really an issue with the character...it was just over in my opinion. The conflict of Drizzt's struggle to reconcile his heritage with his true self just kinda smacked of Elric to me...but I can find a bit of Elric in almost any character cause I'm an Elric fanboy. LOL.
Probably about time for me to post here, I can't be in denial about being a nerd forever.
Favorite/lease favorite lotr character:
I would definately have to say that my favorite is Sam, because if you think about it he is like the hero of the books. Least favorite would probably be... Elrond, for some reason I just can't stand him, in the books or the movie.
StarWars/StarTrek
Favorite by far in starwars would be Obi-Wan, he's totally awesome in the movies, and even cooler in the books. You'd have to read them (ecspecially number 3) to understand.No least favorite, I love star wars
Fictional character
Hmm, to many good ones to choose from. I loved humanized characters, people who aren't perfect. Alan Quartermain is one, Tynayl is another really good one. Least favorite are just as hard to choose from, the stupid ones mainly are the ones I hate the most.
Book/series
Favorite book series is probably the Ender's Game series, but I'm working on the Memory Sorrow and Thorn set and I love it, but the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is always crazy fun. Least favorite would probably be The Awakening. That is an evil evil book.
Movies/series
Favorite movie is prolly Westender, but once again that kindof depends on my mood. Least favorite is probably Volcano, I have a good imagination, but that one is so bad that you loose brain cells.
Weapon/method of combat
I don't know if any of you have seen Equilibrium, but the fighting style that they use is totally the coolest on earth.
Absurd weapon
This is going to sound weird, but disposable innoculating loops. Laugh if you will, but in the hands of a master those things can hurt.
I have to say that some of the names porn films have are simply hilarious.
:)
My all time personal favorite...two black guys and a white girl on the cover, the movie was called "Whoreo". Sorry all...I know we try to keep this place family friendly...it's just too funny not to mention.
Ok, my turn:
Favorite and least favorite Lord of the Rings character?
-book:F- Aragorn, cool as winter wind LF -tom bombadil- silly, silly man (thing?)
-movie: F- Legolas (yes, he's dashing) LF - Frodo, as has been said before...what a prick. and maybe Elrond (it's agent smith, for god's sake!)
Favorite and least favorite Star Trek and/or Star Wars character?
ST- F: Picard, LF: wesley crusher
SW- F: Han solo (here's that dashing rogue theme again) LF:JJ binks
Favorite and least favorite fictional character?
F: Tasselhof burrfoot: witty, funny and totally fearless, this Kender is my hero :)
LF: Eguene, Rand AlThor's original girlfriend, especially in the later books...what a self rightous whiner. Some other females in the wheel of time, too.
Favorite and least favorite Final Fantasy character?
Only played FF7's PC demo and was underwhelmed.
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy book/series?
F: A song of Ice and Fire, and...don't mock, Dragonlance Chronicles, read those many times.. and the Fiddleback trilogy (especially Evil Ascending)
LF: Later books of the WoT series- just because I was expecting so much more, and the first Shanara book (only one I read), BORING.
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy movie/series?
F: Firefly! and also the new Battlestar Galactica
LF: Dungeons and Dragons movie ... simply Bleh.
Favorite character weapon/method of combat?
I can't believe nobody said this: LIGHTSABRES! and DOUBLE LIGHTSABRES!
(If not same as above) Favorite absurdly improbable weapon?
Disc-saw-shooting gun (I imagined it before it appeared in Unreal Tournament)
Favorite video game moment?
The end of Privateer 2, (spolier:)
where the amnesiac protagonist learns he's the son of the space-mafia head and then proceeds to kill his dad in order ro take over the business, by stepping on his life support.
NEW CATEGORY:
Most unnerving movie moment:
Saving Private Ryan: when the german soldier (sniper?) kills the jewish soldier slowly and ever-so-quietly with a knife so that his nearby buddies won't hear. brought me chills...
Favorite and least favorite Lord of the Rings character?
-book:F- Theoden - far more complex than the bewitchment of the movie suggested with more room for redemption
-movie: F- Gandalf -- he seemed so conflicted and human / Faramir - He was so well juxtaposed to Boromir with his strength being Boromir's weakeness that few around him could see.
Favorite and least favorite Star Trek and/or Star Wars character?
ST- F: Picard, LF: The doctor who replace Crusher for a while -- what was her name (Kate something?)
SW- F: Ben Kenobi -- archetypal mystic LF: Jar Jar, Darth Maul, General Greivous, Count Dooku, Yoda in the new set-
diverting rant -- by adding C3P0 and R2D2 to the cast of the prequel trilogy and starting Darth Vader on the planet where they hide Luke It makes the universe smaller - less grand in scale. Re-inventing the Obi-Wan / Anakin relationship to make Anakin an uber-prophetic character diminishes Obi-wan's failure and allows the movies to become more like a comic book and less like an epic. The re-invention of the nature of the force to be parasitic organisms will further relegate these films to the world of inconsequential movie fluff. IMHO the murder of the Star Wars Epic was the most egregious sequel in movie history, beating out Highlander 2, Superman 3, and Rocky 5.
Favorite and least favorite fictional character?
F: Macbeth
LF: Gord the Rogue from Gary Gygax's series of the same name
Favorite and least favorite Final Fantasy character?
dunno - never played
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy book/series?
F: Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana -- and yes, Dragonlance too.
LF: Gord the Rogue and past books three of the WoT series
Favorite sci-fi/fantasy movie/series?
F: Battlestar Galactica (new), Firefly, and Smallville (okay I deserve a few snickers for this one ... I just think that the Superman story has great depth and I really think that they did a good thing by including Lex in the series -- There is a depth in the inter-character portrayal that goes well beyond the predictable writing. I think it is a case where a few good actors are elevating some mediocre writing in a series aimed at the teenage crowd.)
LF: Star Wars Prequel trilogy - not because they are worse than the Dungeons and Dragons movie but because they tarnish a great trilogy.
Favorite character weapon/method of combat?
Karate and Ju-Jitsu. Okay lightsabers are way cool. I'm not a fan of the kali/escrima double saber style. On screen the siniwali (striking series) is predictable. I liked Darth Maul's Light staff.
Least Favorite absurdly improbable weapon?
The serrated sword in either Aeon Flux or Ultraviolent (I don't know which one as they are indistinguishable junk in my mind). Who the $#&#@ goes to battle with a mighty bread knife?
Most unnerving movie moment:
American history X -- giving the curbie
LOTR:
Been too long since I read 'em, can't decide.
Star Trek:
F: Data. Honestly, how can you not like Data? He's hilarious! Also, Q.
LF: Wesley Crusher. Wil Wheaton seems like a pretty cool guy, but I wasn't at all sad when his character left. Second prize goes to Tasha Yar, third to Counselor Troi.
Star Wars:
F: Gee, I dunno. Boba Fett?
LF: Anakin in the prequel. No matter how interesting his character is in concept, the terrible dialogue and acting ruin it.
Fictional Character:
F: This is a toughie, but I think I may have to go with the fourth Doctor Who.
LF: That caterpillar in the Money Tree commercials.
Final Fantasy:
F: Red XIII/Nanaki, from VII.
LF: Who was that one guy in IV that was a bard or something? Or, no, it was the ninja guy. The bard's okay.
SF/Fantasy Books:
The Hitchhiker's Trilogy, hands down. Frank Herbert's Dune wins second prize, but I haven't read the rest of the series yet.
SF/Fantasy Movies:
Tie between the original Star Wars trilogy and The Matrix.
TV Show:
Tie between Doctor Who, Star Trek: TNG and Firefly.
Weapon/Method of Combat:
Ingenious use of magic.
Absurdly Improbable Weapon:
Bards in Final Fantasy play music to deal physical damage, and Geomancers hit their opponents with spells, but neither wins against the Scholar, who - I recently discovered in FFIII - gives their opponent a few good thwacks about the head with a big book. I've often thought that if a roleplaying convention ever had to engage in physical combat, they would be an unstoppable force because the ones without boffer swords would be carrying big heavy rulebooks. Add to that a vast knowledge of strategy and tactics and the ability to use d4s as caltrops, and the roleplayers will have quite the military advantage.
But of course, back to the FF series, I've forgotten that Cait Sith in VII uses megaphones, and Cid is capable of utilizing a mop. I think it's a tie between those two.
Favorite video game moment?
Metal Gear Solid II:
Snake: "Here, have my extra ammo."
Raiden: "But what if you run out?"
Snake: *taps his headband* "I never run out."