Here are somethings that every Fantasy Fan should Watch / Play / Read / Experience, before trying to claim guru status.
The Rules. Each item has a point value, add them to get your score. A Guru is not an obsessive fanboy who knows how many hobbits appear in the 4 books of the LOTR series or what Bastian actually yells into the storm. Gurus have a broad base, and that is for the good. I invite you to pass send your friends to this note. Ideally I'd like lots of feedback so I can tweak and improve it. I also think it would be cool to have a website of it, where one could register and mark as experienced various items and keep see a running score. Of course, it would have to be honor based. I'd also love to get input from industry experts, commentary on the impact and merit of a particular item.
Please note that I make no distinction for or against humor, only on quality.
My original idea for this note didn't include a point scheme... but then I thought, "If I include a point scheme, people will be offended by the scores I gave" and controversy is always good.
In this Q-Guru list I introduce the concept of Required Viewing or Reading. Some parts of the Fantasy ouvre must be experienced or you simply cannot be a Guru. It would be like claiming to be a Guru of world religions and not knowing who Buddha was. The entire list is worth approximately 660: 120 for Movies, 42 for Anime, 325 for Books, 125 for Videogames, 24 for games, and 24 for comics.
Less than 10% - Grasshopper
11-20% - Fledgling
21-40% - Fan
41-60% -Well Versed
61-80% - Maven
81-95% - Guru
96%+ - Fanatic
TV & Movies:
Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy (7)
The Hobbit (Animated) (3)
The Fellowship of the Ring (Animated) (1)
The Return of the King (Animated) (2)
Hercules the Legendary Journeys (2)
Xena: Warrior Princess (4): Yes it's moralizing, patronizing, and makes a hash of mythology, but it's fun.
Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1)
Roger's & Hammerstien's Cinderella (1)
Disney's Treasure Planet (0.5)
Disney's Beauty & the Beast (1)
Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1)
Disney's Tangled (1): What can I say, it looks fab
Disney's Little Mermaid (1): DON'T READ THE BOOK! oh okay, +1 for reading the icktastic book.
Disney's Aladdin (1)
Indiana Jones (7) [3,1.5,2,0.5] if you want the breakdown
Wizards (0.5)
Fire & Ice (0.5)
Heavy Metal (0.5)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Sinbad & The Eye of the Tiger, Jason & The Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans (original): 12 because even though they were done without computers, they are still monuments to the glory of film making and special effects.
The Princess Bride (10, plus, if you haven't seen this movie, you fail this list. Your score is Zero until you've seen it.)
Labyrinth & The Dark Crystal (5): Absolutely required, shame on you if you haven't seen them.
The Wizard of Oz (1) because people will yell at me if it's not here, even though it blows.
Avatar the Last Airbender TV (2)
Lady in the Water (1)
Buffy & Angel (5)
Charmed (0.5)
Highlander TV (1)
Highlander Movie (2)
Pushing Daisies (1)
True Blood (1)
Bewitched & I dream of Jeanie (50+ Episodes each) (3)
Wild Wild West Movie or TV series (1)
The Addams Family & The Munsters (50+ Episodes total) (3)
The Beast Master (2)
Pan's Labyrinth & Hellboy (1)
Never-Ending Story (3)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (1)
The Promise (1)
The Hero (1)
Monty Python & The Holy Grail (5)
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (2)
The Conan Trilogy (2) (Includes Red Sonja)
Lady Hawke (0.5)
Hawk the Slayer (0.5)
Excalibur (0.5)
Krull (1)
Legend (1)
Shrek (1)
Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, & Kiki's Delivery Service (4)
The Mummy [1999] (1)
Time Bandits & The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (3)
Stardust (1)
The Last Unicorn (1) Book & Movie (1.5)
Secret of NIHM (1)
Big Trouble in Little China (1)
Any three Tim Burton Movies (2)
Anime: Let's face it, the vast majority of visual Fantasy is Anime. And much of it is actually worth watching. Some of it less, some of it more, but what is listed below is the best of the best.
Record of the Loddoss War I & II (2 per series)
Slayers, Slayers Next, Slayers Try, Slayers OAV (3 per series, 2 for the OAV's)
Magic Knights Rayearth I & II (2 per series)
Full Metal Alchemist (2)
Escaflowne (1)
Bastard! (1)
Bleach (75+eps=2)
Card Captor Sakura (50+eps=2)
El Hazard: The Mysterious World (3)
El Hazard: The Wanderers (1)
Elf Princess Rane & Dragon Half (1)
Fushigi Yuugi (1 per season)
Inuyasha (1 per season)
Revolutionary Girl Utena (2) You will not Understand.
Sailor Moon (1)
Books:
The Wheel of Time Series (2 per book)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2 per book)
The Hobbit (3)
The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix (4 for the series)
The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix (2 for the series)
The Once and Future King by T.H.White (2)
The Four Lords of the Diamond by Jack C Chalker (1) [On a side note, I'd also recommend his Soul Rider and Changewinds series, but they really aren't significant enough to give more than 0.1 per, although if you read all 8, feel free to give yourself those extra 0.2 to make it an even point.]
Harry Potter Series (3) Required Reading, but at this point who hasn't. Also, not that tough a read. +2 for all the movies released to date.
The Chronicles of Narnia (4)
The 1001 Arabian Nights (0.5 if abridged, 3 if unabridged)
The Vlad Taltos Series & The Khavren Romances (0.5 each)
The Vampire Lestat & Queen of the Damned (1.5) No credit for the movies or any other book in the series.
The Mummy or Ramses the Damned (1)
The Twilight Series (1) no credit for the movies.
The Oz Series (1 per, because even though the later books are more obscure and less relevant, the fact that you've actually managed to find and read book 40: Merry Go Round in Oz, is spectacular. Only the Canon books count)
The Fionavar Tapestry (3)
The Pridain Chronicles (2)
Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (5)
Apprentice Adept by Piers Anthony (2)
The Xanth Series (2 per 3 books)
The Myth Series by Robert Asprin (0.5 per book)
The Shanara Books (2 per series)
The Black Company Series (1)
The Dark Tower Series (4... +1 if you actually finished reading the 7th book, and remember you're only lying to yourself)
The True Game & The Saga of Mavin Manyshaped (4)
Earthsea (3)
The Dark is Rising Quintet (3)
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (2 per trilogy)
The Belgariad (4)
The Mallorean (2)
Belgarath & Polgara (1)
The Elric Saga (2)
The Inheritance Cycle (1)
Gormenghast Trilogy (1)
The Discworld Canon (aside from the first two, 0.3 per. The original pair, 1)
The Riftwar Saga (3), all other related books (0.5)
The Golden Compass (2)+1 for finishing the series
The Dark Elf Trilogy (2)
The Finder's Stone Trilogy (1)
The Avatar Trilogy (1)
The Dragon Prince Trilogy (0.5)
The Anita Blake Series (1 for Guilty Pleasures, 0.3 for the others)
Sword of Truth Series (1 per)
Symphony of the Ages by Elizabeth Hayden (1 for Rhapsody, 1 for the other two)
The Original Dragonlance Trilogy (3)
The Rose of the Prophet Trilogy & The Darksword Trilogy (1.5)
Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn Trilogy by Tad Williams (2)
Amber: Corwyn's Chronicles (4)
Amber: Merlin's Chronicles (1)
Redwall (1)
Fairy Tales by The Brother's Grimm (1, 2 for the originals)
The Haunting of Hill House (1)
Peter Pan (1)
The Wind in the Willows (1)
Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1)
So You Want to be a Wizard (1)
Gulliver's Travels (3)
Tarzan of the Apes (1)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (2)
Le Mort D'Arthur (4) although I loathe it, this version of the Arthurian Legend set up the whole Art-Lance-Gwen triangle. bleh
Mists of Avalon (2) a feminist take on Arthurian Legends? Hard to pass up.
The Song of Fire & Ice (1 per book, 0.5 for the Hedge Knight)
The Pern series (2 for Dragonriders, 0.5 for all others)
The Darkover Series (2 for Darkover Landfall, 2 for the Renunciates Series, 0.3 for any other)
Dracula... unabridged (3)
The Farseer Trilogy (2)
Watership Down (3)
American Gods (1)
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (4, Required Reading)
Good Omens (1)
Animal Farm (1)
The Odyssey, The Iliad, & The Annead (5)
Dante's Inferno (2), Purgato & Paradiso (1)
Aesop's Fables (1)
A Midsummer's Night's Dream (0.5)... but see the stage show instead if you can.
I am Legend (0.5)
Picture of Dorian Gray (0.5)
A Christmas Carol (0.5)
Metamorphosis by Ovid (0.5)
Metamorphosis by Kafka (0.5)
The Cat in the Hat & Horton Hears a Hoo (1)
The Little Prince (1)
The Phantom Tollbooth (0.5)
Johnathan Livingston Seagull (0.5)
Beowulf (1)
Gilgamesh (1)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (3)
Any Tamora Pierce series (1)
Videogames
Final Fantasy Series (1 per Game)
Disgaea Series (1 per Game
Warcraft Series (1 per Game)
Diablo Series (1 per Game)
Elder Scrolls Series (1 per Game)
Dungeon Master & Dungeon Master II: Chaos Strikes Back (3)
Might & Magic (1 per game, including HOMM, but not any Consol Version)
Fable Series (1 per Game)
Myst Series (2)
Zork Series (1 per Game)
Loom (2)
Dragon Quest / Dragon Warrior Series (1 per Game)
Secret of Monkey Island (3 for the first, which is essentially required, 1 per game otherwise)
Grandia (2)
Grandia II (2)
Tales Series (0.5 per game)
Atelier Series (0.5 per game)
Dark Cloud I & II (1 per game)
Kingdom of Loathing (50+ Hours=1)
Gaia or Ragnarok Online (1000+hours=1)
Castleage (200+ hours=1)
Any other Fantasy MMORPG (100+Hours=1)
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 (2 per game)
Ultima Series & Wizardry Series (0.5 per game)
Legend of Zelda Series (2 each for A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and the Original. 1.5 for Windwaker, Link, & Majora's Mask. 1 for any other game in the series)
Any Mario Platformer or RPG (1 point, but only one counts): Yes this is fantasy. There are wizards, dragons, princesses, and pointless heroics.
Nethack, the first of the Roguelikes (1)
Traditional Role Playing Games and Board Games
Runequest (2)
D&D [Old School] (4)
AD&D 1st (3)
AD&D 2nd (2)
AD&D 3rd (1)
Forgotten Realms (1)
Kara-Tur (0.5)
Al-Qadim (0.5)
Dark Sun (0.5)
Dragonlance (0.5)
Greyhawk (0.5)
Dungeon (1)
Munchkin (1 + 0.5 per additional settings)
MTG (1 for 100 games, +1 for 1000+ Games)
Warhammer, Hero Quest, or Mageknight (10+=1)
Comicbooks
Camelot 3000 (0.5)
Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld (0.5)
Bone (1)
Cerebus, the first 100 issues (2)
Elfquest, the first 4 volumes (5)
Thieves & Kings (1)
Fables, through the Invasion (3)
Neil Gaiman's Sandman, complete run (5)
Groo the Wanderer, any 20 issues (1)
Negima (Manga) (2)
Ranma 1/2 (Manga) (3)
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