Y – nerDictionary

Y: The Last Man

Created by Brian K. Vaughan, this graphic novel saga follows Yorick Brown, the only human survivor of a planetwide plague that targeted every male mammal. With his pet monkey at his side, Yorick searches for his lost love and the answer to why he has become the last man on Earth.

Yaff

In the furry fetish community, the term is the equivalent of “sexting.”

Yandere

A descriptive word for a fictional character (typically in anime) who fits the archetype of being genuinely romantic, loving, kind, sweet and gentle, but is at the same time violent, psychotic or deranged in behavior. The psychotic tendency can be sudden or ever-present, and is often displayed as part of an obsession with the object of their affection. Often used for both comedic and dramatic displays of character.

Yangs

One faction in an ongoing struggle on the planet Omega IV in the original Star Trek series episode “The Omega Glory.” First seen as “barbarian raiders,” the Yangs, led by Cloud William, turn out not only to be articulate, but to have knowledge and respect for American allegiance, including an aged American flag and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

Yazz, The

An alien race of blue winged beings from DC Comics. The Yazz have made appearances in Justice League of America, Hawkman, Guy Gardner: Warrior and Warrior and JLA Secret Files and Origins.

Yelchin, Anton

The young television and film actor, familiar to Star Trek fans as Ensign Pavel Chekov in the rebooted 2009-2016 film trilogy, was born March 11, 1989 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. Emigrating as an infant with his figure skating parents, Yelchin took up acting, debuting on television at the age of 10 in a 2000 episode of ER. The following year, Yelchin appeared in Hearts in Atlantis with Anthony Hopkins, for which he won a 2002 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film as Leading Young Actor. Career highlights included House of D with David Duchovny and Robin Williams (2004), Charlie Bartlett with Robert Downey Jr. (2007), Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation (both 2009), and the remake of the classic ‘80s horror Fright Night (2011). Fluent in his native Russian (which went far to secure him the Trek role of Russian character Chekov), Yelchin was also accomplished at piano and guitar, and was an avid chess player. Tragically, only months before the debut of Star Trek Beyond, Yelchin was killed accidentally at home on June 19, 2016.

Yerf

A happy greeting between members of the furry fetish society.

Yggdrasil

In the middle of Asgard, home of the Norse gods, is Yggdrasil, the tree of life. It is an eternal green ash, the branches of which stretch out over all of the nine worlds, and extend up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil is supported by three enormous roots. The first root is in Asgard, near Urd’s well, where the gods held daily meetings. The second root goes down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, and this root is set near Mimir’s well. The third root from Yggdrasil goes down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir, and here, the dragon Nidhug gnaws on one of Yggdrasil’s roots. The Nine Worlds are held in the branches and roots of the tree.

Four deer (Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Dyrathror) nibble the highest shoots, and at the very top of Yggdrasil lives an eagle. The eagle and the dragon Nidhug are bitter enemies, and a squirrel named Ratatosk runs up and down the tree, doing whatever he can to keep the hatred between the eagle and Nidhug alive.

There are three goddesses of fate called Norns who lives at the Urd well. Their names are Urd (“past”), Verdani (“present”) and Skuld (“future”). They spend most of their time spinning the threads of life, deciding the fate of every human, animal and every god.

Yggdrasil is a means of transportation between the nine worlds, and is seen as a representation of Time and Destiny. Here, Time is cyclical rather than linear. The present returns to the past, where it retroactively changes the past. This provides a framework within which we can understand the Germanic view of destiny. In contrast to the Greek concept of fate, however, all beings who are subject to destiny have some degree of agency in shaping their own destiny and the destinies of others. This is the dew that falls back into the well from the branches of the tree, accordingly reshaping the past and its influence upon the present.

Ygor

See Igor.

Yiff

A verb used in the community of furry fetishists, it means to have intercourse.

Yip

A noun used in the community of furry fetishists, it means an exclamation of excitement.

Ymir

The oldest and most powerful of the Frost Giants, Ymir (also known as Aurgelmir) was formed at the beginning of creation in a frozen land called Niffleheim, north of Asgard. The origin of the Frost Giants is lost in antiquity, but they predate the gods of Asgard. Their huge size, durability and raw power make them the gods’ most formidable foes, as they are ancient beings of limited intelligence that tend to focus their energies toward destruction. This may in fact be Ymir’s only weakness, and the reason why Odin and his two brothers, Vili and Ve, were able to defeat him. Ymir had once been imprisoned within a volcano by Odin. According to the myth, the brothers slew Ymir and created the world from his body. Ymir’s first appearance in Marvel Comics was in Journey Into Mystery #97 (1963), but he would eventually appear in the Thor series.

Yokai

A class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore, Yokai appear in Pokemon card games, cartoons and video games.

“Yolanda”

See “Saffron.”

Yosemite Sam

A popular foil for Warner Bros.’ Bugs Bunny character, Sam made his first appearance in the Friz Freleng-directed cartoon Hare Trigger (released April 21, 1945), but it wasn’t until 1948 that the gibberish-spitting Sam made another appearance, this time as a pirate in Buccaneer Bunny. Sam’s cartoons came out on a regular basis, one or two a year, until 1964. The last one was Pancho’s Hideaway, released October 24, 1964. All but one — Dumb Patrol, which came out earlier in ’64, directed by Gerry Chiniquy – were directed by Freleng. Sam was paired with Bugs in all but three of his cartoons. Daffy Duck was his antagonist in Along Came Daffy (1947); in Honey’s Money (1963), he had no co-star; and in his very last outing, he came up against Speedy Gonzales. Sam wasn’t a big star in comic books, but he did supporting roles with the other Warner characters in the Dell comic books of the 1950s. Oddly enough, it was only from 1970-84, long after the heyday of licensed animated characters in American comic books (as well as Sam’s own heyday as an animated character), that Gold Key gave him his own series. Today, he makes occasional appearances in DC Comics’ Looney Tunes comic book. Like the other Looney Tunes guys, Sam has enjoyed generations of television exposure. He also appeared with the rest of them in the 1988 toon-laden extravaganza Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and in the 1996 movie Space Jam.

Yosemite Sam was voiced by Mel Blanc.

Ytterbium

With atomic symbol Yb and atomic number 70 in the Periodic Table of Elements, ytterbium has a melting point of 824.0°C (1,515.2°F) and a boiling point of 1,466.0°C (2,670.8°F). It contained 103 neutrons and is silvery in color. Ytterbium was discovered in 1878 by Jean de Marignac and named for the Swedish town of Ytterby. It has been used in metallurgical and chemical experiments, and is obtained from yttria, monazite, gadolinite and xenotime.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

A card game with a tie-in anime television series, Yu-Gi-Oh! was created in 1991 by Kazuki Takahashi, who was at the time an artist at Japan’s best-selling weekly comic magazine, Shonen Jump. He began drawing the comics series in 1996, and the animated version debuted in 2000, becoming an immediate hit and spawning a mania that included card and video games.

Yuri

Literally translated as “lily,” but commonly perceived as meaning “girls love,” the anime/manga/literary genre involves romantic relationships between women, both sexual and non-sexual in nature. Possibly first used in 1976, when Bungaku Itou, editor of Barazoku (a magazine geared primarily towards gay men), first used the term “yurizoku” (“lily clan”) in reference to female readers in a column of letters. Subgenres of yuri include “shoujo” and “josei,” targeted toward female audiences, as well as “shounen” and “seinen,” which are geared toward males. Examples of yuri include the TV anime shows Strawberry Panic, Kannazuki no Miko, Simoun and Maria-sama ga Miteru, but yuri themes are present in other genres and are mostly used as a form of comedic relief. Such themes are found in many slice-of-life shows with all-girl casts, including Sabagebu, Non Non Biyori, Yuyushiki, and Kiniro Mosaic.

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