Top 10 Boy Geniuses in Fiction

As far as this list is concerned, what I mean by “boy” here are those that haven’t hit their teenage years yet.  Thus, they should be 12 years old or below.  Oh, some of them might have got to reach adolescence during the run of their respective stories, but they should have at least have been in their pre-teens or childhood during their introduction in the story. 

  

10.) STEWIE GRIFFEN

Stewart Gilligan Griffin, or “Stewie” for short, is the youngest “boy genius” character in this list for he is merely a year old!  But despite of his very young age, he is already capable of speaking properly and is highly literate.  He is already an expert in physics and mechanical engineering, and he can build science fiction-type of gadgetries and mechanisms (e.g. mind control device, weather control machine, teleportation machine, robots, laser guns, clones, time machines, etc.).  However, he still retains some adorable limitations and qualities of a baby, like adoring the Teletubbies, talking to his teddy bear as if it is alive, and believing someone truly disappears when playing Peekaboo.         

Stewie is quite an interesting character.  But he’s also a disturbing one.  Stewie is not only a genius, but a mad genius obsessed with violence and world domination, an archetypal quality of a villain.  He has done countless violent and criminal acts, from robbery to killing.  Moreover, he is also passionate on committing matricide someday.  Yikes!  

Thus, for that reason – plus I never am a fan of Family Guy anyway – Stewie only takes the last spot.  

9.) RYOMA ECHIZEN

While most of the characters here are geniuses in terms of scientific or mental aspects, Ryoma Echizen, however, is a genius in terms of playing a sport.  Ryoma is a 12-year old tennis prodigy, whose father is a former legendary pro tennis player.  Because of his great talent, even though he was merely a middle school freshman, he was able to become a regular member of his school’s tennis club.  He possesses a rich arsenal of special shots and abilities, and continues to evolve and improve as a tennis player for he can learn new techniques after only observing them being done a few times.                

8.) JIMMY NEUTRON

 

At first, I thought of Jimmy Neutron as a mere attempt to ripoff the character that got the number 2 in this list.  It might be that the number 2 of this list had a hand in the inspiration of this character’s creation, but I found that Jimmy has his own charm and uniqueness as a “boy genius” character.  In fact, Jimmy has had, probably, more interesting successes and adventures than the number 2 of this list. 

Jimmy Neutron has an IQ of 210, and at a young age, he has already been capable of endeavoring in “nuclear scientist”-level of science projects and building extremely high-tech inventions.  However, there are times that his inventions would go terribly wrong and would create quite a big mess, but Jimmy – with the help of his friends – would eventually figure out a way to make things right again.          

6.) & 7.) PHINEAS FLYNN & FERB FLETCHER

Sharing the 6 and 7 spots are the titular characters of the fantastic animated TV series, Phineas and Ferb.  Phineas and Ferb are stepbrothers who both possess high aptitude in building complex contraptions.  To fight boredom during their summer vacation, the two of them – with Phineas usually taking the lead – by doing an outlandish project (e.g. a roller coaster in their backyard) each day.  Between the two, Phineas is more of the designer while Ferb is more of the builder. 

 

5.) LEROY “ENCYCLOPEDIA” BROWN

 

Encyclopedia Brown is included in my “Top 10 Odd Detectives in Fiction” list.  Here’s what I got to say about him and his intellect:

     Leroy Brown is very intelligent and he retains massive amounts of facts from the books he read.  He was even likened to “a complete library walking around in sneakers.”  For that he was given the nickname, “Encyclopedia Brown.”  With his intelligence, he always wants to be helpful to others.  As a walking encyclopedia, he graciously answers whatever questions are thrown at him.  But he always waited a moment to answer – pretending to think – since if he answers too quickly, he is afraid that people will not like him for sounding too smart.

     Possessing a rich range of information and facts comes highly invaluable to Brown in solving his cases.  He easily finds significance on seemingly mundane details of a case but are in fact vital for its solution.  He has shown versatility in handling cases of different kinds – ranging from petty offenses and misdemeanors (particularly between children) to those serious and criminal in nature.  

    It is even implied that it was because of Encyclopedia Brown that criminals are always caught in Leroy’s town, Idaville.  His father is the chief of police in the town.  And during their family’s dinner time, Chief Brown would present his hard cases to his son.  Before they leave the table, Encyclopedia has already provided the solution. 

4.) ANDREW “ENDER” WIGGIN

In a society where a two-child policy is strictly imposed, Ender – the youngest of three children – has been degradingly labeled as a “third.”  Thus, he was constantly downed and bullied.  The harshness of his situation would make him independent at a very young age. However, despite being a “third”, Ender proved to be a brilliant military strategist.  Having his education in Battle School, where child prodigies are trained to become commanders for humanity’s war against Formics or “Buggers”, Ender excelled among the lot.  The military, being aware of his talents, eventually made him a real commander of the human forces, disguising this fact to him by misleading him that the battles he was on were mere simulations.

3.) ROBIN

The Boy Wonder.  Several have come under Batman’s tutelage and have taken the mantle of “Robin”:  Dick Grayson (who would become “Nightwing”), Jason Todd (who would become “Red Hood”), Tim Drake (who would become the most beloved “Robin” of all time, and has taken the mantle of “Red Robin”), and Damien Wayne (currently deceased; but has the birthright to take the mantle of his father, Bruce, as Batman; and is my favorite Robin).  They have different personalities and have their own different strengths as characters and as Robins (except Jason Todd, who was unremarkable and annoying as “Robin”), but all of them have been, more or less, boy geniuses.  All Robins started out as children, but they have already shown superior athletic and cognitive talents even in a young age.  And as they grew up, with Batman’s training and with their own experiences as superheroes, they became smarter, more skillful and versatile, and better heroes (except Jason Todd, who is more of an anti-heroic a-hole).       

2.) DEXTER

 

Dexter, even if he has a fragile and short stature, is a massive genius.  He has an impressive secret laboratory that he can access from a secret door behind the bookcase of his room, where he houses and makes his inventions.  He is constantly pestered by his sister, Dee Dee, whose clumsy ways often causes damages and destruction in Dexter’s lab.      

Dexter could be the earliest “boy genius” character I have ever encountered in fiction, thus, his impact as a character had been significant for he was greatly appealing due to the novelty brought by such kind of character (“boy genius”) at that time.  That past appeal still lingers, hence, he gets a high spot on this list.

1.) ARTEMIS FOWL II

 

I was 12 years-old, and it was during that time that I got introduced to both Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl – who were, at that time, were 12-year olds, too – at the same time.  Thus, I was able to compare them.  And between the two, it was Artemis Fowl who I found as the superior character.  I liked Harry Potter, but I found him a generic, unremarkable hero.  Artemis Fowl, however, was an intriguing, multi-faceted character.   

Like Harry, Artemis had to deal with the supernatural.  But instead of magic, Artemis heavily relies on technology, his bodyguard, and – most importantly – his genius intellect to achieve his goals.  Even as a 12-year old, Artemis was already a cold criminal mastermind capable of formulating brilliant strategies and orchestrating elaborate operations.  He has been described as a “plotter” and a “schemer”, possessing “the ability to visualize a hypothetical situation and calculate the likely outcomes.”  He is versatile in several skills and is knowledgeable of a wide range of fields. 

At first, the schemes of Artemis – displaying his criminal nature – were for the purpose of obtaining wealth and glory.  He antagonized the fairies for that purpose.  He eventually won against them – due to being able to stay steps ahead of the fairies most of the time.  However, as he grows older and with each passing adventure, Artemis’ selfishness would gradually lessen, and would even gain some friends and allies belonging to the fairy community.       

Artemis Fowl is not only my most favorite boy genius in fiction, but he’s one of my most favorite fictional characters ever.  Thus, I’m glad that a movie is (finally!) going to be made.  

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Top 10 Fictional Characters That Come to Mind to Personify “Badass”

The word “badass” nowadays is being lavishly used (i.e. misused/overused) as much as the words “awesome”, “cool”, and “epic” are being lavishly used (i.e. misused/overused).  In fact, while “awesome”, “cool”, and “epic” tend to become somewhat of synonyms already in the sense that they are being exaggeratedly used informally as adjectives to compliment something of good-quality, “badass” is also oftentimes being used by many on that same context. 

For me, in its purest definition, “badass” means extreme testosterone toughness.  Now, by “testosterone”, I don’t mean that there are no badass females.  There are.  But what I mean by that is “having the balls” – and if you know slang, that doesn’t need to be something literal; it means having guts, potency, and/or boldness.

Being a badass means having hardcore tenacity when making a stand or when enduring pain and pressure.  A badass displays reckless ferocity when pursuing an objective – or in destroying a target. A badass doesn’t cringe in the face of antagonism and danger. 

Violence could be the most tangible measurement of a badass.  It doesn’t necessarily mean a badass takes pleasure in violence, but it means that when there is a need for violence – when it is the only option left – a badass can be brutally aggressive without being squeamish.     

Now, with the definition above, it is particularly applicable to a person.  Discussion on the appropriate usage of “badass” on something inanimate (e.g. a badass gun) is for another day.  And with the definition above, we set the standards for those belonging in this list. 

Now, there are a lot of badass fictional characters out there.  I would be missing plenty of notable badass characters out there, but there is only room for ten.  How were that ten picked? They were the first ten that came to mind as I was writing this list.  It means that their badassery had struck me the most significantly that I was able to recall them the swiftest. 

10.) “DIRTY” HARRY CALLAHAN

“I know what you're thinking. 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?”

That is indeed something a true badass would say.  Pretty chilling, right?    

9.) JOHN RAMBO

 

When I first encountered John Rambo as a kid, he struck me as the ultimate action hero.  

A Green Beret, Rambo is tough and well-trained to kill and survive.  He had several times endured heavy amounts of brutal torture (it had given him PTSD though, making him prone to violence – which merely added a layer to his badassery).  Even with just knives, a bow, and arrows, he can still pile up quite a body count of armed enemies.  He modifies his arrows to explode.  When being hunted by a large quantity of enemies, he smartly employs guerrilla tactics to cut their numbers.  He pilots a chopper, pretends to be unconscious, and as the enemy chopper hovers to check him out, suddenly lifts a rocket launcher, shooting through his cockpit’s windshield to destroy the enemy.  He shreds entire armies with heavy machine guns.  Truly, he can be easily identified as a badass.           

8.) THE TERMINATOR

Whether he’s the bad guy on an assassination mission or the (reprogrammed) good guy tasked to protect someone from another cyborg assassin, the Terminator would show hardass durability and dogged dedication in carrying out his mission down to the last seconds of his functionality.  He would never stop unless he is thoroughly destroyed – which is a hard thing to accomplish.  As a machine, he is coldly unconcerned with collateral damages (but when he was reprogrammed to be a good guy, he, of course, avoided killing humans even when they are attacking him), thus, he freely expresses his fondness for using high-caliber weaponry.        

7.) KING LEONIDAS

 

Leonidas I was an actual historical figure, and I don’t know if he was as badass as the fictional depiction of him in the epic movie, 300 (based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel).  Magnificently portrayed by Gerard Butler, the fictional Leonidas could be more iconic than the real-life one.  

To protect Greece from Persian invasion, Leonidas would lead 300 Spartan soldiers against hundreds of thousands of the Persian Empire’s soldiers.  And despite of being greatly outnumbered, the Spartans – with Leonidas at the frontlines – would consistently slaughter their enemies due to their superior military training and of their disciplined use of the phalanx formation.  Though the 300 would ultimately lose (after being betrayed and outflanked), Leonidas and his men were unyielding until death.

6.) JOHN McCLANE

 

“Yippie kai yay, motherf@#%$!”  McClane has been forever immortalized for that iconic badass, funny quote. 

As the protagonist of the Die Hardseries, this tough NYPD cop, for several times, has unluckily found himself having to deal with terrorist threats that are way above his paygrade. But because he’s a big badass, kicking their butts is no big deal for him.  Even when bloodied and beaten up – which routinely happens to him in every adventure he’s in – he would just shrug off the pain; would continue being a smartass; and go on with blowing stuff up, emptying magazine clips, breaking necks, and saving the day. 

“Yippie kai yay, motherf@#%$!” indeed.

5.) JAMES BOND

 

007, the greatest fictional spook ever,  is a mix of smooth suave and rough badassery.  He freely shifts between the two airs as well as simultaneously projects both.  He can be charmingly warm one second and then ruthlessly cold the next.  That’s what is special with Bond’s brand of badassery. 

His badassery is in full glorious display whenever he would endure and overcome no matter what painful obstacle he faces.  His steel of a resolve never breaks, no matter what – even in the presence of threat or actual application of hellish torture on him. 

4.) THE PUNISHER

  

It would take a brutal and horrible origin story to push Frank Castle into becoming “the Punisher”: the gunning down of his family by the Mob.  With his extensive military training, heavy arsenal, tendency to go for the overkill, and “nothing to lose” reckless attitude, Frank Castle declared a one-man war on crime after that tragedy.

In a world where superpowers are a staple in the war between crimefighters and criminals, the Punisher has made himself relevant.  His methods are not heroic at all, thus, he is even at odds with most superheroes.  So he rarely team-up well with superheroes, who mostly adhere to a “no-killing” policy (Frank is lucky, though, that the current superhero team he is on, the Thunderbolts, has no problem with killing evil doers).  Still, it can’t be denied that he’s efficient in stopping criminals permanently.  Castle is more concerned with dealing with street crime, common scumbags, and organized crime. But if supervillians are stupid enough to cross his path, the Punisher can handily annihilate them. 

Frank Castle is one of the dangerous men in the Marvel Universe and a bona fide badass; he’s more than deserving to be in this list.  It also helps that his simple but stylish outfit is badass as well.     

3.) KENPACHI ZARAKI

Among all Bleach protagonists, Kenpachi is my most favorite character.  Yes, I even like him more than the main character, Ichigo.  His badassery easily makes him the most interesting and complex character in Bleach.  He is immensely powerful that even though his fighting style is unrefined and he has never learned Bankai yet, he is one of the most powerful captains in the Gotei 13.  Heck, he is even capable of beating two captains at once!    

 

Kenpachi is a deadly, brutal, and very powerful warrior.  Despite being one of the good guys, he is a bloodthirsty killer.  Still, even though he has a violent nature, he does maintain a code of ethics. 

His primary interest and motivation have always been finding thrill in battle.  The more dangerous and powerful his foe is, the more enjoyment he gets.  He would even completely put a handicap on himself to lengthen the fight and make it more challenging for him – all for the purpose of deriving more excitement from the battle!  He put bells on his hair, so that his opponent would know that he is coming.  He has an eyepatch on, which not only covers his good eye, but also serves as a power limiter, preventing him from unleashing his full power.  He wields a sword with just one hand, since a two-hand attack from him causes tremendous damage; he would only attack with two-hands when he feels he will lose if he doesn’t.  Also, there would be instances where he would allow his opponent to freely strike him or wound him.  He holds back a lot, and still manages to win his battles. 

When his opponent is too injured to properly fight back, he would seemingly grow bored with the fight – or it could be mercy in the guise of disinterest – and proceed to walk away, claiming that he isn’t interested with “weaklings that can’t fight back.” 

Moreover, it was revealed later on that not only is Kenpachi consciously holding back his full power but he’s also unconsciously holding back as well.  When Kenpachi was a young boy, growing in a lawless region filled with cutthroats and murderers, he learned to become a very talented swordsman and has killed many opponents.  Eventually, he would encounter and duel with Retsu Unohana – the mild mannered captain, revealed to be the original battle-thirsty Kenpachi and a captain already at that time.  Experiencing for the first time fighting a formidable opponent, he felt for the first time the thrill of battle and unconsciously sealed his power so that he can fight her longer.  That experience is probably where his habit of consciously holding back his full power started, which had extended into continually unconsciously sealing his true power.

For Kenpachi to be able to be strong enough to fight the Wandenreich, Unohana proceeded to aid him in unleashing his true power, which he had unconsciously sealed.  Unohana and Kenpachi fought in a series of duels, which Kenpachi consecutively lost.  But after each mortal blow that Unohana delivers, she would heal Kenpachi to full health, and they would proceed to fight again.  With each succeeding duel, Kenpachi grew stronger until he finally got the upper hand over Unohana.  With Unohana’s death, Kenpachi was finally able to tap on his true power.  In the aftermath, Kenpachi’s Zanpakutō spoke to him for the first time. 

It hasn’t been revealed yet how powerful Kenpachi is and what would his Bankai be. 

2.) & 1.) WOLVERINE & BATMAN

The top two spots belong to Wolverine and Batman, two of the greatest comicbook characters ever.  Both are tenaciously enduring, and would come back from anything you throw at them with the same kind of doggedness, determination, and toughness – if not with a vengeance – that they previously displayed.  It’s as if the enormous assaults they would receive are mere annoyances to them.  They can’t be intimidated; rather they are the ones that do the intimidating.  They never back down, and nothing can keep them down.  They understand the ugliness, insanity, and darkness that the world is capable of, and don’t cringe when there is a need to get their hands dirty.  Moreover, an argument can be made that they are borderline psychopaths.      

These two simultaneously came to mind first when I was making this list, but I have to give a slight edge to Batman.  Wolverine has the benefit of an indestructible skeleton and a healing factor, which basically makes him immortal, and adamantium claws that can rip through mostly anything, thus, Wolverine can leap into danger with berserk recklessness.  But Batman displays the same level of badassery as Wolverine even though he is vulnerable.  Consider this fact: in a Justice League filled with heroes with godlike powers, not only can a non-powered Batman stand equally with them, but he is even considered as the most dangerous among them!   So the top spot is Batman’s – but just by a hair. 

BONUS: DARK CLAW

The only thing that can be possibly more badass than Wolverine and Batman is someone that is a combination of both.  And such character actually exists.  Back in the 90’s, Marvel and DC created Amalgam Comics, which featured characters that are combinations of a Marvel character and a DC character.  Dark Claw is the combination of Wolverine and Batman. 

However, Dark Claw’s character hasn’t been properly expounded or developed, thus, there was no room for him to develop his own badassery.    Therefore, he doesn’t make this list.  It wasn’t observed if he is as badass as the summation of the two badass characters’ badassery.  And it seems like cheating anyway to include him, when Batman and Wolverine already has the top two spots.  Also, I don’t like the godawful character design.  

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Sunday School Summer Festival '13 Opening

To kick off Joy Church's Sunday School Summer Festival 2013 - which uses the "Sidekicks Reloaded" theme (of Vacation Bible School 2013) - we performed our set of covers of "Sidekicks Reloaded" songs (which we had already made a video recording of prior the Summer Festival).

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07-14-13 Dynamic Worship Special Number

As a special number for the dynamic service, Joy Music Team performs "Everybody Ought to Know"...

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An Old Footage of a Rehearsal

Found this year-old footage.  This was from the general rehearsal for All Coming Day 2012 (to watch videos of that event, CLICK HERE).

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The First Rule of Leadership

“First rule of leadership: everything is your fault.”

This quote comes from the villain of A Bug's Life, Hopper, but there is truth and wisdom in it nonetheless.   Of course, this “first rule” is technically not true all of the time.   There will always be things out of the leader’s control, making any degree of competence a non-factor.  Nevertheless, a good leader understands that this seemingly unfair “first rule” comes with the territory of being a leader.  Leadership is a great power.  And, as what Spider-Man taught us, with great power comes great responsibility.  If something goes wrong during the leader’s watch, then the leader should be ready to take the responsibility for it.  No excuses.  Thus, it takes a set of serious balls for someone to embrace this harsh reality.  But that’s the main point: a good leader has balls.

Besides, a good leader is always rewarded by good subordinates.  And good subordinates, whenever the organization falls short, are willing to take the fault to themselves to shield their leader from damage.   

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Top 20 Kobe Bryant Photos

When you are a fan of someone, stuff associated with him or her, no matter how mundane, gains your interest.  Like photos.

I am a Kobe Bryant fan, and here are my 20 favorite photos of him (not from screen shots and not ‘shopped), picked from a pool of about 40 photos:

20.) MERCIFUL TO THE ENEMY

I can’t remember when this happened.  Fighting the Lakers’ mortal enemies, the Celtics, you would expect Kobe to ruthlessly annihilate them.  So it’s a bit weird seeing him help Rajon Rondo up.  Still, I like this photo since it’s weirdly out of character of Kobe, who is a cold-hearted assassin in the basketball court: showing niceness to a Celitc!      

19.) MVP (MOST VALUABLE PIANIST)

This picture was posted by Kobe in his twitter account.  According to him, he taught himself how to play “Moonlight Sonata” by ear!  As a Kobe fan (and as a self-taught, amateur musician myself), learning that he had thought himself to play the piano came as a delightful surprise to me because this added another interesting dimension to my hero’s already fascinating personality.   

18.) CHALLENGING JORDAN AND PIPPEN SIMULTANEOUSLY

Young Kobe driving against Jordan and Pippen, two of the greatest defenders in history, is pretty epic.   

17.) LOCKDOWN

In the past, up until two or three ago, Kobe Bryant has consistently been one of the greatest defenders in the league.  It’s pretty amazing that before Ron Artest joined the Lakers, Kobe had been guarding the opposing teams’ best perimeter player every night while also being the Lakers’ main offensive option!  Kobe’s intense and suffocating lockdown D has awed me a lot and inspired me to love the defensive aspect of the game. 

This photo is my most favorite photo of Kobe in a defensive stance – coolly, focusing on his mark and the ball.  

16.) WORLD’S FINEST

Looking at this photo, it’s as if the feud between them never happened.  With this wacky pose, it appears as if they were the closest of pals.

I consider Kobe and Shaq as the greatest duo in NBA history.  Yes, even greater than Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.  While Pippen played the sidekick to Jordan, there was never a sidekick figure in the tandem of Kobe and Shaq – they share equal standing of “hero” status.  MJ and Scottie had a “Batman and Robin” relationship, while Kobe and Shaq were more of a “Batman and Superman” team-up, the so-called “World’s Finest.”     

15.) “SUPER TEAMS”

The Lakers’ consistent capability of assembling a “super team” – having an ensemble of several All-Star/Superstar caliber players – is pretty cool.  And the pictorials of a Laker “super team” after its off-season formation never fail to make me excited for that upcoming season. 

Kobe has been part of three Laker “super teams.”  None, unfortunately, ever won a championship.  

14.) COACH KOBE

This is the photo of an injured, sidelined Kobe that convincingly illustrated to me that he should be a coach someday because he looks fantastic in a suit by the sidelines.       

Here’s another cool photo of Kobe being “coach-like”:

13.) NEVER BACK DOWN

I can’t remember when was this.  But it’s pretty awesome and funny.  A play finds Kobe switching to guard the 7’5 Yao Ming, but Kobe appears to be unyielding, despite finding himself in a mismatch. But that’s just Kobe for you – never backing down even in the face of big challenges. 

I don’t know what’s the result of this play.  It’s likely that Yao successfully posted up and scored.  But I won’t be surprised if what happened was actually the other way around, that Kobe had been able to hold his ground and made Yao miss his shot. 

12.) MIB (MAMBA IN BLACK)

An argument can be made from this photo of the awesomeness of an alternate black Laker jersey.  They could use the black jersey on Friday road games, as what the alternate white jerseys are during Sunday home games.  Lakers’ promotion can hype it as “Black Fridays.”  Lakers management, please make it happen soon.   

11.) THRILLING GAMEWINNER OVER D-WADE

During the 2009-2010 NBA season, Kobe hit six clutch gamewinners.  The first was during the Lakers’ December 4, 2009 meeting with the Miami Heat.  With 3.2 seconds left, the Heat had a two point lead.  On the Lakers’ last play, Artest inbounded the ball to Kobe.  D-Wade put good defensive pressure on him.  Kobe dribbled a bit and then shot a tough three-pointer over D-Wade.  The ball would bunk in on the buzzer.  It was such a beautiful, thrilling sequence.  

 

The photo above fantastically captures that moment when Kobe was about to shoot.  Notice Kobe’s elevation.  Notice his pretty shooting form.  And notice the slithering tongue of the Black Mamba.          

10.) FIRST FINALS MVP

Shaq would win every Finals MVP award of Kobe’s first three championship experiences.   But with his fourth championship (something he won without Shaq), Kobe would finally win the Finals MVP for the first time.  He rendered an electrifying image of triumph when he raised his Finals MVP trophy and the Larry O’ Brien championship trophy at the same time above his head. 

9.) MASKED MAMBA

In the 2012 All-Star Game, Dwayne Wade broke Kobe’s nose after a hard foul.  That required Kobe to wear a face mask.  He looked so awesome in it that I was almost sad to see it go.  Above is what I think as the most badass photo of Masked Mamba.     

Trivia: The Lakers’ only victory over LeBron’s Heat was when Kobe was the Masked Mamba (the record, at this point, sits at 1-5).         

8.) MY FIRST KOBE POSTER

It’s long gone now.  But this was the photo of my first Kobe poster, which features Kobe’s dynamic athleticism during his younger years.   

7.) KOBE WELCOMES DWIGHT TO THE LEAGUE

Kobe’s welcome present to the rookie Dwight Howard was a thunderous facial.  That dunk is one of Kobe’s most famous dunks in his career.  It’s not his greatest dunk nor is my most favorite.  But the photo of it is so awesome, totally capturing the nastiness, that it’s my most favorite photo of Kobe dunking on someone.  The more popular photo of the dunk is the one taken from the baseline’s perspective.  But I like the bird’s eye photo more because, for me, it emphasized the damage done.              

6.) PASSING OF THE TORCH

This is my most favorite photo of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, who is considered the best player that ever played the game.  Kobe has significantly patterned his game to Jordan, and admitted as much that he had looked up to him

In this photo, Kobe was in his second year in the NBA and Mike is in his final season (as a Bull).  I like this because this gives us another illustration of Kobe’s competitive and intense personality.  Kobe, even while still young, doesn’t shy away from taking opportunities of greatness, even boldly challenging  Michael “God of Basketball” Jordan himself.  Kobe didn’t want the torch to be merely passed to him, he wanted to take it.  And though Kobe hasn’t surpassed Jordan’s greatness, Kobe has earned the honor of being part of the few that are in the same pedestal of greatness where Jordan belongs.  Just as Jordan had been the best player of 90’s, Kobe would succeed in being recognized as the best player of the following decade (the 2000’s).         

There’s another photo of Kobe matching up with Jordan in another game that season – which was on the Bulls’ floor.  But I like the photo above more, the game on the Lakers’ home court, because the Lakers won in it while they lost in the other one.   

5.) BEST MVP PHOTO

This is a very heartwarming photo of Kobe with his wife and kids.  I love how this photo implies that when Kobe won his MVP award, the first thing on his mind, the first thing he wants to share it with, was his family. 

That charm of the photo above is magnified when you consider this other photo:

I’m sure every Laker and Kobe fan in the planet had been ecstatic when Kobe won his MVP award back in 2008.  But Kobe’s “number one fans” – his family – had been probably more so.    

4.) WHAT YOU LOVE AND HATE ABOUT KOBE

On a Christmas game against the Bulls, with the Bulls leading by one, the Lakers had a chance to take a gamewinning shot.  As expected, the Lakers went to Kobe to make things happen.  Kobe drove, and four Bulls players enclosed on him!  Kobe took a close-range shot, but was blocked. Lakers lost.  That is the story of this photo.

      

It summarizes what one would probably love and hate about Kobe.  One could criticize Kobe as too selfish, costing his team a win because of his tendency to take ill-advised shots, just like that one against the Bulls.  Teams understand what Kobe can do.  He’s so dangerous that he can singlehandedly overwhelm them offensively.  He commands so much respect that opposing teams are willing to double, triple, or even quadruple him to stop him from scoring.  But (more often than not) Kobe would still decide in taking that difficult shot in a tight crowd of defenders rather than opting for a pass to a teammate that has been left open.  That frustrates us. 

But, in another light, that actually what makes us love Kobe.  He is fearless.  He embraces pressure.  He doesn’t care of future consequences.  What only matters to him is the present.  He is not bothered by the backlash he would receive if he misses an important shot (or if he takes too many shots).  He will shoot no matter what because it will bother him more if he didn’t shoot on a particular critical “moment of truth” scenario.  He doesn’t want to think of “what ifs” in the future.  Whether he makes it or misses it, what is important to him is he tried.  And that attitude is worth admiring.                  

Those two aspects of Kobe – negative and positive – are perfectly demonstrated in this photo. 

3.) THE “KING” BOWS DOWN TO THE “KING OF KINGS”

Totally love this photo.  Kobe is just helping LeBron get to his feet, but it gives the illusion of LeBron humbly bowing down to Kobe.  There is no doubt that LeBron James is the best player in the NBA right now.  But this photo has to remind us that there was a time when Kobe has been superior. 

2.) THE GUNSLINGER

One of the most awesome things about Kobe Bryant is, as a basketball competitor, he embodies the quality and intensity of a cold-blooded Wild West gunslinger.  This is the only photo I have ever encountered of him performing the simulation of a gunslinger blowing away the smoke off a smoking barrel.        

 

1.) LEGEND

After winning against Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals, Kobe would proceed towards the announcers’ table, stand on it, face the fans, and simultaneously share and bask in the glory of the moment with the entire Laker Nation.  It was truly magical and electrifying.  When I saw that on TV, I said to myself that the photo of it is going to be epic. 

And I was right.  Ever since I encountered this photo, it has become my most favorite photo of Kobe Bryant, because it depicts him in his most glorious moment.  It defined him as a legend.

Here’s an edited version of the photo.   The edit is simple but it certainly enhanced the beauty and emotion of the photo’s captured moment.

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