How old is Mr. Scruffy?

[CletusMusashi]

Initially, I thought he was ancient, like 15 or 20 years old. But he seems to keep up with Belkar quite well, so his scrawniness could just be genetics. Siameses, for example, tend to run thin, and that would be consistant with the generic Eastern mix that is Azure City.
Also, if he's half as wary as Shojo was, he may well have been deliberately keeping his weight down, especially around the time of New Years feasting, in order to avoid attracting undue culinary atention. This too would be consistant with the generic Eastern mix that is Azure City.
So is he an old but extremely nimble cat, who Shojo has been doing the schtick with for longer than Hinjo has been a paladin? Is he a kitten, and the "Mr. Scruffy says.." game is actually a relatively new twist, by an old con master who has played many such games in the past?
My own guess, lacking any strong evidence, is that he's probably about ten or eleven years old. Still young enough to hold his own physically, but old enough for people to the it for grated that Shojo is taking orders from a cat.
Ten years is also a lot of time for him to gain a lot of class levels, if he's smarter than most people think...

[Nimrod's Son]

Everyone, pick a number!

Anyone saying "42" or "over 9000!" will be harshly chastised.

[turkishproverb]

It's...1006.

[golentan]

As old as his tongue, and a little older than his teeth.

[Demonicbunny]

6 years 6 months and 6 days...

Or at least he was at the moment Belkar met him.

:smallamused:

[zimmerwald1915]

He's 1024 days old.

[FatJose]

Well, was Shojo just an aristocrat or did have caster levels. Scruffy could be a familiar...They live longer, right? I think Shojo just had lots of cats through his life..Or he got Mr. Scruffy as a kitten exactly when he reached the age where he believed he could pull off the senile facade. Making Scruffy' age somewhere in the natural lifespan of a cat.

It's...1006.
Scouter's upside down.

[turkishproverb]

Scouter's upside down.

:smallconfused:
:smallannoyed:


Oh. Oh well.

:smallsigh:

It's still not a threat.

To me.

:smallamused:

[factotum]

It's over nine...



Anyone saying "42" or "over 9000!" will be harshly chastised.

...darn it. :smallfrown:

[Kris Strife]

It's over 8000! :smallamused:

[Phishfood]

Everyone, pick a number!

Anyone saying "42" or "over 9000!" will be harshly chastised.

What if we say "over 42!!"?

What if we say his age is what you get if you multiply six by nine?

Record age for a cat is into its 30s. Also, its entirely possible that there have been SEVERAL white cats that have been issuing orders. Mr Scruffy could really be Mr Scruffy III and only be 6 months old.

General pet trivia:
Dogs are attached to people and will follow their owners. Cats are attached to places and will travel many miles after a house move to get back to the old house, making Mr Scruffy's behaviour in following Belkar and leaving AC more doglike than catlike. </trivia>

[CletusMusashi]

I've seen a few exceptions. Poorly socialized dogs as well as absurdly social cats. One of my friends had a cat that would follow us all over town like a dog when we were kids. More typical of a dog, though, I'd agree... except that in this particular case the person the cat is following is not only a ranger, and a ranger with a rather catlike alignment, but a ranger engaged in a quest to find the metaverse's largest tangle of string.
Here's a rules question: Can a wizard's familiar be seperated from the wizard and keep its extended longevity? If Scruffy outsurvived his previous master, or had a falling out with him such as happened with V for a while, then he might have been with Shojo for quite some time indeed.

[TimelordSimone]

...so his scrawniness could just be genetics.

Wait, Mr. Scruffy is scrawny?

I just figured he was a stick figure cat.

[squiremarcus]

What if we say "over 42!!"?

What if we say his age is what you get if you multiply six by nine?



what? did I miss something with the 6*9, because that's 54. The only thing I can think of is that it's above 42

[Red XIV]

what? did I miss something with the 6*9, because that's 54. The only thing I can think of is that it's above 42
It's 42 in base 13.

[Xykeb Zraliv]

what? did I miss something with the 6*9, because that's 54. The only thing I can think of is that it's above 42

It's a deliberately incorrect equation from the second Hitchhiker's Guide book, in which two of the main protagonists are attempting to discover the question of life, the universe, and everything (which I'm assuming you're at least marginally familiar with, but in case not, the "answer" turned out to be 42 for unknown reasons) The equation is skewed, as well as altogether unhelpful and self-descriptive, for a (somewhat) plot-relevant reason.

Or I screwed up on false symbolism and it was an unintentional mistake, indicative of something else entirely, or just plain unimportant.

[Sylthia]

I had a cat that lived to be about 20. Her name was Baby ironically enough. They can stay relatively nimble into their teens, even if they do spend most of the day loafing around.

I'd say that Mr. Scruffy is probably in his teens or so. He might be at least as old as from the time that Shojo faked senility, which seems to be quite a few years, or at least enough time for his hair to go from gray to white.

[Nimrod's Son]

I'd say that Mr. Scruffy is probably in his teens or so. He might be at least as old as from the time that Shojo faked senility, which seems to be quite a few years, or at least enough time for his hair to go from gray to white.
Shojo likely went from grey hair to white when he turned venerable, about two years before we met him. He says to Roy the attack that caused him to fake senility was "a few years ago", which to me means somewhere between three and ten, there or thereabouts. All well within a cat's usual lifespan, at any rate.

There's certainly no reason to think that Scruffy is not the first cat that Shojo was "taking orders" from.

[WowWeird]

Well, was Shojo just an aristocrat or did have caster levels. Scruffy could be a familiar...They live longer

No. Just no. Why do so many people think this? Shojo outright states that he's a 14th level aristocrat, and while he IS shifty, he has absolutely no reason to lie at that point.

[Nimrod's Son]

If Mr Scruffy turns out to be ANYTHING other than a common-or-garden domesticated cat, be it a familiar or a god or a shapeshifter or whatever, then that would be lame on a level that I'd never have believed Rich to be capable of.

[Gift Jeraff]

Unless he turns out to be Belkar's otherworldly advisor, since Belkar is really Sailor World-within-the-world, which is why he is not long for this world.

[Nimrod's Son]

Case in point. :smallbiggrin:

[Vemynal]

its under 0.009

[factotum]

If Mr Scruffy turns out to be ANYTHING other than a common-or-garden domesticated cat

Well, he's probably Belkar's animal companion now, which means he's quite a bit tougher and smarter than a common-or-garden domesticated cat! :smallsmile:

[Nimrod's Son]

Well, he's probably Belkar's animal companion now, which means he's quite a bit tougher and smarter than a common-or-garden domesticated cat! :smallsmile:
Well, sure. But still a housecat nonetheless. Becoming Belkar's animal companion is more like character development for Scruffy, not a secret identity he's going to spring on us at some point.

(I only really said the "common-or-garden" part to preempt people saying things like "He's actually a lion!". Should've known I'd have to cover even more bases than that. :smallwink:)

[turkishproverb]

It's 42 in base 13.

Douglas Adams did not make jokes in base 13.

[St Fan]

About Scruffy being thin, I want to say that, with the art style, it's hard to tell anyway.

So, my take on it was that Mr. Scruffy was a quite pampered and overfed kitty while Shojo's pet. Considering what Shojo thinks of as "table scrap (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0588.html)", this is quite likely.

However, you have to remember that Scruffy then spent months with the resistance eating only rice and the occasional mice, as Belkar specifically points out. So, the kitty went through one serious diet, becoming the lean killing machine we now know and love.

[xingbing1]

It's 42 in base 13.

Long time lurker here. Just wanted to point out that 54 in base 13 is actually 69 in our standard base 10. In fact, 54 is only 42 in base 7.6. And I'm not sure you're even allowed non-integer bases.

Also, on topic: He's 1337 days/months/years/decades/insert-measure-of-time-here!
How has nobody mentioned this one yet...?

[Phishfood]

Long time lurker here. Just wanted to point out that 54 in base 13 is actually 69 in our standard base 10. In fact, 54 is only 42 in base 7.6. And I'm not sure you're even allowed non-integer bases.

Also, on topic: He's 1337 days/months/years/decades/insert-measure-of-time-here!
How has nobody mentioned this one yet...?

hrm...
13 * 4 = 52
52 + 2 = 54

6 * 9 = 54.
54 converted to base 13 = 42.

[Keejus]

You have it backwards. It isn't 54 in base 13; he said 54 (implied to be in base 10) is 42 in base 13, which is true

[xingbing1]

42 in base 13 is 54. But the 42 should surely be in base 10, not 13! So I guess the original poster got it the wrong way round.
As a side note, 42 in base 10 is 33 in base 13.

[Dr.Epic]

He has existed since the dawning of the world and shall exist until the last star falls from the night's sky. Although he has taken the form of Mr. Scruffy he is all cats as he is none and that would make him a god.

[xingbing1]

So he is Bast then? Does that make him female... hmmm...

[The Succubus]

42 in base 13 is 54. But the 42 should surely be in base 10, not 13! So I guess the original poster got it the wrong way round.
As a side note, 42 in base 10 is 33 in base 13.

I'm sorry, I think I took a wrong turn at the last stick figure and wound up on the xkcd forums....>.>

[rewinn]

Unless, of course, Mr. Scruffy = Girard.

What a revenge that would be - secretly running Azure City, making O-Chul clean out your litter box!

[Nimrod's Son]

Man, this thread is even worse than I feared. Memes and math pedantry, yaaay.