What's your favorite headcanon?

[GloatingSwine]

That doesn't mean that it's language in any real sense. A particular radio signal would do that just fine, but that's not the same thing as writing.

We actually see it come up on screen in front of the guy who OKs it. (That, IIRC, is the first time we see Aurebesh)/

[gomipile]

The factions in Warhammer 40k can be broadly divided into two categories, those that embrace life and those who worship death.

The death worshippers include the Imperium, the Craftworld Eldar, and the Necrons. The imperium worships a dead man, the eldar worship a god of death, and the necrons literally are dead. All of these factions actively oppose vibrancy and living of life in the manner of an actual natural biological organism, instead reducing their members to unthinking soulless machines (in the case of the Necrons this is even literal)

The life affirming factions are the orks, the tyranids, and the ruinous powers. The tyranids are driven by eating and reproduction. The ork kultur revolves around rowdiness and they weild weapons powered by imagination. And the Chaos Gods, even Khorne and Nurgle, are formed from vitality and emotion rather than matter and their follower reflect this.

And the Tau?

[LibraryOgre]

I don't remember where I originally read it, but there was a fan theory that, in the Star Wars 'Verse, there is no written language. This is in part why C-3PO had to have human form to communicate with machines. This also explains why no one believes in the force in New Hope, or remembers The Jedi. Information gets cloistered by planetary travel and has to be expressed and received analog. I have no idea how a universe like that could possible function, but its interesting to think about.

Isn't there written Aurebesh in TES? When Luke and R2 are flying away from Hoth?

My favorite Batman theory is that Bruce Wayne, after returning from his training montage to become The Bat, decides to try to clone himself so that there will always be a Batman. The first run is a complete failure, taking on all of Bruce Wayne's intellect and psychological damage but has never experienced the traumatic event of his parents death. This clone becomes the Joker. This is why Joker can't remember his past, Batman feels responsible for him and The Joker is always one step ahead of him. This project was code named Red Hood and scrapped, due to it's abysmal failure, and Bruce took up adoption for replacements instead. Jason Todd was the only one (aside from Alfred) to know about it and donned it as his moniker.

Oh, I like that one.

[Bohandas]

In The Matrix Reloaded nothing the Archutect says is true and the door that supposedly leads to The Source actually leads to instant death

[Bohandas]

And the Tau?

I don;t really know enough about them

[Thomas Cardew]

I don't remember where I originally read it, but there was a fan theory that, in the Star Wars 'Verse, there is no written language.

Possibly this Tor article? It's where I first saw it.

https://www.tor.com/2012/10/03/most-...ly-illiterate/

[Gnoman]

Note that the comments on that article pretty much rip the theory to shreds. There is far too much on-screen text to support it.

[Sapphire Guard]

It seems highly unlikely that nowhere in the galaxy was any kind of written language developed. Could easily be that there's no universal written system though, making protocol droids usually easier for understanding.

[Son of A Lich!]

Personally, I don't know how you code without language. Or make an assembly line without written language. Or have a senate without writ.

But it's the idea that really intrigues me.

I'm aware there are symbols on the consoles and so forth, but that's a far stretch from "Language". I'm sure Saussure would have a thing or two to say about when it goes from being iconography to writ, but I'm not a linguist. I just speculate about fictional universes written languages or lack there of on the internet.

[Gnoman]

It isn't just symbols. We see in one of the movies (I think you can see it in ESB when Luke heads off to Dagobah) that Luke converses with R2 via a text translation in his cockpit. That requires a written language.

[Bohandas]

Even if this had been the case in the original trilogy it still falls apart when taking the rest of the series into consideration thanks to the big ol' book from The Last Jedi

EDIT:
Also we definitely see written numerals as early as New Hope, at 0:28:46, 1:52:17, 1:53:31, and 1:55:30

EDIT:

at 0:58:58 there's a panel of buttons in the ce ter of the superlaser control panel which appear to have writing on them, but I'd need to get out a higher resolution copy to see what they say

EDIT:
At 1:17:58 can anyone make out what, if anything, the left screen says

EDIT:
And there's also the matter of the letter designations given to both droids (C-3P0, R2-D2, BB-8, IG-88, L-337, etc.) and stormtroopers (TK 421, FN 2187, etc.)

[Bohandas]

Personally, I don't know how you code without language. Or make an assembly line without written language. Or have a senate without writ.

Potentially coding directly in binary, assembly instruction diagrams, and senate motions on audio/video recordings, respectively.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

It was once intended to be canon (current status unclear) that there is no paper or similar material in the Star Wars universe. So writing being all on screens and such checks out. The question is then: do poor people work with screens. Moisture farmers and pilots and people who own robots and stuff probably have access to something computer-like and some good use for it. The question lays with the real lower class. So, did Anakin build C3PO entirely from information off the forceweb, or did he have a computer?

[Seppl]

It was once intended to be canon (current status unclear) that there is no paper or similar material in the Star Wars universe. So writing being all on screens and such checks out. The question is then: do poor people work with screens. Moisture farmers and pilots and people who own robots and stuff probably have access to something computer-like and some good use for it. The question lays with the real lower class. So, did Anakin build C3PO entirely from information off the forceweb, or did he have a computer?

If a slave on Tatooine can afford both, a competitive racing vehicle and parts for a sentient android, they can probably afford a computer, too. And so should everyone else. Technology in Star Wars appears to be cheaper and more available than air.

(Which is kind of strange: Why is there a market where good money is paid for droids like C3PO, if a slave boy can build one in his spare time!?)

[Keltest]

If a slave on Tatooine can afford both, a competitive racing vehicle and parts for a sentient android, they can probably afford a computer, too. And so should everyone else. Technology in Star Wars appears to be cheaper and more available than air.

(Which is kind of strange: Why is there a market where good money is paid for droids like C3PO, if a slave boy can build one in his spare time!?)

Some of the Legends works go into how he had to basically buy or scavenge each piece he used, and that it took him quite a while to get a working droid from it.

And its not like its the equivalent of finding a high end gaming rig in the middle of nowhere, if Owen and Luke expected to be able to just buy a translator from the Jawas.

[Sapphire Guard]

A slave that works in a spare parts shop. He could steal most of what he needed.

Protocol droids are mass produced, he was probably following instructions rather than building it from scratch. The 'six million languages' part seems to have been an accident, he just wanted a robot with hands to help with housework.

[Traab]

Some of the Legends works go into how he had to basically buy or scavenge each piece he used, and that it took him quite a while to get a working droid from it.

And its not like its the equivalent of finding a high end gaming rig in the middle of nowhere, if Owen and Luke expected to be able to just buy a translator from the Jawas.

The anakin thing makes sense. He was a slave to a mechanical merchant so it would make sense for him to be able to scrounge parts that werent worth putting up for sale until he managed to get everything he needed. Same for the pod racer. Scavenge the track after a race and find whatever parts survived, then cobble it together. Its pretty clear even just from the first movie that despite being a slave, anakin had plenty of free time as he was basically just free labor at the shop.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

A slave that works in a spare parts shop. He could steal most of what he needed.

Protocol droids are mass produced, he was probably following instructions rather than building it from scratch.

Which would solve the current matter.

If there were instructions and Anakin read them it's probably pretty normal for people to be able to read and with it probably pretty normal for people to own devices that display text.

The other alternative is that this droid project is another piece of proof of how special this chosen one is, the force guided his hand.

Either option is valid headcanon, at least for people who's headcanon includes the prequels.

[Serenity]

* Lovecraft's Mi-Go are not malevolent, nor even indifferent to human suffering. They're actually quite friendly and like taking people on wondrous journey's across the universe. But, seeing the brain as the true essence of a person, they don't have any conception as to why their guests would ever be uneasy about leaving their skinvelopes behind.
* Every time we see the Joker end the issue in a situation that No One Could Have Survived, he does actually die. When he turns up fine in a new issue, that's a new Joker--but also the same one. Because Joker is not a man, but an avatar of the collective madness of Gotham. Anytime his current body dies, somewhere in Gotham, someone who's having One Bad Day just...starts *laughing*...

[Bohandas]

Possibly this Tor article? It's where I first saw it.

https://www.tor.com/2012/10/03/most-...ly-illiterate/

The author of that article seems to have a strange and inordinate fixation on printed literature which appears to be skewing their perceptions.

[Thomas Cardew]

The author of that article seems to have a strange and inordinate fixation on printed literature which appears to be skewing their perceptions.

I mean it was from Tor, a Publishing Company. And I by no means agree with it, or a lot of the articles they publish, it was just the most 'mainstream' presentation of that theory I'd ever seen.

[Traab]

* Lovecraft's Mi-Go are not malevolent, nor even indifferent to human suffering. They're actually quite friendly and like taking people on wondrous journey's across the universe. But, seeing the brain as the true essence of a person, they don't have any conception as to why their guests would ever be uneasy about leaving their skinvelopes behind.
* Every time we see the Joker end the issue in a situation that No One Could Have Survived, he does actually die. When he turns up fine in a new issue, that's a new Joker--but also the same one. Because Joker is not a man, but an avatar of the collective madness of Gotham. Anytime his current body dies, somewhere in Gotham, someone who's having One Bad Day just...starts *laughing*...

Now thats an awesome batman headcanon. And considering some of the backstory to gotham over the years, its one that fits.

[Gnoman]

That's not all that far from the "Joker is a lesser god of chaos" theory I've always been fond of.

Frankly, I'm surprised something like this isn't canon. It fits so well.

[Tvtyrant]

* Lovecraft's Mi-Go are not malevolent, nor even indifferent to human suffering. They're actually quite friendly and like taking people on wondrous journey's across the universe. But, seeing the brain as the true essence of a person, they don't have any conception as to why their guests would ever be uneasy about leaving their skinvelopes behind.
* Every time we see the Joker end the issue in a situation that No One Could Have Survived, he does actually die. When he turns up fine in a new issue, that's a new Joker--but also the same one. Because Joker is not a man, but an avatar of the collective madness of Gotham. Anytime his current body dies, somewhere in Gotham, someone who's having One Bad Day just...starts *laughing*...

I have often wondered if most of the cast aren't actually ghosts. If Batman started working in the 1930s, and he and most of the villains have been killed at one time or another how are they still active? So my theory is that Gotham is haunted, and Batman is more like a play put on by the city itself.

Gotham keeps people in the city from wondering about it, which is why Bruce Wayne never got exposed and Gordon never got older. But people outside the city can see it, which is why the US government tried to cut the city off in the 1990s and Superman doesn't operate there. People like Bane get caught in the play when they come to Gotham and become immortal and insane like the inhabitants.

[Wookieetank]

I have often wondered if most of the cast aren't actually ghosts. If Batman started working in the 1930s, and he and most of the villains have been killed at one time or another how are they still active? So my theory is that Gotham is haunted, and Batman is more like a play put on by the city itself.

Gotham keeps people in the city from wondering about it, which is why Bruce Wayne never got exposed and Gordon never got older. But people outside the city can see it, which is why the US government tried to cut the city off in the 1990s and Superman doesn't operate there. People like Bane get caught in the play when they come to Gotham and become immortal and insane like the inhabitants.

This also fits rather nicely with most of the action taking place at nighttime. I like it.

[Bohandas]

I have often wondered if most of the cast aren't actually ghosts. If Batman started working in the 1930s, and he and most of the villains have been killed at one time or another how are they still active? So my theory is that Gotham is haunted, and Batman is more like a play put on by the city itself.

Gotham keeps people in the city from wondering about it, which is why Bruce Wayne never got exposed and Gordon never got older. But people outside the city can see it, which is why the US government tried to cut the city off in the 1990s and Superman doesn't operate there. People like Bane get caught in the play when they come to Gotham and become immortal and insane like the inhabitants.

But did he start working in the 1930's. It was always my understanding that superheroes' origins took place a fixed distance in the past rather than at a fixed time (similar to how Mystery Science Theater 3000 takes place "next sunday")

[The Glyphstone]

It varies by hero, and continuity, and company. And that's before your reboots, retcons, alternate universes, and other such things.

[Gnoman]

It was fairly well established up until at least the 90s that Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed in 1920 or 1940. They were murdered after taking Young Bruce to see the movie The Mark Of Zorro as a birthday present, although it is not consistent which version of the film it was. This was used as a major part of his characterization at points, because it helped him to blame himself for their deaths.

[Tvtyrant]

But did he start working in the 1930's. It was always my understanding that superheroes' origins took place a fixed distance in the past rather than at a fixed time (similar to how Mystery Science Theater 3000 takes place "next sunday")

That was the assumption of most Batman comics until it got retconned in Year One, which set his origin in the late 50s and he begins operating right after Vietnam. That continuity got retconned in New52, and then I quit reading so I don't know anymore.

But The Dark Knight Returns assumes the original continuity is true and Batman is old as heck. I like the idea he actually dies fairly often and just comes back, so Crisis really did kill him and Bane permanently crippled him. Gotham itself just keeps putting him and his villains back together, which is why the redemption arcs never last.

[Gnoman]

You could easily use the Bane incident from the Knightfall arc to justify his longevity. Unless I'm remembering very wrongly, he was healed by a barely-disguised (out-of-universe) witch in that arc, which would easily justify a long lifespan.