<![CDATA[io9: parodies]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: parodies]]> http://io9.com/tag/parodies http://io9.com/tag/parodies <![CDATA[Monsters Versus Aliens Viral Site Is Actually Cool]]> UFO paranoia site TopSecretConspiracy.Com went to WorldCon to uncover the truth about science fiction — it's a ploy, paving the way for alien invasion. But could some Monsters save us from these Aliens?

At first glance, Total Conspiracy is just a hilariously awesome conspiracy site, including pictures of flying dogs, alien coins (from the U.S. Treasury), and alien-influenced mathematicians. It's chock full of weird ranty videos by sitemaster Jeffrey Freedman, and essays on things like flu vaccines as an alien scheme to weaken us. (And I love the whole thing in the video, where he demands to know if the government had anything to do with the death of Robert Heinlein.)

But eagle-eyed reader James pointed me to the science fiction book covers in the latest video, posted above. Not only do they have great parody titles like Weirdo In A Weird Land, Probed: A Love Story, Scales Of Fear, The Boy Who Forgot The Time, Welcome To Our New Mechanical Overlords, My Big Fat GIant Revenge, and I Have No Brain And I Must Yell. But they also feature MVA characters like Bob (the blob), Dr. Cockroach PhD, Ginormica and a couple others.

Could this, too, be a conspiracy? Could Dreamworks be controlling the mind of an innocent UFO conspiracy nut, trying to get him to promote their movie? Only you can decide, by exposing your truth. [Top Secret Conspiracy, thanks James!]

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<![CDATA[Darth Vader Vs. The Spartans]]> If you've ever wanted to see Star Wars mashed up with 300, then this clip from the short-lived 1978 show Quark may make you happy. Or maybe not. The Great Gorgon, a transparent Darth Vader rip-off, comes in his big orange Death Star to conquer the planet of Spartans... who surrender. I remember loving Quark when I was a kid, but it doesn't hold up that well now.

Quark is mostly a Star Trek spoof, even down to the original series' sound effects, and the Vulcan-esque first officer, a plant who debates logic vs. emotion endlessly with Captain Quark. Somehow, even though Quark is the galaxy's greatest hero, he ends up commanding a garbage ship and getting into hilarious mishaps in each of the eight episodes. His crew also includes a cowardly android, an androgyne who alternates between extreme manliness and extreme girliness, and two incredibly hot blonde female clones in hotpants. There are still no DVDs, but you can watch the whole thing online here.

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