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

[DapperWarlock]

This is a definite concern, but there seems to be a world inside the Snarl. Depending on when it formed they could have been getting worship from there.

It's also possible that they were changed / altered / diminished by the Snarl in some way instead of being killed, which could constrain them and answer some of your other issues as well.

I'm guessing it was formed sometime after the gates were built. My theory is that the gates somehow allowed the Snarl to look at the planet and maybe disguise itself as another planet. I'm also under the impression that there isn't any actual life on the planet--though that's just going off Laurin saying she couldn't detect any fish in that ocean when she scanned it.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to have been diminished rather than killed. Also raises the question of how they hid from the Snarl for thousands upon thousands of cycles without it finishing them off. Presumably they've been trapped in the demiplane-world-pocket with the Snarl, otherwise someone or something would have found them by now.

I could easily be wrong and this is going to turn out to be true. I just don't see it working out that way.

[Griffincat]

Silly guess - zebrafolk who talks.

Serious guess - Yydranna.

[Rogar Demonblud]

She's on a couple pages.

[The Pilgrim]

i.e. all the instances of MitD shaking hands or interacting in ways that indicates a form under the umbrella doesn't count; and some random instance of an appearance with a monster in it we never realized was MitD is his one true appearance.

MitD has appeared out of darkness and in plain sight in exactly one page: At the circus in Start of Darkness.

As the scene was presented from his point of view, his physical form remained concealed from the reader's view.

[Schroeswald]

MitD has appeared out of darkness and in plain sight in exactly one page: At the circus in Start of Darkness.

As the scene was presented from his point of view, his physical form remained concealed from the reader's view.

And thus as he wasn’t shown in the comic, he didn’t have an appearance outside of the darkness. We just discussed this.

[woweedd]

I’m pretty sure some people in this thread are confusing Rich for a genie. Seriously, he’s not gonna do anything that cheap.

[halfeye]

And thus as he wasn’t shown in the comic, he didn’t have an appearance outside of the darkness. We just discussed this.

We didn't reach a concensus, I for one still believe that counts as an appearance, and apparently I'm not alone.

My main reason for thinking it's the MitD is that he's the only character with a one page appearance who can become one of the team without every member of the comic's audience reacting "Who?"

[DapperWarlock]

We didn't reach a concensus, I for one still believe that counts as an appearance, and apparently I'm not alone.

My main reason for thinking it's the MitD is that he's the only character with a one page appearance who can become one of the team without every member of the comic's audience reacting "Who?"

Except we already know that the MitD is essentially an ally now, because he's already rebelling against Team Evil. It'd be incredibly cheap for Rich to drop that hint and then go, "Yes, the hint was both using an incredibly tenuous definition of 'appear' AND referred to someone you all already knew would join them! Aren't I clever?"

The POINT is that it's someone we're not going to expect. Maybe someone we haven't even thought of in years. Maybe SOME of the comic's audience will react with "Huh? Who is this?" But a non-zero number of us will likely react with a dramatic gasp, or even possibly uproarious laughter.

I'd also point back to them being an important ally for the first HALF of the book. I'm willing to bet that once the Monster officially switches sides, it's gonna be for the remainder of the book. Unless the entire second half of the book is denouement, which I doubt will be the case.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I’m pretty sure some people in this thread are confusing Rich for a genie.

Yeah, he's not a genie, he's a Giant.



SorryNotSorry.

[Ruck]

I’m pretty sure some people in this thread are confusing Rich for a genie. Seriously, he’s not gonna do anything that cheap.

This happens a lot; people on the forums try to look for ways something Rich said could be deliberately misleading yet technically correct, but I think he's been much more straightforward than that this whole time.

[DapperWarlock]

This happens a lot; people on the forums try to look for ways something Rich said could be deliberately misleading yet technically correct, but I think he's been much more straightforward than that this whole time.

The only time off the top of my head that I can think of him being slightly tricky like that was with the number of words in V's prophecy. Other than that, yeah, the hints he's given haven't exactly been verbal gymnastics.

[ella ventic]

I don't know, his teasing of "one character will die. Another will drink a beverage" followed by "...little did you know I was referring to the exact same moment!" has a flavor of that sort of trickery about it. So it's not unheard of. (Of course, that doesn't mean it's mandatory here, either.)

[Emanick]

I don't know, his teasing of "one character will die. Another will drink a beverage" followed by "...little did you know I was referring to the exact same moment!" has a flavor of that sort of trickery about it. So it's not unheard of. (Of course, that doesn't mean it's mandatory here, either.)

I dunno, that never struck me as trickery. The "drink a beverage" thing sounded silly enough that I wrote it off altogether (I mean, I assumed it would happen, I just never thought it would be plot-critical), which I suspect was the intent. I don't think bringing up things as a joke and then making them serious later on is really the same thing as trickery.

[Ron Miel]

I don't know, his teasing of "one character will die. Another will drink a beverage" followed by "...little did you know I was referring to the exact same moment!" has a flavor of that sort of trickery about it. So it's not unheard of. (Of course, that doesn't mean it's mandatory here, either.)

I don't recall that. cite?

[The Aboleth]

Honestly, Rich's answer to question #27 on the Patreon makes me think Redcloak's niece will ACTUALLY show up (bolded emphasis mine):

"...there are very, very few new characters slated to appear in this final book—even the ones that are appearing “on panel” for the first time have been referenced obliquely before."

Pretty sure Redcloak's niece has been on more than 1 panel in SoD, so I'm not suggesting she's the specific character he referred to...but I do think she WILL show up now, whereas before I was firmly against that possibility.

EDIT: The "on panel for the first time" remark might seem to contradict my point, but I interpreted that as "on panel in the main comic...." But I concede that's my OWN interpretation and not exactly one with a lot of evidence.

[CriticalFailure]

Honestly, Rich's answer to question #27 on the Patreon makes me think Redcloak's niece will ACTUALLY show up (bolded emphasis mine):



Pretty sure Redcloak's niece has been on more than 1 panel in SoD, so I'm not suggesting she's the specific character he referred to...but I do think she WILL show up now, whereas before I was firmly against that possibility.

EDIT: The "on panel for the first time" remark might seem to contradict my point, but I interpreted that as "on panel in the main comic...." But I concede that's my OWN interpretation and not exactly one with a lot of evidence.

Right-Eye definitely has been only obliquely mentioned but very pointedly obliquely mentioned in the main comic. It would be really cool if his daughter were to come back. I am excited for more Team Evil stuff this book.

[DapperWarlock]

I don't recall that. cite?

The commentary at the end of DStP had Rich dramatically stating that someone would drink a beverage in the next book, and then very flippantly saying "Oh, and someone will die." He then states in the BRitF commentary that those hints both referred to the same moment. (Malack draining Durkon's blood.)

[Rogar Demonblud]

I believe the exact phrase is "have a drink", which is more ambiguous.

[The Pilgrim]

What about Master Fyron's son?

We don't know who he is, so he could be anyone who has appeared only in a panel, without we knowing he was Master Fyorn's son. In a pinch, it can be arged that he has appeared (in mention form) in exactly one strip, #434.

[DapperWarlock]

I believe the exact phrase is "have a drink", which is more ambiguous.

It wasn't, he used the phrase "drink a beverage."

What about Master Fyron's son?

We don't know who he is, so he could be anyone who has appeared only in a panel, without we knowing he was Master Fyorn's son. In a pinch, it can be arged that he has appeared (in mention form) in exactly one strip, #434.

Appearing in mention form is not a thing--but if it was, he was actually mentioned twice.

I'm seeing three possibilities with this one. Either he won't show up in this volume, he WILL show up but just isn't the one being hinted at, or he is the one being hinted at and has appeared in one page but we never knew it was him.

I'm leaning towards option 1 here, mostly because his physical absence from the scene in SoD leads me to believe he's just an element of the Blood Oath backstory Rich threw in back when the plot barely had a shape to it, rather than a carefully laid surprise reveal.

But hey, it could easily go the other way. Off the top of my head, maybe he got raised and never left Cliffport, and was one of the mercenaries Belkar got to kill poor Yokyok.

I'd suggest maybe we saw him in Celestia, but the only other people we saw there were also climbing the mountain, and it'd be pretty weird for him not to have even made it to the first level before Roy got there.

[CriticalFailure]

Maybe Fyron's son has teamed up with Redcloak's niece.

[Schroeswald]

Appearing in mention form is not a thing--but if it was, he was actually mentioned twice.

I'm seeing three possibilities with this one. Either he won't show up in this volume, he WILL show up but just isn't the one being hinted at, or he is the one being hinted at and has appeared in one page but we never knew it was him.

I'm leaning towards option 1 here, mostly because his physical absence from the scene in SoD leads me to believe he's just an element of the Blood Oath backstory Rich threw in back when the plot barely had a shape to it, rather than a carefully laid surprise reveal.

But hey, it could easily go the other way. Off the top of my head, maybe he got raised and never left Cliffport, and was one of the mercenaries Belkar got to kill poor Yokyok.

I'd suggest maybe we saw him in Celestia, but the only other people we saw there were also climbing the mountain, and it'd be pretty weird for him not to have even made it to the first level before Roy got there.

I’m not convinced he’s gone because his latest mention was a month before SoD came out, if he was 100% a relic from Rich not really knowing what was going on with the plot I don’t think Rich would have brought him back up right before releasing something that has him conspicuously missing.

[DapperWarlock]

I’m not convinced he’s gone because his latest mention was a month before SoD came out, if he was 100% a relic from Rich not really knowing what was going on with the plot I don’t think Rich would have brought him back up right before releasing something that has him conspicuously missing.

That is certainly a valid way of looking at it. I tend to see it more from the "conservation of detail is overrated" point of view--or more specifically, details tend to be conserved more in the art in those days than the writing. Basically, Rich was stuck with the original description of the events, and didn't take the time to design a new character just to use their corpse as set dressing because he didn't think their absence would draw as much notice as it did.

That's just kind of the conclusion I reached based on what I've absorbed of how Rich has put this story together. It's entirely possible that the absence of Pucebuckle Jr. was entirely deliberate--while I lean towards the former explanation, it is admittedly by a slim margin. (I seem to recall Rich being somewhat evasive when posed with a question on why Fyron's son wasn't in the scene? Responding with something akin to "the story's not over yet"? I'd scour the Index to try and find it, but I don't know if it actually happened and I'd prefer to eat some food before I go to bed tonight.)

EDIT: Found it while I was eating. Way more ambiguous than I remembered, could be dodging or could have just been unimportant:

[The Pilgrim]

But hey, it could easily go the other way. Off the top of my head, maybe he got raised and never left Cliffport, and was one of the mercenaries Belkar got to kill poor Yokyok.

That magic user with the green tatoo on his face is now officially Master Fyron's son in my head canon.

Maybe Fyron's son has teamed up with Redcloak's niece.

The League of Loose Threads. Featuring Redcloack's niece, Master Fyrion's son, Shoulder Pad Guy, and the two dudes who raised the Oracle. They look like a powerful team. If they also managed to raise Shelby the DragonSlayer, that would be the endgame for Xykon.

[mjasghar]

Sorry if it’s been been mentioned before
What happened to the goblin female from SoD?

[Quizatzhaderac]

Sorry if it’s been been mentioned before
What happened to the goblin female from SoD?

Redcloak's mother: killed by paladins.
Redcloak's sister: killed by paladins
Redcloak's sister-in-law: killed by adventures while Xykon watched for amusement
Redcloak's niece: smuggled to relative safety, potentially living with *gasp* humans.
Redcloak's hot date: Went back to her home village. Joined a gospel/metal (they're the same thing in goblin religion) band. Has had three (legitimate) children by different fathers, each one being on of the bands (seven) drummers killed in action.

[D.One]

The League of Loose Threads. Featuring Redcloack's niece, Master Fyrion's son, Shoulder Pad Guy, and the two dudes who raised the Oracle. They look like a powerful team. If they also managed to raise Shelby the DragonSlayer, that would be the endgame for Xykon.

And don't you forget this 18th level Incarnum user.

[Joerg]

Do you mean the psion? That actually could be a (remote) possibility. At least he's got exactly one appearance.

[DapperWarlock]

And don't you forget this 18th level Incarnum user.

Referring to an Incarnum user as any kind of thread is giving them too much credit.

[RatElemental]

Can anybody come up with a definition of "appearance" which, consistently applied, yields exactly one (1) appearance for MitD?

Easy: "An appearance is when a character punches another character through a wall."

Technically this means most of the characters in the comic haven't made a single appearance, but it would be a definition that if applied consistently would mean the MitD had only one.