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

[Squire Doodad]

I'm missing something...why are we calling the moldy skull Quippie?

Why wouldn't we?

[Ruck]

I'm missing something...why are we calling the moldy skull Quippie?

It's from a bonus strip in the print book.

And, for context, it's named that because it's an osquip head.

[Qwerty Shrdlu]

OK, so we're all nailing down our predictions, however wrong so we can't change them later.

I know this has been done to death, but there are only two ways this can go:

1. A character who only appeared once and now becomes a major character

2. An existing major character who only appeared in a particular form once before. Sabine is too easy, and while the Norse Gods were known for appearing in disguise, Rich has never shown us that before. Plus it would be cheating to use a form we don't know about, and Rich hasn't done that to us.

I'm going way out on a limb and picking Zz'dtri. Of course, if we see another Scrying Eye and it's not his, oh well.

[Metastachydium]

OK, so we're all nailing down our predictions, however wrong so we can't change them later.

I know this has been done to death, but there are only two ways this can go:

1. A character who only appeared once and now becomes a major character

2. An existing major character who only appeared in a particular form once before. Sabine is too easy, and while the Norse Gods were known for appearing in disguise, Rich has never shown us that before. Plus it would be cheating to use a form we don't know about, and Rich hasn't done that to us.

Not quite. The hint was this:

What, you still want a hint of something specific yet to come? Something you're not expecting? OK, how about this: Someone who has appeared in exactly one (1) page of the story so far (including all the prequel stories) will become an important ally in the first half of the next book. Good luck figuring that one out!

This hint does not permit your second interpretation, since it does not state or imply in any way that the particular „someone” is a major character and makes it abundantly clear that the character appeared on exactly one page. (In other news, the title of the thread is somewhat misleading in that regard.)

[Squire Doodad]

Had Quippie been seen at that point? I can't recall. Is Quippie from a Blood Runs bonus page?

[Ruck]

Had Quippie been seen at that point? I can't recall. Is Quippie from a Blood Runs bonus page?

Quippie is introduced in an Utterly Dwarfed bonus strip.

[Qwerty Shrdlu]

Not quite. The hint was this:


This hint does not permit your second interpretation, since it does not state or imply in any way that the particular „someone” is a major character and makes it abundantly clear that the character appeared on exactly one page. (In other news, the title of the thread is somewhat misleading in that regard.)

Oh well, guess I lost the nothing I bet on the pool.

[Squire Doodad]

Quippie is introduced in an Utterly Dwarfed bonus strip.

Does that mean Quippie was not around at the time Rich said it?

[DapperWarlock]

Does that mean Quippie was not around at the time Rich said it?

It was during the last chapter of the book, so sure, the commentary where Rich gave the hint WAS before Quippie was given to Haley in the physical pages, but I'd say it's reasonable to assume "the story so far" encompasses the end of the book. Especially seeing how Rich recommends reading the whole book before the commentaries.

[RatElemental]

Put my vote down for fruit pie the sorcerer
In all seriousness, he's in one strip and has a name

He's also dead.

As such, my money is on Popcorn or Soy Latte. It can't be Milk Dudes or Nachos, because they're also dead, and both Pizza and Soda have had a second appearance (in which Pizza also died).

Personally, I'm leaning more towards Popcorn, they looked like they were in a pretty good spot to finish off Soy Latte.

[Peelee]

He's also dead.

So was Roy. So was Durkon. So was Jirix. So was the Oracle. So was Thirden, Shirra, Hoskin, Kandro, ......

I don't think being dead is necessarily the be-all, end-all impediment you imply.

[Ron Miel]

The theater snacks are also copyrighted characters. Copyright law allows cameos for purposes of parody, sometimes, but he'd be risking a lawsuit using any of them as major characters.

I think it is very unlikely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm6IU6V-dE8

[Peelee]

The theater snacks are also copyrighted characters.

Are they, though? They seem pretty generic to me (all versions that I've seen, at least). Granted, this is probably not an issue we can go into in great detail, but suffice it to say that I doubt any claims of copyrighted characters on nameless, generic anthropomorphic movie snacks.

Which, I should point out, does not include Fruit Pie the Sorcerer.

[Ron Miel]

Are they, though?

Well, probably. Strip #300 is a direct reference to the advert I linked in my previous post. It would certainly be covered by copyright.

There's a possibility that the copyright has expired, and nobody bothered to renew it, but I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

[halfeye]

Well, probably. Strip #300 is a direct reference to the advert I linked in my previous post. It would certainly be covered by copyright.

There's a possibility that the copyright has expired, and nobody bothered to renew it, but I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

I didn't see the advert, but coypuright doesn't expire for about a hundred years.

[Peelee]

Well, probably. Strip #300 is a direct reference to the advert I linked in my previous post. It would certainly be covered by copyright.

There's a possibility that the copyright has expired, and nobody bothered to renew it, but I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

My point is they are very generic characters with few specific characteristics. They're very basic anthropomorphized movie snacks that are not readily identifiable as unique characters. The do not have distinctive silhouettes, identifying clothing, or any of the other markers that usually indicate a unique character. They are practically the definition of a generic creation.

Again, I'm no lawyer and I don't know enough about copyright law to say anything with any amount of certainty, but I would be surprised if anyone using generic anthropomorphic movie theater snacks ran afoul of copyright law.

Least of all Milk Dudes, as a quick example.

[Metastachydium]

(So. In case anyone actually cares (which I currently somewhat doubt) I decided to compile a comprehensive list of my own guesses thus far, for ease of access:
1/A. [2020/07/17] the blue-haired female archer from strip no. 417.
Arguments for: she has a distinctive design and spoken lines in addition to the fact that the news of her continued survival would definitely give Haley a morale boost; Argument against: she is a low level fighter (at best) [but see section 2/A].

1/B. [2020/10/01] the most awesome pickpockets in the ENTIRE WORLD from strip no. 649.
Arguments for: they might remember Durkon and, uh, they areÂ… rogues?; Arguments against: almost certainly low level characters that are unlikely to learn about the Gates [but see section 2/A], there's two of them.

1/C. [2020/10/26] a member of the Bleedingham Amateur Snorkeling Club from strip no. 755.
Argument for: the Club works for the Empire of Blood, and consequently for people that know about the Gates and the Order; the Club is described as an elite order of assassins, and therefore it is plausible that they are reasonably competent and that at least some of them are relatively high level PC-classed characters; their employer has the resources to transport them to Kraagor's Gate; Arguments against: none that I can think of.

1/D.[2020/11/13] Nyr-Azul, Priest of Tiamat from strip no. 739.
Arguments for: Nyr-Azul has a namelr, PC levels and is known to be affiliated with the Church of Tiamat which means easy access to the Oracle (who can give him the location of the Order and is free to talk about the Gates) and other resources; Argument against: arguably, he never appears on panel (his name appears on Malack's Macebook page with no picture).

1/E. [2021/01/28] the turtle from strip no.551.
Arguments for: the turtle is a very special turtle (the turtle has opposable thumbs and can run faster than an unencumbered human); Arguments against: where should I start?

2/A. [2020/09/08 et passim] the Mystery Ally will be identical with the Vessel of the IFCC.
Arguments for: this would mean the Ally can be anyone, regardless whether they were less than competent or dead before becoming the Vessel (because becoming the Vessel has a more than fair chance of augmenting the base creatures abilities); the Vessel will serve the IFCC a group that knows about the Gates and the Order; it is trivially easy for the IFCC to locate the Order and send the Vessel to where they currently are; it would explain why the Mystery Ally would only be an important ally for the first half of the book. Arguments against: none that I can think of.)

[Doug Lampert]

My point is they are very generic characters with few specific characteristics. They're very basic anthropomorphized movie snacks that are not readily identifiable as unique characters. The do not have distinctive silhouettes, identifying clothing, or any of the other markers that usually indicate a unique character. They are practically the definition of a generic creation.

Again, I'm no lawyer and I don't know enough about copyright law to say anything with any amount of certainty, but I would be surprised if anyone using generic anthropomorphic movie theater snacks ran afoul of copyright law.

Least of all Milk Dudes, as a quick example.

IANAL but: AFAIK, copyright isn't really the problem with anything of this sort for Rich. The idea of copyrighting a character is much talked about, but it's not one that I know of any court ever upholding.

Copyright violations typically require that you actually copy something, and names are specifically not copyrightable. Should Hershey want to tell Rich to Cease and Desist based on Milk Dudes being very similar to one of their products, they would not depend on copyright at all because they have a clear case under trademark law as Milk Duds (TM) is a trademark of theirs and Milk Dudes is obviously based on that and deliberately intended to be similar to that.

Trademarks are an entirely different set of rules than copyright and have no exemption for fair use or parody. OTOH, a trademark is for a particular application (hence Apple Music was unable to stop Apple Computers from using the name Apple, but Apple Computers specifically couldn't sell music under that name without buying the rights to do so from Apple Music).

I don't see Rich as likely to generate product confusion with this, or people buying Rich's books because they think they are made by Hershey, or this cutting into Hershey's profit margin, so I think he'd be safe on trademark grounds too, but, IANAL, much less an intellectual property lawyer. I would not necessarily expect Rich to risk using Milk Dudes as a major character. (Popcorn or Soda or even Pizza would be dead safe on the other hand as all of those are generic names.)

[RatElemental]

So was Roy. So was Durkon. So was Jirix. So was the Oracle. So was Thirden, Shirra, Hoskin, Kandro, ......

I don't think being dead is necessarily the be-all, end-all impediment you imply.

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.

[Corian]

If he had not appeared a second time, I'd bet on Jiminy finally getting to be someone important.

Imean, the firsr time he appeared he was on two pages.

I was just going to mention Jiminy, did a search to see if somebody had proposed him before, and saw your remark. (A tad ancient, do we have a rule against post necromancy?)

I only see Jiminy on #942, so I was puzzled by the "two pages" comment... Then I checked the Number of character appearances thread, and see that Jiminy is also stated to be on two pages, along with his cat, but pointing to #136. I think there has been confusion between Geoff's son Jiminy, who I think is the (disappointed) polearm buyer on #942, and the unnamed polearm (non-)seller, who has a cat, and indeed appeared on two pages.

Unless I missed Jiminy's appearance on another page? Maybe in the print books? But the character appearances thread needs to be corrected either way.

Regards

ETA: AH! Scratch that, I was wrong. The picture of Geoff in the background shows that the non-seller is Jiminy. SO... The polearm buyer is still my bet.

[Psyren]

Assuming it's not a bonus strip character (all my books are in storage somewhere), I'm guessing one of the gods who has only appeared once so far. I'm too lazy to go figure out which one that might be though.

[MartianInvader]

Has anyone guessed

Spoiler: Good Deeds Gone Unpunished spoiler

Show

O-Chul's (adoptive) mother yet?

[Gurgeh]

Spoiler: GDGU

Show

I'm away from book right now, but I'm pretty sure she appears on at least two pages - one in O-Chul's story, and at least one more near the end where he's checking in on Bo.

EDIT: the Character Appearances thread puts O-Chul's aunt down for three appearances.

[Precure]

Isn't she dead?

[Emanick]

Isn't she dead?

I don't think we have any evidence that she's dead. She lived out in the country; the hobgoblins probably didn't bother her, at least not initially.

[Ron Miel]

She was pretty elderly at the end of HTPGHS, and that took place some years ago. She may well have passed on, for reasons unrelated to goblin attacks.

And O-Chul refers to the kimchi that his aunt made, past tense.

Not conclusive proof, but it implies she is no longer with us.

[Ruck]

Isn't she dead?

I don't think we have any evidence that she's dead. She lived out in the country; the hobgoblins probably didn't bother her, at least not initially.

She was pretty elderly at the end of HTPGHS, and that took place some years ago. She may well have passed on, for reasons unrelated to goblin attacks.

And O-Chul refers to the kimchi that his aunt made, past tense.

Not conclusive proof, but it implies she is no longer with us.

The full quote is "The gimjang that my aunt made with the women of our village when I was young." O-Chul is no longer young, hence, this would have been in the past tense regardless of whether his aunt is now dead or alive.

I don't think there's really any evidence to say she's dead, only speculation.

[Precure]

Orange Voice seems like the most obvious prospect.

I think the lady of Rohirrim get it right.

[Rogan]

Orange Voice seems like the most obvious prospect.

I think the lady of Rohirrim get it right.

Personally, I doubt it. Sure, it's not impossible. But in my opinion it would be a very cheap solution. I mean, that the character who appears in a cilffhanger will appear again in the next book does not really need a hint.
Okay, him becoming an ally would be the somewhat unexpected thing. Still, I think another solution would be more satisfying.

No, I have no idea who this other option might be...

[Fyraltari]

Personally, I doubt it. Sure, it's not impossible. But in my opinion it would be a very cheap solution. I mean, that the character who appears in a cilffhanger will appear again in the next book does not really need a hint.
Okay, him becoming an ally would be the somewhat unexpected thing. Still, I think another solution would be more satisfying.

No, I have no idea who this other option might be...

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