Pop culture in 2011 was filled with stealthy stunners that were variously weird and wonderful. From a fantasy revival and rampaging Bridesmaids to chimp empaths and found-footage troll-umentaries, this year dug beneath our technocratic veneer to find its beating heart (which Game of Thrones'dragon queen ate without a napkin — bon appetit!).

Here are the best bits of pop culture from 2011, the irresistible nuggets and undeniable trends that kept us hungry for more in 2012. Drop your own favorites in the comments section below.

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Zombies, vampires, whatever. Our wish-fantasies of various vermin just begging for extermination has fit the post-9/11 terrordome like a straitjacket for years. But they're all far too small to fit into fantasy proper's greater concerns, which rewardingly ranged in 2011 from Game of Thrones' award-winning intrigue to Camelot's adult soap to Merlin's campy magic and beyond. (The less said about Once Upon a Time, the better.)

HBO's gripping adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones books deservedly got most of the love as it led fantasy's excellent pop-culture surge. The wave will crest next year when Peter Jackson's long-awaited Hobbit duology arrives to captivate gore-drunk earthlings in need of less nihilism. —Scott Thill

Image courtesy HBO