MitD X: If I told you, you wouldn't believe me

[Keltest]

I'm going to have to assume that you mean the protean with that. In which case, as I have said multiple times, that is not true. The protean can retain a face for extended periods of time. If Rich decided a protean fit the bill for what he needed MitD to do and be, he would have a way to keep his iconic look by RAW.

You may not like the protean, and you may not like the way Rich could justify him having two eyes for the run of the comic while also explaining why he comes across as lazy. But you not liking it doesn't make it silly or impossible or any of the adjectives you so casually throw around as if it was a fait accompli.

GW

I have yet to see an explanation, satisfying or otherwise, for how the MITD could be retaining his appearance in his sleep. Beyond that, I do not think it impossible, just highly improbable.

[b_jonas]

I have yet to see an explanation, satisfying or otherwise, for how the MITD could be retaining his appearance in his sleep. Beyond that, I do not think it impossible, just highly improbable.

I don't think that's impossible. But does he actually maintain his appearance in sleep? Do we see his eyes while he's sleeping, or any other detail?

[Keltest]

I don't think that's impossible. But does he actually maintain his appearance in sleep? Do we see his eyes while he's sleeping, or any other detail?

We see his eyes closed when he is sleeping. How that works is a little beyond me, but presumably its the same way we can see his eyes and expression through magical darkness.

[Crusher]

I do not claim any ownership of anything in this post, all is a derivative work of works by Rich Burlew and the contributors to the wiki.
[/LIST]

This is magnificent. Truly, a thousand thanks.

[Crusher]

I see. Well, no problem, I'll just start a new list.

/List

You, too, are a magnificent poster, just slightly slower.

[Crusher]

Well, you've convinced me. Crusher, could you please amend my guess to ANB>Carbosilicate Amorph?

Certainly. It is so noted.

Edit - Also, welcome to the "Open-minded Club", which includes all the people who have changed their minds about their guesses more than once. Currently, its members are you and me.

[Darth Paul]

Say, Crusher,

After some reading I'm hedging my bets a little. Modify mine to Slaad (white or black) > ANB if you please. Leaning heavily toward the slaad, still.

[b_jonas]

Here's an updated version of the list of scenes where MitD appears in. It should now mention all the online strips, although I have probably forgotten something, so please speak up if you notice anything I left out. I tried to be as objective as I can, trying not to weave my own interpretation into the descriptions. I wasn't able to write a good summary about the astral plane mention yet, because anything I'd write will either be controversial or feel to me like it's not doing justice to the scene.

I'll have to write the list for Star of Darkness later, that one has a lot of appearances, a few starting from page 49, then the whole story about how the MitD was taken from the circus to Team Evil starting from page 83. Meanwhile, I'd like to ask you to help me with the bonus scenes in the books I don't have. In particular, can someone please tell me who or what we see on that tiny picture in #887 with the MitD?

Before you ask, no, I don't think listing most of the strip titles would help, but if you think there are a few of them that are directly relevant to the MitD, then please point them out to me, I didn't bother scanning them.

Random thought while I was compiling list. I didn't realize just how many times Rich shows that the MitD knows a bit about how magic works. It's almost as if he's trying to give a hint or something.

-----

Appearances of the MitD

• TODO: I'll do Start of Darkness later.
• #23: Xykon says MitD is his secret weapon, will reveal him when the time is right.
• #37: Xykon and MitD watch Roy set off the booby-trapped door.
• #47: More crystal ball watching.
• #82: Redcloak tells MitD off for leaving mess in kitchen. More crystal ball watching. MitD is in magical darkness.
• #96: MitD can't see gate.
• #97: MitD joins Redcloak in evil laugh.
• #103: Xykon practices big reveal of MitD. Xykon is not satisfied, MitD listing spices to cook OotS with isn't scary enough.
• #105: Nothing.
• #106: Doesn't see gate again.
• #109, #110, #113: Nothing notable.
• #114: Xykon prepares to reveal MitD, gets interrupted. MitD is anxious.
• #117: MitD wants to get revealed, Redcloak and Xykon stops him.
• #120: Nothing notable.
• #147: MitD asks to hold Xykon's phylactery. MitD had broken all his toys. MitD gets fanged Hello Kitty umbrella.
• #148: Nothing notable.
• #149: MitD does exposition about the initiation rituals.
• #190: MitD teaches Redcloak evil leadership.
• #191: MitD doesn't want to go into abandoned castle. Xykon tells MitD should be scary and powerful.
• #192: Nothing notable.
• #194: MitD asks lantern archons to light him up.
• #195: MitD asks why Serini's diary is useful, knows about magical books.
• #196: MitD knows about Dorukan. Doesn't know about gates.
• #299: MitD wants to be a valuable member. Redcloak says he can't help in making zombies.
• #331: Still confused about gate.
• #368: “Sometimes I eat to fill the loneliness.”
• #369, #371: Nothing notable.
• #373: Miko meets MitD.
• #374: MitD has to stop Miko. Feels Miko's full attack as only tickles. Plays “Who Can Hit the Lightest”, hits Miko and his far through the wall, but they survive.
• #375: MitD finds Miko's purse with letter from High Priest of Thor to Durkon, paper cuts his tongue.
• #414: Nothing notable.
• #415: MitD crystal ball watching on Miko. Confused about gate.
• #422: MitD confused about Redcloak chewing out on decoy Xykon.
• #426: MitD confused about three Xykons.
• #428: Nothing.
• #431: MitD confused about four Xykons. Understands the distinction between arcane and divine spells. Redcloak explains the decoy strategy to him. MitD still doesn't understand.
• #447: Nothing notable.
• #451: MitD grumbles.
• #463: MitD plays tea party with toy green dragon. Paralyzed O-Chul arrives.
• #474: Still tea party, now with dead Roy too.
• #475: Haley and Durkon wants to retrieve Roy's body. MitD doesn't allow, shouts “Stop!” As alternate plan, Haley offers stew in exchange for Roy. Flashback to MitD eating moldy cheesburger.
• #476: MitD enjoys Belkar's half-cooked vulture stew. As Haley and Belkar starts to leave, MitD hears they're the Order of the Stick, who he's supposed to devour.
• #477: MitD thinks about whether he should eat Haley and Belkar without Xykon introducing him first. Doesn't seem to notice Belkar's attack. Haley and Belkar escape while he's still thinking. MitD stomps after demon roach's advice, causes huge cracks in ground. “Wow! I didn't know I could do that!” Belkar lets O-Chul go, O-Chul falls back to MitD. MitD is “really tired all of a sudden. And still hungry.”
• #484: MitD carries the paralyzed O-Chul.
• #541: MitD is now in a large box with barred window. Wants to join Team Evil in betting game. Again bets on O-Chul escaping.
• #543: MitD says he hoped O-Chul would escape, but it didn't work. Still doesn't know gates. Wants to get out of the box, Xykon doesn't let him.
• #549: MitD is friends with O-Chul, trades food with him. Tells he eats anything but babies. Wants to start a club that girls can't join.
• #550: O-Chul questions MitD about why he's friends with Team Evil. MitD wants to play, O-Chul promises to play go with him in the morning.
• #651: MitD tells O-Chul about his youth. He always lived in the rainforest, although need not have been born there. His dad was BIG and a big eater. The MitD doesn't know what species he is or where he belongs, but thinks Redcloak and Xykon know. O-Chul convinces the MitD to start to think for himself, with a cheesy go metaphor. We see the go board. Fart joke at MitD's expense when Vaarsuvius arrives with a bang.
• #654: MitD still wants to get the darkness lit up. O-Chul escapes, and in his parting words, reminds the MitD of the lesson from #651. MitD calls O-Chul his real name for the first time.
• #658: MitD is worried about O-Chul.
• #661: MitD says O-Chul needs to escape now, because Xykon will be really angry. Calls O-Chul his friend again. Shouts “ESCAPE”, O-Chul and Vaarsuvius disappear. Xykon doesn't seem to realize it was the MitD's doing.
• #662: MitD is sleeping (or pretending to).
• #663: (MitD not present.) Vaarsuvius and O-Chul turn out to have arrived in Hinjo's camp. O-Chul requests the most learned scribe because he has questions about the escape.
• #699: MitD tries to replicate the escape on Jirix. Deliberately misinterpreted Redcloak's words to bother Jirix. Jirix tells him he'd need to use magic for that to work, MitD says he's too dumb for that. MitD is worried about where he sent his friends and if they're safe.
• #700: MitD is not allowed in Tsukiko's room. MitD asks Tsukiko's help because she knows both types of magic. They discuss Tsukiko's fascination with the undead. MitD recognizes ritual scroll as “half a ritual”. Tsukiko promises she'll try to help him find his friend.
• #701: Jirix asks MitD to open the curtains before Redcloak's speech. MitD warns him about clumsiness with pulling a rope. MitD thinks the goblins are cheering for his performance with the curtain.
• #702: Nothing.
• #703: MitD reads Gobbotopia history booklet. Joke about how Jirix was dead.
• #704: Redcloak thinks MitD doesn't know what a prime minister is.
• #709: MitD meets up with Tsukiko to call in her promise to find his friends. Tsukiko tells him he shouldn't be friends with paladins, and that she can't help because the Cloister spell protects O-Chul from divination. Joke about Xykon's balls. Even if Tsukiko and Xykon can't help, MitD hopes he'll find O-Chul eventually, and recalls the detail O-Chul said about rain.
• #828: (MitD not present.) Redcloak says MitD still watches the crystal ball.
• #831: MitD (still in box) informs Redcloak that Xykon is angry. (The reason is that the resistance acquired his phylactery.)
• #832: MitD now under umbrella. (Team evil is preparing to leave.)
• #833: MitD still thinks of Tsukiko as a friend. Remark about the astral plane.
• #886: MitD does not appear in OotS's illusionary imagination of comfrontation with Team Evil.
• #887: MitD under umbrella in tiny picture in illusion montage.
• #899: Team Evil arrives to Girard's pyramid, MitD under umbrella.
• #900: MitD's umbrella damaged after pyramid explodes. He asks which pelvis Xykon is looking for.
• #901: MitD recognizes the Order of the Stick, knows they are O-Chul's friends. MitD refers to the paralyzed O-Chul accidentally falling to his tea party as him having captured O-Chul. Worried about the party, bluffs to Xykon that O-Chul and Vaarsuvius are more dangerous and must be already at Kraagor's dungeon, while Roy's party distracts Team Evil here. He cleverly uses the fact that Xykon never remembers Roy. The bluff works, they depart to Kraagor's dungeon immediately.
• #1036: MitD shows off his new umbrella to Oona, with drawings of duckies.
• #1037: Oona calls him “Great Beast in Shadow”, he and Greyview the dog treats him as if he was Xykon's pet who should obey Xykon, but MitD isn't willing to accept that idea. Oona says he almost bought two humans as food to MitD, seems to have heard that a human was MitD's best friend, but misunderstood as if he was his favourite snack. He also says he'd seen under the umbrella, he's a “magnificent monster”, envies Xykon for owning him, and thinks it's a waste kepping him in the shadows.
• #1038: MitD understands that Redcloak needs to prepare his spells. Shows suspicious understanding of goblin culture with big words, demon roach lampshades that as clue to MitD puzzle.
• #1039: MitD gets permission to do the painting tonight.
• #1040: MitD feels lucky about new company, picks a door. Joke about adventure being off-screen.
• #1041: MitD falls back, paints cross on multiple doors, including ones not on the ground floor. Holds paint can and brush as if he had two hands.
• #1042: O-Chul and Lien covertly observe MitD doing that. O-Chul is happy that the MitD is not always obedient to Team Evil. O-Chul has a theory about MitD, but doesn't tell because nobody would believe it. O-Chul brought a go game board.
• No further appearance in online strips up to #1105.

[KorvinStarmast]

[*]#1037: Oona calls him “Great Beast in Shadow”, he and Greyview the dog treats him as if he was Xykon's pet who should obey Xykon, but MitD isn't willing to accept that idea. Oona says he almost bought two humans as food to MitD, seems to have heard that a human was MitD's best friend, but misunderstood as if he was his favourite snack. He also says he'd seen under the umbrella, he's a “magnificent monster”, envies Xykon for owning him, and thinks it's a waste kepping him in the shadows.

It is Oona's recognizing MiTD as a beast (or mistaking him for one?) that has me leaning toward the Athasian Nightmare Beast. Trouble is, mistaking him for one leaves the door open to other options.

[Crusher]

Say, Crusher,

After some reading I'm hedging my bets a little. Modify mine to Slaad (white or black) > ANB if you please. Leaning heavily toward the slaad, still.

Sure thing!

[Windscion]

[*]#1037: Oona calls him “Great Beast in Shadow”, he and Greyview the dog treats him as if he was Xykon's pet who should obey Xykon, but MitD isn't willing to accept that idea. Oona says he almost bought two humans as food to MitD, seems to have heard that a human was MitD's best friend, but misunderstood as if he was his favourite snack. He also says he'd seen under the umbrella, he's a “magnificent monster”, envies Xykon for owning him, and thinks it's a waste kepping him in the shadows.[/list]

I do find it interesting that she describes the MitD as something from a nightmare, tho.

[Quartz]

Here's an updated version of the list of scenes where MitD appears in.

This should be included in the the first few posts of the next iteration of this thread.

[Quartz]

I do find it interesting that she describes the MitD as something from a nightmare, tho.

Yes. Doesn't, however, help me decide much between the Athasian Nightmare Beast and the Uvuudaum.

[ClockShock]

Since they're being recorded, put me down for the Athasian Nightmare Beast

[Quartz]

This has probably already been mentioned but one of the big problems with the MitD is when it hits Miko and Windstrider they land without much damage, yet there are holes in the wall. The Athasian Nightmare Beast has the powers of Disintegrate as well as Psychoportation and Psychokinesis. Is it too much to think that the Monster might have automatically disintegrated holes for them at the same time as psychoporting or psychokinesing them?

[D.One]

[*]#147: MitD asks to hold Xykon's phylactery. MitD had broken all his toys. MitD gets fanged Hello Kitty umbrella.

This one called my attention. Redcloak states MitD would break Xykon's phylactery, implying he believes the monster would be capable of, unintentionally, overcome all the protections of the object and break it. Even if it's a joke about his clumsiness, this indicates very high STR and possibly the capacity to overcome some damage reduction or hardness.

[Keltest]

This has probably already been mentioned but one of the big problems with the MitD is when it hits Miko and Windstrider they land without much damage, yet there are holes in the wall. The Athasian Nightmare Beast has the powers of Disintegrate as well as Psychoportation and Psychokinesis. Is it too much to think that the Monster might have automatically disintegrated holes for them at the same time as psychoporting or psychokinesing them?

That would require a pretty bizarre action economy. Its not impossible if the monster had something like Time Stop, but given the nature of the game, that seems rather unlikely.

[Darth Paul]

This has probably already been mentioned but one of the big problems with the MitD is when it hits Miko and Windstrider they land without much damage, yet there are holes in the wall.

My thought was always that it was an explicit demonstration of MitD's high Strength, combined with the joke effect of the Wile E. Coyote "character-shaped hole in the wall". A minor departure* from the rules simply for the sake of stating "the thing under the umbrella has enormous Strength" is not out of line for a comedy web toon. It might not lead to a direct correlation with his STR stat.

*Or even a rather large... depending on who is interpreting it, I suppose.

[Kish]

I think while that scene is a hint that the creature in the darkness is massively strong, trying to go from there to "and able to prevent people hit from dying and leave exactly-person-shaped holes in walls" would be misleading.

At most, we can say that the creature's minimum damage from one blow is not high enough to one-hit-kill a monk/paladin of Miko's uncertain level with Miko's uncertain number of hit points, or her celestial mount, which is unsurprising.

[KorvinStarmast]

Yes. Doesn't, however, help me decide much between the Athasian Nightmare Beast and the Uvuudaum.

Hmm, not an expert on that epic beastie, but I didn't find an earthquake feature. Maybe I didn't catch the reference via another ability. (Speaking objectively, that beast would be a bugger for Xykon to defeat, as I read it ...)

[InvisibleBison]

I do find it interesting that she describes the MitD as something from a nightmare, tho.

Oona doesn't describe the MitD as being something from a nightmare. She says that her wildest dreams are as majestic as the MitD. No mention of nightmares, and no direct comparison between dreams of any sort and MitD.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Oona doesn't describe the MitD as being something from a nightmare. She says that her wildest dreams are as majestic as the MitD. No mention of nightmares, and no direct comparison between dreams of any sort and MitD.

"Like in wildest dreams, after remorhaz kebab too close to bed" is a reference to nightmares "created" after eating too much spicy food.

GW

[Ruck]

I was just thinking about whether or not that line from Oona was a hint toward the Nightmare Beast, but I think most of our most common guesses could reasonably be described as something out of a nightmare.

[Yendor]

In particular, can someone please tell me who or what we see on that tiny picture in #887 with the MitD?

He's drinking (presumably) tea with O-Chul. Elan, Roy, and Durkon are also there.

[ReaderAt2046]

It occurred to me while I was rereading the template section that there's one more minor "pro" to the Pseudonatural template that isn't yet listed. I'm pretty sure that anything that passes from the Far Realms to the OOTS material plane would have to pass through the Astral Plane to get there, so the Pseudonatural template does explain why MITD recognizes the Astral Plane.

[Crusher]

Since they're being recorded, put me down for the Athasian Nightmare Beast

Duly noted!

[Quartz]

My thought was always that it was an explicit demonstration of MitD's high Strength, combined with the joke effect of the Wile E. Coyote "character-shaped hole in the wall". A minor departure* from the rules simply for the sake of stating "the thing under the umbrella has enormous Strength" is not out of line for a comedy web toon.

Indeed, or it could have been the Monster creating the hole for them, just like it's seen in the cartoons.

[Quartz]

Hmm, not an expert on that epic beastie, but I didn't find an earthquake feature.

This is the one problem with the Uvuudaum, though if you consider the cracks in the ground SFX rather than an actual Earthquake spell, casting 'Nailed to the Sky' on the ground itself might work, as might Disintegrate.

[Quartz]

It occurred to me while I was rereading the template section that there's one more minor "pro" to the Pseudonatural template that isn't yet listed. I'm pretty sure that anything that passes from the Far Realms to the OOTS material plane would have to pass through the Astral Plane to get there, so the Pseudonatural template does explain why MITD recognizes the Astral Plane.

That could also go for the Athasian Nightmare Beast and the Uvuudaum.

[ti'esar]

Does the Athasian Nightmare Beast actually literally have to originate from Athas? That seems unlikely given the existence of (and stated explanation behind) the forthcoming 'Dim Sun' PDF.