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

[CriticalFailure]

That seems like it would be a cheap way to get rid of a fairly important character.

[Emanick]

That seems like it would be a cheap way to get rid of a fairly important character.

Heroic sacrifices are a lot of things, but “cheap” isn’t anywhere near the top of the list, at least to my knowledge. Unless I’m missing something in your post.

[DaOldeWolf]

I am going to put a weird group of candidates. Any of the gnome characters introduced last book.

It would be cool to see more of this little fellows.

Or this could the return of the dead goblin with the unfortunate name from the battle for Azure city.

[CriticalFailure]

The cloak has been established to stop/slow aging. “Actually it just bestows a magic youth effect that ends if you remove it and Redcloak dies of age without it even though he’s already been shown to be fine without it” seems like a cop out.

[Ron Miel]

Ever read H. Rider Haggard's She, or seen any of the movie adaptations? It has an eternally young person who ages to death in a few seconds once the effect is removed. It is widely regarded as a classic within its genre. I say it's not a cop out. Maybe a case of "it's been done before" though.

[Peelee]

Ever read H. Rider Haggard's She, or seen any of the movie adaptations? It has an eternally young person who ages to death in a few seconds once the effect is removed.

Never heard of it, though that may not mean much. I'd have gone with The Picture of Dorian Gray, myself.

[Ron Miel]

That's a good example too.

[Personification]

Or, for that matter, Disney's Tangled.

[factotum]

Ever read H. Rider Haggard's She, or seen any of the movie adaptations? It has an eternally young person who ages to death in a few seconds once the effect is removed. It is widely regarded as a classic within its genre. I say it's not a cop out. Maybe a case of "it's been done before" though.

Or it's a case of "it won't happen because Redcloak already took off the cloak in strip #149 and didn't die in the slightest", as I said a few posts ago.

[Ron Miel]

Yes, you said that. But nobody is arguing that merely taking off the cloak for a short time will end the spell. People are talking about the cloak being destroyed. Or if he actually discards the cloak severing his connection. It's the difference between Prospero throwing away his magic book, and merely putting it down for a moment.

Also, the red belt might be part of the mantle. As long as he wears that, maybe he doesn't age.

[Dire_Flumph]

Or it's a case of "it won't happen because Redcloak already took off the cloak in strip #149 and didn't die in the slightest", as I said a few posts ago.

Are we sure? He might be wearing it under his briefs like a diaper there

[CriticalFailure]

Presumably those things hadn’t been previously established not to work like that. Which is the case with the Crimson Mantle. Since there is an example of him taking it off, he’s discussed the possibility of giving it up, and every description implied that it didn’t work like that.

[Lord Raziere]

Something to remember re: any goblin from the prequels - SoD was a long time ago, and goblin lifespan isn't that long (something like half a human's - Redcloak's explicitly an exception, his cape keeps his aging paused)

the time of Redcloak encountering the goblin girl is only three years before he gets to dorukan, its not THAT long ago.

[Precure]

Mine predictions are:

1. Larry Gardener (he needs redemption)
2. Priest of Adad (had a unique design)
3. Olivia Benson (probably trademarked)

New crackpot theory: Redcloak sacrifices his life to defeat The Snarl by throwing the Crimson Mantle into the rift, thus sealing it with purple quiddity and instantly aging himself to the point where he dies of old age.

He's not that old! His brother was alive and well just a few years ago.

[hroþila]

He's not that old! His brother was alive and well just a few years ago.

His younger brother was rather old a few years ago. I don't know how long goblins live in 3.5, but Right-Eye must have been around 40-45 years old.

[hamishspence]

His younger brother was rather old a few years ago. I don't know how long goblins live in 3.5, but Right-Eye must have been around 40-45 years old.

50 is portrayed as at, or close to, maximum age in OOTS. 3.5 allows for slightly older goblins (Races of Faerun) but not by much.

[factotum]

His younger brother was rather old a few years ago. I don't know how long goblins live in 3.5, but Right-Eye must have been around 40-45 years old.

At the very least you would expect Redcloak to have white hair, the same as Right-Eye did--the fact he manifestly does not shows he's physically younger. (Arguably mentally younger too, TBH, but I don't think we can lay the blame for that at the Crimson Mantle's door).

[Precure]

His younger brother was rather old a few years ago.

There is not much age difference between them, I think. Redcloak was a teenager while his brother was a child.

[hroþila]

There is not much age difference between them, I think. Redcloak was a teenager while his brother was a child.

I don't think there was much of an age difference either, perhaps 3 years, 5 years at most in my opinion. But Right Eye wasn't many years away from a natural death.

[Crusher]

Oh, btw, predictions are all updated. I was out of town for a while and then had running computer problems for a while, but all fixed now!

[DapperWarlock]

Okay. Brace yourself for a giant sack of wind, because for the last month I've been scouring each book and pasting images into a word document to try and find something that jumps out at me as "Ooh! This must be it!" And... I've really come up short. Maybe it's because my ability to focus on anything for very long is terrible and I missed a ton of options, but it's mostly "Hell No"s and a handful of "Maybe"s on there. So this is kind of a blathering mass of my... strongest(?) ideas, and the reasons they may not fit.

My first suggestion a few pages back (the monk from On the Origin of PCs) is still the only one that's really had my imagination going at all, of all the ones I've seen. It's really interesting, in my opinion, to think of someone whose only encounter with the order (and Belkar in particular) was at the very beginning of their quest showing up now, especially contrasting with Minrah who has only known them here, at the height of their growth as individuals and a team. That said, the logistics of him being at the North Pole to meet them involve either complete coincidence (not all that unlikely in this world, I admit, but certainly a plausible reason that this wouldn't have even occurred to Rich in the first place) or that monk just being an insanely obsessive weirdo and tracking them down. Also, it has occurred to me that Rich may be disinclined to bring back a character whose only scene was in a prequel book--given his reasoning for not planning a Scribble prequel (their story is too central to the main story to leave the details to a prequel), I started to extrapolate the idea that the plot suddenly going, "and then the Order meets someone we only saw once in a book most of the readers of the online strip won't have ever read" might seem a bit unsatisfying for most of the audience, so he wouldn't go that route. I could make the case that, since the tease was in the commentary for the book, he knew most of us speculating would be exactly the ones to have read all the prequels and thus the reveal would just be for us diehards who had thought of it... but I'm not ridiculously confident enough to state that as absolute fact. Plus OtOoPCs is probably the prequel Rich is least proud of, so there's every chance he doesn't even remember putting that monk in there in the first place.

So, that idea's kind of stalling, I guess. That said, I do have a couple others.


This lady was only in one page, we know Roy's Archon had some sort of assignment from Roy to be carried out after he was rezzed. Maybe it was a plea for help? But, the only difference between this and the people suggesting Tony from NCFtPB is really that she has a more interesting character model. I still find both pretty unlikely.

My next idea has probably cropped up here before and I just didn't see it: the ally will be someone possessed by one of the Archfiends of the IFCC. Thus, they will be an ally for the first half of the book, but will likely turn on the Order after that because they're playing both sides against the middle for the purpose of general conflict and destruction, and probably the end of the world. Who will be possessed is... well, it's basically the same list as who could show up and be an ally on their own, since they at least have to play the part well enough before turning heel. I have some ideas I like--that merchant who gave Belkar the clasp, for instance (I think her name is supposed to be Elaina? Unless she's just a sales associate, and Elaina of "Elaina's Witchery" is her boss). Eve and/or Larry of Eve and Larry's Alchemy from NCFtPB would be an odd but humorous choice, but I only even mentioned them because everyone else on my list was too unremarkable to even bother with.

Shoulderpads Guy technically could work whether possessed or not--for a moment I thought it could only work if he were possessed, because the only way he could get there otherwise would have been for Laurin to 'port him, but the airship should still be Dimensional Locked for at least six days after they reach the north pole, but if Sabine were flying him then sure, she could just plop him on the ship--but then I realized Laurin (or Miron) could still just teleport directly to the North Pole, duh. And in that case, maybe the hint was a sort of red herring--that actually, all four non-Tarquin members of the Vector Legion have decided to help with the Gate situation and the fact that one of them has only been in one page is just coincidence. This also strikes me as pretty unlikely--but Miron and Laurin DID actually get attacked by the Snarl a book ago, so maybe more likely than it seems?

Ugh, bear with me, a lot of these ideas are popping into my head as I type them.

I briefly considered those two lizardfolk who raised the Oracle back in DStP, but seeing how Rich actually referred to that as worldbuilding rather than foreshadowing, I'm inclined to dismiss it.

Spoiler: iNSANE rANT: my inner thoughts are trying to get out again

Show

EXCEPT OF COURSE IT'S THE REAL ANSWER, IT'S THE ANSWER TO ALL OF IT! THEIR SKIN COLOR IS SO CLOSE TO THE GREEN SPEECH BALLOON, THE REDDISH-ORANGE ROBE ON THE WIZARD IS SO CLOSE TO THE REDDISH-ORANGE SPEECH BALLOON! EVEN THE MENTION OF THEIR BOSS! IT ALL CONNECTS, DON'T YOU SEE??!!! LOOK AT IT!!!


LOOK AT IT!!!!

Ahem.

Of course, there's the more jokey answers that my inner child wishes it would be: Xyklon the Consequential, Fruit Pie the Sorcerer (please oh please oh please Rich, let it be Fruit Pie! I know he's dead but PLEASE), any of the clowns that have been featured in the story (the clown ninjas from SoD or the Hobgoblin Martial Clowning Adept from BRitF)...

But sometimes the thing that strikes me as most likely is the simplest, rather than the splashiest.

And so I give you... these guys. These three unnamed, unspeaking bugbears. One or two or all or more of them could serve to shelter the Order while they plan their move against Xykon, get a feel for the environment, etc. Maybe in the days leading up to the Order arriving, Xykon has worried them somehow--he's getting restless, maybe offing one or two in boredom? Maybe their search is disturbing their Monster Hollow and Oona's chaperoning isn't doing enough to ensure they still have monsters to tame/hunt? And since "Dark One no big whoop," they don't have any particular loyalty to Redcloak either, so one or more of them decide to harbor the Order and get these guys who are disturbing their economy/ecology out of here ASAP.

Maybe. Still not a theory I have 100% confidence in, but I think it's the closest to something Rich would actually do that I've thought of so far. But that's probably not saying much.

Though I think I know who would REALLY serve as the most valuable ally in this, the Order's greatest time of need.


Emergency Hedgehog!

So, to sum up for the purposes of the list:

Some bugbear(s)>Emergency Hedgehog>I guess Shoulderpads Guy?>Elaina>Monk from OtOoPCs>That celestial lady (but Tony works just as well I guess)>definitely not those lizardfolk no siree>Fruit Pie the Sorcerer

There. Hopefully the hour and a half I spent crafting this post and tweaking it to make it as readable as possible kept it from being a completely undecipherable mess. Maybe now that I've gotten all my insane theories out there I can just relax and enjoy the surprise when the reveal finally comes. Being creative and unemployed kinda sucks.

[b_jonas]

But sometimes the thing that strikes me as most likely is the simplest, rather than the splashiest.

That's the simplest? No, the simplest and least splashy would be a generic soldier from the Azure City army, a generic hobgoblin from Gobbotopia.

Another possibility that occured to me would be a slave that the Azure City resistance freed and who had heard about O-Chul in the cell blocks.

[DapperWarlock]

Another possibility that occured to me would be a slave that the Azure City resistance freed and who had heard about O-Chul in the cell blocks.

Yeah, I suppose one may have gotten away from Redcloak's slaughter. Edit: But then again, all those guys were likely in two pages--the strip where they say to spread the word, then when they're freed. Heck, maybe even three, if we count the shot of them on the tower.

I also completely forgot my idea that, since Hinjo still has a major role to play in the last arc, the ally involved may give him a fast track from the island to the North Pole.

But the only thing I thought to do with that was suggest the cast of FF6 as a goof.

[Emanick]

What about the guys who

Spoiler: On the Origin of PCs

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Durkon tried to recruit for the Order, the ones who stormed the gates of Hell the previous week?

They're obviously powerful enough to make a big difference in any combat situation. Seems like a longshot, but then again, everybody else does, too.

[b_jonas]

Yeah, I suppose one may have gotten away from Redcloak's slaughter. Edit: But then again, all those guys were likely in two pages--the strip where they say to spread the word, then when they're freed. Heck, maybe even three, if we count the shot of them on the tower.

#511, #523, #545, and #547? There are still a few who only appear in #547 out of those, but you're right, those have probably died. Some of the ones freed in #511 may have survived. But yes, it's not a particularly good idea.

[Grey Watcher]

...

But sometimes the thing that strikes me as most likely is the simplest, rather than the splashiest.

And so I give you... these guys. These three unnamed, unspeaking bugbears.

...

That's the simplest? No, the simplest and least splashy would be a generic soldier from the Azure City army, a generic hobgoblin from Gobbotopia.

...

I don't know. I would think, if absolutely nothing else, the character in question would need some kind of visual distinction from a crowd, even if it's just a different color on a garment or something. Yeah, I guess Rich could give us a verbal reference or a flashback to Comic X, Panel Y to designate them, but, much like the whole That Guy with the Halberd meme from a while back, there's no real way to designate if a given random Azurite or Gobbotopian soldier is in multiple pages or not, since, barring some very specific continuity (eg a dialogue scene), there's no way to confirm or refute that this soldier in Comic N is the same one as that soldier in Comic N+3.

The bugbear villagers do a little better, since they have varying mask and clothing designs and thus are distinguishable from each other (unlike their counterparts in the previous paragraph), it still feels a bit odd for the character to have had no dialogue, no name, and not even a visible face. Even the random Dude with the Fancy Cape from Cliffport at least has a face.

[bengator]

There are demigods in the Northern pantheon, which nobody thinks of most of the time. This led me to a new idea.

We are introduced to the Eastern Gods in strip 273, showing Zeus, Ares, and Pan. In strip #274, we are told that the Snarl "systematically executed the remainder of the Eastern gods." He started with Ares and Apollo, the Hades, Poseidon, even gentle Demeter and fair Aphrodite, and finally Zeus. But Pan is neither mentioned nor shown.

All of the ones listed, and shown to die, are major gods in the Greek Pantheon.

But Pan never was. Is he a demi-god who's been hiding ever since the major Eastern gods were slain? He's appeared only once, in #273.

And, of course, he would have a green speech balloon.

I like this theory, or something similar. We know that Shojo can be an unreliable narrator, whether on purpose or from lack of complete knowledge, such that we don’t know what world was in existence when the Eastern gods were killed or, potentially, whether they were killed at all. There may be something in the final solution that will bring all the gods, not just the Eastern ones, to an end in favor of mortals. In any case, looking forward to seeing the mystery revealed!

[DapperWarlock]

I like this theory, or something similar. We know that Shojo can be an unreliable narrator, whether on purpose or from lack of complete knowledge, such that we don’t know what world was in existence when the Eastern gods were killed or, potentially, whether they were killed at all.

Except that Thor did confirm 1) That they were killed after making the FIRST world, and 2) They all died, which is why the green quiddity wasn't used in any subsequent worlds. If any of them survived, all they had to do was let the other gods know, and they'd have had the green quiddity to work with that whole time.

Plus, given how the gods use worship and belief as food, the fact that no one has worshiped any of the Eastern Gods across probably billions of other worlds means that if there HAD been any stragglers, they'd have all starved by now.

[The_Weirdo]

3. Olivia Benson (probably trademarked)

Chunk-chunk!

Did anyone suggest Durkon's deva's one-night slaad/stand yet? If not, well, it makes sense for the most famous Brazilian Chaotic Neutral translator in this forum to suggest it, no?

[skim172]

Just finished the book, late to the party.

I'm guessing the cleric of the Dark One who first discovered the rift in Start of Darkness (and fell in afterwards). I've been sure the Order is bound to fall in the rift for several books now, and they'll need an ally who can provide exposition when they get there.

You know - while I don't entirely agree with your reasoning - the more I think about it, the more I like it. The next book is gonna be all about the Rift - and if there is some secret about the Rift, then that is one possible character who is positioned to provide that exposition. That goblin cleric is the only character that was depicted as falling into the Rift, as opposed to be torn apart by the Snarl. So ... maybe he's not dead.


So yeah, I'm putting my vote in favor of Mr. Flumph's idea: that unnamed Dark One Cleric from Start of the Darkness. Clarence Darko, I'll call him.

If for no other reason than that I appreciate his rigorous, scientific approach in his study of the Rift, as demonstrated in his use of the animal test subjects. I always have respect for a researcher.