Miko's past(possible Spoiler?)

[NeonRonin]

I've been mulling something over in my head for a while now- when last we saw Miko, she was praying in her jail cell. The Giant hasn't given us any glimpses since then, which makes me wonder just what's been going through her head. In my experience, if someone is left alone long enough their mind begins to wander, possibly back to events long past.

I speculate it is entirely possible she may be in the midst of a flashback which may or may not give additional insight into one great mystery:

WHAT happened in Miko's past that keeps her almost constantly angry?

Her face is set in a nearly constant scowl, there have been only a few occasions I can remember when she actually smiled- and everybody knows about her penchant for jumping to conclusions and biting people's heads off with one of her tirades. Something pretty serious must be at the root of this- and I'm not talking about her high opinion of herself, the idea that the Twelve Gods have a 'plan' for her.

I think there's a part of Miko that never got over the death of her parents. Think about it- someone obsessed with hunting down evil, practically to the point of vigilantism, who first appeared as Mysterious Cloaked Person several hundred strips ago, uses martial arts and mad weapon skills, and seems determined to confront those who have ESPECIALLY wronged her, no matter the cost. Which is almost exactly the same personality as Bruce Wayne- except in Miko's case, she's a touch more psycho than Batman, and more willing to use lethal force.

The similarity is there, though- and as a paladin, charged to stand in the face of evil, it gives her a legitimate target to carry out her pent-up aggression on. She may not say it out loud, but I think she's angry at the world for taking her parents away from her, but her upbringing has conditioned her to think in black-and-white terms of the law and what is 'right', so she takes out her anger on any and all 'evil' beings. End result- the perfect zealot.

Who knows. If she hadn't been raised in the monastary, she might have turned out like Belkar.

The point of all this is, we've had numerous other OOTS character glimpses where we see a facet of their past, like Haley's goth period or Roy growing up and being fascinated by the Greenhilt ancestral sword; we even saw glimpses of Elan and Nale's past and family, if only briefly. Is it not unreasonable to think we might see other characters' pasts as well?

If so, it might prove quite enlightening- and perhaps a vehicle by which The Giant could force Miko to confront her personal demons. But as usual, only time will tell.

[Innis Cabal]

not unreasonable....but she already said her past...she was picked to be a paladin...so he must have met the pre-reqs of bing an anal retentive person

[Silverlocke980]

You get my vote for favorite person on the forums, if only because you bother to add "only time will tell" to your personal theory.

Go, you. I must only add that Miko is a deep, complex character, and watching how her story ends up will be entertaining, no matter what.

Eagerly waiting to hear your thoughts on any other characters! Anybody who seems as sensible as you is bound to be on to something!

[Frank]

The Gods knew Miko would fall and killed Shojo, banked on her ego, banked on her destiny, so that Hinjo would take control and become the true leader of Azure City.

Who would want Shojo leading an army against a horde of hobgoblins, a demi-lich, an elite Goblin Cleric (Wow, I just said that) and a mysterious darkened whatsit of tremendous power? Hell no, not the Gods! The Gods set Miko up to kill Shojo: If they really thought she was strong enough to help in the fight against the Snarl, they would have withheld their power until after the Lich threat to being back the Snarl (thus killing them) was removed.

Nope. Hinjo is going to come out of this a badass leader. That's, that's what I think! Yeah. Hooty hoo.

-Frank

[BobTheDog]

Just a quick note: Nobody is more psycho than Batman. Except, maybe, the Joker...

[Mr Teufel]

The Gods knew Miko would fall and killed Shojo, banked on her ego, banked on her destiny, so that Hinjo would take control and become the true leader of Azure City.

Who would want Shojo leading an army against a horde of hobgoblins, a demi-lich, an elite Goblin Cleric (Wow, I just said that) and a mysterious darkened whatsit of tremendous power? Hell no, not the Gods! The Gods set Miko up to kill Shojo: If they really thought she was strong enough to help in the fight against the Snarl, they would have withheld their power until after the Lich threat to being back the Snarl (thus killing them) was removed.

Nope. Hinjo is going to come out of this a badass leader. That's, that's what I think! Yeah. Hooty hoo.

-Frank

So the Lawful Good Gods banked on one of their paladins doing evil? Rather than, perhaps, Shojo deputising Hinjo or another paladin to lead the fight - remember, Shojo wasn't really insane.

I think you're mixing up the fictional gods' motivations with that of the actual author.

[brian c]

The Gods knew Miko would fall and killed Shojo, banked on her ego, banked on her destiny, so that Hinjo would take control and become the true leader of Azure City.

Who would want Shojo leading an army against a horde of hobgoblins, a demi-lich, an elite Goblin Cleric (Wow, I just said that) and a mysterious darkened whatsit of tremendous power? Hell no, not the Gods! The Gods set Miko up to kill Shojo: If they really thought she was strong enough to help in the fight against the Snarl, they would have withheld their power until after the Lich threat to being back the Snarl (thus killing them) was removed.

Nope. Hinjo is going to come out of this a badass leader. That's, that's what I think! Yeah. Hooty hoo.

-Frank


There's no demi-lich; Xykon's tough but demi-liches are outrageously powerful.

That aside, this idea that we'll learn about Miko's past is interesting. I hope we do, and I can definitely see the "avenging her parents" angle possibly coming into play.

[Frank]

Yeah. Yeah. That is also a possibility.

...

I guess.

...

Good thinking. =P

-Frank

[V Junior]

Oh, YEAH! The Belkar part is the best. Miko-Belkar connection? I never knew! So... if she'd been a street kid...she would have turned into a pyscopatic human person who would have SO SO SO gotten the hots for the Belkster. Not cool.

However... if she wasn't a paladin/monk, what WOULD she have been? A fighter who took levels of blackgaurd? (possible; see Players Handbook two) Wow. So cool.

[BisectedBrioche]

Just a quick note: Nobody is more psycho than Batman. Except, maybe, the Joker...

What about Deadpool?

[Haruki-kun]

Maybe Miko is acually the daughter of some Chaotic Evil Barbarian and decided to go against her father's wishes......

Well, not impossible........

[kpenguin]

The difference between Batman and Miko is that Bruce put more ranks into Sense Motive and Gather Information and Miko put more ranks into Craft (Insane theories that fit own belief).

Seriously? I think Miko needs to think that she's doing good to satisfy a need to justify her life (as opposed to her dying with her parents). She needs to know that there is some reason that she's alive and her parents aren't and that, coupled with the teachings of the monastery, are why she's so goddamn set on destroying evil and why its hard for her to comprehend that she did wrong. I'm probably wrong, though.

[Renegade Paladin]

not unreasonable....but she already said her past...she was picked to be a paladin...so he must have met the pre-reqs of bing an anal retentive person
Yeah, we love you too. http://libriumarcana.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

[Duraska]

I don't think Miko's angry. I think a better way to describe her might be severe. She's completely honed and sharpened, determined to succeed in her missions no matter the cost. Miko demands excellence of herself in everything she does. Her self-worth is completely dependant on her sense of duty. She has a strong tendency toward self-laceration (figuratively speaking).

Gotta be honest with you, I don't think Miko mourns the loss of her parents very much. At least, I would wager that based on her personality type. I think Miko is someone who distances herself from deep personal attachments. Some people are just like that - they don't need a specific (or horrific) event in their past to make them that way. That's just their personality. Miko strikes me as a strict pragmatist. She isn't the emotional type.

[Demented]

Yeah, we love you too. http://libriumarcana.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

A rolling eyes smiley! Tinsoldier has been looking for one of those.
Or did he find one when I wasn't looking? It's only been months since I last checked.


Anyway....

I believe I've stated my own theory previously. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1902186&postcount=23)

[vbushido]

I don't think Miko's angry. I think a better way to describe her might be severe. She's completely honed and sharpened, determined to succeed in her missions no matter the cost. Miko demands excellence of herself in everything she does. Her self-worth is completely dependant on her sense of duty. She has a strong tendency toward self-laceration (figuratively speaking).

Gotta be honest with you, I don't think Miko mourns the loss of her parents very much. At least, I would wager that based on her personality type. I think Miko is someone who distances herself from deep personal attachments. Some people are just like that - they don't need a specific (or horrific) event in their past to make them that way. That's just their personality. Miko strikes me as a strict pragmatist. She isn't the emotional type.

:miko: "I remember the day you choose me to come to the castle. I was still a child, but you told me you saw power in me. I cried the first night away from the dojo, but you came and told me the gods needed my strength. That now we served the gods, that we did their work here."

I think her rigid, dogmatic outlook stems from after she came to the Sapphire Guard. I think in her zeal to please her new masters (teachers), she became very self-absorbed in serving the gods.

-----
Decadence is its own reward

[Jade_Tarem]

Maybe Miko is acually the daughter of some Chaotic Evil Barbarian and decided to go against her father's wishes......

Well, not impossible........

Thus making Miko the first character in the strip to have bigger daddy issues than Roy! I like this theory, even though it's almost certainly untrue.

[Demented]

Oh, that'd be a cruel injustice.
Though, given that she's supposed to have never known her father, she really only has the father figure of Shojo, or perhaps some as-yet-unknown monk, to worry about. That would make it daddy-figure issues.


So, on the list of Haley, Roy and Nale (possibly even Belkar, though that's more likely to be Aunt Judy issues), we might be able to add Miko.

[Mr Teufel]

Maybe Aunt Judy killed Miko's parents?

[NeonRonin]

Maybe Aunt Judy killed Miko's parents?

Now that would make for an interesting connection with the Order- though it might just make her even more obsessed with killing Belkar(and perhaps the rest of his extended family).

[Purple_cloack]

Something terrible happen. Lik4e devil eat her parents and Demons torture his siblings. He become Monk, and travel long. he travel to Azure city and Hinjo take him in his service.

Thats all folks.