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I do really appreciate the different soundtracks when talking about each universe. It pleases my earholes

I always loved the universe of Halo. The story of humanity struggling to hold back an unstoppable alien force wiping us out to near extinction in a war lasting over 25 years is dense but still has room for many more stories. The backstory of the Halo rings, their creators the Forerunners, and the Flood all add to the epic scope in amazing ways. It's a damn shame the Peter Jackson produced movie didn't see the light of day.

Yes... The Inquisition approves that you mentioned W40K in the honorable mentions. Side note: I love writing stories in W40K, the potential within it is limitless. I could provide you a link to one of them if your interested.

I'm abit saddened Halo didn't get a mention. The amount of detail and lore in the Halo universe is so immense that it's impressive how much detail goes into it.

5. Star Trek...for the utopian dream 4. Farscape...for the endearing weirdness 3. Babylon 5...for the epic story 2. Stargate...for the humor 1. Mass Effect...for the romance (Talimancers?)

One of my favourites is Blake's Seven. The BBC early 80s series that started my love of Sci Fi.

I don't why people haven't mentioned the Doctor Who universe! It's one of my favourite sci-fi universe!

Although it has never been adapted to TV or film, the Battletech universe is incredibly complex. Large nations, small nations, mercenary companies as powerful as nations, clans with a society very different from other humans. And the gradual realignment of all the factions once the story progresses. Would make a great TV series

Just added The Expanse to my watch list, thanks for the recommendation.

Kind of disappointed that Farscape didn't make the list.

One universe I always liked is the BattleTech (MechWarrior) universe. I've only touched on the games, but I've read quite a few of the books and have enjoyed most all of them. I'm also partial to the Stargate TV universe. I was impressed with what they did with the movie and how they altered it just enough to really open it up and give it depth.

4 Battlestar Galactica 3 Space Above and Beyond 2 Stargate 1 Babylon 5

The Culture. Unquestionably. In second place - and I NEVER thought I'd say this twenty years ago - Warhammer 40K - The Imperium of Man. Never been interested in the games. But boy have they created an extensive and unique universe.

5 Stargate 4 Blade Runner 3 Star Wars 2 Star Trek 1 WARHAMMER 40K

Another great contribution. Thanks.

I am sad that Farscape didn't get an honorable mention.

Cyberpunk? Well, you just got sexier.

Check out Total Recall 2070: it was a TV series that was mostly an adaptation and expansion of Bladerunner and attempting to present more of Philip K Dick's extended universe. It died too soon, but was starting to get interesting.

brilliant as always. fingers crossed for new dune.

Kinda surprised Battlestar Galactica and Farscape didn't show up in your honorable mentions.

#5: Babylon 5 #4: The Orville (I'm probably gonna get hate for this one) #3: Star Trek #2: Mass Effect #1: Warhammer 40,000 Also honorable mention to Farscape, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, and of course Star Wars.

I only saw the first couple of Expanse episodes before quitting Amazon. I guess I should be glad that I didn't see enough to get caught up in it, because I would be so conflicted.

The 5th element was kinda cool!😏

1. Babylon 5 2. Farscape 3. Stargate 4. Firefly 5. Warhammer 40k Honorable mentions Dune David Weber's Honorverse also, I think a relatable 40k story would be the Ciaphas Cain novels, the Gaunts Ghosts novels, or the Ravenor novels since the main characters are at the very least, not Space Marines.

I hope that someone pick up the books of Iain Banks and produces a show or some movies based on them. The Culture is an epic universe he describes in his books.

Awesome videos. Atmospheric music, lovely calm voice with a lovely accent. What I want in Any lore/review video

the fact you didn't include stargate hurts my soul

5) The Matrix 4) Babylon 5 3) The Expanse 2) Battlestar Galatica 1) Stargate SG1/SGA Honorable mention: FarSpace, FireFly, MassEffect, StarTrek, BladeRunner FunFacts: BladeRunner and Alien/Predator is same universe. :D

Very much share your choices, albeit would've liked to see a TopTen list (I understand your criteria, but the consumer's never fully satisfied). What I did like in particular was your phrase "the ancient immensity of the Reapers" (3:58) while describing the range of the ME-universe. Yes, that's fitting. Not true, however, that `Dune´ hasn't been depicted "in a really great piece of media yet". There are seven original novels published over the span of twenty years, surrounded by a few other original or at least approved publications. All this has by now been expanded upon by tons of further publications over the last 20 years. Not to forget the wonderful work done by a dedicated group of diverse illustrators and graphic designers … You should've at least hinted at your restrictions in the title of this vid? The same argument, by the way, could be made for the Star Wars universe: if you wouldn't exclude the tons of accompanying story, lore, and world building materials, you wouldn't be able to categorize this universe as you did in your video (which I still liked).

Hey Rowan, two things you need to know about Star Wars: 1. Ignore the pseudo-sequel trilogy. It goes against what Lucas wanted/intended, 2. Read the EU--Amazing, wildly-creative, complex and deep lore, with fascinating, excellent characters and world-building that goes back to the very ancient beginnings to over a century after Luke, Han, and Leia. If that's a bit of a task for you, then at least check out The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, which will give you the barest hints of what I'm talking about. Though Star Wars has a very clear moral code, which I quite like and is rather Tolkienian, there is SO much more than the simplistic good vs evil of Empire vs. Rebellion and Jedi vs. Sith.

Hey man love your videos, would be cool to see what you make of Love Death and Robots, seems like it would be right up your street :)

One can really tell that you know what you're talking about. The information was so dense that I've watched your video twice in a row.

Love it and agree across the board.

so excited for the upcoming Dune!

man i forgot just how much that expanse music be hitting; really cant wait for next season, and cant express how sad I am its ending.

So many good ones to choose from. I think mine would include Farscape, Dune and Foundation.

Great that you did include B5 into your Top 5. The series seems to be vastly underrated today.

Hey that's me mentioned as a patron!

Dude! Dune kicks ass! Ure crazy. Agreed its old but it features so much, plumbed into a 2 hr story. But Franks idea was finally done by David Lynch.

The script at 1:28, with Roy being featured, was perfect!

Love it :)

If you enjoyed Altered Carbon, you really need to read the novel. They got a lot right and the bits they added fit in really well. It was one of my favourite books and after I read it I wished they would make a movie version, a couple years later they did even better and made a series.

The death of the replicant at the end of the original Blade Runner. Was the best scene, in my opinion, in cinematic history. Music, poignance, tragic nature and it's effect on Harrison Ford's character. Even the cinematography was amazing, and how they slow things down as the man died. Dialog too was so touching, and even gave the audience awe at the expanses of the universe the replicant had seen.

Dude i just realized that you used an image of Darth Vader fighting Ashoka while talking about interesting characters. Mad respect for subtlety!

The Stargate Universe is as rich as anything on your list, and richer than most.

My favourite starship troopers,firefly,Star Trek,Star Wars and the expanse.

Star Trek and Babylon 5 are my favourite. Although I like your others here too !

My Personal list . 5) Farscape 4) Stargate 3) Foundation Trillogie Univers 2)Doom 1) Perry Rhodan

Yeah, the soundtrack mixing was a very nice touch! I'm surprised you didn't go into honourable mention of Farscape. (I'm sure it crossed your mind, and Doctor Who too .. though is Doctor Who essentially our world, so not an alternative sci-fi world per se? Still, it is unmatched it is options except perhaps by Star Treks universe, which allows for combat and large scale conflict where DW is smaller scale.)

Pretty much agree with your list, though I sadly never got around to playing Mass Effect. However, thanks to you I gave The Expanse a shot ... and it‘s right now up there with Star Trek and Babylon 5 as my favorite Sci-Fi thing. I‘d probably add Stargate to the list (for now) in the number 5 spot, sliding everything up a spot. It’s also a pretty rich universe though admittedly somewhat derivative of other sci fi universes, particularly Star Trek. I love the whole modern day humans dealing with technologically advanced forces aspect of the franchise. Anyhow, peace out

You missed out Doctor Who. 😳🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🤠

Rowan, your taste is so congruent with mine that it's just absolutely ridiculous. I probably would have given Dune that spot you gave to Mass Effect, but other than that, this would basically be my list as well (albeit in different order). :)

You should try reading some of the Ciaphas Cain books. They're Warhammer 40K stories for those who find the actual universe to be a little ridiculous, without talking down to the series itself.

I'm surprised Doctor Who didn't get a mention....

Bab-5 was universe light, Try this list: 5-Stagate, 4-Farscape, 3-Firefly, 2-Star Trek, 1-The Expanse

Absolutely fantastic!

Check out the mural at 7:09, pretty cool with the mega bright star cluster in the background. Roddenbury changed the world with that show.

"40k has no relatable characters?" Some one has clearly not read any of the books or really looked much in to the 40k lore, especially those of the Horus Heresy.

No Mention of Asimov's Foundation Trilogy or the more recent Commonwealth Series by Peter F Hamilton. As for Star Trek I am with you up to the recent reboots. Here in New Zealand we don't seem to get a lot of the SF books out there,mainly Fantasy (I blame LOTR for that). It will also be interest to see how the new Long Earth series pans out.

By Holiday you mean a Vacation? Am I right? Oh and thanks for listing Star Trek Universe as Number #1. I'm a really huge fan of the Klingons and Romulans as well as a huge fan of the Ships and epic action packed filled space battles.

All the people out there representing their choices! Nice! I'm sure most have their own microverses! Off of their choices or original! We are not alone! Out there or here!

For a relatable WH40k story try the Ciaphas Cain series. It's a silly series of novels where the main character is a Commissar but has reactions to all the dangers of the WH40k universe that any normal person would. The stories are usually smaller in scale and entertaining.

surprised halo did not get mentioned

:-( No Firefly.

1. Saga 2. Firefly 3. Stargate 4. Half-Life 5. BSG/Halo (couldn't decide between the two of them) Also i agree w/ you about most of 40k being Un-flimable given much of its lore.The only really effective story you either tell in cinematic sense would be about a guardsman platoon, akin to something like Band of brothers, or a rouge trader tale (given that their basically state funded space pirates for humanity).

The top two sci-fi universes are Stargate and Firefly.

I love sci-fi. I love expansive worlds. And I love cyberpunk. I wish I loved the first 'Blade Runner' film more though. I've watched it twice and both times, I seemed to tune out pretty quickly so although theoretically the 'Blade Runner' universe should be perfect for me and indeed, I love the art of it from what I've seen of stills, I've not been able to get into because of the films themselves. It's strange actually that one of my favourite subgenres contains very little media I've actually seen. I need to watch 'Altered Carbon'. Speaking of which, thanks for making this list by the way because it's basically "5 series (or sets of series) I need to watch". I avoided the ones I hadn't seen for spoiler reasons but I'll put them higher on my list of things to watch because of this. 'Star Trek' will probably be on my top 5 list once I watch more of it (currently the Original Series series and the Next Generation films). As a Cyberman/cyberpunk/biopunk fan, I very much look forward to getting to the Borg (I know I've seen at least one film they are in but I don't remember it that well). On that note, my top 5 is: Honourable Mentions: - Star Wars (lower down on the list because of the way it has been used in the films but my experience with 'Star Wars' tends to be that I love it in theory but don't necessarily enjoy watching it... and that's because of the universe itself. There's endless potential and I'm really interested in the titbits I know about extended universe media so I couldn't not place it on the list if the universe is what's being judged) - Arrowverse (I adore it as an ongoing story with different strands through multiple series and much like my number 2 pick, it has an evergrowing sense of lore. However, I've put it here because it's the specific stories and characters I am interested in rather than the world itself. There are some great things about the world but when I think of a "world", I mean the implied wider societies and cultures, rather than simply recurring characters. There's some brilliant science lore in 'The Flash' that is unique to this world from what I've seen but overall, the world isn't what I care about) 5 - Mass Effect (everything you said. I bought the trilogy a few years ago on sale and was shocked by how invested I got into the world and story because of the way it immerses you into the world. I showed someone some gameplay at some point and realised, it's not actually that interesting to watch but that's because it's not about the superficial aspects. It's entirely about the setting and characters and societies and cultures etc.) 4 - Firefly ('Mass Effect' and 'Star Wars' both really deserve more than these next 3 because the universes are a helluva lot more expanded and deep within each expansion. However, judging based on my experience with the worlds, I think 'Firefly' sets up such a great tone with a lot of implied depths considering the small amount of media. And it helps that of the characters it does manage tot set up, they're virtually all fantastic) 3 - Farscape (I consider it on a similar level as 'Firefly' but superior because there was more media and the characters received a lot more story. This is a hard list to make as I'm falling into "top 5 sci-fi stories" but even without the main characters, the wider world is awesome. The special effects are great and it's just so weird which I really appreciate. Too many people have the attitude that 'weird = bad' and what better place to undermine that than a world that is literally alien. Aliens would be weird from our perspective) 2 - Doctor Who (even more so than the previous, this is really hard to judge because it's not a specific, expanded world. There's very little about it that's tied to the ongoing story in that sense but the fact that the series can go anywhere and explore any tone (children considered) is wonderful, and I adore the recurring world plotlines (theoretically) when they do arise - primarily, the ever-expanding world of RTD's era) 1 - Alien (making picking between 'Doctor Who' and 'Alien' is mean and 'Doctor Who' probably wins as a story but in terms of universes, 'Alien' wins for basically the same reason 'Blade Runner' wins for you. It's not cyberpunk but it showed me the possibility of gritty sci-fi (gritty is a word with annoying associations but I just mean realistic and working class, rather than perfect, clean sci-fi). And I love the subtle additions of AI into the films. They don't have to be the focus but the relationships and characters are explored. Note: this is not including the 'Prometheus' films but if I can, I'll include 'Predator' in this for added lore - not that I actually consider them within the same universe, but it inspires some good stories)

No Stargate SG1? no Halo? No Killer Klowns From Outer Space?

I was curious what your issue would be with the scifi channel adaptation of dune. But, when it turned out to be production resources, I agree. What I would like to see with Dune, is not more adaptations of the original Dune novel, but other stories. Fir example, I've always wanted a mini series about the Mua'dib's Jihad or the Butlerian Jihad itself.

Don’t forget the keltiad by Patricia Kennealy Morrison ( get on amazon). Jim Morrison’s witchy woman wife ( see the movie blood sex bit) - it’s based on the kelts left earth because of the Romans - magic exists - space ftl is a thing.... worth a look.

Good call on the choices ... :)

The movie The Soldier with Kurt Russel. Is part of the Blade Runner. Look it up. And THANK Shaihulud you mentioned DUNE.

I would have put Dr. Who in there, maybe instead of Mass Effect because it wasn't a show or movie. One thing about Dr. Who though is once you put Dr. Who in a show you can't take him out which is what they did with Torchwood when it moved to Starz and I kept wondering when The Doctor was going to save the day, and when he didn't I wondered why he didn't (I know in reality why) and I felt a loss. You can take the Doctor and put him/her in any sci-fi show on TV, but when you did you couldn't take them out. I would love to see The Doctor go against Q. Another good one would be The Cybermen and Daleks against The Borg against the Doctor. Or the Borg in the Dr Who universe because The Borg would be a great Dr Who Villian (basically the next incarnation of The Cybermen).

I find myself curious on whether or not you've ever managed to play the Blade Runner game now- I have weirdly fond memories of that point and click with alternate plotlines, let alone endings. Also was that some STA page art I saw there?!

Sir you are part of the few to understand what Sci-Fi world's should be like besides myself of course, and your list was perfect ! IMO 😎 Master 58

Ridley Scott said he always considered Alien and Blade Runner to be part of the same universe, along with the movie Soldier (written by Blade Runner's screenwriter). I hope future directors go into detail on that.

Blade Runner is my favorite

One more thought: The writers of the Expanse of explicitly acknowledged the impact of B5 on their work, and one can see the political element, and its role as a metaphor for the present, in their work, though not quite as strongly. One can view JMS as having being a sci-fi Jonathon Swift (gullivers travels). That level of art really should be mentioned in any praise of his work.

Good choices. Somewhere in an alternate universe/timeline there is also a Perry Rhodan tvseries that has been running as long as the books. Maybe the same timeline where space patrol Orion wasn't cancelled. sigh

You'll likely not read this, since it's an old video with a number of other comments, but if you want a relateable and amazing story within Warhammer 40k, I urge you to check out the fan film Helsreach.

I remember a TV series based loosely on the blade runner universe it was on channel 5 late night only lasted 1 season it was ok might have been a mash of Blade Runner and Total Recall

The best science fiction patent ever made, is Doom by ID Software. John Romero, Adrian and John Carmack, and Tom Hall even recieved the awards for it for science fantasy and even stated in a video interview that it is the most nostalgic, mind blowing, interesting, and the best science fiction game in the entire world. Though Quake almost also made the same awards as Doom and they both have the same patent qualities, it just couldnt match with the sci fi traits Doom has, Quake is more about crisis, showdowns, and narcissistic creativity....Quake effects more hyper-egotistical maniac energies. Doom is more about adventure, indulgement of the id, and nostalgic thoughts and ideas....Doom effects more into positive energies. Though their both the same, their actually illusively much totally different.

Warframe. Though it is a painfully slow burn to get to the bits of lore that are great, such that I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t really like looter-shooters to get to it (its a great game, just not everyone’s cup-of-tea), the lore that has developed over the years is really interesting stuff. The way it borrows from Eastern mythology and themes, and just by how _different_ it is from other sci-fi universes in its visual style make it worthy of note. Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. Somehow, that game manages to pack a whole lot of things in it to get my noggin’ joggin’. I’m probably biased because of the immense impact it had on my thinking as a child, and just how much I thought about philosophy in sci-fi, on-par with Star Trek. That’s a universe I’d love to have seen even more of. The clash of such distinctly different ideologies certainly allowed it to bring their pros and cons into sharp focus.

I would have added battle star galactica as an honorable mention

5. Star Wars 4. The Orville 3. Deus Ex 2. Cyberpunk 1. Warhammer 40k These are the top for me nothing really comes close to these guys.

No Farscape? It's very strange and has a few short comings early on but it's fantastically well written once you get into it.

Warhammer 40k's only story worth making a movie on is the Horus Heresy.

My ten favorites in no special order are probably Star Trek, Babylon 5, Farscape, Star Wars, The Matrix, Gundam's Universal Century continuity, Macross, Cowboy Bebop, Psycho Pass, and Zone of the Enders, .

Kinda hurt at the lack of any shadowrun mentioned in the comments, it really needs a good movie or tv adaptation because the only real ways of experiencing it is through the tabletop rpg (and how good that experience is depends entirely on your dm) or the hairbrained schemes game trilogy

O man, no honorable mention for BSG. Adama would not be happy.

I started out disliking Star Trek and favoring Star Wars as a kid... now as an adult I find Star Trek way more compelling!

There are Blade Runner movies that are played outer space. And they are canon. Those are the Alien/Predator movies.

You're under-selling B5. B5 reaches the what I regard as the real pinnacle of any art, which is making real, and useful commentary/insight/awareness of the actual real world. It's not super clear that JMS intended it, but if not his subconscious sure did. B5 is a portrait of the American political reality with (as history would show) incredibly penetrating insight into what would be happening in the near future (6 years after B5 season 2, wherein 'sedition' charges became a tool of the takeover of the Earths government, sedition re-entered the American political toolkit under the Bush admin. 20 years later, almost every aspect of that political takeover in B5 was implemented in the Trump admin. In particular to quote John Sheridan "putting his people in all the key positions".) Deeper still B5 is a spiritual allegory. Probably JMS meant it to be a re-imagining of the life of Jesus, but it can be understood as a call to a spiritual solution to the problems plaguing the world today. On these two counts B5 enters a league inhabited by extremely few science fiction books, and maybe no movies

Foundation, nothing has ever come close to those first three books in my opinion

First off, can someone tell me if the Expanse picks up at all after the first episode? I was getting so bored with it I don't think I ever finished the first episode. I hear a lot of good things about it and I'm still curious but I would like to know how much of a slog it will be to actually get into it. Though it could just be the type of show, I didn't care for Game of Thrones. My friend got the first season on Blu-ray and we sat and "watched" it and again I fell asleep a couple episodes in and never really cared to try again. As for my favorite Sci-Fi Universes: 1. Star Trek (I'll happily pretend Discovery and Enterprise don't exist) 2. Babylon 5 3. Warhammer 40k 4. Mass Effect 5. Halo

I have a lump in my throat and a smile on my face listening to you talk about Star Trek. Except for the gaming universes, (I don't game) I fervently agree with this list.

you should try stargate, for me that's top 1.

You missed the Perry Rhodan-universe ( perryverse) from the german novel series with over 4000 novels. This is the oldest & biggest sci-fy novel series of the world and started in 1961 before Star Trek, Star Wars........ There are races like "Es" (it ) or Anti-Es (anti it), that are civilisations, that tranformend to one super mind. or the "Kosmokraten" (Cosmocrats), the "Meister der Insel" (masters of the island)........... Perry Rhodan and Reginald Bull are human astronaut, who landed on the moon and discovered an alien spaceship from the planet Arkon in our galaxy, the milky way. Together with the human looking arkonoids he discovered the super mind "Es" (it)and got the gift of a nearly eternal life, to help "Es" bringing peace over our galaxy. But this job isn't easy and needs time for more than 10000 years.

I'm kinda curious. Have you played star wars KOTOR? Not really a big star wars fan myself, but Kotor 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games ever. It's also made by the same people that made Mass Effect. KOTOR was the spiritual predecessor to Mass Effect.