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Books fashion

You’re Really Into Putting a Ring On It: Favorite SFF Bling

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Published on June 22, 2011

This bling brings doom
This bling brings doom

As we’ve mentioned before, characters from SF&F have given us some pretty interesting fashion options over the years. From the classic geek-chic of Doctor Who, to the robes and gauntlets of Lord of the Rings, there’s a whole universe of speculative fiction fashion out there.

But what good is an outfit if you don’t accessorize? Often, SFF heroes are rocking some serious bling, usually containing powers beyond simple fashion. Recently, we asked our Twitter followers and Facebook fans what their favorite SFF bling was. Here are five selected from your answers.

The One Ring (The Lord of the Rings)

Garnering the most votes on Facebook, and easily the most mentions on Twitter, the Ring Sauron created to bind people in the darkness, clearly dominates SFF bling. And it’s easy to see why. Not only is the One Ring really slick looking with all that Elvish writing, but it can also make you invisible! On Twitter, @Hannahnpbowman said: “this is a trick question right? One ring to rule them all!”

 

The Green Lantern Rings (DC Comics)

Right on the heels of The One Ring in our Facebook poll, the green rings of will created by The Green Lantern Corps are easily some of the most famous fantastical bling of all time. Limited only the imagination of the user, the Green Lantern rings have a variety of awesome applications. However, there are some limitations. In the golden age, Green Lantern’s ring didn’t do wood. (Like some screwdrivers we’ve heard of!) Then in the Silver Age of Hal Jordan, the ring can’t deal with anything yellow. As great as this bling is, it seems to crumble in the sight of traffic lights.

 

Time Turner Necklace (Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban)

Initially it seemed like a new necklace Hermione was rocking, but later it turned out to contain the power of time travel. This was such a popular choice that there were two separate entries created for it on our Facebook poll.

Supposedly, Dumbledore loaned Hermione this necklace so she could attend two classes at once. And though it helped the terrific three save the life of Buckbeak and solve a lot of other problems, the time turner never returned in the subsequent books. Why did Dumbledore give the power of time travel to a 13 year old just so she could take more classes? Because he’s some kind of lunatic.

 

Zed’s Ring (Zardoz)

Be quiet talking ring!

This is a Tor.com staff favorite, simply because it exists in one of our favorite movies ever; Zardoz. After Zed rides the Stone Head to the Vortex, he finds this really sweet ring that is both a communicator and some kind of telepathic transmitter. Mostly this ring is annoying and doesn’t stop talking. Zed does have the ability to shut it up by putting his hand over the top of it. Oh, it also projects pictures of people’s faces on the wall. Neat.

 

Tosh’s Telepathic Necklace (Torchwood)

Poor Tosh was super neglected by the majority of the Torchwood team. From Owen not really dating her properly, to Jack and Gwen sort of taking her for granted, it made sense that Tosh felt left out. When she gets a telepathic necklace from her evil alien girlfriend, that changes for a little while, but like most super-powered objects, this one was a double-edged sword. Being privy to the thoughts of her supposed friends ends up lowering her self-esteem even further. Despite being portrayed as weak, Tosh was probably the most normal of all the team, so it’s heartbreaking to see fears confirmed. And let’s face it, if any of us had a telepathic necklace, we would freak out, too.

There were a lot of answers to this one. Some wondered if we count Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor as bling? Perhaps. It’s flashy and life-sustaining, which would maybe make it the best bling possibe. @Braak said “The best is Dr. Strange’s all-seeing Eye of Agamotto because he NEVER SHUTS UP ABOUT IT.” There were also votes on Facebook for even more bling from Harry Potter (like a certain horcuxian locket.) Duke Leto also has a special ring in the Dune series.

If you missed out on our Facebook/Twitter poll, let us know below as to your favorite SFF bling!

 


Stubby the Rocket is the voice and mascot of Tor.com. Stubby has a chain made of mithril and a watch made of gold-pressed latinum.

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