I love shiny objects.

Last winter I met a smart girl, and she introduced me to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It's a children's fantasy series in the vein of Narnia, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, but it's darker and more subversive than any of those works. Aaaaand it's an absolute masterpiece. I've been dutifully passing the books on, trying to expose friends to them before the first film is released this winter.

Anyway, In Pullman's world(s), human beings have a physical incarnation of their souls, called Daemons. They take the form of animal companions that represent the qualities of their human. Children's Daemons can change shape at will, reflecting the untapped potential of youth. But around puberty, they settle on a permanent shape. Humans and their Daemons are absolutely inseperable; they are literally the two halves of the same being.

The girl I mentioned earlier would always ask me: "What would your Daemon be?" A loaded question, in the eyes of a dork. And we were dorks. Luckily, I always managed to dodge it. I wanted to believe it would be a river otter.

But you can't choose your Daemon's shape, so I was never sure. But now, thanks to the magic of the interweb, the girl's question has been answered. Scientifically. As part of the upcoming film's marketing campaign, you can take a quick myspace-style personality quiz here and meet your real Daemon.

Without further ado...



Modest? Who you callin' modest!?