The Great 'Which Universe Would I Rather Inhabit' Tournament, Round 1, Match 6

The Great 'Which Universe Would I Rather Inhabit' Tournament, Round 1, Match 6

Star Trek vs Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings)

Oh for crying out loud.

I was hoping for a nice easy match after Narnia vs Ultima, but no chance of that apparently.

Universe of warp speed, Klingons and The Picard Manoeuvre vs Universe of wizards, elves and The One Ring.

How on (Middle) Earth am I meant to pick a winner between these two? Surely this is a match worthy of the final? It’s like getting Man United vs Liverpool in the FA Cup 3^rd Round, only much, much more important to the millions of people now following this blog.

Let’s give it a go shall we?

The Star Trek universe best represents the Utopia that we all hope for in the near future – world peace, an economy where people work to better themselves rather than for financial gain, and starships full of people in red, yellow and blue uniforms running round trying to prevent that Utopia getting ruined by other people who don’t believe in it. There are countless races to learn from, ships capable of travelling many times the speed of light, an entire planet dedicated to pleasure, and laser weapons. And they’re still using the iPad in the 24^th Century.

The iPad 73, bestselling gadget in the year 2374

By the latter half of the 24^th Century, the holodeck has been invented, allowing anyone to create their own programmes showcasing the biggest events in history, or bringing a novel to life, and this surely is one of the biggest draws of living in this universe – how could this not be one of the single greatest creations in the history of mankind? Even if they had a little help from their friends. A universe where all this is possible is a mighty temptation indeed.

Moving to Middle Earth, we have a universe where immortal elves live in magnificent cities, goblins and orcs inhabit the most terrible parts of the world, and the smallest people can make the biggest difference. It’s a world where man can live amongst these fantasy races, see magic first hand, and quite frankly it’s a stunning place if the movies are to be believed. And also, dragons. As a human, I’d live in somewhere like Gondor or Rohan, and to be honest that would be just awesome. I’d probably have to defend the lands from orcs and other manner of foul creatures, but I’m sure that Gandalf would get to know me pretty quickly (he’d be too inquisitive about the person who managed to teleport in from another universe to not do) and he seems to do a pretty good job of protecting those he has a special interest in. He might send me on a dangerous quest, that brings me right to my limits and leaves me in mortal peril, but overall people survive his jaunts fairly well. The important people do anyway. Maybe not Rohan-farmer-turned-soldier #13.

Now I’ll usually be drawn to a more fantastical scenario than a universe that is basically our own, so by default you would expect Middle Earth to win. However, technically Middle Earth is really set in our universe, with the time we know now being the Fourth Age, and the action in Lord of the Rings taking place in the Third Age, with plenty of other stories in the two Ages preceding those, so maybe that isn’t as clean cut as you might think. I loves me some dragons and magic, and dragons and magic are notably absent from the Star Trek universe, but then spaceships, lasers and the holodeck are conspicuously AWOL from Middle Earth. I could explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and civilisation, and somewhat warily (most of these trips end in a fight) go where no man has gone before, but I could also quest with elves, dwarves and wizards, and live out the fantasy of any person who has ever played an RPG.

Lasers vs elves.

Spaceships vs wizards.

Holodeck vs dwarves.

Kirk vs Picard (whoops, slipped into the wrong debate there. It’s Picard anyway).

…

…

I’ve made my decision. I thought this would be as hard a decision as Narnia vs Ultima, but actually it’s easier in many ways. Perhaps it’s because they are so different compared to the last match, although equally that could have made it harder. I’m going with the universe that gives me the greatest chance for adventure upon adventure, to see new world upon new world, and let me visit the other universe anyway through the magic of technology.

Congratulations, Star Trek, you have defeated Middle Earth.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to inhabit Middle Earth, and be a part of a universe with everything I’ve discussed. That was, after all, one of the key reasons the Elder Scrolls defeated The Terminator (not because the latter is a bleak apocalyptic wasteland of despair), and I dismissed the Red Dwarf universe even though mankind had conquered space travel in it. In the Star Trek universe, however, there are countless alien races and worlds, more advanced technologies than seem apparent in Red Dwarf, and, yes, the holodeck. Don’t worry, I’m not going to use that as a reason to win during every round, or this tournament might as well end now. But, let’s face it, it’s a pretty big plus point.

Winner: Star Trek

Red Dwarf	Heroes
Heroes
Buffy	Buffy
Battlestar Galactica
Star Wars	Star Wars
Aliens
Elder Scrolls	Elder Scrolls
Terminator
Narnia	Ultima
Ultima
Star Trek	Star Trek
Middle Earth
Firefly
Marvel
DC
Doctor Who