They certainly can in the films; In the original 1990 Ninja Turtles film, Michaelangelo shows this ability, before quipping about how much he loves being a turtle.

Leonardo also does this in the 1993 sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III:

Turtles in Time And in the latest 2014 Ninja Turtles reboot , Michaelangelo and Raphael withdraw all of their extremities in order to disguise themselves as a gigantic product placement Behati Prinsloo's breasts.

And no, I'm not kidding.

I wish I was.

We also see them do it in the original cartoon TV series .

in the original movies there is a scene where at least one of them pulls their head into his shell and I believe the final scene of turtles 2 they float back to the surface of the water completely pulled into their shells although I could be wrong

Comics :

I think they all do it at least once, but I could be wrong.

In Image Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Vol.

III; #1 , Donatello retracts his head into his shell during a long fall: 2012

Nickelodeon Cartoon :

Raphael does this at least once, when one of Leatherhead's booby traps flies at his head.

Michelangelo also retracts completely into his shell at least once.

And pulls only his head into his shell at least twice:

Leonardo does it unintentionally:

They've even released a line of toys based on the 2012 cartoon series called " Head Droppin' Turtles " 1990 Movie Series :

In the first movie, Michelangelo does it once .

In the second movie, they all do it at least once: 2014

Movie :

As Richard notes, they also do it in the recent reboot .

For example, Leonardo: Real life: I'll just leave this here:

scifi.stackexchange.com/users/44025/Wad Cheber stands with Monica

In the older Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, all 4 of the turtles withdrew their entire bodies into their shells, but only for comedic reasons (such as being afraid of a roach), rather than defensive ones (such as avoiding being crushed).

The turtles, despite their ability to speedily use this ability, usually don't withdraw into their shells for any reason.

In the first Ninja Turtles movie, when Michelangelo put his head in his shell, they achieved the illusion of withdrawal by raising the shell itself -- the actor in the green body suit didn't move.

This may or may not have been the method used in the third movie.

Raphael does this in the 2012 series when Mikey shows him a cockroach.

But that time, he actually hides his whole body in its shell.

Question: It's been a while since I read the comics or watched the animated show, or the original movies, but have the turtles ever been able to retreat into their shells like normal turtles do?

Can the turtles go inside their shells?

They do retreat into their shells in the 1990 and 2014 films and in the original cartoon TV series.

The Turtles can retreat into their shells, though usually only for a good reason.


No.

in order for a human to be inducted as a scout and later a marine he has to undergo mental conditioning as well as physical.

A Blank couldn't be screened by the psykers and therefore not be eligible for becoming a Space Marine.

We see a glimpse of becoming a Space Marine in Space Wolf novels.

(Yes they are not conventional), but the process itself couldn't be that much different from other chapters.

The complete "standard" process is here .

The Space Wolves have another ritual called "passing the gates of Morkai ".

In this test the Librarians take over the mind of an aspirant and judge it worthy or NOT worthy.

If any other chapters have similar tests Blanks would not be permitted to become Space Marines.

They certainly can't become Space Wolves.

Also we see the effect that Blanks have on psykers in the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies.

So any aspirant trying out for the Space Marines would be found out fairly quick and either killed outright or passed on to the Black ships.

Yes

But we have only ONE occasion of Blank in whole Wh40k literature.

It is introduced in the novel Emperor's Gift from Aaron Dembski-Bowden at chapter eleven, when Grey Knights Chapter marines arrive to Titan - their Chapter monastery planet, to give away the body of their fallen brother to be buried in Dead Fields.

There battle-brothers met Phlegyras - a so-called Ferrymen who’s work concludes in giving a proper ritual and burial to the fallen.

These men do not serve in any kind of battle roles.

Grey Knights immediately recognized Space Marine-like body type of this ferryman, and his unnatural aura of nothingness because he was a blank.

But anyways, no matter questions asked, Phlegyras never revealed who he was and how he became a Blank.

At any occasion, it is impossible to say how it is possible.

Gene-seed implantation to a naturally-born blank will result in immediate death because of psi-infused nature of gene-seed (please remember who their Grandfather is).

At least, that's the most popular theory the imperial scholars have.

So Phlegyras should become pariah after initiation to the Chapter.

In the Space Marine video game Captain Titus is a Blank.

He holds a warp generating device and fights an almost-daemon price with no mutation.

His immunity to the warp gets the Inquisition alerted by Leandros.

Nope, it's never happened.

And it never would because they're too valuable / rare / un-likeable to become Space Marines

As a male in the 40k universe, you have a 1 in 2 billion chance of being born with the Pariah Gene , so when one pops up, the Inquisition will always be the first on the scene.

And even if the Pariah were born on a chapter's recruiting world, chances are he would be rejected out right.

Obviously the chapter's Liberians would detect the Pariah immediately and either hand him over to the Inquisition or possibly kill him, depending on the chapter.

But some chapters don't employ any psykers at all, The Black Templars for example.

I'm sure they'd have other tests to check for Chaos or corruption but if a Pariah did pass these tests, they'd have another problem.

Pariahs give off an aura which makes people instantly and intensely dislike and distrust them.

They couldn't possibly be part of a squad when every one of their brothers permanently despises them.

Alexandros the Blind, the current chapter master of the Sons of Dorn is a Blank.

Another possible explanation is that they simply wouldn't be chosen.

A typical Chapter controls several recruiting worlds which may have populations in the millions or billions.

From this, they derive a very small number of recruits every year: given what we know of Chapter sizes and Space Marine lifespans and loss rates (when not appearing in other factions' codices, at least), it might be in the single digits.

So they can afford to be extremely choosy, with literally millions of people passed over for every one accepted.

At the same time, because normal human empathy is to some degree psychic, Blanks are not accepted by others around them - including, we must assume, Space Marines.

Even if the Blank is superlatively capable, the examining Marine will invent a flaw, simply because of his innate dislike of the Blank.

Since by definition everyone who makes the shortlist to be inducted is exceptional, it wouldn't take much to tilt the examiner's decision away from the Blank.

No, because such a person would be immediately picked up on by the Chapter's Librarians.

There are no examples of what happens next if such an individual is found: perhaps they are killed, or handed over to the Inquisition.

Question: Are there any instances in literature of Blanks/pariahs serving as Space Marines? Surely they'd be unstoppable when facing warp entities. I know assassins can be blanks and they're rare, etc.

Are there any instances of Blanks serving as Space Marines?

This is contested. Some claim that Blanks cannot become Space Marines because they cannot be screened by psykers. However, Captain Titus is a Blank in the Space Marine video game and the Space Wolf novels give a glimpse of one becoming a Space Marine.

Although a Blank technically can’t become a space marine since the psykers and the Chapter’s Librarians would prevent this, the Space Wolf novels introduce the concept of Blanks becoming Space Marines, and Captain Titus and Alexandros the Blind may fall into that category.

A Blank can’t become a space marine since the psykers and the Chapter’s Librarians would prevent this. The Space Wolf novels introduce the concept of Blanks becoming Space Marines. Captain Titus features as a Blank in the Space Marine video game and Alexandros the Blind is a Blank though there is no confirmation he is a Space Marine.


The Major is a cyborg.

Which means that she is a human with extensive biomechanical parts.

As a child she was in an accident and had to replace much of her body with cybernetic prosthetics.

Having so much cybernetic equipment as part of her made it easy for her to interact with the Puppet Master.

In the end of the movie we see her body destroyed and her brain installed into a new body designed for adolescents.

Like others have said, the continuity for Ghost in the Shell varies depending on whether you're considering the manga, the various animes or the movies.

I'll answer from the perspective of my preferred version, the 1995 movie by Mamoru Oshii .

In this movie, Motoko Kusanagi used to be human , but she has doubts about it.

A major theme of the movie is precisely this: what makes a person human?

What if we replaced almost all of the body with cybernetic parts: would we still be human?

And what if we took that final step and replaced even the brain?

What then?

This is the major existential worry that Kusanagi faces in the movie.

As evidence of both her past humanity and her worries about her present condition, consider this conversation she has with her partner Batou ( taken from the script ): KUSANAGI: That robot.

Did we seem similar to you?

BATOU:

Of course not.

K:

No.

I don't mean physically.

B:

Just what then?

K:

Well, I guess cyborgs like myself have a tendency to be paranoid about our origins.

Sometimes I suspect I'm not who I think I am.

Like maybe I died a long time ago, and somebody took my brain and stuck it in this body.

Maybe there never was a real me in the first place, and I'm completely synthetic like that thing.

B:

You've got human brain cells in that titanium shell of yours .

You're treated like other humans, so stop with the angst.

K:

But that's just it.

That's the only thing that makes me feel human: The way I'm treated.

I mean, who knows what's inside our heads.

Have you ever seen your own brain?

B: It sounds to me like you're doubting your own ghost.

K: What

if a cyber-brain could possibly generate its own ghost, create a soul all by itself?

And if it did, just what would be the importance of being human then?

The original movies, Stand Alone Complex, and the new ARISE series are all separate continuities.

Events in one are not necessarily applicable to the others.

In SAC, she has been a full body cyborg (everything except her brain is totally robotic) since her body was severely damaged in the plane crash that killed her parents when she was six years old.

She was one of only two survivors, with the other being

Hideo Kuze

In ARISE, her brain was put into a prosthetic body before she was born.

Kusanagi was and still is human.

Well, human at their core.

Kusanagi is a full-body cyborg.

Essentially Kusanagi's totally normal human brain is encased in a cybernetic shell, and the entire rest of Kusanagi's body is mechanical.

The technology of Ghost in the Shell has gotten advanced to the point where people can directly interface their brains with computers, which is the source of many issues in the various Ghost in the Shell stories.

But what it boils down to is that Kusanagi is still human, they just make heavy use of the cyborg technologies available to them.

First off, I have not read the manga, and I will be making sweeping statements that may not apply to the manga.

That said - Lets go through the evidence.

Technology

Human-like AI is both possible, and demonstrated in every incarnation of GiTS, though even the most sophisticated examples like proto tend to lack cyber-brains.

'Ghost-dubbing' or copying a cyber-brain is also possible (and demonstrated), but the copy is inferior.

A cyber-brain would also be pretty heavily augmented to be able to interface seamlessly with both the cyber-bodies and external machines.

You also see them outside of the body from time to time in their metal cases.

The arise series also introduces a couple of characters that have used 'AI chips' to replace brain functions in their ailing brains.

The major Origin story

The major's origin story varies from continuity to continuity (arise/stand alone complex/the manga and the movies all exist separate from one another, in spite of their similarities)

In arise, the major has been a cyborg from birth (or at least a kind of brain in a jar).

In Stand alone complex a plane crash left her in a coma; forcing(?)

the use of a cyber-body to revive her.

The movies do not make any specific mention of her origins to my knowledge.

Age Old enough to participate in the last big war...

The wiki article on the major suggests 31 but i'm not buying it.

Body Military-issue cyber-body with cyber-brain.

Capabilities One of the best hackers in the world, and having control over her cyberbody above and beyond most.

Conclusion

The major probably isn't an AI judging solely from the fact that she predates the indistinguishably-human variants AND has a cyber-brain.

It is however quite possible that the major isn't the first... heading section nine is rather dangerous after all.

The technology does exist to make copies as well as offset the ailing abilities of poor copies with AI chips, perhaps even pushing her abilities past her otherwise (relatively) normal contemplates.

Motoko is supposed to represent the closest mankind has ever gotten to what is known as the machine singularity.

When mankind is fully integrated with machine.

In computer terms, a ghost in the shell is when a computer program begins to write it's own code, nullifying the need for any programmer.

This was believed by scientists as the first signs of a computer becoming self aware or artificial intelligence.

Only a few times have it's been seen when code has appeared out of no where.

It was always thought it was programmed by a ghost.

Question: After watching Ghost in the Shell movie and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I couldn't tell Major Motoko Kusanagi was an AI or she used to be a human.  Was Major Motoko Kusanagi a human in a past life, or was she an AI from the beginning?

Was Major Motoko Kusanagi a human in a past life, or was she an AI from the beginning?

In SAC, she has been a full body cyborg (everything except her brain is totally robotic) since her body was severely damaged in the plane crash that killed her parents when she was six years old.  However, In ARISE, her brain was put into a prosthetic body before she was born. She probably isn't an AI because she predates the indistinguishably-human variants AND has a cyber-brain.  Essentially, Kusanagi's human brain is encased in a cybernetic shell, and the rest of her body is mechanical.

Kusanagi is a human cyborg with a mechanical body and a cyber brain. However, she is not an AI, though she closely represents one.

Kusanagi was born and still is a cyborg — but she is still human. Given she has a cyber brain, she is not an AI, though she comes close to representing one. A plane crash left her body severely damaged meaning her body is now mechanical.


Yes, of course there are.

The need to excrete waste matter was not genetically engineered out of humans (and other Federation member species) by the 23rd century.

There are next to no explicit references in the shows, though the Enterprise-D has a door labelled "HEAD" on the Bridge, and there were verbal references in Voyager to such rooms.

In DS9, Bashir stated that it was "best not to think too much" about how waste extraction worked.

Rom worked on the station's waste extraction facilities more than once.

scifi.stackexchange.com/users/1167/Lightness Races in Orbit

Memory alpha mentions a toilet in the Star Trek brig (prison cell): http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Brig especially in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

There is a whole separate toilet entry in Memory Alpha

however the toilet in the brig in Star Trek V remains as far as I know, the only visible representation of a potty on the series.

William Riker shows us exactly where the only bathroom on the enterprise is in Journey's End

This was addressed in my favourite Star Trek:

Enterprise episode, Breaking The Ice.

The chief engineer of the Enterprise is asked by some Earth schoolchildren

how the toilets on the Enterprise work.

He tells them that all biological waste on the ship is recycled into other materials and used to make items such as replacement uniform boots.

Of course Starships have toilets, and blueprints explicitly show and detail them.

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D

The blueprints from Rick Sternback display toilets on various decks, here is a sample of Decks 1 (the Bridge) and 2.

You can see a "head" on Deck 1, and on the Officers' quarters on Deck 2.

Enterprise NX-01

The Enterprise NX-01 blueprints also show toilets, i.e. the room labeled as 18 on Deck A: Miranda Class

The blueprints of the Miranda Class also show "heads" on various decks:

These are just some examples.

More blueprints can be seen at Cygnus X-1 .

Jonathan Frakes hosted a Star Trek top 10 shows at the end of ST:TNG , and said that the Enterprise had only one bathroom - and he pointed to a schematic screen of the ship, and to the room.

He wasn't joking.

That was the only bathroom identified on the ship.

I don't recall if it was the bridge area or not.

Question: I know that it's a weird question, but I haven't seen a single bathroom on the Enterprise, not even on blueprints.  Do they exist?

Αre there bathrooms on the Enterprise?

Yes, there are toilets on the ship.  For example, Enterprise-D has a door labelled "HEAD" on the Bridge and the Enterprise NX-01  blueprints  also show toilets. The blueprints of the Miranda Class also show "heads" on various decks.

There are bathrooms on the Enterprise, most notably the Enterprise NX-01, as per Sternbach’s blueprints. Moreover, the episode Breaking the Ice reveals that there is a bathroom on board the Enterprise and there are references to bathrooms in both Voyager and on Memory Alpha.

There are indeed bathrooms (or possibly even only one bathroom) on the Enterprise as can be seen in Sternbach’s blueprints of Enterprise NX-01 and the Miranda Class, as well as in the episode Breaking the Ice. There is also at least one toilet on board the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D. There is also a reference to the bathrooms in Voyager and on Memory Alpha.


According to IMDB : The final scene was filmed at Lake Powell, Arizona, which is a giant water reservoir on the Colorado river.

Whether this water was meant to represent Lake Powell in the movie itself as well is unknown; however, judging by the path of the debris it's doubtful, since the Tiangong is seen entering the atmosphere above the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, so it would seem that Ryan Stone would have landed on a lake in Central Asia.

Yet, since we clearly hear an American radio station through the speaker of the Shenzhou it's probable that Alfonso Cuarón wanted to leave the exact place of the landing ambiguous .

In one of the bonus featurettes on the blu-ray DVD, the filmmakers address the landscape seen when Stone resurfaces.

The surrounding terrain on Lake Powell is normally desert-like, with barren and rocky formations.

They show how they took the surrounding landscape of Lake Powell and enhanced it to make it look like a green, living area.

She enters the atmosphere over the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, so she should land in Central Asia somewhere

but we can hear an American radio station through the speaker of the Shenzhou, which would indicate she's in America somehow, so

we really don't know where she lands...

Which apparently was the point.

This blog has dissected the film to determine the location of every shot in the film Gravity and to compare it with the corresponding location on Google Earth.

To cut a long story short, the final shots of the film should take place somewhere in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea or South Aral Sea (and based on the trajectory of the falling debris, the Tiangong Module should land somewhere near to the northern coastline) however the 200KM and below footage has been rendered completely in CGI.

Even ignoring the erratic trajectory (filmmaker's license), the island that she passes over and the lake that she lands in are fictional.

I think it is, as you say, deliberately left ambiguous -

certainly because in the end it doesn't matter, she's back on earth safe and sound as she wanted to be.

Whether she is in-fact safe is subject matter for another film :)

As to where she could possibly be, it could be anywhere - lets not forget that by the time she boarded the Chinese station, it was already in a dire situation due to the fact that it was skimming the atmosphere.

She then immediately boards the Shenzhou as the station is ripped apart around her, so there is no real planning on where the deorbit burn will occur (there is typically several hours between undocking and actual deorbit for ISS visitors)

, it just happens as the station is destroyed.

With that in mind, its unlikely the craft was on target for a Chinese landing, IMHO

shes just lucky

she didn't end up in the middle of the Pacific.

First check this: http://ogleearth.com/2014/01/every-earth-view-from-gravity-identified-in-google-earth/

I believe "Mystery" landscape 590 is 44°

53'59.67"N 51° 6'10.28"E Which puts it at the north east corner of the Caspian Sea.

Based on the trajectory in the movie, she appears to be going east and perhaps somewhat south.

My opinion, she ends up in Aydar Lake in Uzbekistan, probably on the eastern end where it becomes smaller.

Without the in depth analysis, I first got the impression she had landed at Lake Zurich, but then I thought that the director would perhapsTo find that ending, too predictable.

But I feel I got that impression from the clearly American radio station playing in the escape capsule, and from the mission control's director (Ed Harris). :)

The location is supposed to represent a primordial place.

She has experienced the hero's journey, been reborn.

She represents not only Dr. Ryan Stone who has defeated her own grief and transcended literal death as well a figurative death, but humanity--even all land mammals, even evolution.

The setting is Galapagos-like.

In her skin tight clothes, she is the first creature who climbs out of the sea an onto land, dragging her body as she breathes the air.

Then, she is a four-legged animal.

Then, a biped.

The frog, the insects and the strange landscape are not from our time.

Prehistoric.

Yet, the space station burns up in the atmosphere above her.

Some theories state that life on earth originated from outer-space.

Is it possible that Cuarón is saying humans must evolve again, that we must transcend our grief, our attachment to time and space and to even life itself.

That our pain originates in our attachments?

Question: I just watched Gravity for the third time. The ending got me to thinking. It's never clearly explained in the movie, but where did Sandra Bullock's character end up landing? To me it looks suspiciously like China, possibly, which makes total sense considering she took the Shenzhou craft from the Chinese space station. I know the actual filming location was Lake Powell in Arizona.

In the movie Gravity, where does Sandra Bullock's character end up?

We really don't know where she lands - the island that she passes over and the lake that she lands in are fictional.  However, speculation indicates the Caspian or South Aral Sea, Aydar Lake, and Lake Zurich.

Sandra Bullock’s place of landing cannot be confirmed — and it may be a primordial place that doesn’t exist — but she appears to be travelling south east and possibly lands near Lake Zurich or in Aydar Lake in Uzbekistan.

Firstly, there is no confirmation of where Sandra Bullock lands and, secondly, wherever she lands may be a fictional, primordial place. She appears to be travelling south east and there is the possibility that she lands in either Aydar Lake in Uzbekistan or near Lake Zurich.


Yes.

In the TNG episode "The Dauphin", there were shapeshifters native to Daled IV.

The future monarch of the species as well as her bodyguard/protector had the ability to assume humanoid and animal forms.

In the TNG episode "The Survivors", we were introduced to a Douwd, a powerful being capable of either changing or disguising its appearance.

It was able to dematerialize and move around without the aid of a transporter, so its control over its physical structure must be near total.

In the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , inside the Rurapenthe prison complex Kirk and McCoy encountered a shapeshifter that called itself a chameloid.

It could assume humanoid and animal forms.

In Star Trek: Voyager , creatures capable of full mimicry of humans were encountered on the class Y "demon planet".

These creatures were featured in the episodes "Demon" and "Course: Oblivion".

In Star Trek:

Deep Space Nine 's episode "The Alternate", another Shapeshifting species was encountered.

This one could retain shapes, but it was more of a powder, so its abilities were limited.

This species may be related to the Changelings.

The Wraiths in Star Trek:

Enterprise 's episode "Rogue Planet" were slug-like by default, but were very capable shapeshifters.

Some of the Suliban from Star Trek:

Enterprise have shapeshifting abilities, but this is a product of genetic engineering.

Besides the species that are naturally shapeshifters, some humans also can shape shift through mental discipline.

In the TOS episode "Whom Gods Destroy"

mental patient Captain Garth repeatedly alters his appearance to mimic other humans.

And in the episode "Mudd's Women" crones convert themselves into beautiful young women apparently via the placebo effect.

If you define 'changeling' as being a shape-shifting species, possibly the largest one we see is in TNG 'Encounter at Farpoint' - the Spaceborne Entity .

We see one transform itself into Farpoint station and another in the form of a massive starship.

The beings in Star Trek: Voyager are made of a biomimetic compound.

They came from the Class Y planet on the episode Demon .

They actually appeared on the episode Course: Oblivion .

They had no knowledge of what they really are and it is unclear if they had any conscious ability to assume new shapes or where actually shapeshifters at all and not some type of autonomously self-assembled entities.

In terms of other shapeshifters the memory alpha link can detail those, the majority appear to be able to transition from one discrete morphology to another, with the exception of the Changleings who are natively amorphous.

Shapeshifters

I believe the shapeshifters from voyager your looking for are the Undine, otherwise known as species 8472 by the borg.

voyager episode "in the flesh" is entirely about how they set up a complex to masquerade as humans to infiltrate and the federation, as they deemed humans/

the fed their greatest threat and deemed the borg irrelevant.

Undine

There form of shapeshifting is even harder to detect then the changlings, which was dam near perfect as it was.

The Memory Alpha page that Richard linked tohas a section on "Non-corporeal to physical shapeshifters",which includes, for example, the Organians.

They seem to have overlooked Trelane (The Squire of Gothos)who was presumably some sort of energy being (inasmuch as that's what his parents were)but could assume humanoid form.

In "The Survivor" an episode of the kind of sort of semi-canon Star Trek: The Animated Series an multi tenticled Vendorian was encountered.

Vendorians can take the shape of other life forms, and this particular one even turned himself into a functioning machine while that machine was desperately needed! KIRK:

There used to be only two examining tables in this room.

Now there are three.

SPOCK:

I just realised that.

KIRK:

This is a vial of Orientine acid, Winston.

It will burn through almost anything but this crystal.

If you've never seen it work, I'll demonstrate on you.

(The table transforms into the alien)

MCCOY:

I saw that, but I don't believe it.

SPOCK:

A Vendorian, Doctor.

Their planet is quarantined, and few people ever do see them.

Their ability to rearrange their molecular structure into anything with the same general size and mass and their practise of deceit as a way of life puts them off limits.

KIRK:

Mister Spock, get a security team down here on the double. and later: KIRK:

Good work, Mister Scott.

That deflector shield went up just in time.

SCOTT:

But sir, I haven't finished repairing the shield.

I told you it'll take hours, and it will.

SPOCK:

Interesting.

KIRK

: Then what was?

Winston.

SPOCK:

It is not outside the realm of probability.

If he could rearrange his own atoms to become an examination table, one would have to assume he could become a deflector shield.

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/TAS005.htm When Garth of Izar was severely wounded near Antos IV, the Antosians taught him the process of cellular regeneration to heal himself, and Garth later used it to change his shape and impersonate other beings ( Star Trek: The Original Series "Whom Gods Destroy").

KIRK: How does he manage to change form at will?

CORY: The people of Antos taught him the techniques of cellular metamorphosis to restore the destroyed parts of his body.

By himself, he later learned to use the technique to recreate himself into any form he wished.

The first time we knew about it was when a guard, seeing what he thought was me in Garth's cell, released him.

So Captain Kirk should have kept an open mind and not been certain that Cameloids were a myth until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .

MARTIA: I'm a chameloid.

KIRK: I've heard about you. '

Shapeshifters', I thought you were mythical.

So that might (depending on various factors such as the canon status of TAS and whether cellular regeneration is innate to all Antosians) possibly make as many as three other canonical shape shifting biological (non energy beings) species in Star Trek before the changelings in Star Trek:

Deep Space Nine !

Question: I'm currently watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and as all you know there are many appearances of shapeshifting/changeling characters like the Founders and Odo.  I watched Star Trek Voyager 5-6 years ago, and I think I remember the crew encountering some shapeshifting species as they were travelling home?  So, are there any other changeling species in Star Trek besides The Founders?

Are there any other changeling species in the Star Trek universe besides the Founders?

Yes, there have been a number of changelings in Star Trek, including natives of Daled IV, Douwd, a chameloid, the inhabitants of the demon planet, the Undine, the Vendorians and the Antosians.

The following species and/or characters are known to shapeshift: those native to Daled IV, the future monarch of the species, a Douwd, a Chameloid, Garth of Izar, the Undine and Vendorians. Moreover, Shapeshifters are also encountered in TNG  "Encounter at Farpoint" — the  Spaceborne Entity, Deep Space Nine’s episode "the Alternate" and Star Trek: Voyager.

In Star Trek, humans and species are known to naturally shapeshift. The following species and/or characters are known to shapeshifte: those native to Daled IV, the future monarch of the species, a Douwd, a Chameloid, Garth of Izar, the Undine and Vendorians. Shapeshifters are also encountered in TNG  "Encounter at Farpoint" — the  Spaceborne Entity, Deep Space Nine’s episode "the Alternate" and Star Trek: Voyager.


Canonically, we don't know because we don't know of any romantic relationships Jango had with either men or women.

The fact that Jango did not have a child with a woman does not really indicate he's homosexual -- he is willing to have a son

but perhaps he never found a suitable woman to be the mother.

In Legends, he is heterosexual.

He has a romantic relationship with a woman named Sheeka Tull .

Legends also provides the backstory for Jango's recruitment as clone template.

The ending to the video game Star Wars

Bounty Hunter includes a scene in which Darth Tyranus first recruits Jango.

Tyranus sells the idea to Jango as a chance for "immortality", and to pass on his ways to the clone army.

This convinced Jango to become the clone template for the army and possibly for Boba (he could pass on his ways to Boba in particular), but when Tyranus asks him why he wanted an unaltered clone Jango refuses to answer.

So even Legends only hints at why Jango wanted a son.

Because he wanted an exact replica of himself.

I don't think Jango Fett actively sought to have a son via cloning.

Rather, thinks happened the other way around.

The Republic approached him and bought his DNA to produce a clone army.

In return, Fett decided that, if they were going to clone him, he wanted one to raise as his own.

In other words, the opportunity to have a son presented itself through the clone process, so he took advantage of it.

If he truly wanted a son, it wouldn't have mattered if he was homosexual or not.

There are plenty of options for "natural born" children other than heterosexual sex, including adoption or artificial insemination.

(Having said that, there's no indication that he's homosexual, and as @Null points out, at least one non-canon case of his having a heterosexual relationship.

Again, that's not proof -- homosexual men in the real world do sometimes "fake it" for various reasons.

It merely shows that we just don't know enough about him to know.)

A woman?

Dating?

Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!

Seriously, he's the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter and (according to Legends canon)

one of the last living true Mandalorians.

He also wants something very specific - not just a child, but a son that he can raise in his own image.

Doing things the "old-fashioned way" would require: Finding a potential mate, one who would be genetically compatible with Fett's standards Establishing a relationship with that mate Impregnating the mate with viable offspring A 50/50 chance that the offspring would be male

An even lower chance that the offspring would have the right genetic makeup for what Fett intended A healthy birth with no complications Dealing with the mother

(provided Jango did not want her involved in the raising of the offspring, which is likely unless she was a Mandalorian warrior) Long story short

, Jango Fett is an extremely practical man.

And when a practical, yet efficient method of getting what you want is presented to you, you take it.

It's entirely possible

that, had Dooku's offer never come along, Fett would have eventually attempted to settle down and have a son the old-fashioned way.

As it stands, however, he was presented with an excellent opportunity to get a son without any of the added steps or "baggage" he would have to deal with otherwise.

Based only on my take from watching the movies, I imagine Fett as a sort of elitist, perhaps even a eugenics advocate, that believes that there is no further improvement to be made to his genes and that the best way to continue his blood line is by simple replication.

This doesn't have to be expressed in specific physical or mental characteristics and could just be a matter of ego.

If I was to develop this story further, here are some cute ideas: He has a secret that must be passed on which he will trust no one with but himself.

Some information was encoded in his DNA which will be lost if it is modified.

There is somewhere something of importance such as a treasure or an heirloom which can only be accessed with his DNA but may be fatal so he wants someone else to take the fall.

He wants to extend his life by transferring his consciousness to the boy when he comes of age.

As I was writing, the last option actually rings well with Tyranus's promise of immortality and the fact that we know that force users can still maintain a degree of control after they have died and returned to the force, If Fett knew this then he may have been looking for a body to return to.

He might also have some or all of the knowledge of Darth Plagueis which would connect a lot of points in the story.

Question: Why did Jango Fett choose to have his son, Boba Fett, created via cloning, rather than having a child by a woman?   Did he want a son and was either unwilling or unable to do so with a mate?

Why did Jango Fett have a son via cloning instead of through natural reproductive processes?

Tyranus sells the idea to Jango as a chance for "immortality", and to pass on his ways to the clone army. Some information is encoded in his DNA which will be lost if it is modified.  There may also be something important that can only be accessed with his DNA or he may also want to extend his life by transferring his consciousness to the boy at a later date.

There is little information available on Jango’s relationships, but he was likely drawn to cloning because of the concepts of immortality and replication. Moreover, Fett may believe his genes are perfect and that his DNA bears a treasure he wants his offspring to access without his DNA being modified.

There is little information available on Jango’s sexual orientation and his relationships with men and women. He may not have purposefully sought to have a child via cloning but is likely drawn to the idea of immortality and replication associated with cloning. Fett may be an elitist who believes his genes are perfect and that his DNA contains a treasure or an heirloom that he wants someone else to access without his DNA being modified.


It depends which clones you're talking about.

According to the video game Star Wars: Battlefront II , Fett's clones had almost completely died out during the Kamino uprising .

The Fett clones struggled to integrate into the more general army and, according to Survivor's Quest , by 22 ABY the remainder are thought to have died or deserted.

If you include non-Fett clones, you can include those created after the Spaarti took over cloning on Coruscant.

They had a process which could generate matured clones in a year.

However, their clones ended up being inferior and deformed, leading to mental instability, lack of fighting power, and as such resulted in a high casualty rate.

These probably died out or deserted at the same time as the last Fett clones.

Currently, there isn't a Disney canon answer, as we don't know the makeup of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps at the time of the original trilogy.

But as far as Legends canon goes, we do have a couple answers:

As Polynomial notes in his answer, the last of the Fett clones were created about the time of the Kamino Uprising in 12 BBY, and these "anti-troopers" were all destroyed.

No more new Fett clones were created, and as he pointed out, these eventually died or deserted.

Given the accelerated aging, not many clones would be alive even 40-50 years after their aging.

However, one exception to this is Jaing Skirata .

He was one of the first Fett Clones, a Null ARC trooper who was cloned in 32 BBY, and was able to stop the rapid aging using stolen Kaminoan research.

Still alive at the time of the Legacy of the Force series, he was in reality over 70 years old, but biologically 140.

Using this research, several other clones were also able to extend their lifespan, and though we are not told of their names, it is likely that these were the other Null ARC Troopers .

However, it is almost assured that these few were the only Fett clones still alive around 40 ABY (and thus the last ones in the galaxy) , as the 'unfixed' clones would have died of biological age long before.

Around 40 ABY (towards the end of Legends canon)

, we do see some research still being done on cloning (by a Kaminoan, no less), but not to the level of the clone troopers.

For an answer from canon, the best information we currently have is from the canon novel Tarkin .

It includes a scene where a group of stormtroopers are led by a Fett clone sergeant but all the other troopers are non-clone recruits.

Here is the relevant quote (the stormtroopers are loading Darth Vader's meditation chamber onto Tarkin's ship): When the stormtrooper operating the equipment accidentally allowed the flattened sphere to bang against the edge of the cargo hold’s retracted hatch, Vader stamped forward with his gloved hands clenched.

“I warned you to be careful!”

he shouted up at the trooper.

“My apologies, Lord Vader.

Wind shear from—”

“Excuses won’t suffice, Sergeant Crest,” Vader cut him off.

“Perhaps you are aging too quickly to remain on active duty.”

Tarkin couldn’t make sense of the remark until he realized that Crest’s was a face he had seen countless times during the war—the face of an original Kamino clone trooper.

The bare-headed others comprising Vader’s squad were human regulars who had enlisted after the war.

p. 94

The novel takes place about 5 years after the end of the Clone Wars (14 BBY), so clone production evidently stopped at the end of the Clone Wars and within 5 years the clones were becoming too old to be useful as soldiers (due to their age acceleration).

The Empire likely phased out the last of the Fett clones within a few years of this event.

For all we know, Sergeant Crest was the last clone stormtrooper.

The final surviving clone is is CT-6116, or Kix.

In the book The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku , set near The Force Awakens , reveals that Kix was kept in stasis for decades due to the fact that he knew how to prevent Order 66.

If you are looking for the oldest surviving clone in the new Disney canon that isn't necessarily a stormtrooper or still serving the Empire, then Captains Rex and Gregor, and Commander Wolffe and are certainly in the running.

In the Star Wars Rebels episode

"The Lost Commanders" (S02E01),

the crew of the Ghost is sent to find a "great military leader" from the Clone Wars, who turns out to be Rex.

Given that Rebels is set 4BBY and given the apparent ages of Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor (biologically, not necessarily chronologically), it would seem likely that the Empire would not have too many Clone Wars clones left at this point in time and they could be among the last survivors.

Boba Fett could also be the last surviving clone since he did not have the accelerated aging or anything clone troopers had.

Boba Fett was a unaltered clone.

After Jenna goes to Mandalore to learn how to kill Jason she meets the X Jedi healer in the multi colored armor there is also a clone with him that he has been healing for years that it had a brain injury 1 of Sgt Kals boys.

Question: I know that many clone troopers became Imperial stormtroopers, but for how long? Do we have any information on the last of them?

Who was/were the last clone(s)?

The Fett clones struggled to integrate into the more general army and, according to  Survivor's Quest , by 22 ABY the remainder are thought to have died or deserted.  In addition, given the accelerated aging, not many clones would be alive even 40-50 years after their aging.

The last of the surviving clones was likely to have been either T-6116, Kix, Rex, Wolfe, Gregor, Boba Fett or the X Jedi healer’s clone who Jenna meets in Mandalore. Moreover accelerated ageing would have contributed to most of the clones dying out during the Kamino uprising or before 22 ABY.

The last of the surviving clones may have been one of the following: CT-6116, Kix, Rex, Wolfe, Gregor, Boba Fett or the X Jedi healer’s clone who Jenna meets in Mandalore. Due to factors such as, inter alia, accelerated ageing, it is suspected most completely died out during the Kamino uprising or before 22 ABY.


Real world words

Is this something invented by Martin or did it originate elsewhere?

I hate to break it to the in-universe and sci-fi/fantasy-authors-invented-this folk, but these are all real world language.

As chepner points out in another answer, "ser" is simply Middle English for the Modern English "sir", as the OED says.

"maester" is Early Modern English for "master".

It can be found in William Tyndale's 1534 translation of the New Testament, alongside words such as "faether", "moether", and "broether".

(Brooke Foss Westcott (1872). "

§ I. Tyndale."

A General View of the History of the English Bible .

2nd Edition.

London.

Macmillan, pp.

51–52) "Joffrey":

There's a huge range of ways to spell names rooted in "got" + "fridu".

Some of them can be seen at "Gotfrid" ( The Kurufin's Castle ) .

Spellings such as "Jofry" and "Jofré" are quite real.

"Joffrey" and "Robb" (a simple diminutive of "Robert") are first names that have become surnames over the past seven or so centuries, and one can find many people with these names.

There was an aristocratic Joffrey family in Vevey, Switzerland from the 15th to the 18th centuries, for example.

There's a more extensive analysis of these real world archaisms done by an OED employee: Adam Pulford (2012-04-03).

Words are wind – the language of Game of Thrones .

oxforddictionaries.com.

Other authors More specifically, was there another fantasy author that used "Ser" as a noble title?

As you have seen, plenty have used these real world archaisms.

I add one more to follow on from Nate Wells' answer: James Tiptree Jr. who used gender-neutral "Ser" and "Myr".

In Brightness Falls from the Air the appendix says: Myr, Myrrin : Myr serves for Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss and is often prefixed affectionately or jokingly to a person's first name or nickname.

Myrrin is the plural, corresponding to "Ladies and Gentlemen".

And a character insists upon being called "Ser" instead of "Myr", just as some people in the real world insist upon being a "Sir" when called "Mister": "

And then you are Myr … ?

" Kip addresses the taciturn man.

" Ser Xe Vovoka," the stranger corrects him.

[…] Kip recalls that "Ser" is a technical honorific, somewhere beyond "Doctor".

Not to call him "Myr".

GRRM is known to be a fan of Sci-Fi Author Jack Vance .

In his " Moon Moth ", Vance uses Ser for Sir.

That may (or may not) have been the inspiration for Martin's unusual spelling:

A slave rose from where he had been squatting, touched knuckles to the black cloth at his forehead, and sang on a three-tone phrase of interrogation: "

The Moon Moth before me possibly expresses the identity of Ser Edwer Thissell?"

Thissell tapped the hymerkin, which hung at his belt and sang: "I am Ser Thissell."

"I have been honored by a trust," sang the slave.

"Three days from dawn to dusk I have waited on the dock; three nights from dusk to dawn I have crouched on a raft below this same dock listening to the feet of the Night-men.

At last I behold the mask of Ser Thissell."

The word ser is ancient Italian and was equivalent to modern day mister.

Two works of fiction I can think of that show its usage in Italian are: The Decameron/Novel 1, 1 Circle 7, cantos 12-17 of Dante's Inferno

The UTEXAS material is particularly relevant I think because of the way they translate a verse: "Siete voi qui, ser Brunetto?"Is

it you here, ser Brunetto?

As you can see, they left ser untraslated.

Being pretty sure that they folks at UTEXAS are pretty learned, this suggests that the term ser originated elsewhere also for the English language.

See "sir" in the Oxford English Dictionary , in which "ser" is given as a variant in Middle English (ca. 1200-1500)

Ser is a commonly used polite form of address in Fantasy & Science Fiction.

It is generally used when the polite form of address for the individual is unknown, particularly when the sex of the individual is unknown or the society is gender neutral.

I think however, the term is undergoing a meaning shift in some cases to simply be a polite form of address for a male only.

I can not remember the first novel I encountered this term in but similar words include: Hir, Hirself, etc.

In CJ Cherryh's science fiction Alliance-Union novels (see: Mercanter's Luck, Downbelow Station, Serpent's Reach, Cyteen etc), dating back to the 1980s, "ser" and "sera" are frequently used as honorifics.

Question: Is this something invented by Martin or did it originate elsewhere?  More specifically, was there another fantasy author that used "Ser" as a noble title? I'm mainly asking because I cannot shake a feeling that I've read a book that used the word and wasn't authored by Martin, but I can't recall anything specific so perhaps I'm just conflating something with ASOIAF.

Where does the idea of replacing "Sir" with "Ser" in "A Song of Ice and Fire" come from?

Ser is a variant of Sir in the English language in the real world, and commonly used in science fiction.

Originating from ancient Italian, "ser" is a variant for "sir" in Middle English and is often used in Science Fiction as a polite form of address.

"Ser" is a variant for "sir" in middle English. It is used a lot in fantasy and science fiction as a polite form of address. It originates from ancient Italian.


First off, JKR never came out and stated either way.

So we can only infer.

I'm inferring that she didn't intend the name to make fun of the character .

First, generic evidence - most of her names that are meant to convey meanings are NOT meant to make fun of someone (except for "looney" Luna's first name, possibly) or otherwise hurtful.

Nearly all the meaningful names (Lupin, Weasley, Newt Salamander, Voldemort, Lovegood, Poppy, Ollievander, etc...) had real non-insulting meaning, either in-universe or out of universe.

So, naming Neville with a deeply insulting name intentionally would have been out of pattern.

Leaving that aside, we have evidence from the name itself: t's a real English surname, with fairly non-funny and non-insulting meaning/origins.

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a topographical surname for someone who lived in a long valley or dell .

In some cases the modern surname, found as Longbottom and Longbotham, may also be locational in origin, from the place called "Longbottom" in Luddended Foot in West Yorkshire.

In either instance the name derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "lang", Middle English "long", long, with Old English "bothm, botm", Middle English "bodme", bottom, valley, dell.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Longboteham, which was dated 1379, in the "Yorkshire Poll Tax Returns", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399.

Source:

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Longbottom Please note that the fact that JKR intended it to be a topographical meaning of the name is even more likely considering that his first (given) name is ALSO topographical: This great and noble surname is of Norman origin, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066.

It is a French locational name from "Neuville" in Calvados or "Neville" in Seine-Maritime, Normandy, both so called from the Old French "neu(f)" new, with "ville", a settlement (src: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Neville )

So, for that matter, was another earlier version of Neville's surname (from the First Forty document referenced in @Richard's answer): ...

either a locational surname, from a place called Sidebottom in Cheshire near Stockport, or a topographical name peculiar to the counties of Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

The derivation of the name is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "sid", wide, broad, spacious, and "bothm", valley, bottom, dell, and in the case of the topographical surname, this would denote residence in such a "wide valley" .

(src: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Sidebottom )

An interesting contradiction is that, on the same First Forty document, Neville also had another rejected version of surname, Puff.

That one doesn't seem to have much of topographic origin, and isn't even British or French.

The only known origins are German/Austrian: nickname for a violent, aggressive person, from buff ‘push’, ‘shove’.

From a pet form of a personal name, Bodefrit, composed with Old High German biutan ‘to bid or order’ or boto ‘messenger’.

Possibly an altered spelling of Pfaff.

If that's the meaning, I can see where JKR was coming from crossing that name out :)

I think we can be pretty certain that JKR's intention was to make Neville sound a bit "goofy" with her choice of name.

Longbottom certainly isn't the most dignified of names, despite it being a traditionally English surname.

Note also that HP is a children's book.

Names that contain the word 'bottom' are generally considered hilarious.

On top of that, the " first forty " document (showing her initial thoughts on character names) listed him originally as Neville Side bottom , another slightly unusual British name and one that is, to some quite amusing.

Obviously she had bottoms in mind when choosing his name.

It is a real name, not something JKR made up, and it has been used in England for a long time.

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a topographical surname for someone who lived in a long valley or dell .

In some cases the modern surname, found as Longbottom and Longbotham, may also be locational in origin, from the place called "Longbottom" in Luddended Foot in West Yorkshire.

In either instance the name derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "lang", Middle English "long", long, with Old English "bothm, botm", Middle English "bodme", bottom, valley, dell.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Longboteham, which was dated 1379, in the "Yorkshire Poll Tax Returns", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399.

Source:

My last name actually is Longbottom, just to confirm it is definitely a name which is still around today.

A lot of Neville Longbottom jokes are a burden of the name.

Yes.

Fact: "

Longbottom" is a funny name.

Maybe not the funniest name possible ( like "Hugh Morris" for example )

but there is undeniably a little bit of humor in this particular choice of names.

And if you can remember back to being the age/maturity of the target audience of the book I think you'll remember snickering and giggling about all things "fanny", "bottom", "butt".

Question: Is the family name of Neville a funny one that is actually part of the his "image" in the first books?  I'm asking this from the point of view of a non-British and a non-English native speaker.  Another form of this question would be - is Longbottom a name that you rather not give to your children if you can avoid it.

Did Rowling give Neville the family name Longbottom as a joke/funny name as part of his initial image

"Longbottom" is a funny name, and although it is  a real, traditional name, we can be pretty certain that JKR's intention was to make Neville sound a bit "goofy" with her choice of name.

Although the writer’s intention is not to ridicule the character by choosing the surname Longbottom, he/she clearly wants to make the character sound a bit goofy. Moreover, Longbottom is a genuine name albeit not the most dignified.

It is obvious that the word "bottoms" was in the mind of the writer when choosing the name of the character and her intention was to make the character sound goofy by choosing a funny name. Longbottom is a real name albeit not one of the most dignified. The author’s intention was not to ridicule the character despite Longbottom jokes being commonplace.


I don't know how chivalrous Batman will turn out to be in this movie, but the Dark Knights of the past have had cause, once in a while, to take civilian passengers.

Vicki Vale in

Batman and Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins both got to take a ride in their respective Batmobiles after being rescued by their respective Batmen.

So, even if he's not running a taxi service, it's by no means unimaginable for him to bring the Batmobile to a screeching stop, retract the hood, and grunt "Climb in!"

to someone in danger.

Batman has, of course, anticipated this contingency, and marked an unsafe area—to better protect the citizens of Gotham.

Because it's not only batman who works worked on the Batmobile Note that the earlier batmobile was designed by one man (Fox), built by others (Waynetech), driven by another (Wayne) and maintained by yet another man (Alfred).

At a minimum there are four and potentially dozens of people who've worked on the various batmobiles, any of whom could have thought that that was a step.

Because the car is built out of stock (airplane?)

parts As Patrick and Monty have pointed out in their comments above, the parts used for the Tumbler were cannibalised from Waynetech's military assets rather than being custom-made from scratch.

The same is almost certainly true for the modified Batmobile.

These parts may well have been pre-painted with the "no step" designation before they were appropriated for this 'black project'

So he knows where not to step Since Bruce wasn't fundamentally involved in the design of the car, it's clearly in his interest to know which bits can be stepped on and which bits can't.

Causing thousands of dollars of damage to his funky new Batmobile for the sake of a 1$ stencil is not a good tradeoff.

By popular demand, I am reposting my comment as an answer.

Just to clarify, this footage is not the finished product, so don't expect to see this sign to appear in an official release.

It will most likely be digitally erased in post-production.

You would not see this any more than you would see the wires that hold up the stunt men in an elaborate fight scene.

I seriously doubt the sign is there for Batman, or his damsel in distress.

It is most likely put there by the prop master to alert the cast and crew not to put too much weight on that part because it would probably break, or damage something underneath the body panel.

Time will tell if I am correct.

It could be a bit of engineer's humor on the part of Batman or the actual builder of the batmobile, like this notice on the Space Shuttle Carrier aircraft : "Shuttle mounting point" by Rob Elliott (Zeeeter at en.wikipedia) -

Self-made; originally uploaded to en.wiki here .

Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

I've interpreted the evidence differently from most here.

I would be surprised if the signage doesn't make the final version.

It was placed intentionally, with very neat lettering, to give the Batmobile an 'aerospace-y' or 'high-tech' feel.

If you do a google search , you'll find that most actual 'no step' signs (that are to keep actual people from stepping on some non-weight-bearing surface,) are brightly colored and often red or yellow.

My opinion (and that is all that it is) is that the Batmobile is so marked to give the impression that it might be subject to service by his team of engineers and/or was just provided by the manufacturer (Wayne Industries) with said marking in place.

Just like it would be for anyone who ordered one -- as if it is an actual product with all the normal safety / warning stickers in place.

I think (as does Jason Hutchinson who mentioned this first) that it's a label for the film crew since it will obviously be some vulnerable part which cannot support the full weight of a person (or some similar reason).

Judging by the unaltered footage and no music

+ the fact it says B-roll in the title

this is some stock footage which got leaked or released to some network in order to create some anticipation for the upcoming movie.

I don't like this footage,

if it got leaked shame on the person who did it, we've seen the batmobile in pictures and will see it in future 'REAL' teasers/trailers/clips

just wait till it comes out properly.

If it was intentionally released shame on the film studio, this shows they are not putting any effort into creating a hype for the movie and does not read well for the movie

(i'm going with the first option).

But yes the lable is purely for crew, it has nothing to do with things "in-universe".

Sorry to spoil it for ya

but there's probably nothing more to it.

Why wouldn't it?

If there's danger, there's danger.

You could argue that ground crew at airports and on military bases must be extremely well trained and would never think of stepping on the dangerous parts of aircraft, but manufacturers still plaster "NO STEP" all over them.

It's a safety measure.

It's a precaution.

I see no reason at all for this not to apply to the Batmobile.

scifi.stackexchange.com/users/1167/Lightness Races in Orbit

Because stepping could cause damage to panel.

Seriously though, I see two possibilities: it is not meant to be seen by the audience, only the cast and crew (as others have pointed out); or it is meant to be seen by the audience and convey the impression that this is a piece of military hardware of some kind, although obviously repurposed for Batman's use.

But we won't know until the movie comes out.

scifi.stackexchange.com/users/44025/Wad Cheber stands with Monica

Question: This (silent) video shows the Batmobile in the new Batman v Superman movie:     However,  14 seconds in  we see:   Why would the Batmobile need to have "NO STEP" on the side? Batman knows the risk and it's not like he's running a taxi service. Is Batman worried about getting a ticket from an overenthusiastic Health & Safety officer?

Why does the Batmobile have a "NO STEP" sign?

scifi.stackexchange.com/users/143/Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE

It was most likely put there as a safety precaution by the prop master to warn against breakage, or damage underneath the body panel and to prevent unnecessary costs. One would doubt that the sign is there for Batman, or his damsel in distress.

As Batman is not the only one using the Batmobile, the sign needs to be visible to avoid any damage being caused to the panel. Also, the sign may be purely aesthetic or there is a chance it is there for film crew as a safety precaution.

The dark knights are known to take civilian passengers and Batman is not the only driver of the Batmobile so the sign needs to be visible for everyone using it so that no damage is caused to the panel. The sign may be solely there for aesthetic purposes for the audience or for film crew as a safety precaution.


In this post-apocalyptic world, probably brought on by nuclear war, pretty much everyone has been exposed to lots of radiation and it seems many of the War Boys have cancer.

Nux is having night sweats and enlarged lymph nodes in his neck, so I'm guessing he has some lymphoma, a type of cancer that involves lymph nodes.

In patients with cancers of white blood cells (leukemias and lymphomas), the bone marrow is overcrowded by defective, cancerous white blood cells, so the bone marrow has neither the resources or space to make red blood cells, which are necessary to transport oxygen.

As a result, when the cancer gets bad enough (such as when you don't get treatment), blood transfusions will often be necessary.

This way the blood recipient can get the donor's red blood cells to prevent anemia and platelets to prevent bleeding.

This is not a cure for the cancer, but it should help with some of the symptoms.

Max probably has blood type of O-, making him a universal donor, so people use him as a "blood bag."

Its alluded to in the opening monologue that pretty much everyone has some form of cancerous disease.

Hence transfusions, Larry and Barry the tumours, etc.

I presumed that many of the War Boys have a lymphoma due to radiation or inherited mutations.

It was details like this that elevate the movie.

Furthermore the "oil" barron who had terrible lymphedema with his bulging feet made the movie all the more "realistic" and disturbing.

Nuclear bombs, radioactive warfare, they are all referenced to as "half lives" - they are or were obviously exposed to radiation.

The War Boys are all sick one way or another and have shortened lifespans, so they need blood transfusions to live longer and hopefully live long enough to become drivers.

They probably have lymphedema, anemia, maybe leukemia, since that is also treated by blood transfusion.

It might also be to get adrenaline, since Nux brought Max, his "blood bag", with him on the ride.

Question: In the new  Mad Max: Fury Road , a major starting event is that Max is being used as   a "blood bag" for one of the War Boys.    It seems to be implied later on that    the war boy has some sort of terminal illness (indicated by the two strange lumps on his collar bone and a mention of night fevers).    Is it ever actually explained  why  they're receiving blood transfusions and/or what precisely is going on with the War Boys?

What’s going on with the War Boys in Mad Max: Fury Road?

Nux has night sweats and enlarged lymph nodes in his neck, so he may have some lymphoma, a type of cancer that involves lymph nodes, treated by blood transfusion. This may be due to exposure to radiation in the post-apocalyptic world.

The War Boys are all sick due to the effects of radiation exposure and are likely all suffering from some form of cancer that is being treated by blood transfusion.

In this post-apocalyptic world, the War Boys are all sick and are most likely suffering from some form of cancer due to radiation exposure for which they are receiving a blood transfusion.


In Star Wars the Clone Wars , Series 2 episode seven, "Legacy Of Terror" Anakin and Obi-Wan use their lightsabers to give off light when they are descending into the catacombs.

The Clone Troopers who accompany them use in-built lights on their helmets.

Yes.

In the new Disney canon novel "Heir to the Jedi", Luke uses his lightsaber in a tunnel as a light source after some creature ate Luke's lamp.

“Stay back!”

I warned Drusil as I heard the creature choke and spit up the lamp.

It wasn’t working anymore—maybe it was simply in the off position rather than broken, but I wasn’t about to search in the dark for it in the bottom of a sewer with something hungry nearby.

We needed to see, so I pulled my lightsaber from my belt and hoped it would give off enough ambient light to spot the creature before it attacked again .

Holding it in front of me in a defensive stance, I turned it on as I heard the creature snarl and thrash in the filth.

The blue plasma blade bloomed up and my eyes, dilated in the darkness, saw the thing open its mouth and bunch its powerful back legs for a spring at my throat.

In The Clone Wars: Weapons Factory (S02E06), Barriss Offee and Ashoka Tano use their sabers to provide light when they are trapped beneath some rubble.

In the following episode, Legacy of Terror (S02E07), Obi-Wan and Anakin use theirs to provide light as they descend into a temple.

Savage Opress used his lightsaber as a light source in the season 4

The Clone Wars episode "Brothers" (episode 21).

Obi-Wan does just that in the Revenge of the Sith novelisation, right after he is attacked by his clone troops.

Some undefinable time later, Obi-Wan felt his head and shoulders breach the surface of the lightless ocean.

He unclipped his lightsaber and raised it over his head.

In its blue glow he could see that he had come up in a large grotto; holding the lightsaber high, he tucked away his rebreather and sidestroked across the current to a rock outcropping that was rugged enough to offer handholds.

He pulled himself out of the water.

Rey also does it in The Rise of Skywalker , after falling into some sinking sands.

When Luke is being tested by Yoda at the tree of the Dark Side, he lights his saber as he enters the tunnel.

I always assumed it was in order to see by its light.

This is supported by the official novelization as mentioned by Valorum .

He held his glowing sword in front of him and noticed an object on the cave floor.

Pointing his lightsaber downward, Luke illuminated a black, shiny beetle the size of his hand.

In an instant, the thing scurried up the slimy wall to join a cluster of its mates.

Question: Since lightsabers give off a visible glow, I could see a Jedi or a Sith using their lightsaber as a lighting source. They were already used as tools (at least in Episode I) so there are some non-violent uses to a lightsaber. Has any Jedi or Sith used their lightsaber in this manner in canon works?

Were lightsabers ever used as light sources?

The lightsaber is used as a light source several times, including in The Clone Wars and in The Rise of Skywalker.

Lightsabers are used as lighting sources in the following: Clone Wars "Legacy of Terror", "Weapons Factory" and "Brothers", as well as in Heir to the Jedi, Revenge of the Sith and the Rise of Skywalker.

Anakin and Obi-Wan use their lightsabers to descend into the catacombs in Clone Wars "Legacy of Terror" and Obi-Wan uses his again in the Revenge of the Sith when he is attacked by his clone troops. In Heir to the Jedi, Luke uses his lightsaber in a tunnel after his lamp was eaten. Barriss Offee and Ashoka Tano in the Clone Wars episode "Weapons Factory" use their lightsabers when they are trapped under some rubble and, in the Clone Wars episode "Brothers", lightsabers are used as a lighting source. In the Rise of the Skywalker, Rey uses his lightsaber when he falls into sinking sand.


Many Tusken raiders died to bring you this information.

Enraged by his mother's death, Anakin had slain an entire camp of Tusken raiders, including women, children...possibly even their animals.

This went down in Attack of the Clones , prior to his fight with Dooku.

One time Anakin blew up a droid control ship with people on it in orbit around Naboo.

This happened in Star Wars:

Episode I - The Phantom Menace , during the Battle of Naboo.

This was while he was nine, so his earliest kills on record in my opinion.

This ship contained at least 10 non-droids as per this tech guide for Episode One.

Yes he had (Note: this is a compilation of all answers found thus far plus some more research on my part - consider upvoting the other answers for this question as well)

Here's a list: A gorgoodon (a non-sentient creature, but I thought I'd mention it):

Jedi Quest: Path to Truth Krayn the slave trader (when he was 13)

(Source: Anakin on Wookieepedia )

(note: NOT canon)

The persons on the ship he destroyed in

The Phantom Menace (kudos to Himarm)

The Tusken Raiders following the death of his mother in Episode II (kudos to Praxis - although I did know that one myself!)

Tal Merrik in the series

The Clone Wars (kudos to Null) Genosian Warriors in

The Clone Wars (kudos to Nu'Daq) Saato in Star Wars: The New Droid Army (a video game, I know, but just thought I'd add that one in too) Trenox

(again Star Wars: The New Droid Army ) Messo

(Legends)

Denturi (Anakin's Wookieepedia page cites that he had killed this person, but I can't find much more about Denturi other than that) Durge (was killed by being 'force-pushed' into a star - what a way to die!)

(kudos to Matemáticos Chibchas)

Yes

As a canon example of Anakin killing a human by lightsaber prior to his execution of Dooku, Anakin killed Tal Merrik .

This image is from

The Clone Wars S02E13 "Voyage of Temptation" .

Also, in the foundry scene in Attack of the Clones , he sliced up some Geonosian warriors.

Question: Was Count Dooku his first kill or had he already slain many a foe?

Had Anakin Skywalker killed anyone before Dooku?

Prior to Dooku, Anakin had already killed a camp of Tusken Raiders, Tal Merrik, some Geonosian warriors and he also blew up a ship with people on board.

It is known Anakin kills an entire camp of Tusken raiders after his mother’s death and that he murders Tal Merrik before he executes Dooku.

Anakin kills an entire Tusken Raiders’ camp following the death of his mother. Anakin blows up a droid control ship full of people. Anakin slices up some Geonosian warriors. Anakin kills Tal Merrik before he executes Dooku.


There's very little information in the books you can use to determine their intelligence.

Even if a dragon did something very smart (like attacking Danys enemies and not her friends), you could argue it was just instinct or dumb luck that it acted in such a way.

One thing we know is that the dragons of old were very good at following commands.

Whether laying waste to Harrenhalls stone towers, helping forge Dragon Steel Swords or helping melt the ancient Valyrian roads (that Tyrion guesses were stones melted together.)

At the Kingsmoot of the Ironborn we find out how such specific commands were given to beats:

Euron Greyjoy claims he recovered a magic horn that can bind a dragon to your will.

If this is true it suggests to me, any feats performed by the Valyrian dragons of old can't automatically be attributed to dragon intelligence.

Unless someone has a better example, the most "intelligent" trick

the dragons have performed that can't be attributed to blind luck or instinct is breathing fire on command...

Drakaris!

In A Clash of Kings, the warlocks say ""A wilful beast," laughed a handsome young man.

shall we teach you the secret speech of dragonkind ?

Come, come."

This implies that dragons can speak, which implies a high degree of intelligence.

Perhaps not human level, but certainly higher than animals.

Of course, the Warlocks may have been lying...

but I don't see why as there were a lot of visions Daenerys saw there which have since come true.

There is some evidence that a dragon can bond to a particular person/rider, and that this 'rapport' leads to an instinctive synergy between dragon and rider.

See: The Princess and the Queen, Dany/Drogon.

So, dragons may seem to be intelligent, but most perceived intelligence by dragons can be attributed to these bonds.

Outside a dragonrider bond, they exhibit an intelligence roughly similar to a smart horse or dog (Dany's three), with the cunning of an apex predator (Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal in Meereen, Sheepstealer, Cannibal).

In some mythology, dragons are more intelligent than humans.

We observe in GoT that the dragon destroyed (with its tail) the scorpion device that had injured it and while this may have been at the command of Daenrys, we did not hear her command.

Dragons smartness and emotional state seems to be very similar to that of a domesticated dog.

They can take orders: Dracarys:

The order for the dragon to breathe fire.

Valahd:

The order for the dragon to fly.

( Note that it appears Emilia Clarke actually says Fly here

but she was meant to say Valahd ) Drogon!

Valahd.

Game of Thrones, Seaosn

5 Episode 9,

"The Dance of Dragons"

We also know that from a related question that dragons share a deep connection with their dragon riders: Dany and Drogon share deep connection.

And the event in the fighting pit is evidence that Drogon has ability to sense when Dany is in peril.

Game of Thrones Season 5, Inside the Episode #9, 6:44

Question: What do we know about the intelligence of dragons? Is it portrayed differently in the books than in Game of Thrones? I’m specifically curious about the perceived/known intelligence of dragons when they were more numerous in the A Song of Ice and Fire world.

How smart are the dragons in Game of Thrones?

Dragons can develop and relationship or a bond with a particular rider and become good at following commands. However, they are said to be instinctive and be as intelligent as a domesticated dog, and cunning as an apex predator.

Though there is not much information available on the intelligence of dragons in books, they are known to be as smart as a horse or dog and have been known to be portrayed as being more intelligent than human beings in mythology. Moreover, they can bond easily with humans and can follow commands like Dracarys in Game of Thrones.

There is very little evidence about the intelligence of dragons in books. Whether it is down to a dragon’s instinct or not, they are very good at following commands and can bond well with humans — and are often portrayed as more intelligent than humans in mythology. Dracarys from Game of Thrones is an example of an intelligent dragon. Their level of intelligence can be compared to that of a smart horse or dog.


If you are looking for a strict abduction, then in 1946, Planet Comics , a science fiction comic book title ran a story in the July issue detailing how aliens used a luminous tractor beam to kidnap an Earth woman who they labeled "Specimen 9".

You can read the comic online here

(Link provided by @user14111, page 15 of 52).

They evidently need her to help their race survive, as she was told that she was part of "Project Survival", as they took her to out near Saturn, as outlined in this web article .

There is some evidence of earlier reports ( Part I , Part II ) both in media and local lore, going as far back as the late 19th century, but I don't know the provenance of such reports.

Kurd Laßwitz "Auf zwei Planeten" ( Two planets ) from 1897 might qualify, at least if your idea of abduction does not necessarily include violence.

In the book human explorers strand on a Martian bridgehead at the North Pole.

The Martians want to take one of them to their home planet, however their ethics do not allow for outright abduction (but still they don't want to take no for an answer).

After a while convince one of the humans to go to Mars (and he later returns).

"The Star Mouse" (1942) by Fredric Brown is about an Earthling who is abducted, modified, and returned to Earth by space aliens.

However, the Earthling is a mouse, and he is abducted not from the surface of the Earth but from a rocket en route to the Moon, so I'm not sure it counts.

Instead I will nominate: 1936: "The Human Pets of Mars" , a novella by Leslie Francis Stone , first published in Amazing Stories , October 1936 , available at the Internet Archive .

Here is an excerpt from Everett F. Bleiler 's description in Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years : Place: Washington, D.C., and Mars.

The gigantic, glowing, drum-shaped vessel settles down in Washington, and several fifty-foot-tall creatures like gigantic octopi emerge.

Since they make no hostile moves, and seem to be simply sightseeing, they are not molested while they wander the streets of Washington.

But as they return to their vessel they seize individuals from the streets and make off with them.

Police shoot, but the ten-tentacled octopi (called decapods), clad in golden, glowing armor, are impervious.

Two members of the Bureau of Standards, Brett Rand and George Worth, who had crept into the vessel, are also taken prisoner.

They all awaken in a strange milieu, where the gigantic decapods maintain a high civilization.

After examination by the rulers, the Earth people are taken one by one by individual decapods to their dwellings, where it soon becomes obvious that the captives are considered pets, not well-tended pets, but ill-treated, misunderstood, arbitrarily mishandled pets.

It is not clear how many Earth people were taken, for several were vivisected, but those who stay in the story for various periods of time seem to number about fifteen.

In the end a few of the captives escape and make their way back to Earth in a commandeered Martian spacecraft.

The earliest, overtly scifi version, that I can find is The Whisperer in Darkness (1931).

However, I asked Jess Nevins about this a few years ago, and he contends that it's probably an evolution from the stories of fairies etc kidnapping humans .

In Hugo Gernsback's futuristic novel Ralph 124C41+ (1911) a visiting Martian scientist falls in love with Ralph's girlfriend and abducts her, this being sort of an alien abduction.

No doubt a lot of other ETs in the pulps kidnapped people for various reasons

Question: Which fictional work (of any format) was the first to feature the abduction of a human from Earth by aliens?  In particular, did this work precede the first reports of purported abductions in the media, or did it come later?

Which came first: fictional works involving alien abduction or claims of alien abduction?

Kurd Laßwitz' "Auf zwei Planeten" ( Two Planets ) from 1897 is the earliest of the examples given, along with Hugo Gernsback's futuristic novel  Ralph 124C41+  (1911); The Whisperer in Darkness  (1931); and a story in Planet Comics in 1946 detailing how aliens used a tractor beam to kidnap woman called "Specimen 9".

Out of the four works listed, the first fictional work to feature an abduction was Auf Zwei Planeten (Two Planets) in 1897.

The following titles feature an abduction of a human from Earth: Auf Zwei Planeten (Two Planets) in 1897, Ralph 124C 41+ in 1911, The Whisperer Darkness in 1931 and Planet Comics in 1946. The earliest of these titles is Auf Zwei Planeten (Two Planets).


Pronunciation is extremely important in spell casting.

That is covered during the Wingardium Leviosa class, in the first book.

Professor Flitwick himself tells the students to be extra careful when pronouncing the spell, and he mentions the example of wizard who got badly injured from wrongly pronouncing the spell he wanted to cast.

A while later, Hermione points out how Ron's spell is being ineffective due to his mispronunciation.

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

“You’re saying it wrong,” Harry heard Hermione snap.

“It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”

“You do it, then, if you’re so clever,” Ron snarled.”

(As rightly stated above by Cearon O'Flynn) And even sometime after that we see a practical example of Professor Flitwick's story, when Seamus feather's burst into flames (scene that was also in the movie).

Essential (with a caveat)

In the first book, Professor Flitwick explicitly says that speaking the right words is essential for the spell to function correctly.

Indeed, major errors, such as changing an entire phoneme, can have disastrous consequences: "And saying the magic words properly is very important, too -- neverforget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himselfon the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

— Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

If someone were rendering incapable of uttering a spell correctly, they would also be incapable of using that spell.

At worst, it would produce some alternate effect, as indicated in the previous quotation.

At best, the spell would simply fail, as seen when Neville tried to perform magic with a broken nose: “ STUBEFY! ”

shouted Neville, wheeling around and waving Hermione’s wandat the oncoming Death Eaters.

“ STUBEFY , STUBEFY! ”

But nothing happened — one of the Death Eaters shot their own StunningSpell at Neville; it missed him by inches.

— Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The caveat:

talented witches and wizards can perform nonverbal spells.

A sufficiently skilled spellcaster can use any incantation nonverbally.

Some are even specifically nonverbal, such as Levicorpus .

So someone who had had their throat ripped out by a werewolf (for example)

could still learn to use any spell, but with more difficulty.

It is likely, however, that particularly hard spells would be of reduced effectiveness:

She winced slightly and put a hand to her ribs.

The curse Dolohov hadused on her, though less effective than it would have been had he beenable to say the incantation aloud , had nevertheless caused, in MadamPomfrey’s words, “quite enough damage to be going on with.”

— Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Yes the pronunciation is very important For example in The Philospohers Stone Ron

is saying Wingardium Leviosa incorrectly and cannot get the spell to work:

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

“You’re saying it wrong,” Harry heard Hermione snap.

“It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”

“You do it, then, if you’re so clever,” Ron snarled.”

I believe it's a combination of wand movement (discussed during DA sessions and lessons such as Wingardium Leviosa), intention and knowledge of the spell's incantation and finally the pronunciation of the incantation.

I imagine non-verbal spells require a version of the incantation in one's mind, rather than just thinking "levitate that feather!"It would seem that as the incantation can be dropped, it is the least important and pronunciation is not that essential.

However it is easier to say a spell as well as wand movement and intention, so presumably the less talented or experienced you are, the more it matters.

Also, the relationship between wand and wizard would be less well-developed and instructions would need to be as clear as possible.

In Order of the Phoenix we see a case where the mispronunciation of the incantation caused someone's clothes to be set on fire, so pronunciation clearly matters: "

Oh no," said Cho rather wildly as he approached.

Expelliarmious!

I mean, Expellimellius!

I — oh, sorry, Marietta!"

Her curly-haired friend’s sleeve had caught fire; Marietta extinguished it with her own wand and glared at Harry as though it was his fault.

I agree that pronunciation is important.

But there are other languages, not to mention those who were very capable of silent casting.

To assume that everyone must use the Latin (?) words for these spells is a bit silly as there were other schools of magic (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang officially mentioned) in the world.

As Ryan Perry already pointed out one answer with the story when Harry used Floo Powder to go to Diagon Alley and said "diagonal" we see "critical or else it will be a problem"

Question: How important is the actual pronunciation of magic words in  Harry Potter ? To that end, what if there was a deaf-mute Wizard, or a wizard who had his throat ripped out by a werewolf? Or if you had a heavy accent or lisp? Clearly there are foreign wizards, do they have their own spells or translations? Is a Chinese wizard expected to say  Evatacavra ? Also, if it is just the intent of the spell, why would anyone ever say a spell out loud? It's unstrategic.

How important is pronunciation in spellcasting?

Pronunciation is  extremely  important in spell casting. Professor Flitwick tells the students to be careful when pronouncing the spell. There are examples of catching fire, getting injured or conjuring buffalo as a result of incorrect p[pronunciation of spells. However, a sufficiently skilled spell caster can use any incantation non-verbally.

Pronunciation of a spell, regardless of the language in which the spell is written, is significant in spellcasting, as are wand movement and, less so, intonation. The consequences of mispronunciation may have devastating effects.

Pronunciation is deemed to be an integral part of spellcasting along with wand movement and, perhaps less so, intention. Mispronunciation can have disastrous consequences when casting a spell. The spells can be in a language other than Latin.


The scene was a rather neat way for the Wachowskis to visually represent Neo's transformation into a Hacker of the Matrix.

Upon his rebirth, he perceives the programming language that creates the Matrix 'reality' directly, including the Agents.

When he enters Smith and destroys him from the inside, the act evokes the real-life techniques of advanced hacking, in which the programmer manipulates the underlying code, rather than the 'surface' interface that simple users see.

Neo jumping into Agent Smith is a reflection of how the Agents override the humans in the Matrix.

At various points in the movie, you can see the Agents both exit and enter humans - it's a representation of how they are overriding the human.

Similarly, Neo is rewriting Agent Smith's source code - he is inserting himself into Smith the same way that the Agents insert themselves into the other humans.

Jumping into him was like editing his source code.

Since he is a program, he couldn't be killed in a traditional sense.

So he was deleted.

Is there a reason he chooses this method to kill him?

Yes, Neo failed to 'conventionally' kill Agents because machines tend to be back.

Neo tries something new.

I don't know what all these other answers are about.

As a gamer, it looked to me like a routine "spawn-kill" from an old FPS game, where two people would spawn on the same spot, or one person would spawn on the same spot where somebody else is already standing.

The game physics can't compensate for two objects being in the same physical space, so it immediately terminates one of them.

In a game, this is where the ragdoll physics are applied to the killed object/person and it is pushed away or falls down.

In the matrix, Agent Smith exploded.

Obviously it took a little longer in the movie for dramatic effect.

It looked like Neo turned himself into liquid, then after the explosion it seemed like he had pushed outward from inside Smith, bending space itself.

I believe he chose this method because it completely undermined the laws of physics in a world that is based on simulating reality - the other agents would know there is nothing they can do against this kind of threat.

Neo did not Hack Agent Smith, he merged with Agent Smith and in doing so allowed his code to merge with Agent Smiths.

The moment he does that the Machines (which Neo is plugged into) can then rewrite the entire Matrix deleting agent Smith, Rebooting the Matrix and allowing a refresh of the system It isnt Neo that destroys Smith it is the Machines that do that.

Question: At the end of the movie Neo jumps into Smith and blows him up.  Is there a reason he chooses this method to kill him?

Why does Neo jump into Smith?

He may have chosen this method because it was something new and completely undermined the laws of physics in a world that is based on simulating reality - the other agents would know there is nothing they can do against this kind of threat. This is an equivalent of "hacking", as since he is a program, he cannot be killed in a traditional way.

Neo is able to hack and override Smith using the unconventional method of jumping into him without the risk of harming himself.

Neo opts for this method over a conventional method since he is able to safely hack and override Smith by manipulating the underlying code. By doing so, he mitigates the risk of endangering himself.


Note that he wasn't just holding onto a single line but was in fact standing on one and holding another.

It's certainly possible for him to conduct sufficient electricity (between the lines) to have electrocuted himself.

An electric fence designed to stop things jumping into and climbing it would have alternate rails electrified with opposite polarity, or AC current with the opposing phase, resulting in exactly this effect.

So, while people often object that it doesn't act like a cattle fence, this is only because cows can't jump or climb, and cow-fences are typically a single rail.

You are correct that birds aren't shocked because they aren't grounded.

However, on a typical electric fence, the electric conductor is separated from the fence itself and insulated from it.

Not all the fence carries a voltage.

If someone were to touch both the conductor and the metal of the fence then they would be grounded.

The current would be able to flow through them to the fence.

No he wouldn't have gotten shocked because he's not grounded and there's no way there's three phases running across that fence because all the lines are connected by a mesh.

The whole fence would be shorted out if that was the case.

Part of the drama of the situation was that the fence was initially off.

We can assume this means the fence was at ground state, i.e. zero volts relative to the ground and relative to little Timmy.

The tension of the scene comes from Dr. Grant and the kids racing against the restart sequence conducted by the other intrepid heroes, who are about to unwittingly electrocute homo sapiens instead of tyrannosaurus rex .

If the fence lines Tim were touching were opposite polarity, that would have been 50,000 volts from his hands to his feet, with a pass through his torso.

Now, the fatality of electrocution is measured in current, not voltage.

Apparently as little as 42 volts is enough to push a fatal charge.

However, as you point out, it all hinges on whether or not the current would actually transmit to him, while he's on the fence.

If the fence lines were the same polarity, there's still the issue of capacitance.

Capacitance is what causes static electricity: a charge builds up on your body while you're ungrounded and discharges when you touch an unsuspecting friend or doorknob.

But in this case, it's the fence that's getting charged up and sending a shock into the ungrounded boy.

Again, while 50,000 volts seems like a lot, a typical, minor shock that get from touching metal after walking on carpet can be as high as 25,000 volts .

Part of what causes the voltage from a static shock to be so high is the collection of a surface charge on the pointy ends of our fingers we tend to touch things with.

A charged fence with a large enough current supply pushing electrons into an ungrounded body may behave differently.

I'm not qualified enough to tackle that one, so I'd suggest asking again on Physics.

SE

if you're interested in more.

Tim would not have been shocked while hanging on the fence.

As stated by a previous post, the fence is all at the same potential.

Under normal conditions, there is voltage present in the wire, but no current flow.

Current will only flow through the fence wiring when a path to ground is presented.

A practical example is an electrical receptacle.

Voltage is always present at the receptacle, but Current will flow when you plug in a hair dryer or when you stick a fork in the hot side.

Tim is not touching the ground; he is touching four different points of the same potential.

He should have been fine.

What you are failing to notice is that all the the larger conductors are connected together via the smaller uninsulated wires.

Therefore all of the cables are at the same potential.

The boy should not have received a shock due to current flow through his body as all of the cabling is at the potential.

However in EHV overhead transmission, you will not see birds perched on the cables due to the strong electric field caused by the high potential (between phases and also to ground).

The high strength electric field caused by 50kV would be enough to blow him off the fence, especially when the power was turned on as there would have been a surge of current.

While it's true he isn't grounded and no CURRENT would run through him, it's definitely the reason he's not instantly fried.

However, static discharges is something everyone has tried when touching a charged surface, like your car or say escalator-handrails.

I doubt this has ever killed anyone, even if (as someone mentioned previously, and this is true)

the voltage experienced can be over 25000.

The reason Tim is "electrocuted", though, and rendered unconscious, is the electric POTENTIAL difference (voltage) between him and a suddenly active 50000 volt fence.

Tim then becomes a capacitor (a device which stores electric charge) whose capacitance is much greater than that of a bird.

The voltage doesn't kill you - the current (if grounded) will.

If you've ever seen live powerline work being performed from a helicopter, you'll notice they use a conductive wand on approach to equalize potential difference between wire and helicopter before "touching" the wires.

This neatly visualizes what happens.

For more on that, refer to this question on Physics.

SE .

Question: In the Jurassic Park movie, the boy (Tim) is on an electric fence when the power gets turned on. However, birds can sit on power lines. I think this is because they do not touch the ground, only the line. Since Tim is not touching the ground, shouldn't he be safe until he reaches the bottom?

Should the little boy have been shocked?

If the fence lines Tim were touching were opposite polarity, that would have been 50,000 volts from his hands to his feet, with a pass through his torso. However, the reason Tim is "electrocuted "and rendered unconscious, is the electric POTENTIAL difference (voltage) between him and a suddenly active 50,000 volt fence. The high strength electric field caused by 50kV would be enough to blow him off the fence, especially when the power was turned on as there would have been a surge of current. Current will only flow through the fence wiring when a path to ground is presented. The voltage won't kill you - the current (if grounded) will. For example, if someone were to touch both the conductor and the metal of the fence then they would be grounded.

Theoretically, Tim should not have been electrocuted on the fence because he wasn’t grounded. However, the fact that the 50,000 volt fence was activated so suddenly caused him to be electrocuted while on the fence.

The fact Tim isn’t grounded should mean he isn’t electrocuted. The sudden voltage difference between Tim and the 50,000 volt fence cause the electrocution.