The idea of super heroes in the “real-world” is nothing new, but the hit TV show Heroes brought the idea to the mainstream. Many comic books have tackled the political and ethical questions many spandex heroes ignore and Heroes aimed to be the window for geeks and non-geeks alike. Normal people began discovering their extraordinary abilities with varying results of shock, fear, and accidents. The breakout star, Hiro Nakamura, a geek like us, discovered he could stop time and teleport, accidentally shooting himself from Japan to the middle of Time Square, screaming “Yatta. Hello New York!”

I don’t mean to condone or glorify the acts of these, disturbed individuals. The truth is serial killers are damn captivating characters, with their arrogance, creativity, and lust for blood. It’s fun to root for the villains, these deplorable cretins obsessed with death and destruction. These are the coolest serial killers who you don’t want to meet in a dark or even well lit alley. (Spoilers included)

7. Michael Myers

The featured killer of the Halloween movies, Michael Myers began his career killing his older sister. Fifteen years later he escaped his sanitarium, returning to his home town to kill teenagers especially Jamie Lee Curtis who managed to fend off the fiend long enough for help to arrive. But after every movie, Myers manages to survive gunshots, car crashes, explosions, and more to return again for more murder and mayhem.

6. Norman Bates

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho inspired a generation to take baths. Bates suffers from dissociative identity disorder, dressing up and pretending to be his mother. He developed this to deal with murdering his mother who spent years abusing him. His classic shower murder of Marion Crane remains his crowning achievement, but anytime Bates, or his mother, were threatened, the mother took over and took care of business.

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Battlestar Galactica, one of the best science fiction shows in like ever, returns April 4th with its final season and hopefully, some long sought after closure. Before the swan song, we have 20 episodes to answer all our anticipation filled questions. There is a big spoiler warning for this whole article. If you aren’t completely caught up on all the awesomeness that is Battlestar Galactica, do not waste time reading this post and go watch it now. So say we all.

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Most bad guys don’t provide obvious calling cards.  That’s where detectives come in.  These masters of deduction break through the lies and deceptions and put together clues to uncover what wasn’t mean to be found.  Being a truly master detective requires not only a brilliant mind, but an equally brilliant rival to provide the challenge, proving their skill.  Here are the 7 most unique and masterful detectives.

7. Philip Marlowe

One of the classic hard-broiled film noir classic style detectives, Philip Marlowe is known for his repartee as much as his drinking.  Detective work falls somewhere in between.  Featured in several dozen books and movies, Marlowe stops drinking and smoking just  enough to launch his successful private detective agency, exposing murders, blackmailers, and femme fatales of all kinds.

6. Robert Goren

The most serious crimes are handled by detectives of the Major Case Squad.  The most serious of those cases are handled by Detective Robert Goren.  Goren focuses on the psychology of the criminals, often playing on that psychology to get criminals to reveal themselves.  He has an incredible memory and sense of smell (very handy) combined with odd social tendencies leading some to believe he suffers from some kind of high-functioning autism which would be supported by his obsession with solving crimes.

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When Pig Latin isn’t enough, geeks turn to the popular alien language Klingon.  And thanks to its creator Marc Okrand, we have an entire dictionary dedicated to teaching us how to speak it.  Okrand, a linguistics professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, published the Klingon Dictionary in 1985.  He had been hired by Paramount Pictures to help create the language and teach the actors for the various Star Trek movies and series.  He even had a hand in developing the Vulcan language.  With the Klingon Dictionary in hand, geeks around the world have a common language and a sign for who are the truly devoted.

Goatees are evil.  This is a well known geek fact best portrayed by the Mirror, Mirror episode of the original Star Trek where the Enterprise accidentally trades Captain Kirk, Scotty, and Lt. Uhura for their alternate reality, evil dopplegangers.  In the Mirror Universe, Kirk meets evil, goatee wearing Spock and since that classic moment in facial hair history, I’ve never been able to look at Tim Curry the same way again.  Aside from being a classic Star Trek episode, Mirror, Mirror inspired years of prejudice against goatee wearing characters, becoming a common Hollywood tool to reveal the villain of the piece - like evil David Hasselhoff.  Terrifying, I know.

Celebrating, immortalizing, and humiliating the classic sci-fi series Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, Looney Tunes classic Daffy Duck decided he too wanted to travel into space.  In the 1953 classic Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, Daffy Duck spits his way to idiotic heroics, with an ego even Captain Kirk would be over powered by.  One of the funniest Looney Tunes shorts ever, Duck Dogers has appeared in several sequels and his own series helping continue the lampooning sci-fi so deserves.

The only thing worse than licensed movie games are licensed TV show games.  But rare gems have shown licensed games can sometimes be moderately enjoyable.  The Lost game, in theory, has the potential to be one of those mediocre games.  When the game comes out next week, think about how cool the game might have been if some of these ideas were included.

7. Social interaction with other characters

It’s like the Sims with guns and betrayal. The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 have to team up, back stab, and hook up to survive (and entertain).  Let players interact with other characters, trading equipment, offering compliments, lying, etc. with diverse dialogue trees.

6. Stealth and survival over gunplay and combat

There’s a limited amount of bullets and guns on the island, but no shortage of enemies.  So lets seem some quality stealth missions, strategic uses of weapons (shooting exploding barrels is a helpful cliche), and let’s even throw in a cover system - hiding behind trees, logs, and maybe a hatch or two.

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Campy, silly, cutesy.  These are totally the best description of what makes Star Trek great.  "Trouble with Tribbles" is the 1967 classic episode from the original Star Trek series where the Enterprise crew find these cute, furry balls that are born pregnant and reproduce like bunnies in an accelerated time warp.  The comical yet endearing episode has remained a fan favorite, even been worked into a time travel episode more than 20 years later in Deep Space Nine.  The Tribbles have evolved into a Star Trek staple, the butt of constant jokes and references across all science fiction.  If only all Star Trek villains were as cute and cuddly: it’d make their action figures a lot better.

The entertainment industry has manufactured and made-up musical groups pretending they’re successful as a way to lure unsuspecting fans (I’m looking at you *N Sync).  But some bands actually are made-up - they first appeared in fictional worlds, sometimes even crossing over to our reality to make an extra buck.  These are the most entertaining and talented fictional bands.

7. Fingerbang

The classic boy band from South Park triumphed at the South Park Mall with their self-titled mega hit.  This edgy band when farther over the edge than any edgy band before by putting a girl, dressed as a boy, into the boy band.  Now that’s guts.

6. Josie and the Pussycats

Speaking of girls dressed as dudes, this 1970’s pop sensation exploded out of their popular Archie comic book and cartoon series, the main source for new musical acts in December 1970.  The bubblegummy, sometimes crime fighting team have even appeared in 2001 blockbuster that made very little money.  Still, being comic book characters, they barely aged and have hauntingly remained relevant in the time world of Archie Comics.

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