Did Heinlein intentionally hide Rico's ethnicity in Starship Troopers until the very end? If so, why? Even his name is something of a slow reveal: 1. In the first chapter, we come to know that the protagonist is named Johnnie . 2. In Chapter 6, we find out that his mother calls him Juanito (diminutive of Juan ). 3. In Chapter 12, we are told that his full name is Juan Rico , son of Emilio Rico . 4. In the penultimate chapter, Chapter 13, Rico reveals that his native tongue is Tagalog . Answer Yes, he did. This was a fairly common thing for him to do; many of his stories demonstrate this behavior. It's more true with his Juvenile works, but it was common for him to specifically write his characters so that the reader would identify with them, not indicating anything about race, only later to drop some kind of information that hinted pretty strongly as to what that race was. By this point, having identified with the character, the reader is more prone to identify with his/her...

I'm trying to find the title of a book I read sometime between 85 and 95 in German. It could have been written much earlier, and it was most likely translated from English. I think it had a "book to the movie" sticker on the cover, but all googling for the movie or book failed so far. What I remember: brain transplants are safe and affordable enough to rent a body for a holiday. This is achieved with a robotic surgeon removing the brain and spinal cord from the old body and reattaching all nerves in the new body. an overweight guy leaves his dominating mother to take a holiday on a space cruise, renting a new body for the trip. I think through a bribe he manages to rent the body belonging to an assassin that was held in storage while the assassin was on an assignment. At some point a small alien is revealed to be living in one of the legs. the assassin returns from the assignment and gets the body of the overweight guy to follow him onto the cruise to get his body back. H...

I read this trilogy around 1990 and would love to re-read it. From what I remember, the young boy was working in a castle and had a "knack". This was the ability to feel the ground as the area leading to the castle he was working in would flood, and he would "feel" where the land was and get whatever he had in his wagon safely back to or possibly from the castle. I believe that on his mother's deathbed, his mother told him that the "knack" was actually a magic power this boy had from a word of power his mother gave him. In this trilogy, the fewer people who knew the word, the more power the holder of this word had. Also, there were a few "super" mages, who if I remember correctly, knew 4 words of power. This knowledge would destroy all, but a special few. Pretty much all I remember about this. I don't believe it was David Duncan. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

The "First Order Heavy Scout Walker" Lego set depicts this multi-legged vehicle participating in the battle on Crait from The Last Jedi : But this does not seem to match the events of the movie, and I don't recall seeing this vehicle on Crait at all. I'd considered that it may be one of the vehicles seen pulling the battering ram cannon, but this answer identifies those as the "AT-HH" / "All-Terrain Heavy Hauler". According to Wookieepedia, the Last Jedi Visual Dictionary designates it as the "AT-HS" / "All-Terrain Heavy Scout", but as I don't have a copy of the book, I can't confirm this. So, what is this vehicle, actually? Was it cut from the film? Was it designed for the film, but left unused in the production process? Was it merely designed to provide a mid-sized vehicle for toys and Lego sets? And regardless of its origins, has it appeared in any Star Wars fiction outside of The Last Jedi?

I found this Universe: 113 Character Poster , which features a whole bunch of sci-fi characters. Who is everyone? Answer Numbering levels 11–0 from top to bottom, going through each level from left to right (unknown images are in bold ). Outside unknown 'Motel' sign on the left side Flag of the Democratic Order Of Planets ( Futurama ) in the middle Hatch to 'The Swan' facility ( Lost ) on the right side Level 11 (Top) [b] Vault hatch ( Fallout ) [b] Rick Deckard ( Blade Runner ) [c] Soul Edge , a sword ( Soul Calibur ) [c] Philip J. Fry ( Futurama ) in cryotube [c] Kaonashi or 'No-Face' ( Spirited Away ) eating the Animal King Turret ( Portal 2 ) [d] Cacodemon ( DOOM ) eating G-Man's briefcase ( Half-Life ) [f] Death Claw ( Fallout ) [f] Arthas the Lich King ( World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ) [f] Computer with two dots from 'A Rickle in Time' ( Rick and Morty ) Level 10 [c] DeLorean ( Back to the Future ) [c] T1000 (standing) putting met...

At the beginning of The Matrix, Neo is running Internet searches for Morpheus. When he meets Trinity, it is revealed that he wasn't just looking for Morpheus. He was really seeking knowledge of something they both understood to be called "The Matrix". What I don't understand is how Neo ever became aware of The Matrix in the first place. Some of this is explained in Neo's first meeting with Morpheus. Morpheus tells us that Neo has had a feeling his entire life - that he knew something was wrong with the world, that he could not explain. However, this still doesn't answer how Neo came to know that this thing had a name and that it was called "The Matrix". It also doesn't explain how Neo made any connections between The Matrix and Morpheus. Is this covered canonically anywhere? Answer "Matrix" is on his computer screen earlier. Since Neo is seeking out what is the feeling ('like a splinter in his mind') that's bothering him, ...

At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger (directed by Joe Johnston with Chris Evans in the titular role) you see Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) holding the Tesseract after being hit by Captain America's shield. This causes it to start glowing and Red Skull seems to dissolve into white light. Does he die or was he merely transported to some distant place so he can return in another movie? Answer We finally learn this answer in Avengers: Infinity War . Red Skull is shown to have ended up on Vormir where the Soul Stone is located. He says that he attempted to acquire the Soul Stone, but doing so required the sacrifice of someone you love. Having no one he could sacrifice, he ended up as a guide for others trying the same path. Thanos: How is it you know this place so well? Red Skull: A lifetime ago, I, too, sought the stones. I even held one in my hand. But it cast me out, banished me here. Guiding others to a treasure I cannot possess. What you seek lies before you. As does wh...

Near the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : Voldemort "kills" Harry, destroying the part of his own soul that was in Harry. Dumbledore tells us before this that: Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes , and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. Given the above, does that mean that Harry would have lost his ability to speak with snakes at the end of the book? Or would his own mind have learnt Parseltongue from the thing that gave it to him, so that when that thing was gone he would still know how to talk to snakes? I don't think any mention of this is made in the book, but I'm very curious to know. It would be a shame if Harry was no longer a Parselmouth. Answer No, Harry loses the ability to speak Parseltongue once Voldemort is dead: Nigel: Can Harry speak Parseltongue when he is no longer a Horcrux? J.K. Rowling: No, he loses the ability, and is very ...

Related to this question: What happens if a muggle-born wizard doesn't want to learn magic? If the muggle-born child isn't tutored in magic, is he/she still subject to wizarding laws? Are they going to be bound by the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery if they don't have a wand and are never properly trained in magic? Tom Riddle and Lily Evans had varying degrees of control over their magic even without wands and training. They intuitively were able to control the force within themselves. They had the advantage of attending Hogwarts, but what if they hadn't? Are they going to lock up a kid who doesn't / can't attend school but is still using their magical abilities? Answer The answer has nothing to do with Harry Potter but with a vast majority of human Judicial systems which inherited Roman legal concept of " ignorantia legis non excusat ", or "ignorance of the law is no excuse". (quote source is Yahoo answers). There...

I'm almost done watching the sixth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, so I'm starting to look at what to watch next. After reading a little bit about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, it's clear to me that Voyager would be fit my current mood. Would watching Voyager before Deep Space Nine spoil any event of importance? Answer There are two ways to approach this question; from the aspect of watching Voyager and from the aspect of watching DS9 . In the first aspect, you should be able to jump right into Voyager . Voyager debuted only a season after TNG ended, and the first couple of seasons of DS9 didn't introduce any major story-lines or continuity that would affect the Voyager universe. However, while you should already be aware of the Maquis from watching TNG , the Maquis were actually introduced on DS9 before TNG concluded. Additionally, with the exception of the first episode and some passing mentions in later seasons, Voyager has no...

I have been trying to find a certain anime, or cartoon from around 2000-2004. I watched a few episodes while at the gym and it was on MTV I am pretty sure. I never found out what show it was since it was a gym TV that hung from a wall. ==== had a cop ( possible) with a robot partner. he carried a bullet around his neck that he was caring to kill a specific person of which I cannot remember it seemed like a cop show there were bullets that had different uses and abilities and shot in a revolver style gun. the bullet he wore as a pendent on his necklace was red and had special ability the robot was gray I believe. Please let me know your thoughts. It almost reminds me of Cowboy Beebop animation style but not as fluid. Answer I found it. Heat Guy J Heat Guy J chronicles the adventures of a young Special Services officer named Daisuke Aurora and his android partner known simply as "J". The pair live and work in the fictional, futuristic Metropolis of "Judoh" (Jewde),...

What is the name of an 80s TV movie where a man acquires endurance powers and quick self-healing ability after a crash with a vehicle containing radioactive material? Answer I think you are referring to I-Man , a television pilot for a series that was not picked up, starring Scott Bakula as the title character and Joey Cramer who went on to star in Flight of the Navigator . The pilot was shown as a Disney Sunday Movie in 1986. In it, Scott Bakula plays a cab driver in Houston. While driving his son, they come across a NASA van that was in a crash containing an alien gas. The father and son run over to assist the driver of the van, and inhale the gas. The van explodes, but they quickly find out that they both have regenerative powers. They also have great endurance. A government agency recruits him to work for them.

I am looking for the title or author of a atory I read back in the 90's, no idea when it was written. The plot goes something like this: Humanity has gained access to space travel and sends 9 or 12 survey ships towards galactic center, only 1 returns with stories of an enemy so rapacious that humanity starts preparing for war. After a long time, the enemy hasn't shown up and people begin to doubt the need to keep building for war. The government engineers a plan to turn the core systems against the fringe worlds and start warring amongst ourselves so that we may be prepared for when the real enemy shows up. Written with the focus on one spaceship captain battling in our own internal war. Answer The story "In a Good Cause—" by Isaac Asimov features two friends, Richard "Dick" Altmayer and Geoffrey Stock, who hold opposing views regarding the war between different human factions. Stock enlists in the army, while Altmayer argues that humanity should unite ag...

After reading this question about the potion that protected the horcrux in the cave I got to wondering. Could multiple people have drank the potion in the cave, thus diluting its effect on any single person, while still permitting the horcrux to be retrieved? Answer It's probable (nothing explicitly seems to contradict the idea), but likely not the case since it would have been considered unnecessary due to the restrictions on how many wizards could get onto the island via the boat: "It doesn't look like it was built for two people. Will it hold both of us? Will we be too heavy together?" Dumbledore chuckled. "Voldemort will not have cared about the weight, but about the amount of magical power that crossed his lake. I rather think an enchantment will have been placed upon this boat so that only one wizard at a time will be able to sail in it."

After recently re-watching the Harry Potter series, I noticed that the Weasleys' clock shown in The Chamber of Secrets has a location setting of "dentist" for the family members. However, during the dinner party in The Half Blood Prince , Professor Slughorn seems to be completely unfamiliar with the concept of dentistry. Is this just an oversight by the script writers, or do some wizarding families have different hygiene practices? Could it possibly be explained due to the Weasleys' exposure to muggle oral care from Mr. Weasley's job at the Ministry? Answer There does appear to be dentistry in the wizarding world, just not the kind of ' hack and smash with a pair of rusty pliers ' dentistry that we muggles are used to. Notably, the practice seems to be part of the general medical care offered by nurses. If a wizard damaged their tooth, they would be well advised to visit a doctor or nurse skilled in the regrowing and straightening of teeth. At that poin...

How is Necromancy accomplished in the Harry Potter universe? I thought that people cannot be raised from the dead in Harry Potter. Were bodies just use as puppets that can only do simple tasks, for instance when Dumbledore and Harry were getting the locket, the Inferi were there to guard the locket. Also, besides Inferi were there any Zombies in Harry Potter?

In X-men first class we see a character called Darwin, who is able to adapt to any situation it seems, except, swallowing an energy ball. After which he dies. I was wondering after the movie , how does he make it back into the comics? It seems odd that character would be created for the movies, and be killed off with such alacrity. Answer Darwin (Armando Muñoz) was created by writer Ed Brubaker for the mini-series X-Men: Deadly Genesis (2006). He first appeared in issue #2 of the 6 issue mini. This mini-series revealed that Darwin, along with a few other mutants, were part of an interim X-Men team created in-between the scenes of Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975). The mini-series was a retcon of previously established events. In original continuity as published in Giant-Size X-Men #1, in spring 1975, the original X-Men (Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey, along with Polaris and Havok) were sent on a mission to the island Krakoa, only to be attacked and defeated by the...

I was debating with a friend about this! Is Neo genetically different from others plugged in the Matrix, as in genetically engineered to be the 'One'? Or is he a normal human and it's all software that gives him powers. Answer According to the Architect, Neo is engineered but not genetically: The function of the One is now to return to the Source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry , reinserting the prime program. ... Your 5 predecessors were, by design , based on a similar predication - a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the One. The Matrix Reloaded He is designed to perform the function of the One, which includes a temporary dissemination of the code carried by the One. Genes are a type of code, but the Architect is probably referring to machine code since Neo's code is disseminated when he returns to the Source (a machine). In other words, he's a...

I've been wondering about the origins of the White Walkers for some time now, and it looks like both the books and the show have progressed enough to begin to answer some of these questions. I've done a little of my own research which lead me to this site , which briefly talks about the Night's King and him possibly being the first White Walker. It also talks about the identity of the Night's King being the 13th commander of the Night's Watch. Given that information, is it possible to deduce the identity of the Night's King? Also according to that site, it talks about his bride, the Night's Queen. It doesn't seem to give much detail on her other then she's: with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars and her skin was cold as ice Do we know who or what she was? Do we know how this story fits into the overall origin of the White Walkers?

In Star Wars: Rebels (“Rise of the Old Masters”), Kanan and Ezra go in search of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, whom they believe to have survived and to be in Imperial custody. They discover what they believe to be her, but is actually a hologram. It is revealed to be a trap by the Grand Inquisitor: INQUISITOR: Yes, I’m afraid Master Luminara died with the Republic. But her bones continue to serve the Empire, luring the last Jedi to their ends. Star Wars: Rebels , “Rise of the Old Masters” What purpose did Unduli’s remains serve? The trap apparently consisted of false messages and a hologram, and the hologram was arguably not even necessary, only serving to get Kanan and Ezra into a certain room. Why did the Empire need her body? Why did they use it as part of the trap? Answer Showrunner Dave Filoni spoke to this in an interview with IGN. In short, the combination of her physical remains and her Force presence due to her death in the holding cell create a weird mix of essence and pre...

I know this is a bit of a random question, but after watching a considerable amount of Star Trek, I've never seen a Klingon's foot - only their boots. I know they probably have similar shaped feet to most humanoids, but is there any actually any visual scene containing a Klingon's foot in any series? Answer Yes, in the episode " Ethics " we see Worf's feet. Whether these are typical or abnormal is never explained but the similarity in shape and size (along with the symmetry of the bump above the fifth digit) would suggest that they are. This ties in quite nicely with the Klingon anatomical model designed by senior Trek 'Visual Effects Producer' (and Klingon expert) Dan Curry .

There are three problems with the setting of Game of Thrones : Because if the continent of Westeros in the show (and books) are probably set on either a parallel Earth or a very Earth-like alien world. But the problem is that we find out that there are roughly forty years of winter for every ten years of summer (it could be more or less) so this planet is obviously not Earth because it must have a very different orbit to our world. It obviously takes fifty Earth years to orbit their sun and the planet is only positioned for summer for a short period of that time. But we see in the opening credits that Westeros is inside the shell of a planet and at the centre is their large mechanical artificial sun, I don't think the opening credits of the show show us what is literally happening, I think it's an artists representation, so it's good to bear this point in mind but safe to ignore it. So any ideas? I believe I have confused some people with this question, first of all the sto...

I started wondering this after the extremely gratuitous slo-mo pearls in Batman vs Superman, but forgot to google it after leaving the theater. Then I mentioned it in chat tonight when I saw the same thing happen in Batman (1989), and Wad found several more examples , so it's probably worth asking: Does Martha Wayne always wear a pearl necklace when she gets killed, and does that necklace always fall apart so that we see individual pearls falling to the ground? Obviously, any version of Batman's parents is acceptable, no matter how obscure. Answer No. There are multiple versions of the death scene where that doesn't happen. The original comic version doesn't have that element. Nor does Batman: The Brave and the Bold . [embedded content] The Super Friends version is ambiguous, but there don't appear to be any pearls. (Watch the lower left corner) [embedded content] Batman: Gotham Knight also doesn't seem to feature any pearls, but it's very short and it...

I was just wondering if the identity of the owners of the Elven rings was known to the other bearers? In the Lord of the Rings, there is much mention of the identity of the wearers of the Elven rings needing to be kept secret (such as when Aragorn tells Frodo that he should not have spoken of Galadriel owning Nenya outside of Lothlorien), but I wonder if the owner of one of the rings could have hidden their identity from the other bearers? Although it is a vague notion, the novel seems to imply that the 3 Elven rings are in some way linked. At the end of the novel I recall a passage describing Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel all communicating with each other without actually speaking aloud - like some kind of telepathy. I think this is when they are travelling to the Grey Havens to leave Middle Earth so it lead me to wonder if this is down to the Elven rings, or some other reason. Are there any references to these aspects in any other of Tolkien's works? Answer The mental communica...

In Blade Runner 2049 , officer K (a Replicant) is made to take a 'baseline test. What's the point in repeating what the machine says in his baseline test?

During Guardians of the Galaxy , we see a few people hold the stone, with varying amounts of success. Eson the Searcher : The celestial wields it to destroy entire planets. Unknown group of 8 or 9: Able to hold it for a "moment" before being destroyed by it Carina, the slave girl: immediately destroyed by the Stone Ronan: Able to hold the the stone for a period before inserting it into his hammer Peter Quill: able to hold the stone for a period, but the Stone does begin destroying him Peter + Gamora: delays destruction of holders - Peter + Gamora + Rocket + Drax: able to hold the stone for a time before wielding its power to destroy Ronan Peter stores it in the containment orb. It is revealed that Peter is only half-Terran, which may or may not contribute to how long he was able to hold the Stone without being destroyed. What factor(s) affect how quickly someone is destroyed by the Power Stone? Is it an issue of brute strength? Willpower? Something else? Possible mitigating ...

I've noticed that Data's eyes got more yellow in Insurrection than they were in the series, or the other movies. Is there a reason for the darker shade in color?

I read a fantasy novel that was implied to be part of a series around 20 years ago (was part of my high school library, not certain how old it was then). I don't remember the title or author, or admittedly large portions of the plot (or maybe it was just a disjointed book), and would like to request help here. These are the elements I remember: A young teenager (in what I believe is regular old Earth) receives a list of instructions from a composer friend of his. By going through the composer's house and taking a convoluted path through the neighborhood, that starts changing on him as he goes, he arrives in another world entirely. The path ends in a hostile garden or hedge maze that is tended/guarded by a woman in a veil. The village he ends up in seems pretty repressed. Something about another guardian woman nearby related to the first, but not immediately hostile. Desert or a wasteland nearby that contain monstrous or demonic children. The protagonist eventually learns some a...

On the Matrix wiki, there's an article about the Nightmare Matrix which says: The Nightmare Matrix was the second prototype Matrix, designed by The Architect after the massive failure of the Paradise Matrix in the hope that human minds would more readily accept an imperfect world with suffering. Unlike the first version, this Matrix instituted a basic cause-and-effect programming and forcibly made those connected to it accept the program. Vamp Prime, a possible remnant of the Nightmare Matrix. It also featured programs that resembled mythical evil creatures in various human mythologies such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens, etc. It also failed, but many of the programs who were designed for it survived deletion in exile. The Merovingian and his wife, Persephone may have had their roots in this version of the Matrix. Upon its failure, the Merovingian started a smuggling ring of programs and information to provide a haven for exiles that would last for 6 cycles in the final ...

During the Tournament in honour of Ned Starks appointment to Hand of the King ( The Tourney of The Hand ), Ser Gregor kills Ser Hugh of the Vale in what seems to be an accident. However, both Ned Stark and Ser Gregor's brother - Sandor "The Hound" Clegane - seem to think that this was not an accident, and we are also lead to believe that it is not. Ned Stark seems to think that Ser Hugh was killed because Ned had wanted to question him. However, in retrospect (ASOS), we know that it was not Cersei who killed Jon Arryn, we only know that she suspected that Jon Arryn and Stannis knew the secret of who really fathered her children. I can imagine that Cersei would possibly have had Ser Hugh killed, just in case he actually knew something that she suspected Jon Arryn or Stannis might have suspected, but why would she do it at that time? And why use Ser Gregor in that case? Looking back at it now, it seems that it is more likely that this was purely coincidental. If Cersei had...

I have recently come to learn some things about Aragorn and Arwen that trouble me. According to Tolkien Gateway's entry on Aragorn , he went to live with Elrond at Rivendell when he was only two years old, and Elrond raised him as his own son from that time on. Only when Aragorn was about 20 years old did Elrond tell Aragorn that he was not Elrond's real son, and that he was, in fact, the heir of Isildur. About a year later, when Aragorn was 21 or so, he fell in love with Elrond's daughter Arwen. Tolkien Gateway says that this happened when Arwen returned to Rivendell from Lorien, where her grandparents lived. This bothers me because it means that Aragorn fell in love with a woman who, for as long as he could remember, and up until a year earlier, he believed to be his sister. Of course, she wasn't actually his sister, but he thought she was for most of his life. Humans have an instinctive aversion to entering romantic relationships with people we're in close conta...