Over 130,000 people of all races, genders and  ages crammed into a convention center for the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. These people all shared one thing in common: a love of the characters, settings and situations of one or more tv shows, books, or other topics that constitute a fandom.

What makes these characters so compelling? Why are people so passionate about these stories and worlds?

“A fandom is a group of people who share the same passion and love over a certain topic,” junior A.R Morel said.

Fandoms can be fan groups for TV shows, books, movies, podcasts, plays, etc.

Sophomore Megan Oakes said, “It’s basically anything that you can write stories about or talk about outside of the [actual] thing.”

In the words of junior Zoe Vernier, “It’s like superfans.”

Many students use fandoms as a way to make new friends and bond with others.

“It’s actually really hard for me to make friends,” Morel said. “If I know that somebody wants to know about fandoms I’m in or is in a fandom I’m in, then there’s something we can talk about.”

Fandoms open topics of conversation that allow strangers to quickly move past common civilities and into friendship.

“That’s why my best friend and I are best friends,” Oakes said. “We both liked Harry Potter when we were little and we just freaked out over it.”

Works that have depth and sufficient detail often attract more people than those with dry storylines.

“That book [Lord of the Rings] has so much stuff you can explore and it’s really fun,” Oakes said, “It has all these appendices and all these companion books and it’s this totally detailed world.”

Morel enjoys analyzing the different characters and situations of his fandoms. “You can analyze and pick apart things better than any English class” he said.

The similarities in characters to people in the real world increase interest for fans and allows them to have a deeper connection to the subject matter.

“The fandom actually appreciates it for what it is and we can pick apart every little motivation and work on art styles and there’s just so many different facets of it,” Morel said.

Several students see fandoms as a way to escape from the real world as well as manage issues in real life.

“It’s something that people can relate to,” Vernier said. “Harry Potter has themes, things that average kids can relate to and just get away from the real world.”

Oakes uses fandoms as relief from her challenges in life.

“I think it helps me to cope with stuff. When I was in seventh grade and everyone was mean to me, it was fun pretending I was Aragorn and the lone lost ranger of the North that nobody ever stands for.”

Fandoms provide their members with a release from the stress of daily life, a way to cope with hard times and makes it easier to find friends with the same passions. Fandoms can also help students look beyond the surface and to analyze what is within both fictional characters and real people.

“It seems so shallow but it’s so deep,” Morel said.