Popular Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling published seven "Harry Potter" novels between 1997 and 2007. Soon the series was made into a movie series, and expanded also to video games and theme parks.

The central character is Harry Potter - an orphan wizard of eleven years (at the start of the series) who during seven years learned to control magic and had to challenge the evil Lord Voldemort.

The very first chapter of the "Harry Potter" novels describes Vernon Dursley and his family. Vernon was a muggle (non-wizard) who loathed anything he couldn't explain - and when Harry's parents were killed, suddenly Vernon and his wife Petunia were forced to adopt their cousin Harry...

Answer: Harry Potter

As Harry Potter was admonished already in the first novel, not all wizards and witches use their magic for good purposes. As is also the case in the muggle world, there are magicians who use their skills only for their own goals, and not to make others benefit.

Bellatrix Lestrange was briefly mentioned in the fourth novel "The Goblet of Fire". She was a purebred witch, and joined Lord Voldemort's army (named the Death Eaters). Before the start of the novels, she had tortured the parents of Neville Longbottom into insanity, and for this reason she was imprisoned in Azkaban. But at the start of book 5 she escaped and met Harry in person. He had to acknowledge Bellatrix was very skilled in the Unforgivable Curses. She loved to torture opponents just for her own amusement.

Answer: Harry Potter

In the fourth novel, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory was chosen to represent Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament - a set of three very dangerous magical tasks, for which one student out of each of three schools was selected.

Cedric Diggory was sixteen years old and studied in Hufflepuff house at Hogwarts. The other two candidates for the visiting schools were Viktor Krum for Durmstrang and Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons. But although the tournament was forbidden for students under sixteen years, and there were only three students needed, somehow Harry Potter aged fourteen was named the fourth competitor out of three...

Answer: Harry Potter

Dolores Umbridge first appeared in the fifth novel, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". She worked for the Ministry of Magic and was appointed the professor Defence against the Dark Arts (DADA) - previous professors unfortunately lasted only for one year each. (The first to teach DADA to Harry Potter died a mysterious death, the second went mad, the third was revealed to be a werewolf, and the fourth was an impostor).

Umbridge tried gradually to take over the whole school, eventually even replacing the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. But at the end of her year, she had an altercation with the centaurs living in the Forbidden Forest (an altercation provoked by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, by the way).

Answer: Star Wars

"Star Wars" was first conceived as a series of nine movies. George Lucas invented the characters and most of the overarching story, and directed some of the movies.
Lucas was convinced the story had to unfold in three trilogies: the original trilogy, followed by a prequel trilogy, and followed by a sequel trilogy. The original trilogy hit the theatres in 1977, 1980 and 1983 and was a huge success. But then it took a long time to prepare the prequel trilogy, and another long wait for the final sequel trilogy. Nevertheless, most of the main actors from the 1977 movie reprised their role in the sequels (2015, 2017 and 2019).

Leia Organa first appeared in "Episode IV: A New Hope". She was a princess of an unnamed planet, and a rebel to the Galactic Empire. On her "diplomatic mission" (as she called it), her space ship was captured by the starship of the Empire. Leia was forced to witness the destruction of the planet Alderaan. But soon she was helped to escape and rejoin the rebel forces...

Answer: Star Wars

Darth Vader (originally Anakin Skywalker) was seen as the main antagonist in "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" until "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". The backdrop to how Darth Vader became this frightening opponent, was sketched in the three prequel movies. And even after his death in "Episode VI", Darth Vader still played a role in the sequels too.

It is best to use the implied chronology of the nine movies to get a good picture of Darth Vader. He started as a Jedi apprentice (what the audience would call "the good guys"), but unlike a true Jedi Master he felt too much attachment to his wife. In an effort to prevent her dying in childbirth, he turned to the Dark Side and adopted the new name of Darth Vader. Alas, as the Dark Side represents all kinds of evil, his wife lost the will to survive.

Darth Vader was the frontman of the Dark Side, but behind him hid an even more evil and treacherous creature: the old senator (later Emperor) Sheev Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious.

Answer: Star Wars

Mace Windu made his first appearance in "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (1997).

Her was a true master with the light sabre, surpassed only by Master Yoda (and by Darth Sidious: as this evil character was not bound to fighting according to a code, Darth Sidious was way too dangerous for any Jedi).

Answer: Star Wars

Maz Kanata was introduced in "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens". Maz was not human, but a creature from another planetary system, with a dwarfish humanoid appearance (although her skin was orangey-brown). She had not as many wrinkles as one could expect in a 1,000 year old person. Maz had been a smuggler (like Han Solo) but at the time of the story, she ran a tavern on the lush planet Takodana. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Rey, Finn and BB-8 visited Maz at Takodana to ask her the whereabouts of the main rebel base. Somehow Maz was in possession of Luke's ancient lightsabre and tried to convince Rey to use it.

Answer: Star Trek

Gene Roddenberry came up in 1964 with the idea for a television series about exploration: "Star Trek". The original series lasted only three seasons (1966-1969) but since then has led to all kinds of spin-offs: other TV series, movies, books, board games and video games.

The basic premise is that somewhere in the future, humans begin to explore the universe and "to boldly go where no man has gone before".

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura was one of the main characters in the original series. As a polyglot she worked as chief communications officer on the USS Enterprise. But if the need arose, she would take over command also.

It took more than forty years before her first name was revealed, in the 2009 movie "Star Trek". Before this movie, the character was only known as Lieutenant Uhura.

Answer: Star Trek

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In "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Wesley Crusher was introduced as a child prodigy. When he grew up, he tried to join the Starfleet via the Academy, but failed the exams repeatedly. However, his abilities as engineering officer and his powers as a Traveler (able to wander through different timelines and alternate universes) made Wesley an essential member of the crew.

Answer: Star Trek

Deanna Troi was introduced in the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Her father was a human, her mother a Betazoid, which made her a mix of two quite different cultures.

Deanna's Betazoid parentage has given her the (for humans paranormal) ability to detect emotions in other beings, and even tracking the origin of these emotions.
Deanna acted as counsellor to the crew of the USS Enterprise, starting as Lieutenant commander and ending in full command in the final season of "The Next Generation".

Answer: Star Trek

Montgomery Scott (nicknamed Scotty) appeared as the chief engineer in "Star Trek: The Original Series" and in the ten first movies.

Scott was perhaps the best engineer available in the Star Trek universe, and was frequently seen operating the transporter room: a device that teleported various characters form the spaceship to a nearby planet. This has led to the popular misquote "Beam me up, Scotty" - a phrase not exactly used in the TV series nor the movies.