Are You A Real Nerd Or A Hipster Poser?

3K Shares

It used to be that being a nerd and liking geeky things like comic books and Star Trek was considered uncool. The nerds were kept on the fringes of society, mocked, swirlied, and beaten up. But times are a-changing. As The Big Bang Theory has proved, smart is the new sexy. With the alarming rise of the hipster mentality, a lot of people are going against the mainstream forms of entertainment and resorting to the likes of comic books and video games. The irony is that so many hipsters going against the mainstream stuff to the nerdy stuff turns the nerdy stuff into the mainstream stuff. Ah, but that’s okay, because hipsters love irony. But you see, with all these hipsters and wannabes knocking around, it can be hard to determine who is a real nerd. There’s even arguments and debates amongst the nerd community (who are naturally angry due to sexual frustration and still living with their parents) over who actually classes as a nerd and who’s just a poser who likes the idea of being a nerd.  Anyway, there’s only one way to prove if you really are a nerd, and that is to answer these 35 questions. So, get started!

Question 1

Which of these A Song of Ice and Fire books came first?

Before there was Game of Thrones on HBO to condense it for us and make it a lot easier to digest, the only way to access the wonderful world of Westeros was through the dense A Song of Ice and Fire tomes written by George RR Martin. He’s flaked out halfway through so that the last couple of seasons have had to make it up as they go along, but he’s written five with another two forthcoming. Which of these came first?

Question 2

Complete the inscription on the One Ring

The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest stories ever told. There is an inscription on the One Ring that signifies its importance over all the others. The inscription is roughly translated into the Black Speech of Mordor as, “Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.” In English, it reads, “One Ring to rule them all, one ring to find them; One ring to bring them all and in the darkness...” what? Complete the inscription on the One Ring.

Question 3

Who is the first black Spider-Man?

A lot of moviegoers have Spider-Man fever right now since Homecoming came out and blew everyone’s minds by being quite possibly the greatest Spider-Man movie yet. There have been many incarnations of Spider-Man in Marvel Comics lore over the years. Obviously the first and best remembered one was Peter Parker, but there’s been a ton of others – and some really great ones, too. The one that is sure to excite the PC generation the most is the first ever black one. Name him.

Question 4

What is the name of the machine from Assassin’s Creed?

The Assassin’s Creed games are hugely popular. They’ve sold over 100 million copies worldwide and they’re still going strong with these year’s much anticipated (albeit racist) Assassin’s Creed Origins. The games are about the descendants of assassins going into a machine that places them in the ancestor’s bodies in the past in order to start settling some beef. It’s a really cool machine, one that would come in handy in real life if it were a thing. But what is it called?

Question 5

Which Star Trek movie is about whales?

There were a lot of Star Trek movies produced starring the original cast. There was also a lot made with the cast of The Next Generation. Then there was the rebooted series with the cast today’s mainstream audience knows. But once upon a time, there was a Star Trek movie directed by Leonard Nimoy himself that involved the USS Enterprise crew going back to Earth when it is endangered by an alien probe targeting humpback whales. Which movie is it?

Question 6

What was The Hulk’s name in the 1970s TV show?

Of course, The Incredible Hulk’s alter ego is Dr. Bruce Banner. Banner was infected with gamma rays in a scientific experiment gone wrong and now, whenever he gets angry, his clothes rip off (save for a pair of purple shorts), and he grows in size to be a gargantuan, muscular green guy with an unstoppable rage. However, when these comics were adapted into a TV series starring Bill Bixby as Banner and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk (this was before CGI), the network felt that Bruce was not a marketable name, so they made them change it. What did they change it to?

Question 7

Who wrote Watchmen?

Watchmen is regarded as a seminal comic book. It's a graphic novel that brought on the wave of darkness in comic books that gave us the dark Batman we know and love today and the dark turn in the X-Men. So far, there's been a movie version (even though it was previously considered to be an unfilmable story) and HBO are making a television adaptation. But who started it? Who put pen to paper and gave us the Citizen Kane of comics, or The Great Gatsby of comics?

Question 8

Which of these movies doesn't have its own Lego line?

There's no shame in a grown adult playing with Lego. Sure, it's more socially acceptable for kids to do it, but it's good, wholesome fun that works a lot of important brain functions. Plus it keeps you occupied. You never heard of a serial killer who played with Lego, did you? And anyway, there's Lego toys based on movies that are acceptable for adults to like, so it stands to reason that adults should be allowed to like those toys, too. Anyway, which of these movies doesn't have its own Lego line based on it?

Question 9

What is the name of Boba Fett’s ship?

Boba Fett came out of nowhere in The Empire Strikes Back. Jeremy Bulloch barely had any lines to work with, and he played his cool, ruthless bounty hunter like Clint Eastwood played The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, and he waltzed his way into the hall of fame of movie history. A big part of Fett’s character is his ship. It’s the ship he uses to leave Cloud City with the carbonite-encased Han Solo. What is its name?

Question 10

Which of these is NOT a Tomb Raider game?

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is one of the greatest and best selling video game franchises of all time. It’s sold millions of copies and it’s still going strong today, thanks to a little reinvention. Croft was originally highly sexualized in her clothing, but she’s since been revised into being a symbol of female empowerment. Alicia Vikander is playing her in the upcoming movie reboot that’s due for release next year. But it all started with the games. Which of these is NOT a Tomb Raider game?

Question 11

Name Preacher’s Irish vampire friend

In Garth Ennis’ comic book series Preacher – which has also been adapted as an AMC drama series – a small-town reverend named Jesse Custer is infused with the spirit of an otherworldly entity called Genesis which gives him the ability to command others. Custer is partnered with a woman named Tulip O’Hare. They becomes friends with an Irish vampire who becomes close with Jesse and falls in love with Tulip. But what is the name of that drug and alcohol addicted Irish vampire?

Question 12

Which movie is this from?

This is the movie that started the whole anime craze in western culture. Before it came along, anime was simply a Japanese thing – now it’s a worldwide thing. The movie was released in 1988 and the plot revolves around a World War III brought on by a massive explosion that decimated Tokyo. But the distant future in which the movie is set is a year that’s coming up pretty soon (and there might actually be a World War III in that year. What was this movie called?

Question 13

What fantasy movie is this line from: “There can only be one?”

The fantasy genre is enjoyed by a lot of geeks. Peter Jackson made it cool and brought it into the mainstream with his Middle-earth movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, and HBO have propelled it into the super duper mainstream with their gargantuan hit series Game of Thrones. This quote, “There can only be one,” is one of the best known movie quotes of all time, but which of these four fantasy movies is it from?

Question 14

Which of these characters ISN’T in the X-Men?

The Marvel Comics universe has a lot of teams and most of their characters are associated with at least one of those teams. If they’re lucky, they get to be in a bunch of those teams and travel across all kinds of planets and galaxies to fight a bunch of enemies. Most of them only get one team. The best teams to be a part of are the X-Men or the Avengers. Which of these four superheroes is NOT affiliated with the X-Men?

Question 15

Who is the bad guy from The Dark Tower books?

The Dark Tower is Stephen King’s great masterpiece. It’s a story spanning a good few books about a gunslinger in an alternate dimension who’s caught in a battle with a terrifying evil who is trying to prevent him from getting to the cornerstone of the entire universe. It’s also very weirdly meta, as the gunslinger is being told what to do by Stephen King, who’s being told what to write in The Dark Tower books by the master of the universe. Strange. So, who is the bad guy battling the gunslinger?

Question 16

Which of these is NOT a character from Grand Theft Auto?

Grand Theft Auto is a series of action adventure video games with elements of driving games in which you play a rogue’s gallery of various criminals who beat up hookers and steal cars. It’s a lot of fun and the gameplay is really comfortable. Plus it’s open world, so you can play it for hours and you’ll never get bored. Well, you might. Anyway, the stories are all very character driven, based loosely on characters from gangster movies. But which of these ISN’T a character from a GTA game?

Question 17

What is "The Truth is out there" reference to?

The truth is out there. Hotshot young FBI agent Dana Scully is assigned to work with the crazy guy in the basement because the FBI is dominated by men and they feel threatened by such a strong female working in their presence. But she shows them when she goes on the adventures of a lifetime with that crazy guy in the basement, Fox Mulder. They’re investigating the potential presence and sightings of a supernatural force. What is at the center of their investigating?

Question 18

Which Atari game was buried in the desert?

In 1983, Atari made too many copies of a game and sold too few, so an urban legend arose that they took the unsold copies of the game out into a landfill in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico and buried them. An excavation in 2013 found this urban myth to in fact be accurate. But which game sold so disappointingly few copies that the Atari bosses deemed it necessary to bury 728,000 cartridges of it in the New Mexico desert?

Question 19

In RoboCop, what does the evil megacorporation want to turn Detroit into?

Kids who watch RoboCop totally miss the point of it. They see a sci-fi action movie about a guy who gets shot to pieces and then reincarnated as a robot. But what it really is, is a satire of our consumerist culture and the militarization of the police. It’s set in Detroit, and the megacorporation that made RoboCop, Omni Consumer Products, wants to privatize the city and give it a new name under their totalitarian regime. It includes a word from the NATO alphabet. What is that name?

Question 20

Which anime movie did Scarlett Johansson whitewash this year?

Earlier this year, Scarlett Johansson starred in a live action American adaptation of a Japanese movie, and it kept all the stylistic Japanese aesthetic of the original but did not keep the Japanese characters. Instead, they cast a white woman in the lead role, which led to some serious whitewashing controversy. It cost the movie at the box office, as it brought in less than $170 million worldwide when it cost a whole $110 million to make. Just goes to show, Americans can’t do anime. What was that anime?

Question 21

Where is Thor from?

Thor is a Marvel superhero, but he has his roots in Norse mythology, and according to the cosmology of Norse mythology (that’s a lot of ‘ologies), there are Nine Worlds. Before he disappeared through a wormhole and fell in love with Natalie Portman, Thor lived in one of these Nine Worlds of Norse mythology. The one Thor is from is home to Valhalla. So, which of the Nine Worlds is the Odinson family – Thor, his brother Loki, and their father Odin – from originally?

Question 22

What building does the Joker blow up in The Dark Knight?

This is one the greatest scenes in movie history and it was sort of improvised. Heath Ledger, delivering his bold, frightening, and Academy Award winning performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, was given a detonator to set off an explosives device to blow up a building. But when he first pressed it, it didn’t work, so he kept smacking it until eventually it went off, and movie history was made. But which building did he blow up in the movie?

Question 23

How many types of Pokemon are there?

Pokemon is like a religion for nerds. They play and trade and chase them around town with their iPhones. The Japanese franchise’s revenue is getting to ridiculous numbers, with over ¥6.0 trillion earned worldwide. That’s over $55 billion in USD. It’s an absurdly popular franchise, and it keeps growing and getting stronger every day. There are a number of different types of Pokemon, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. But just how many different types of Pokemon are there?

Question 24

Which of these is NOT one of the Ghostbusters?

Ghostbusters is the perfect movie for nerds. It has jokes, science, thrills, ghosts, scares, Bill Murray, and tales of the macabre. It’s a terrific blend of all the most entertaining genres: comedy, horror, science fiction, fantasy. It’s also one of the best loved movies ever made, spawning a less popular sequel and an even less popular reboot. But nothing could tarnish the good name of the original ‘80s classic. So, which of these characters is NOT one of the Ghostbusters?

Question 25

Who is the God of War?

The God of War series is a PlayStation exclusive franchise revolving around figures of Greek mythology. The first one was pretty meh in terms of ambition, but the third one is a no holds barred, spectacular masterpiece. A new one is coming out next year – expect great things. In the God of War games, you play Kratos, a strong Spartan soldier who has lost his family and now wants revenge against the god whose fault it is. That would be eponymous God of War, of course. But what is the name of that god?

Question 26

How do you know there’s a glitch in The Matrix?

The Matrix was a seminal science fiction movie in the history of cinema, as it combined Asian martial arts movies with the American film noir and Philip K. Dick/William Gibson-esque science fiction into a whole new genre that captured audiences’ imaginations worldwide. If the coding of The Matrix is altered while you’re inside The Matrix, you’re in a lot of trouble. It causes a glitch, which causes you to be screwed. So, you’d better know how to spot one so you can be prepared. How do you know there’s a glitch in The Matrix?

Question 27

What is Harley Quinn’s real name?

Harley Quinn is the Joker’s sidekick in the DC Comics world, and she’s totally insane. She’s a really beloved character in the comics, and we’re going to be seeing a lot more of her as Margot Robbie’s well-received portrayal of the character in Suicide Squad has warranted a sequel and a spin-off. Her name is obviously based on the synonym for “clown,” “harlequin,” but before that, before the Joker turned her full on crazy, she was a psychologist at Arkham Asylum with a conveniently similar name. What was it?

Question 28

Who wrote Ender’s Game?

The short version of Ender’s Game is that it is “Harry Potter” in space. The long version is that it’s the tale of an Earth caught up in an intense battle with an insectoid alien species known as “buggers,” and some kids are trained to be space pilots in order to fight them and save the planet. It’s had a whole host of sequels: Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender’s Shadow, A War of Gifts, Ender in Exile, Earth Unaware, and many more. There was only one movie, though. It’s a classic novel of the science fiction genre. Who wrote Ender’s Game?

Question 29

Which of these is NOT a Superman villain?

Superman is the original superhero. He’s an icon of the American popular culture. His red and blue colors are a patriotic symbol. Ironic that a literal alien is the symbol of American pride when the US government is currently pulling out all the stops to quash immigration. Anyway, Superman is faced many an enemy over the years, both homegrown from Kryptonian technology or from planet Earth or from some other place. He’s got quite a rogue’s gallery to his name. But which of these ISN’T a Superman villain?

Question 30

Which Philip K. Dick story is Total Recall based on?

Philip K. Dick is a seminal writer in the science fiction genre. He has captured the imaginations of readers and fellow writers everywhere, inspiring a new generation to pick up pens and speculate. There’s a new TV show based on his writing called Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, which should be cool. His stories formed the basis for some of the greatest science fiction movies, too: Blade Runner, Minority Report – and Total Recall. Which story was Total Recall based on?

Question 31

What is the title of the Firefly movie?

Firefly crew

Firefly is one of the most underrated shows that have ever graced our small screens. It's a science fiction show with western themes that's set half a century in the future. It was created by Joss Whedon of the first two Avengers movies and it was cancelled after just one season, which has earned it a place on all those lists of shows that were canned too soon. Its popularity after its cancellation showed enough of a fan base to get a movie adaptation greenlit. But the movie wasn't called Firefly. What was it called?

Question 32

Which city planet is home to the Jedi Temple?

In the Star Wars universe, there’s a city that covers an entire planet. In Star Wars, the planets all have one thing. There’s the ice planet of Hoth, the forest moon of Endor, the desert planet of Tatooine, and this city planet. We have ice, forests, deserts, cities, and more all in the same planet, no biggie. The Greeks called a planet that covered an entire city an ecumenopolis. The name of the city planet in Star Wars is a special literary adjective that means something is glittering or sparkling. What is it called?

Question 33

Who created Skynet?

The Terminator movies are beloved by nerds. Well, only the first two are beloved by them, actually. Nerds hate the last three, because they suck and they mess too much with the established timeline of the first two, which is considered science fiction suicide. But the way that James Cameron weaved time travel with cyborgs with the end of the world is simply fantastic and one of a kind. Skynet is the computer system we have to thank for Judgment Day. Which of these guys created it?

Question 34

Which of these ISN’T one of Stephen King’s fictional Maine towns?

Stephen King grew up in Portland, so pretty much all of his dozens of horror novels are set in various towns around Maine. He uses fictional settings because then he can build a fictional backstory around the town and its residents to support the mythology of the story. For example, the characters of It look into the history of their town and discover that the monster shows up in their town every 27 years. King couldn’t say that about a real town. So, which of these is NOT one of his fictional towns?

Question 35

Which Walking Dead character has one eye?

The Walking Dead began its life as a comic book series that, despite being in black and white and competing with the flashy, glossy colors of Marvel and DC, hooked readers across the world. So, it was adapted for television by AMC and has since hooked in even more fans, becoming the highest rated show, not only on cable, but across the board of all of television. That’s some feat for a show about a zombie apocalypse. The story is driven by a huge ensemble cast of interesting characters. Which of them only has one eye?

See Your Result
Questions Left
Current Score