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  1.  

    A thread for all things epic.

    What makes an epic?

    What is an epic?

    Is such and such (especially from the internet) worthy of being epic?

    (note: we will be using the Nate WInchester scale of awesomeness for this discussion. As recognized by the US standards and measuring department, there are 10 kinds of awesomeness. Bacon – represents 1 kind of awesome [ amount doesn’t matter. 1 bacon, infinite bacon, still 1 kind of awesome]. Epic is the fabled “11th” kind of awesome. Anything beyond the measure of 10 is “EPIC”. That standard for measuring this is Theodore Roosevelt.)

    The epic standard represented visually. (via cracked.)

    Archive photo of Roosevelt using Thor’s magic hammer to battle Satan in the final days of WWII.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009 edited
     
    One of the defining characteristics of an epic film is obviously its length. It's one of the easiest things to nail down. _However_, length isn't the sole determining factor. _Pearl Harbor_ is a really long historical flick, but--and sorry to any PH fans--I don't consider it to be 'an epic' (and neither does Roger Ebert, btw).

    One thing I've noticed about epics is that they focus on one central character (George S. Patton, Bruce Wayne, Maximus, Judah Ben-Hur, T.E. Lawrence) and how he/she navigates through uncommon, complex, and larger than life circumstances.They generally showcase a big shift in life, which happens slowly over the course of the film. It leaves you, once you've seen the ending of the film, wondering what's happened.

    One thing, though, is that epics tend to be set with a backdrop of conflict--WWI, WWII, Roman rule, mob-based anarchy, Somalian civil war. In the case of a film like _The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford_, I would classify that as an epic character study moreso than a full epic. Similarly (and this is bound to upset some of you), I don't consider _Titanic_ to be either an epic character study or an epic at all. The story is far too simplified and dressed in over-optimism. Epic Romance? Eh, I can buy that.
    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009
     

    I am horribly guilty of badly misusing the word “epic” (at least in regards to literature) for most of my life. The first time I ever actually understood what it truly meant was when I read The Iliad. Now, you can complain about it or talk about how much you dislike it all you want, but the fact still remains that the Iliad is an epic! It’s long, it’s vast, it covers dozens of topics, it takes in dozens of themes, and the scope of the thing… is just epic.

    So when I see the Pulp Fantasy of the Month book getting called “a sweeping epic” by some idiot reviewer, it just grates on my nerves. No, it’s NOT an epic! There have probably been less than a hundred true epics ever written- and from a devout Tolkien lover, I don’t even think Lord of the Rings is a literary epic.

  2.  

    I used to say “epic fail” quite often, in real life. I think I might have said “win” a few times, but we were at the point when people (highly exaggerating) would tell me that I always said it.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009
     
    I'll use "epic fail" when I'm prodigiously displeased with something.

    Like Qwest's internet service.
  3.  

    I don’t even think the Lord of the Rings is a literary epic.

    Really? Why not? Out of any other book that’s the one I’d probably choose for a modern epic.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009
     

    Well…

    I dunno. It’s on the fence for me. It’s definitely a fantastic book, quite possibly the best book written in the last hundred years, but I’m very, very careful about labeling something an epic, at least in my mind.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009 edited
     
    I'd classify it as an epic. It doesn't necessarily mean it stands toe-to-toe with the likes of _The Illiad_. They're extremely rare, though. As I recall, _Moby Dick_ is considered the only American epic. Now, if one were to compile _all_ of Tolkien's work into a single volume, that would undoubtedly be an epic.

    That's one reason I really dislike _Titanic_ (and when people call it an epic). The way it swept the Academy Awards puts it right next to _Ben-Hur_ and, by that same measure, above films like _Patton_ and _Lawrence Arabia_....which is anything but true.
  4.  

    Now, if one were to compile all of Tolkien’s work into a single volume, that would undoubtedly be an epic.

    I read somewhere that Lord of the Rings was supposed to be an epic, but was split into three books because of publishing or something.

    I use “epic win”, “epic fail”, and simply “epic” to describe something of great awesome. I know I use it too much, but I like to think I am geekier than I actually am.

  5.  

    I like to use it to describe music that evokes a grand feeling of power. Epic metal should be an actual genre.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009 edited
     
    One thing I hate is with orchestral music when listeners confuse noisy and heavy chanting--something literally _anyone_ could throw together--with epic. I listen to selections on Youtube and, while the music isn't bad, the viewers seem to think nothing epic existed before 2001 or something.

    Just ran across a comment on YT: "its not epic without a choir".

    Excuse me while I fill an empty hospital room.
    •  
      CommentAuthorArtimaeus
    • CommentTimeSep 3rd 2009 edited
     

    The last chapter of Game of Thrones is the most epic thing I’ve read recently. (beware the spoilers)

    http://moonshines.com/artwork/yapb_cache/to_be_the_dragon.dxmbhjrxfyo84o00soo0wgows.avuffkf65swk84sw8kkgcscoo.th.png

  6.  

    “it’s not epic without a choir”

    Not true, as you said, but as a choir nerd, it certainly does go a long way.

    Facade of Reality-Epica

  7.  

    Epic band: Streetlight Manifesto.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 4th 2009
     
    My pet peeve about choirs being used with an orchestra is how they often wind up fighting each other. You have the orchestra roaring furiously and the choir screaming furiously and it turns into a big sonic mess. Sure, it sounds big and grand and chaotically empowering, but it's something any composing student could throw together.

    John Williams' "Duel of the Fates":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyCigHHwOcE is one of my favorite examples on how a choir should be mixed appropriately with an orchestral piece. The first thing is that the choir is there for a purpose other than to force an "epic" sound into the piece. The second is that, if you pay attention to the two different sides, you'll actually hear them compliment each other. The orchestra rises, and then the choir comes in. The choir levels out, and the orchestra builds. It's a symbiotic relationship that work together, rather than try to drown each other out--notice this in full effect starting at 2:44. The other thing is that the use of the choir, while certainly magnified for that sequence, wasn't thrown in at the end for that "epic" feel. Choral elements were used throughout the score to supplement a major character involved--in this case, the villain.

    Steve Jablonsky's music for the Decepticons is another example, and it's one of the reasons I'm such a fan of film scores. It's actually not unlike writing a book; you're crafting an identity in a different format, and an entirely different language. For this piece, it's character based. Those of you familiar with this score know that the low male chorus varies. It can convey "clandestine action":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5_xh_lWIKk, "frenzied panic":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FQ5ER0kZ2k&feature=PlayList&p=51C5FFD93FA27C00&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=45, or "an imposing presence":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNIkgRkTU1s.
  8.  

    Now, some other epic music, again with the choir and orchestra in perfect symbiosis, is The Bridge of Khazad Dum from Fellowship of the Ring. I also think Battle of the Heroes from Return of the Sith might qualify.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 4th 2009
     
    Agreed 100%.
  9.  

    Erm…for a comtemporary “Epic” you could try Marianas Trench’s “Masterpiece Theatre” I-III

  10.  

    @Rocky: yes, I see what you mean about competition between a choir and an orchestra. I’ve never come across such a thing myself, however.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 5th 2009
     

    Oooo! Epic music- Wagner’s Der Ring. Prior to hearing a couple of minutes of that, I thought opera was fat ladies screaming about love in Italian or something disgusting and rather disturbing. But Wagner… oh man. It’s beautiful. It’s epic!

    Re: LotR- one novel, split into 6 “sub-books”, most often published in three volumes of two books apiece. The publisher wanted to milk it, and after how many years Tolkien was trying to get it published, he didn’t care to argue over it.

  11.  

    @swenson

    >Re: LotR- one novel, split into 6 “sub-books”, most often published in three volumes of two books apiece. The publisher wanted to milk it knew that a 1000-page novel about an imaginary land wouldn’t sell, but three ~350-page novels would, and after how many years Tolkien was trying to get it published, he >didn’t care to argue over it.

    Fixed.

  12.  

    Yeah, I don’t think LotR made him especially rich, though it did secure his place in fantasy literature forevermore.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 8th 2009
     

    @Dan – oh, hush. But yes, you’re probably right.

  13.  

    Story wise I would rank character growth as a measure of “epicness”.

    For instance, I would rank Finding Nemo as an epic not because of the great distance traveled but because of the change we seen in Nemo and his father that they are almost unrecognizable at the end to the people they were at the beginning.

    Thus, even though Eragon et al has the characters travel great distances, I do not count them as “epics” because there is no real change to the people within. Whereas something like Toy Story which doesn’t go further than a single town or neighborhood I would label an “epic” for the people Woody and Buzz become.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 8th 2009
     
    I agree and disagree. I think epics are ranked by character _change_ moreso than just character growth. Overcoming interpersonal friction is something that's been done apart from _Toy Story_. Don't get me wrong; I consider _Toy Story_ an extremely well-told and compelling story--a classic, as it were--but I wouldn't rank it as an epic.
  14.  

    I agree and disagree. I think epics are ranked by character change moreso than just character growth.

    I agree too if we are defining change and growth as different things. I didn’t consider that growth is generally considered positive while change encompasses negative and positive – thus you could have an epic where someone(s) undergoes a negative character change.

    Overcoming interpersonal friction is something that’s been done apart from Toy Story. Don’t get me wrong; I consider Toy Story an extremely well-told and compelling story—a classic, as it were—but I wouldn’t rank it as an epic.

    It was just the first thing to pop into my head as an example of a story that doesn’t “travel” much but still has lots of change within it. I’d also admit that it is a borderline case as whether I myself would rank it an epic (especially with both movies being weighed together) with my opinion varying from day to day. But there is more to it than just overcoming interpersonal friction. It is a tale where the focused characters overcome their own limitations as well as friction. (something which – for today – I consider pushing it to near epicness)

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 8th 2009
     

    I think a true epic has to cover more than just characterization, though. That’s what makes it an epic, in my eyes- it covers everything well, not just one aspect of good storytelling. It’s got to have dynamic, interesting characters. It’s got to have a deep, intricate setting and backstory. It’s got to be expressed well (whether through film, drawing, or writing). It’s got to have a complex story and subplots. And it’s got to have many themes that cover a broad spectrum of human experience.

    Maybe I ask too much, but I believe that an epic is only epic because it’s broad. It covers many themes and offers a compelling story. It’s complex, not simplistic, and has complicated characters to match it. Even the setting has to be deep- nothing in it can be superficial or basic, or it’s just a story, not an epic.

  15.  

    True swenson, but you can have simplicity in broadness. Like I said, I can’t help but think of Eragon in something that is trying to be epic yet fails. (you can see paolini looking at your list there and checking things off as he writes)

    Personally I say characters are the corner stone though. A whether report of Earth could possess a intricate setting, backstory and cover a wide panoply of settings but without the people and seeing its effect on them, it’s worthless. Like the talk on music, if the epic doesn’t have a heart, it’s just noise. (which is why I don’t consider a lot of fictional creation stories to be epic even though they seem to fit the definition)

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 8th 2009 edited
     
    It's a bit hard for me to articulate, but the epics I've seen most have a way of showing a life that's been irrevocably changed. Yes, the distances traveled can be great, and the run time can be monstrous. Here's the example of my favorite epic: _Lawrence of Arabia_. Spoilers are found within, so ye be warned.



    That, to me, epitomizes what an epic does. It shows you an unabridged example of life in the most extraordinary trappings and times.

    Or I could just be rambling again.
  16.  

    Maybe we should agree that epics are like porn.

    We know them when we see them?

    (maybe we should change this to the epic judgment thread)

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 8th 2009 edited
     
    XD

    That's an interesting way of putting it. Apart from some areas of film (and despite my stubborn, opinionated self), I don't mind disagreeing on opinions about epics. As far as I'm concerned, Pixar is the only reason Disney's lasted into the 21st century.

    Maybe I just need to rewatch those films.
  17.  

    As far as I’m concerned, Pixar is the only reason Disney’s lasted into the 21st century.

    It’s not your opinion, that’s objective fact. lol

  18.  

    George Lucas is watching Pixar movies and silently weeping.

  19.  

    WARNING: Tolkien fan incoming

    It is interesting, because even though most people (me included) consider Lord of the Rings as the closest thing to epic in modern fantasy, it was never considered as an epic by Tolkien himself.

    In his lifetime, Tolkien created a fictional mythology that we now know as The Silmarillion and planned several epics based on this mythology – The Lay of Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin and The Children of Hurin, etc. They were to be written in rhymes like Illiad and such.

    Too bad that he never completed any of them.

  20.  

    Too bad that he never completed any of them.

    Isn’t it? I really would have loved to see a final, published Silmarillion. I’m not one of the purists who won’t read the Silmarillion because it was edited by Christopher Tolkien, but it would have been amazing if JRR could have lived long enough to finish it.

  21.  

    It is. ;_; Even the heavily condensed and edited version of Silmarillion amazes me, I wonder what the completed Simarillion would have been like.

    I sometimes believe that even if Tolkien had lived for another century, he would not had been able to finish Simarillion. There are some stories that you have been creating for too much and for too long, that you never dare to finish it; you simply keep going.

  22.  

    True, true.

    But to get on topic- what is it about ‘epic’ that people try to capture, but just can’t? Let’s just use Inheritance as an example because most of the people here have read at least one book of the series.

  23.  

    Some plot devices are common in all works that we define as epics. Good-versus-evil, moral quandrum, religious (philosophical) search for truth, some kind of a struggle in a colossal scale be it a battle against a giant sperm whale or a great medieval war.

  24.  

    Yeah. Epic has to be big. Sorry, Nate, but clownfish just won’t cover it. Plus the fish were supposed to be in Australia, and they had no accents.

    Anyway. I agree with The Butterfly.

  25.  

    Yeah. Epic has to be big. Sorry, Nate, but clownfish just won’t cover it. Plus the fish were supposed to be in Australia, and they had no accents.
    Anyway. I agree with The Butterfly.

    Why would fish have australian accents? Actually, why would fish talk? Seems if you’re accepting that much, you’ve given up the right to complain about details.

    Anyway, how big is big? I think perspective plays a big part. (who here has heard of watership down?) You can have an adventure within a few square miles but if the characters are small enough, then that small area could be as large as middle earth to them.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2009
     

    I read Watership Down… hated it, too. Not sure why any more, I don’t even remember a thing about it except it had rabbits in it and it lied to me because someone told me I would like it because I liked Redwall. grumble

    Anywho.

    The IC tries to be an epic, but fails miserably, because although CP tries to have an epic setting and deep characters… it really is very, very superficial. An epic can’t be superficial.

    Re: LotR- yeah, I always thought the Silmarillion was more of an epic than LotR, or would be if it was finished. As it stands, it really isn’t a finished work and thus can’t quite be judged the same way.

  26.  

    Re: LotR- yeah, I always thought the Silmarillion was more of an epic than LotR, or would be if it was finished. As it stands, it really isn’t a finished work and thus can’t quite be judged the same way.

    But this does bring up a larger question. Do you judge these multi part works together or separate? Ok, I’ll admit that It is debatable (you heretics) that LotR is an epic, but it’s unquestionably one if you take LotR, the Hobbit and Silmarillion (which was complete enough) all as one.

    What about the Temeraire series? One book has them crossing asia to get to England. On paper fairly “epic” but even I wouldn’t say that book alone is an epic one. Now add all of the series together (which is ongoing) and…

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2009
     
    An aspect of epic landscapes is the locomotion used to traverse it. The Arabian Desert, for instance, isn't that impressive from a plane. You can cross it in a couple of hours. Put the breadth of that desert into the context of crossing it on a _camel_, however, and it takes on a whole new dimension.
  27.  

    ^^ That is a good point.

    Probably why Tolkien didn’t have the hobbits fly to Mount Doom on the eagles.

  28.  

  29.  

    They didn’t do the eagles thing because Sauron would have seen them coming, and the eagles said no. Also, aiming for a chasm from that height- it’ll just land on the edge and then Sauron gets it back!

  30.  

  31.  

    Ok, getting back on topic (because we’ve done the tolkien eagles talk once already):

    So we’re all agreed that time is apparently one factor of an epic?

    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2009
     

    Since some people earlier in this thread were talking about “epic” music, I’d like to submit the piece of music that plays in the scene in The Lion King when Simba and Scar are fighting as an example of “epic” music. It certainly sounds awesome to me.

  32.  

    Hans Zimmer composes epic music, period.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2009 edited
     
    I agree that time is one of the biggest factors, but only when properly used. Page length does not an epic make (see: anything Christopher Paolini writes).

    Zimmer, in my experience, writes his best music when working with exceptional directors on exceptional projects (The Dark Knight, Gladiator, The Lion King, Prince of Egypt).
  33.  

    Page length does not an epic make (see: anything Christopher Paolini writes).

    See: Maradonia.

    As in:

    • Gloria Tesch has the brightness of vision necessary to create sweeping epics...
    • The Gloria Tesch ‘Maradonia – Saga Trilogy’ is indeed a timeless “Thriller *Epic*’ and a unique and unforgettable tale of adventures…
    • Their arrival in Maradonia fulfills a prophesy, and launches two ordinary kids into an extraordinary adventure of epic proportions.
    • Murder, revenge, intrigue, conspiracy. All these little nuggets that take a novel from being just a mere story to becoming an epic journey are packed into “Maradonia and the Seven Bridges.”
  34.  

    In summary of all the factors that have been brought up:

    • Length of the work
    • Time
    • Complexity
    • Scale of the world the work based on
    • Backdrop of conflict/struggle
    • Common themes of moral/religion/etc

    So, in turn, woud you say that a work have to qualify in all of these factors above in order to be classified as an epic?

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009 edited
     
    Actually, I would think more _un_-common themes of mortal/religion/etc.

    Otherwise, yeah, that's a nice way of summing it up. What's interesting is that I can think of epic films and epic books....but no epic games. At least, none are springing to mind at the moment. I guess that particular vernacular is unsuitable for an epic.
  35.  

    @ Butterfly: Nice summing up. Although it make for nice pretentiousness, out of all the things you brought up, length of the work is the least important. Of course, some length is required for you to get that epic scale, but you don’t need to write a doorstopper unless everything in it is necessary.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009 edited
     
    Well, the length--when properly used--allows for the nuanced change of character. Rather than trying to sum up an existential or moralistic quandry in a 700 word conversation, you can chip away at a character bit-by-bit.

    Otherwise, I agree. Hitchcock, after all, said films were life with all the boring parts cut out.
  36.  

    What I’m saying is that you don’t need to try and fill up a page count before it officially qualifies as ‘epic’.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009
     
    I understand, and you're quite right. I see the length more as the sum of the other parts than an equal aspect.
    •  
      CommentAuthorPuppet
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009
     

    Otherwise, yeah, that’s a nice way of summing it up. What’s interesting is that I can think of epic films and epic books….but no epic games. At least, none are springing to mind at the moment. I guess that particular vernacular is unsuitable for an epic.

    * Length of the work * Time * Complexity * Scale of the world the work based on * Backdrop of conflict/struggle

    * Common themes of moral/religion/etc

    I think Baldur’s Gate II would qualify is a epic.^^

  37.  

    Otherwise, yeah, that’s a nice way of summing it up. What’s interesting is that I can think of epic films and epic books….but no epic games. At least, none are springing to mind at the moment. I guess that particular vernacular is unsuitable for an epic.

    I think we’d have to return again to my question of do we count games alone or the work as a whole?

    Some MMOs (yes, like World of Warcraft) are pushing to the epic definition if they aren’t already. What about the Final Fantasy series? Kingdom Hearts?

    Of course, a lot of games have enormous scale built in and you’re already trying to save the world so… maybe it’s not that they are unsuitable for an epic, but that so many games follows the formula of an epic that kind of washes out.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009
     

    Add “deep characterization” to the list. If a story has simplistic characters, I think it falls short of true epic-ness.

    On videogames… consider the age of videogames. Compared to poetry, music, art, and novels, videogames are extremely young. It’s like the same argument as those who want to consider videogames “art” have- they have the potential to be epics (or art), but they haven’t developed enough yet to actually produce any examples that we could hold up alongside the Iliad as an epic (or hold up alongside the Mona Lisa as art).

    Movies, on the other hand, have had more time to develop, as well as having a heavy background in plays. Drama is hardly new. On the other hand, videogames are an interactive medium, and don’t really have any great length of history behind them. In a hundred years, I think there will definitely be some true epics among videogames, though.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009
     
    ^^ This is true.

    I think the other part is the fact that video games exist to get a person actively engaged in the story. Exploration and puzzle-solving are some successful aspects, but most games revolve around action, whether that's shooting, racing, swordfighting, or tactical construction and movement--not necessarily bad things.
  38.  

    Movies, on the other hand, have had more time to develop, as well as having a heavy background in plays. Drama is hardly new. On the other hand, videogames are an interactive medium, and don’t really have any great length of history behind them. In a hundred years, I think there will definitely be some true epics among videogames, though.

    I would say movies have actually been around as long as any other form of art. After all, they’re ultimately just another form of the ancient “play” and “performance” that that mankind has probably had since sitting around bored around the fireplace.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009 edited
     

    True… obviously, there are very different techniques in moviemaking than in plays (car chases, for example, aren’t exactly possible in classical Greek theater), but it is a good point. However, I still think videogames really have no precursor. I suppose roleplaying games could be considered an ancestor, but those haven’t really been around for much longer.

  39.  

    @swenson

    >I suppose roleplaying games could be considered an ancestor, but those haven’t really been around for much longer.

    Yeah, considering that they were invented in the ’70s and that the first computer game was made in 1956.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2009
     

    Technically, roleplaying games like DnD grew out of wargaming, which dates back to the early 1900s… but I didn’t really mean Pong or Adventure games anyway.

  40.  

    Add “deep characterization” to the list. If a story has simplistic characters, I think it falls short of true epic-ness.

    Mmmm. How about The Lord of the Rings?. Neither do Norse mythologies have that deep characterizations. I think “deep characterization” is something that most epics have in common simply because they are great literature works, not something that defines epic in itself.

    I think “deep characterization” should fall under a larger category of “decent, literature piece of work”. A work cannot be considered as an epic if it is not a decent, literature piece of work even if it qualifies (or attempts to qualify) in all of the categories above. Take Inheritance for example. Paolini tries to incorporate common factors of epic (large-scale conflict, moral quandrum, imaginary world, etc) but Inheritace still fails as an epic simply because it is a bad-written Star Wars fanfic.

  41.  

    Video games also suffer from a lack of interaction. A computer cannot decide how a character will react to a Comment or action.

  42.  

    I don’t really think that this^^ is something that will ever change.

    Video games don’t really have a message. I think that’s a problem.

    •  
      CommentAuthorsansafro187
    • CommentTimeSep 14th 2009 edited
     

    Video games don’t really have a message. I think that’s a problem.

    Sure they do.

    Also, this is an epic movie I am watching tonight in a memorial.

  43.  

    His pants are bad.

  44.  

    Good pants are for men made of weaker stuff than Dalton.

  45.  

    And Mr. Darcy.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 14th 2009
     
    And Tarzan.
  46.  

    I’m not sure if Final Fantasy series should be considered epic; if it was a continuous plot, maybe, but all Final Fantasy installments are individual stories.

    The only video game that I could consider as an epic would be War of the Genesis. All of the seven installments connected into a single story and the plot spanned over several centuries, for one thing.

    If that picture does not scream EPIC, I don’t know what does.

  47.  

    Well then warcraft is definitely going for epic status. WoW itself would technically qualify as an epic already, much less by the time it’s finished.

    Now if we take ALL of warcraft (games 1, 2 & 3, WoW, all novels, comics and toys, etc) then it’s definitely epic. Though I’d say the makers of it have tried so hard to make EACH iteration epic that the series is actually suffering from epic-fatigue. (zing!)

  48.  

    *koff*geek*koff*

    Lol, I thought that guy was holding a corkscrew for a second.

  49.  

    “Hi pot! This is the kettle. Guess what!”

  50.  

    Lol, I thought that guy was holding a corkscrew for a second.

    I could say something, but then I’d have to go to the Perv Patch.

    However, I can say this – if his sword is so epic that it can function as a corkscrew, a) what else can it do, and b) what the hell is he drinking?

    •  
      CommentAuthorMoldorm
    • CommentTimeSep 16th 2009
     

    It looks like a Covenant Carbine to me.
    Or maybe some kind of stringless guitar?

  51.  

    Does that girl have a wing growing out of her head?

    •  
      CommentAuthorMoldorm
    • CommentTimeSep 16th 2009
     

    This is why you should wash behind your ears.

    • CommentAuthorRocky
    • CommentTimeSep 16th 2009 edited
     
    bq. Does that girl have a wing growing out of her head?

    Epic dandruff.
  52.  

    How about that Epic Mickey concept art?



  53.  

    They look like stuff out of a Miyazaki movie… I LIKE IT!

  54.  

    I LIKE IT!

    Someone has to make this movie.

    For some reason, I’m feeling “post-apocalyptic” yet steampunk.

  55.  

    Exactly. So… Hayao Miyazaki doing an anime adaption of Girl Genius?

  56.  

    If you’ve ever played KH2, you already know Mickey is about as epic as it gets already.

  57.  

    Does that girl have a wing growing out of her head?

    Actually, it’s a guy. He’s suffering from a major gender crisis. And these two people are actually a same person. Yeah, a little confusing.

    Talking about Hayao Miyazaki – It was originally planned that Miyazaki was planning to direct Earthsea, and that would truly have been Epic. If only his stupid son didn’t steal the project and ruin it to rubbles. groans

  58.  
    •  
      CommentAuthorApep
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009
     

    Well, Theodore Roosevelt is possibly the most awesome man to have ever lived…

    •  
      CommentAuthorMoldorm
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009
     
  59.  

    From

    What’s that? You don’t remember the time Punisher teamed up with Robocop and Terminator and blew your fragile little mind? Sadly, this is just an amazing Mike Zeck cover from a 1992 issue of “Action Figure News and Toy Review,” and not a lost issue of the greatest comic book ever produced. One can only imagine the body count this trio would amass. And also the awesome fight that would ensue when they inevitably turn on each other.

    Yes everyone, it’s the possibility of the only comic Teddy Roosevelt would ever read.