In the pantheon of fantasy, there are gazillions of worlds encompassing everything from Dorothy’s Oz to the Greek mythology of Clash of the Titans to Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sunnydale. This week’s poll presents five of the most popular fantasy worlds. Which is your favorite?

The five fantasy worlds listed here are hardly comprehensive. Many of our readers will have other fantasy universes you prefer. But these are arguably the five most popular fantasy realms of right now. In case you don’t recognize one or more of them, they are:

• Hogwarts – the wizard world of Harry Potter (which has no name of its own, but the Hogwarts castle is its most recognized location)
• Middle Earth – J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion
• Narnia – C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series
• Tamriel – the setting for The Elder Scrolls video games, including the current Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Westeros – where George R.R. Martin’s popular “A Song of Fire and Ice” novels take place, as well as HBO’s Game of Thrones, which is based on the books

If you’re looking for Star Wars or Doctor Who‘s universe, fear not. They’re science fiction, and we’ll do another poll for favorite science fiction universes soon.

[Image credit.]

Buy-N-Large

Buy-N-Large mosaic

The logo of the corporatized world from WALL-E, cleverly made out of brand logos. [Source]

Darth Vader

Darth Vader mosaic

Comprised of images from all six Star Wars movies. [Source]

Harry Potter

Harry Potter mosaic

Made using images from the first seven Harry Potter movies, to celebrate the eighth. [Source]

Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones mosaic

Uses only images from Raiders of the Lost Ark. [Source]

iPhone

iPhone mosaic

10,000 app icons make up this image of a first-generation iPhone. [Source]

Mario

Mario mosaic

Created using 7,000 screenshots from Super Mario 1, 2, & 3. [Source]

Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle mosaic

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch, NASA commissioned this mosaic, which uses pictures of the people, projects, and technologies that contributed to the shuttle program over its first 25 years.[Source]

Star Trek

Star Trek mosaic

The new Star Trek movie’s logo made using images from the classic TV series. [Source]

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs mosaic

The late Apple CEO is recreated here using Apple logos, products, and portraits of the man himself. [Source]

Summer Glau

Summer Glau mosaic

This mosaic of the geek goddess (Firefly, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse) uses over 400 existing photos of Glau. [Source]

James Bond’s Aston Martin

Astin Martin from Casino Royale

He’s dabbled in Bentleys, BMWs, Jaguars, and one very noteworthy Lotus, but James Bond’s first love will always be the refined, powerful elegance of the silver Aston Martin. Whether it’s the fondly remembered DB5 Sean Connery used in Goldfinger or the DBS V12 that Daniel Craig used in Casino Royale (above), there is no car in all of geekdom that comes more fully loaded with gadgets, gizmos, and weapons.

Blade’s 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

Blade's 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

What it lacked in gadgets, it made up for in pure, unadulterated muscle. Its roaring engine could intimidate anything with fangs, and that’s why Blade loved it. Call it a powerful, nontraditional car for a powerful, nontraditional superhero.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee from Transformers

How many Camaros do you know that can transform into giant, warrior robots? We love him for that bold, yellow paint, his loyalty to the Autobots, and his oh-so-sensitive side. Now if he could just do something about that voice box thing…

De Lorean Time Machine

The De Lorean Time Machine from Back to the Future

If this was a ranked list, the De Lorean Time Machine would definitely be at the top spot. There’s simply no more iconic movie car among geeks than Doc Brown and Marty McFly’s time-traveling, aluminum bodied sports car. Powered by nuclear plutonium and made to travel through time via the Flux Capacitor, it can drive on land, fly through the air, and even ride atop railroad tracks. Now that’s all-terrain.

ECTO-1

The Ghostbusters' ECTO-1

Another iconic vehicle from the silver screen, the Ghostbusters-mobile was a dilapidated but tricked-out 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor commonly used as a hearse. Which I suppose is ironic, given that this one was used to fight the dead instead of carry them.

Ford Anglia

Flying Ford Anglia from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The old Ford Anglia fixed up by Arthur Weasley had very little to speak of in the beauty or gadgetry department, but it could fly and turn invisible when needed, thanks to magic. It even managed to develop a personality after an encounter with the Whomping Willow, when the forest near Hogwarts turned it wild.

KITT

KITT from the original Knight Rider

(If you want to split hairs, KITT called the small screen home, but I could also point out that KITT, in various incarnations, has starred in several made-for-TV Knight Rider movies.) KITT is the quintessential 80s talking Trans Am — and he not only talked, he had attitude. He was loaded with gadgets for fighting bad guys, too. There have been numerous attempts to revive the franchise (did you see the 90s TV movie with a red KITT where the ‘Hoff put karate moves on a pre-X-Files Mitch Pileggi in a shopping mall? *shudder*), including two additional TV series and a perpetually in-development big-screen adaptation, but no KITT has ever outdone the original.

Mach V

Mach V from Speed Racer

The live-action Speed Racer movie was rubbish, but the real-life realization of the cartoon Mach V was a thing of beautiful perfection. It came with some killer options too, including wheels that could turn 360 degrees. The movie’s later Mach VI was more “futuristic cool,” but there’s no comparison against this baby’s old-school sexy curves.

The Tumbler

The Tumbler from The Dark Knight

There have been so many Batmobiles, but none of them anywhere near as strong or frankly as believable as the Tumbler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The love child of a Lamborghini and a Hummer, the Tumbler was billed as a military prototype, giving it a realistic justification for existing. It gets extra credit for being able to transform into the Batpod motorcycle when it’s damaged beyond repair.

V-8 Interceptor

V-8 Interceptor from Mad Max

It sucked to be a post-apocalyptic gang member when you saw this “Pursuit Special” headed your way. The V-8 Interceptor was an instrument of vengeance for former cop Max Rockatansky, who set out on a campaign of blood against the gang that killed his wife and child. It didn’t have a ton of options, but it compensated with a killer reputation.

A clever hacker in Lexington, Kentucky hacked into a construction road sign to warn Muggles that Death Eaters were on the rampage.

The sign was set to rotate two messages: “DEATH EATERS AHEAD,” and “MUGGLES BEWARE.”

You could easily theorize that this was a bit of viral marketing for the final Harry Potter movie, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which arrived in theaters at midnight on Wednesday — right about the same time that the road sign was hacked. But nope, this was a real instance of geek hacking.

Either that, or the Ministry of Magic was in Kentucky last night. The sign has since been returned to normal by Department of Transportation officials. Show of hands: who wishes they’d left it with the Potter-ized message?

[Image sources: Novain913 & Justdieprettyxx.]

Included artwork — which number almost 100 pieces by more than 50 artists — include sculptures, paintings, and even full-sized installations. Opening Night was a grand occasion where attendees were invited to come in costume (and got free admission if they did, otherwise it was $2 per person), and were served Butterbeer, sorted into Houses, enjoyed a Snitch Seeking game, tasted mystery Bertie Botts jelly beans, and loads more, including contests and prizes. One grand prize winner even won an exclusive art print by Mary GrandPré — the artist who painted the covers to the U.S. versions of all seven books.

The Nucleus is also sponsoring an art auction to purchase some of the pieces. Fortunately for those of us not in California, you can view the entire collection online. I’ve included some of my favorite pieces below.

"Aragog Pop-Up" by Jackie Huang

"Expecto Patronum" by Tony Lombardo

"Hagrid" by Cory Godbey

"Hermione Reading" by Felicia Cano

"Hogwarts Express" by Caroline Hadilaksono

"Invitation to Adventure" by Bill Perkins

"I Open at the Close" by Shannon Bonatakis

"Little Fluffy and Hedwig" by Becky Dreistadt

"Snape" by Nicolas Bannister

"The Headmaster" by Alfred Paredes

Harry Potter fans: dust off those old volumes, because you may just want to re-read the series again starting this October. The idea behind Pottermore, as revealed today by J.K. Rowling herself, is to bring Harry Potter into the digital age. But putting a simple label on just what the Pottermore.com site is, won’t be easy.

It’s part reading club, part social network, part online game, part never-before-seen Potter content straight from Rowling, and part digital bookstore. We’ve got pictures!

Pottermore, which formally launches this October, is designed as a digital destination for Harry Potter fans, with elements of social networking built in so that fans can interact and share their Potter-inspired creations with one another. There are also some video game-type elements, dubbed “Moments,” which bring you inside Harry’s world from the books. For example, a character trait test will sort you into one of the four Hogwarts “houses” when you sign up for (free) membership, and then you’ll be assigned just the right wand, from more than 33,000 possible wand trait combinations. Other “Moments” include visiting Diagon Alley, casting spells, mixing potions, and competing for the House Cup.

And then there’s the exclusive content, straight from Rowling. Reportedly, she’s written 18,000 new words (with loads more on the way) about Harry’s world and characters, which will be available for free for all fans, on the website. This content is based on background information and content that she’s been holding onto for years (the extensive backstory and world building she undertook for the Harry Potter saga is virtually unmatched).

Starting in October, fans will be encouraged to read through the books (or read them again, if it’s not your first time) alongside other Potter fans via this new website. The experience will be a social one, augmented with illustrations, the interactive Moments like the Sorting Hat, and Rowling’s extra content. She cited examples as things like background on the four houses, the significance of different wand woods, and backstory for Professor McGonagall. It seems to be stuff that’s not essential to Harry’s storyline, but details that the most scholarly fans will devour.

Finally, Pottermore will be the exclusive online retailer for purchasing all seven Harry Potter novels in their long-awaited ebook form. It will also be the only place you can buy digital download versions of the audio books. Other Potter branded products will be added to the Pottermore store over time.

If you’re eager to jump in, the Pottermore site is taking email sign ups so you can be notified as soon as the site goes live (at the time of this article, email sign ups have been temporarily suspended due to “overwhelming demand”). The first one million fans to successfully complete a mystery challenge on July 31st (Harry’s birthday) will be invited to take part in the Pottermore experience early, in a sort of “beta” testing period.

So after all of the hype and speculation, what do you think? Is Pottermore thrilling, or are you bummed that this wasn’t a new book announcement? I kind of like the looks of it, and will definitely be checking it out. But nothing could even come close to the excitement that would be generated from Rowling announcing a new book — even a non-Potter one.

J.K. Rowling is up to something. What that something is, we won’t find out until next Thursday, June 23rd. But it’s definitely something related to Harry Potter, because Rowling has just unveiled a new website called Pottermore. And from the stylized logo on display there, it looks as though “Pottermore” is the title of whatever it is she’s been working on.

So what could it be?

Visit pottermore.com and you’re presented with a splash page that includes the name and Rowling’s signature, along with a pair of owls. Clicking on the owls will take you to a special YouTube page that’s counting down until the 23rd, when Rowling will make her big announcement via video.

I am positively tingly at the thought of J.K. Rowling publishing something new, no matter what it is, but let’s not forget that Rowling has repeatedly stated that she won’t be writing any more Harry Potter books. Yet a quick WHOIS search reveals that the “pottermore.com” domain name was registered on Rowling’s behalf by her literary agent, the Christopher Little Agency. So whatever this is, it requires Rowling’s publishing interests to be properly represented.

But the clues don’t stop there. The trademark registered for “Pottermore” indicates that Warner Bros. is also involved in this project somehow, as they own the trademark. The trademark states as its reasons for being registered as:

Providing multiple-user access to a global computer information network; providing on-line chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among users in the field of general interest; providing on-line communications links which transfer the web site user to other local and global web pages; providing on-line facilities for real-time interaction with other computer users concerning topics of general interest.

Pretty vague stuff if you ask me. Intentionally cloudy language that ultimately means that Pottermore could be pretty much anything. I’m sure WB and Rowling and Christopher Little knew that the trademark would be on public record, and thus they worded their filing with as few specifics as possible.

Since publishing the final book in the Harry Potter saga in 2007, Rowling has said little about what she’s working on next, offering only esoteric hints about other writing projects she intends to pursue. But she’s also been busy building up her Harry Potter empire with things like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park attraction at Universal Studios of Orlando.

Speculation on what Pottermore is, is all over the map. The most common guess is that it’s some sort of interactive Harry Potter Internet experience, perhaps a social network themed around Harry Potter’s fictional wizardry. This seems to line up with all of the (admittedly few) known facts. The owl motif used on the teaser site also suggests that communication will play a big part in Pottermore, since owls in the Potter books were used exclusively by wizards to correspond with one another.

One thought that occurs to me is that Rowling is on record as saying more than once that she’d like to do a comprehensive “Harry Potter Encyclopedia” someday, and it’s not a huge cognitive leap to imagine that compendium being cross-published as both a printed volume and a searchable website. Others have suggested that this could be nothing more than a fancy way of announcing that the Potter books are finally being made available as ebooks. Or maybe even a Potter-themed MMO video game.

Rowling has her very own spokesperson, named Rebecca Salt, who told the Associated Press that Pottermore is “not a new book,” but she refuses to say anything else. Popular fansite The Leaky Cauldron was lucky enough to get an advance peak at Pottermore, and afterwards told readers that it’s ”one of the most amazing, engaging and breathtaking additions to this fandom imaginable.” TLC added that it’s something worthy of the same level of excitement that a new Potter book would generate.

So what do you think Pottermore is? An encyclopedia? A social network? An MMO? A web store for Potter branded merch? Some wild amalgamation of all of the above?? Or something else that no one has guessed???

TT Games is set to work their LEGO magic once again by the end of this year, with LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7. The game is set to release by this Christmas, on every game system known to man — including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, Sony’s new handheld the NGP (will that be out by Christmas? did I miss a press release?), Nintendo DS, 3DS, and PC. One can only assume an iPad version will be in the offing at some point as well, since Years 1-4 was translated into an iPad game late last year.

The new game will send you to the likes of Grimmauld Place, the Ministry of Magic, Godric’s Hollow, and plenty of other locations from Harry’s search for Voldermort’s Horcruxes. Of course, the game will culminate with the final battle against the dark lord himself. TT Games is promising new magical abilities, puzzles, and tons more of the exploration that made the first game so memorable.

I still expect LEGO Toy Story to be announced any day now. It’s perfect: a successful franchise, Disney-owned, and conveniently offers enough material for a game of LEGO length since it’s a trilogy. What other Warner Bros. or Disney franchises would you like to see LEGO-ized?

Thanks to Danny of FMLFTW!, I was introduced to a weird world where fastfood logos were magically changed to images that would not be out of place in J.K. Rowlings’s created world.

I don’t know about you, but I found the logos really amusing. It may be that the concepts are really brilliant, or it may be that I just ingested too much MSG from the dinner I ordered from McDonald’s. Whatever the reason is, I am going to bed with a belly full of fastfood. Anyhow, take a look for yourself.

So which one tickles your fancy the most? I think “Weasley is Our King” bests the rest of the logos, if only because I find Ron Weasley to be the most charming of the Harry Potter gang. By the way, I am still thinking of a Harry Potter version for the Starbucks logo. Anyone up for the challenge?

So what happens when you take Harry Potter and you get rid of fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? You end up with a bunch of belligerent teenagers who just want to drink beer and snort coke while trying to get into Hermione’s pants.

Okay so the high pitched voices in the spoof film are a bit annoying, but the chroma keying of actors into certain parts of the actual Harry Potter movies, plus the great use of footage from the films to match what their dialogue is saying is pretty cool.

Here’s the video:

Did you enjoy the spoof? As a big fan of the Harry Potter book series I found it amusing that the creators of the spoof took the theme to such high adult themed levels.

Here’s the twist: one of them is real! The other four are all made by talented, artistic fans. But one of these redesigns is actually in use right now by publisher Bloomsbury in the U.K., where all seven books have been re-released. The idea is to “appeal to the next generation of readers who did not grow up with Harry Potter.”

Can you guess which cover collection is the real one? (Click the images to zoom in.) The answer is at the bottom of this page.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Alright, got your guess?

Ready to find out the true covers?

…

…

…

If you guessed #3, you’re right! Bloomsbury released all seven books in paperback format with these new covers on November 1st. The covers are by artist Clare Melinsky.

Credits for the other collections:

#1 is by M. S. Corley.

#2 is by Michela Monterosso.

#4 is by Marissa.

#5 is by Megan Barrow.

Which one’s your favorite?

Trust me, if you are a true Harry Potter fan, you will drool over this baby. And, even if you’re not (like me), you’ll still have some fun!

Seriously, this 2.5 minute trailer is more epic than the first six movies combined. Holy. Flipping. Moley. Just carry me to the theater now so I can start camping out.

If you’d prefer to see it in full screen HD (which I highly recommend), head on over to Apple.com/trailers.

1. The Golden Snitch

By capturing the Golden Snitch the team wins the Quiditch match.

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2. Expecto Patronum

A charm spell

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3. Owl and books

Not specific Harry Potter but at true fan will recognize it as a Harry Potter tattoo.

Source

4. Hogwarts crest

The school crest with all four the animals representing each house.

Source

5. Dobby the house elf

The Malfoy’s house elf who was freed by Harry

Source

6. The Deathly Hallows

The symbol for “The wand, the stone and the cloak”.

Source

7. The Dark Mark

This mark is branded on the arms of Lord Voldemort followers, the Death Eaters. Very much like the tattoo shown above, inside the left arm.

Source

I was surprised when researching for this list how many people have The Dark Mark as a tattoo. Given the story is fictional but still, the whole Harry Potter story evolves around good versus evil. Ironically the other popular Harry Potter tattoo is The Deathly Hallows which helped Harry Potter kill Voldemort.

‘There was no need to stick the wand in that hard,’ he (Dumbledore) said gruffly, clambering to his feet. ‘It hurt.’

This is pretty laughable to me. You could take lots of passages from many different books out of context and apply sexual innuendoes to them. The fact is, people like to pick on whatever is the most popular and find something wrong with it.

Besides, bash.org already had an “article” talking about this issue ages ago.

The article at Times of India also touches on Batman and Robin being gay.

‘Touches on Batman and Robin’ … I guess that was a sexual reference…