It is not a gate!

[RedGem]

That's the reason Monster in The Darkness don't perceives it as a gate!

It sees things that we mere humans, or demihumans, or even powerful lich sorcerer can not.

But what is it then?

[Fyraltari]

It is a containment unit inteded to fix a wound within the fabric of reality to imprison a deicidal abomination. It was never meant to be open and therefore isn't a gate at all (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1086.html).

[Vulsutyr]

It is a containment unit inteded to fix a wound within the fabric of reality to imprison a deicidal abomination. It was never meant to be open and therefore isn't a gate at all (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1086.html).

I agree, and moreover, Mitd doesn’t think it’s something other than a gate, he doesn’t see the structure. See the first strip where this joke is used, I think he says, “oh, I’ve never noticed that before”

[Grey_Wolf_c]

That's the reason Monster in The Darkness don't perceives it as a gate!

It's 20 feet tall, it has hinges and handles, it can be opened and closed and it's made out of wood (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0096.html). How exactly does that not fit the definition of gate?
Answer: MitD is used to magic gates that are a simple hole in space. He's not aware of other meanings
Grey Wolf

[Peelee]

It's 20 feet tall, it has hinges and handles, it can be opened and closed and it's made out of wood (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0096.html). How exactly does that not fit the definition of gate?
Answer: MitD is used to magic gates that are a simple hole in space. He's not aware of other meanings
Grey Wolf


The gem reinforces the Gate; the gem is NOT the Gate, and the Gate is not the seal, and the seal is not the rift. The gem is the deadbolt, not the lock, or the door, or the doorway. The "door" is a complex spell that is not actually visible but is what Dorukan and Lirian are casting in the first panel of the second page of #276. The "lock" is the Gate, a tiny magical object that later had a throne crafted around it; it's about the size of a raisin in the case of Azure City. The "doorway" is the rift itself, and it is not really inside the gemstone, it's just that the gem (and Gate) are translucent and we can see through it (because it's a visual medium and it made it easier to understand). The gemstone is an enchanted object that further seals and reinforces the Gate; thus, the "deadbolt."

I'd say the doors are the deadbolt in this analogy. Also, weren't they added by Xykon? Summon Banana I!

[Fyraltari]

Nah, I think it was ther to stop the zombies from wandering into it.

[Jasdoif]

Also, weren't they added by Xykon?

Nah, I think it was ther to stop the zombies from wandering into it.
Xykon said "we" put the wooden doors over the entrance to keep zombies from wandering in. The then-current "Chief Gate Inspector" is also able to move towards a "purple swirly energy thing" through the gate before he's killed, so presumably the gate does function as a portal in some capacity.

My personal theory is that the Gates act as a sort of safety valve, diffusing whatever analog of pressure exists in transplanar physics; to both keep the existing rifts from growing and to mitigate the development of new rifts.

[The Pilgrim]

The Gate is a Lie. A LIE!

[georgie_leech]

Xykon said "we" put the wooden doors over the entrance to keep zombies from wandering in. The then-current "Chief Gate Inspector" is also able to move towards a "purple swirly energy thing" through the gate before he's killed, so presumably the gate does function as a portal in some capacity.

My personal theory is that the Gates act as a sort of safety valve, diffusing whatever analog of pressure exists in transplanar physics; to both keep the existing rifts from growing and to mitigate the development of new rifts.

I always thought it was just that the wards Dorukan Put up tended to fry anything that got too close, and they couldn't just dispel the lot without risking mucking up the Gate in some way.

[Riftwolf]

Xykon said "we" put the wooden doors over the entrance to keep zombies from wandering in. The then-current "Chief Gate Inspector" is also able to move towards a "purple swirly energy thing" through the gate before he's killed, so presumably the gate does function as a portal in some capacity.


Huh. Was DCF bonus material released before the comics grew a plot? Or did said goblin see the Snarl?

[Peelee]

Huh. Was DCF bonus material released before the comics grew a plot? Or did said goblin see the Snarl?

5th panel (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0411.html). Not the Snarl, though.

[Fyraltari]

Xykon said "we" put the wooden doors over the entrance to keep zombies from wandering in. The then-current "Chief Gate Inspector" is also able to move towards a "purple swirly energy thing" through the gate before he's killed, so presumably the gate does function as a portal in some capacity.

My personal theory is that the Gates act as a sort of safety valve, diffusing whatever analog of pressure exists in transplanar physics; to both keep the existing rifts from growing and to mitigate the development of new rifts.

Maybe it is the Gate slowly cracking as it is out-quidditted.

[Fish]

I reckon the MITD is able to get into and out of places at will; it doesn’t seem to have any trouble escaping its cage whenever it wants to. Maybe it’s a higher-dimensional being intruding into the Stick universe or something. In any case, it might not perceive the gate because it doesn’t bother noticing mundane things like walls or doors.

Such a power to get into and out of things might be related to the Escape! scene with V and O-Chul.

I also note that the graveyard of worlds on the Astral Plane also had a barrier around it. Maybe the MITD came from there, or went into there somehow. Dunno how that would work, or why, but Thor was so certain nothing could get past the barrier, he’s just got to be wrong. And the MITD knows the Astral Plane.

[Fyraltari]

I reckon the MITD is able to get into and out of places at will; it doesn’t seem to have any trouble escaping its cage whenever it wants to. Maybe it’s a higher-dimensional being intruding into the Stick universe or something. In any case, it might not perceive the gate because it doesn’t bother noticing mundane things like walls or doors.

Such a power to get into and out of things might be related to the Escape! scene with V and O-Chul

What, like this?

https://media3.giphy.com/media/aQkgy8zxyXsf6/giphy.gif?cid=790b76115cb11fec623261372e62cf12

[Riftwolf]

What, like this?

https://media3.giphy.com/media/aQkgy8zxyXsf6/giphy.gif?cid=790b76115cb11fec623261372e62cf12

Frank Dreben: Extradimensional Detective

[Peelee]

Frank Dreben: Extradimensional Detective

Truly, his powers knew no bound.

[Ramza00]

It's 20 feet tall, it has hinges and handles, it can be opened and closed and it's made out of wood (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0096.html). How exactly does that not fit the definition of gate?
Answer: MitD is used to magic gates that are a simple hole in space. He's not aware of other meanings
Grey Wolf

If it looks like a duck,
swims like a duck, and
quacks like a duck, then it
probably is a duck.

Could be a rabbit?

https://i1.wp.com/theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-9.44.55-PM.png?fit=682%2C378&ssl=1

Rabbit Season, Duck Season

https://media.giphy.com/media/yPG6YsKgTDBE4/giphy.gif

[martianmister]

It's a door.

[Ron Miel]

When it's ajar.

[Ruck]

What, like this?

https://media3.giphy.com/media/aQkgy8zxyXsf6/giphy.gif?cid=790b76115cb11fec623261372e62cf12

He's a locksmith. And, he's a locksmith.

[Squire Doodad]

The answer to the Gate issue is that MitD leveled up sometime between Book 1 and Book 3. Before that specific level, the version of MitD's species that Rich is using has the attention span of a drunk peanut suspended in morphine. After that, it becomes their normal attention span. Since he didn't learn about it before, MitD did not know about the gate when the joke was made later on. Then on, he knows about the gate.
Science

[Fish]

Yeah, there is a certain cartoon quality to not noticing doors. Or not noticing their absence, a la Wile E coyote, who could never escape into the painted train tunnel when he needed to. Maybe the MitD is a ‘toon.

[Wizard_Lizard]

That's no gate...
It's a death star!
But seriously, the gate doesn't seem to open both ways, and therefore may not count as a gate under MitD's logic.
OR the situation that I prefer is that maybe MitD just isn't that observant.