Major character who has only appeared on 1 page in the entire OOTS saga

[Bilbo Baggins]

My money is still on spikey-masked bugbear who was later seen handing a scroll to Redcloak.

Recent events have strongly led me to agree with this idea. Mainly because my initial reaction to it was, "Yeah, that seems like a reasonable idea except... a random bugbear mook becoming an ally? I doubt it." The comic going on to denounce that first instinct I had just feels like would fit too perfectly with what we've seen of the themes of this book so far for the idea to be wrong.

[Gift Jeraff]

Ah, but all of those dead characters are humanoids. The snack food people are clearly either outsiders or some kind of constructs, neither of which can be resurrected.

They could've been regular lifeforms in past iterations of the world that the gods snuck in as Easter eggs when making this one.

[Metastachydium]

Soy Latte.

Arguably, Soy Latte had two appearances (if the looks, bow and red-feathered arrows are anything to go by).

[hamishspence]

Given that Unnamed Beholder from strip 32 has only one appearance:

https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0032.html

is it now highly plausible that this Beholder is Sunny from strip 1238, and is the character in question?

[Precure]

It actually had two appearances by the Number of Character Appearances thread's rules. But it's doubtful what Rich count as an appearance.

[hamishspence]

I would guess that since "Orange Voice" was invisible, that's not "appearing on a page".

Unless you're saying that Strip 32 Beholder has appeared elsewhere - if so, where?

[Dire_Flumph]

Given that Unnamed Beholder from strip 32 has only one appearance:

https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0032.html

is it now highly plausible that this Beholder is Sunny from strip 1238, and is the character in question?

Not 100% ready to call it, but the fact that it and the #32 Beholder only have 8 eyestalks rather than 10 makes it a unique enough identifier that it seems to be the same beholder rather two different ones (The "Eye Tyrant" in A Monster for Every Season (Winter) has a full 10 for example).

Yeah, I'd go with "highly plausible"

[Squire Doodad]

We now have TWO candidates for the ally, Quippie and the Beholder.
There is the question of how the Beholder made it to Serini, but maybe she put up a Help Wanted ad.
I mean, she'd be better than Shojo about recruiting people in that case.

[Dire_Flumph]

There is the question of how the Beholder made it to Serini, but maybe she put up a Help Wanted ad.

Sunny got let go from the Dungeon of Dorukan. Some sort of reference program to the affiliated Kraagor's Tomb seems likely.

[littlebum2002]

I would guess that since "Orange Voice" was invisible, that's not "appearing on a page".

Unless you're saying that Strip 32 Beholder has appeared elsewhere - if so, where?

The Orange Voice strip happened AFTER Rich's comment that the creature has only appeared in one strip thus far, so it doesn't count for that anyway.

[Quebbster]

The Orange Voice strip happened AFTER Rich's comment that the creature has only appeared in one strip thus far, so it doesn't count for that anyway.

Wasn't the comment in the commentary to Utterly Dwarfed? The orange voice appeared in the last strip of Utterly Dwarfed, which should be included in the count.

[littlebum2002]

Wasn't the comment in the commentary to Utterly Dwarfed? The orange voice appeared in the last strip of Utterly Dwarfed, which should be included in the count.

The comment was in the commentary before strip 1178 and stated that the character had "appeared in exactly one (1) page of the story so far", not "appeared in exactly one (1) page of the story as of the end of this book".

[Rogan]

The comment was in the commentary before strip 1178 and stated that the character had "appeared in exactly one (1) page of the story so far", not "appeared in exactly one (1) page of the story as of the end of this book".

Since the comic in question was published online before the comment was printed, I doubt this interpretation is correct.
However I can totally see a stance of "invisible (to the reader) characters don't count as an appearance"

[Peelee]

Since the comic in question was published online before the comment was printed, I doubt this interpretation is correct.
However I can totally see a stance of "invisible (to the reader) characters don't count as an appearance"

Gonna plagiarize myself here from the main comic thread: not counting the ilast panels of UD is really the only interpretation that makes any sense. If the strip where they were invisible and talked on panel counted as an appearance, then the only way the "appeared in only one page" would be if it was an entirely new character we'd never seen, in which case the author pointing that out is kind of useless.

[Rogan]

Gonna plagiarize myself here from the main comic thread: not counting the ilast panels of UD is really the only interpretation that makes any sense. If the strip where they were invisible and talked on panel counted as an appearance, then the only way the "appeared in only one page" would be if it was an entirely new character we'd never seen, in which case the author pointing that out is kind of useless.

I am not opposed to them not counting. However, the reason would be "They were invisible to both the characters and the readers" and not "This panel(s) came later in book format than the comment".

I'm reasonably sure I said some days ago that I doubt the orange voice would be the ally, since it would be a cheap thing to point out an invisible creature at the end of the book would play a role later. Now, orange voice might be the ally - but the appearance would be "we will call you" instead of the invisible non-appearance.

[Metastachydium]

At any rate, funny as the idea of beholder no. 32 being identical with Sunny might be, I'm not sure I'm ready to call this yet.

[Riftwolf]

At any rate, funny as the idea of beholder no. 32 being identical with Sunny might be, I'm not sure I'm ready to call this yet.

There might be a line in the next comic like 'hey, it's you guys! You never called back!'

[Fyraltari]

There might be a line in the next comic like 'hey, it's you guys! You never called back!'

Or later, and more darkly:
" so how does a beholder and up being raised by a halfling?
Sunny: Well, I used to leave with my old parents in a dungeon owned by that guy Dorukan but then it exploded and they died so my new Mom took me in.
"

[Peelee]

I am not opposed to them not counting. However, the reason would be "They were invisible to both the characters and the readers" and not "This panel(s) came later in book format than the comment".

I'm reasonably sure I said some days ago that I doubt the orange voice would be the ally, since it would be a cheap thing to point out an invisible creature at the end of the book would play a role later. Now, orange voice might be the ally - but the appearance would be "we will call you" instead of the invisible non-appearance.

Totally fair on all counts.

At any rate, funny as the idea of beholder no. 32 being identical with Sunny might be, I'm not sure I'm ready to call this yet.

For what its worth (ie, very little), im calling it.

[Wizard_Lizard]

Yeah I think it's probably sunny, so that's cool! I like seeing call-backs and things like that.. heh.

[Rogan]

So... Was Sunny working for Sereni back then?
(Illegally) checking another gate?

Or was there another reason for the adorable monster to be at the Dungeon of D.?

[Emanick]

Add me to the group of people who are now reasonably confident that the ally is Sunny. The Quippie theory doesn’t make a lot of sense, since it’s sort of a stretch to call Quippie an “ally” rather than an object. (I know I was one of the ones who semi-promoted it, but I never liked it and always hoped it was wrong.)

Plus, we’re running sort of short on time to introduce that important ally. We’re no longer at what you could easily call the beginning of the book.

[Precure]

Obviously it's going to be the beholder from the first book. He's finally finished with the lawyers trying to prevent his big break.

A major character, in D&D that is, which has only appeared in one strip thus far is the beholder in strip #32.

Congratulations you guys, wherever you are now...

[Rrmcklin]

Add me to the group of people who are now reasonably confident that the ally is Sunny. The Quippie theory doesn’t make a lot of sense, since it’s sort of a stretch to call Quippie an “ally” rather than an object. (I know I was one of the ones who semi-promoted it, but I never liked it and always hoped it was wrong.)

Plus, we’re running sort of short on time to introduce that important ally. We’re no longer at what you could easily call the beginning of the book.

I'm not sure how you could say that. You can't definitively say how long this book is going to be, and we have word it will finish the story, even if it has to be significantly longer than all of the others.

I'll wait to see if there's any acknowledgement/callback to that strip, but an argument based on time isn't actually based on much, given the circumstances.

[Emanick]

I'm not sure how you could say that. You can't definitively say how long this book is going to be, and we have word it will finish the story, even if it has to be significantly longer than all of the others.

I'll wait to see if there's any acknowledgement/callback to that strip, but an argument based on time isn't actually based on much, given the circumstances.

It's just a gut feeling. I didn't mean it as a rigorous argument. I can't see this book being much more than 400 pages, though, so we're probably at least ⅛ of the way through, and we've just started a battle. If a character is going to serve as an important ally in the first half of the book, I would expect them to be introduced within the first quarter of it, and given how few people seem to be around, I can't see introductions coming thick and fast, exactly.

[Riftwolf]

So... Was Sunny working for Sereni back then?
(Illegally) checking another gate?

Or was there another reason for the adorable monster to be at the Dungeon of D.?

He'd travelled south to try and make it as an actor while Dorukan gave him a temp job to pay the bills. When he started facing legal troubles, Sunny moved back in with his mum and helped with the family business.

[Yxylu]

He'd travelled south to try and make it as an actor while Dorukan gave him a temp job to pay the bills. When he started facing legal troubles, Sunny moved back in with his mum and helped with the family business.

Sunny came home with a mission?

A semi-obscure song allusion, for those whose reference pools are different than mine.

[littlebum2002]

I am not opposed to them not counting. However, the reason would be "They were invisible to both the characters and the readers" and not "This panel(s) came later in book format than the comment".

Yes, that is what the phrase "so far" means. It means "prior to this comment", not "or shortly after it". There are people who only read the book versions of this comic. Rich is not going to leave them out because "Oh, well when you read that sentence you should have looked at the website to see where the story was on that day". And how do you account for people who recieve the book at different times? It takes awhile to ship the book to overseas locations. If someone in another country only received the book by the time strip 1201 came out? Does that mean the merchant could be the character who was only in one strip, since that strip was already out by the time they got their book?

There are only two explanations for his sentence that make sense:

1) the character appeared in one strip prior to Strip 1178, or
2) Rich doesn't know what the words "so far" mean

EDIT: oh wait, I forgot the 3rd one:

3) the "so far" comment relates to the date on which you read the book and therefore is different for each reader.

[Rogan]

Yes, that is what the phrase "so far" means. It means "prior to this comment", not "or shortly after it". There are people who only read the book versions of this comic. Rich is not going to leave them out because "Oh, well when you read that sentence you should have looked at the website to see where the story was on that day". And how do you account for people who recieve the book at different times? It takes awhile to ship the book to overseas locations. If someone in another country only received the book by the time strip 1201 came out? Does that mean the merchant could be the character who was only in one strip, since that strip was already out by the time they got their book?

There are only two explanations for his sentence that make sense:

1) the character appeared in one strip prior to Strip 1178, or
2) Rich doesn't know what the words "so far" mean

EDIT: oh wait, I forgot the 3rd one:

3) the "so far" comment relates to the date on which you read the book and therefore is different for each reader.

Nope, not buying this.
You completely disregard the - in my opinion very likely - options of
4) so far relates to the time the comment was written - and since this time is unknown:
4b) so far relates to the time the comment was published. And the comment was published after the whole book was ready, with most strips being published online before.

Plus, if I remember correctly, the giants himself suggests to read the comic before the comment. Not sure about this... summon banana?

[Ruck]

Sunny came home with a mission?

A semi-obscure song allusion, for those whose reference pools are different than mine.

*groan* And just when I thought I'd forgotten about the late-90s adult contemporary that dominated the airwaves...