Wednesday 22 December 2010

Ten Greatest Fictional Universes Ever

Sometimes, this life doesn't feel enough. It's fun, it's beautiful and all that... But once in a while, we wonder if there's a better place, a better life, waiting for us somewhere. Well, I wouldn't trade my life for anything, but these are the ten worlds I'd love to be in. Ten greatest fictional worlds I've come across:

10. BERK:
Who wouldn't want to live with big burly vikings, drink yak milk and pillage villages for fun? Here, I can sail. And I can fly!
"This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. What little food grows here is tough, and tasteless. The people that grow here, even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies, and parrots, we have dragons!"
Watch the movie.

9. COLLECTING DRAGON BALLS:
It's my life's ambition to meet a real-life super-Saiyyan. That, and Piccolo's makankosappo (or Special Beam Cannon) means that Goku, Bulma and company find their place in the list at number nine.
Come get me!!

8. WITH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE:
Yes, more superheroes! While Bruce Wayne's Gotham alone is worth experiencing, one finds the city devoid of The Green Lantern, J'onn J'onzz and The Flash. So yes, wherever the JL go, I'd like to go with them.
Note 1: Superman is gay: the only eyesore in an otherwise perfect universe.
Note 2: More than offsetting this problem, we'll have Wonder Woman. And she is...

7. ARDA:
Being one of the most elaborately designed worlds ever (the Mahabharata isn't really fiction), not wanting to live in Middle Earth and, later, Valinor should be considered a criminal offence! Silmarils, rings and legendary swords... I'm probably doing Tolkien grave injustice by relegating the world to number se7en.

6. AS A PGW CREATION:
As a matter of policy, I dislike God-interference. Some plots become murkier and murkier until one stage a solution seems impossible, when Presto! An impossible ending is conjured out of nowhere and all is well. These story-lines just don't make sense! However, there are two exceptions to this rule: 1. My life and 2. A Wodehouse novel.
Jeeves is a genius.

5. HOGWARTS:
Even though I consider Rowling a highly unoriginal author, I'm a sucker for this world. Come on! 'Wands and Wizards' - there's no way in hell I'd say no to that! Besides, house-elves could do all my work.
(For the record, I prefer elves who tall, beautiful warriors to the sycophantic elves.)

4. HERGEVERSE:
Blistering barnacles, of course! Tintin, Snowy and the cap'n almost skipped my mind entirely... I'd love to gallivant Borduria, Sydavia and places as far away as the Moon. This one comes above Wands and Wizards!

3. THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE:
Moonface, Silky the fairy, Dame Washalot, Mister Whatizname, Saucepan Man and the Angry Pixie... Need I say more? What worse could happen to me here than missing the hole back to the tree! Enchanting, yes! And one of the happiest worlds I've lived in as a kid.

2. LONG LONG AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY:
Light sabers. Need I say more?

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no death, there is the Force.

1. CENTRAL PERK:
A quintessential Friends group and the bittersweet symphony of Life. The most real, happy place I've ever had the fortune of coming across! Thank you, David Crane and Marta Kauffman for redefining happiness and laughter.
I'll be there for you...
'Cuz you're there for me too.

17 comments:

  1. Precisement! ( But only because I can't figure the french for 'imaginary friend'..)

    And the Enchanted Tree might not be so fun as it seems...what if they made you Dame Washalot? Shire, now, that is the best..

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  2. Prachi, "ma ami imaginaire"? :)
    Difficult to choose between the Dame and a Hobbit! (Something told me you'd like the tree part anyway)

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  3. @ Ani,
    I'm watching 'The Spy Who Loved Me' as I type this... And I was reminded of the Bond-verse! Goddammit! Honey, Vesper, Elektra, Plenty, Holly... Oh hell!
    All three of these would have made my top-fifteen, I say.

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  4. Not in any particular order, I hope. Central Perk ranks way back on my list- I am not a great fan of universes where people laugh at you from the shadows. And the DBZverse is kicked out by Narutoverse.

    Also, Superman being bashed about? I am sure that 90% of the people in dear old R-land knew him better than Bruce Wayne before the animated series. He is the perfect foil to Batman, and I won't have him discarded like a 2-bit unsupervillain for anything in the world.

    You also left out the Asimov-verse. If you have not read it, do it now. *Now*.

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  5. @ Rapu, When you're in Central Perk, the laughter track is inaudible to you. Anyway, I haven't ready Asimov yet. And I haven't watched Naruto. There.

    And Clark is too gay... Go watch the movies again! But the JL universe remains, awesome as it is.

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  6. Friends better than WookieWorld? Can't say I can agree to that!

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  7. Hmmm... Chewbacca is cute. Rachel Green is cuter.

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  8. Is it what it has come to Kondy? Cuteness over light-sabres? A bunch of giggling friends over Princess Leia?
    Shame.

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  9. To be very frank, I wouldn't relish very much a world where passion isn't recommended and serenity is. It was a tough call, but one I had to make :)

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  10. Tum kaam karlo thoda. We aren't getting ANY money.
    Get your arse on fire!

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  11. I'm sure money's not a problem in most worlds listed here... Another 'escape this universe' moment for me!

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  12. Long time, no blogging, but here it goes.

    In my list, Tintin and the Magic Faraway tree gets kicked out. In comes the world of the Transformers; Optimus Prime, Megan Fox and fancy cars. And 2.5 men...who doesn't want to live like Charlie Sheen; beach house in Malibu, get paid in royalty and girls for choice.

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  13. You don't dare! Fox is hot... but she's dumb. And the series is stupid. As for 2.5 men, I considered it as a possibility, but Jake ain't cute no more! Besides you don't get to live as Charlie Harper; you get to live with him!

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  14. Magic Faraway Tree, Hogwarts and Arda: a place for hearts of all ages to dwell in and to dream. Through the ages that I have grown up they always seemed to fill my heart with unrestrained, illogical hope. Then again where does logic figure in the whole scheme of things but as a mark of having grown up.
    And as for the 'Galaxy Far Far Away', that's still on the charts :)

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  15. @ pa-nav, you echo my feelings... Awesome stuff, I tell you!

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  16. The Scrubs universe would come in for me.
    It's like asking the genie for infinite wishes as the first wish.

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  17. @ Muruth, That would let in all the Shins' songs too eh? I've not watched Scrubs too much - so maybe I don't totally comprehend the powers of that universe.

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