Number of Character Appearances VII - To Absent Friends

[Yxylu]

No you didn't! You counted them? Did you... did you by any chance get a count of how many are in 1214 and how many are in 1215?

Seems like a weird flex to say I counted them if I didn’t.

I get 642 in 1214 and 255 in 1215. I made some judgment calls as to whether a pixel was a bug, part of a bug, or part of what was behind it.

Since you didn’t ask, there were 60 trained hornets in comic 138, and 53 fire ants in comics 36 and 38 (32 in 36 and 21 in 38). The fire ants also appear on the board game card Honey and Fire Ants, where there are 53 of them.

I’m nothing if not thorough.

[knag]

Seems like a weird flex to say I counted them if I didn’t.

I get 642 in 1214 and 255 in 1215. I made some judgment calls as to whether a pixel was a bug, part of a bug, or part of what was behind it.

Since you didn’t ask, there were 60 trained hornets in comic 138, and 53 fire ants in comics 36 and 38 (32 in 36 and 21 in 38). The fire ants also appear on the board game card Honey and Fire Ants, where there are 53 of them.

I’m nothing if not thorough.

Wow! A tip of the hat to you!

What I'd really like to know though, is how many unique bugs are in each comic. So if there are 255 in 1215, I bet that only represents something like 80-someodd unique bugs appearing in multiple panels. I absolutely don't want to you to recount anything, but do you happen to know what is the maximum number in any given panel in each comic?

[Yxylu]

Wow! A tip of the hat to you!

What I'd really like to know though, is how many unique bugs are in each comic. So if there are 255 in 1215, I bet that only represents something like 80-someodd unique bugs appearing in multiple panels. I absolutely don't want to you to recount anything, but do you happen to know what is the maximum number in any given panel in each ‘comic?

Of course.

1214 (5): 34
1214 (6): 17
1214 (7): 158
1214 (9): 137
1214 (10): 166
1214 (11): 130

1215 (1): 89
1215 (2): 35
1215 (3): 24
1215 (4): 107

Looks like there are at least 166 unique bugs.

For the record, my information is already stored by panel, so feel free to ask whatever you want. I’m happy to share the madness that is my hobby.

Spoiler: More details

Show

For each panel, I have 1 line per identifiable character, with the columns:

Comic (comic number, or other identifier)
Page (usually 1, but there are multipagers)
Panel (doesn’t reset at 1 for page 2)
Character (name if available; otherwise some descriptor)
Words (count of words spoken)
Appearances (occurrences in the panel, like the numbers of Bugbear Bugs)
Text (transcription of the words spoken - not complete yet)

On another sheet in Excel, I have a table of Comics, with the following columns:

Comic (same as above)
Title (straightforward)
Pages (number of pages)
Panels (number of panels)
Location (book title, calendar name, or whatever)
Date (release date)
Time (for on-line comics only, basically the time that the Tweet or discussion thread comes out, eastern time)
Days (days since last comic)
Weekday (day of the week released - 24.86% come out on Monday)
Words (total spoken words in the comic)
Round (for main-story comics, the ‘chapter’ from the printed book)
Characters (count of characters in the comic, by name)

Finally, the list of sources in chronological order is:

Spoiler

Show

Dungeon Crawlin’ Fools
Cast Page
On the Origin of PCs
No Cure for the Paladin Blues
Board Game
Start of Darkness
War and XPs
Don’t Split the Party
Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales
Kickstarter Update (this is the actual pages on-line showing the accumulated pledges in the rapidly expanding chart)
Coloring Book
Blood Runs in the Family
Uncivil Servant
Wallpaper (the ten backgrounds)
Haleo and Julelan
Tenth Anniversary Calendar 2014
Heroes Calendar 2015
Spoiler Alert
Villains Calendar 2016
Monsters Calendar 2017
How the Paladin Got His Scar
Stick Tales Calendar 2018
Good Deeds Gone Unpunished
Magic Items Calendar 2019
Utterly Dwarfed
Spells Calendar 2020
Book 7 (title to change later)

[Emanick]

Bugbear Bugs?

Oooh I like what you did there. Pre-emptively updating the wiki to that name in hopes the tail will wag the dog.

Consider the dog wagged.

Updated through 1214
Bugbear Bugs, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Greyview, Kraagor (as statue) (as animated statue), Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Oona, Redcloak, Xykon

Updated through 1215
Bugbear Bugs, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Kraagor (as statue), Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Redcloak, Xykon

Durkon has now appeared in a total of 500 online strips! Congratulations, Durkon.

Redcloak has now appeared in more online strips than Nale. Greyview now qualifies as a Recurring Character. Kraagor now technically qualifies as a Supporting Character, despite the fact that he has almost exclusively appeared as a statue rather than an actual person. I'll likely be implementing 2.5cat's suggested fix soon, though, so his status will probably revert to Recurring first.

Sorry for the late updates, people. I've been in a bit of a funk, but I'll try to be quicker on the draw in future.

Of course.

1214 (5): 34
1214 (6): 17
1214 (7): 158
1214 (9): 137
1214 (10): 166
1214 (11): 130

1215 (1): 89
1215 (2): 35
1215 (3): 24
1215 (4): 107

Looks like there are at least 166 unique bugs.

For the record, my information is already stored by panel, so feel free to ask whatever you want. I’m happy to share the madness that is my hobby.

Spoiler: More details

Show

For each panel, I have 1 line per identifiable character, with the columns:

Comic (comic number, or other identifier)
Page (usually 1, but there are multipagers)
Panel (doesn’t reset at 1 for page 2)
Character (name if available; otherwise some descriptor)
Words (count of words spoken)
Appearances (occurrences in the panel, like the numbers of Bugbear Bugs)
Text (transcription of the words spoken - not complete yet)

On another sheet in Excel, I have a table of Comics, with the following columns:

Comic (same as above)
Title (straightforward)
Pages (number of pages)
Panels (number of panels)
Location (book title, calendar name, or whatever)
Date (release date)
Time (for on-line comics only, basically the time that the Tweet or discussion thread comes out, eastern time)
Days (days since last comic)
Weekday (day of the week released - 24.86% come out on Monday)
Words (total spoken words in the comic)
Round (for main-story comics, the ‘chapter’ from the printed book)
Characters (count of characters in the comic, by name)

Finally, the list of sources in chronological order is:

Spoiler

Show

Dungeon Crawlin’ Fools
Cast Page
On the Origin of PCs
No Cure for the Paladin Blues
Board Game
Start of Darkness
War and XPs
Don’t Split the Party
Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales
Kickstarter Update (this is the actual pages on-line showing the accumulated pledges in the rapidly expanding chart)
Coloring Book
Blood Runs in the Family
Uncivil Servant
Wallpaper (the ten backgrounds)
Haleo and Julelan
Tenth Anniversary Calendar 2014
Heroes Calendar 2015
Spoiler Alert
Villains Calendar 2016
Monsters Calendar 2017
How the Paladin Got His Scar
Stick Tales Calendar 2018
Good Deeds Gone Unpunished
Magic Items Calendar 2019
Utterly Dwarfed
Spells Calendar 2020
Book 7 (title to change later)

As always, I am in awe of you.

[Yxylu]

For 1216 Run to Ground:

Durkon Allotrope Thundershield
Greyview
Minrah Elle Shaleshoe
Oona
Redcloak
Xykon

(Plus sound effects)

I’m having trouble getting the colors to work, but Greyview is just on page 2, and the other members of Team Evil are on both pages.

[Emanick]

It's a relief to have Fake Kraagor out of the way!

Updated through 1216
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Greyview, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Oona (+1), Redcloak (+1), Xykon (+1)

Xykon has now appeared in as many online strips as Durkon*, tying him for eleventh place. (In terms of the overall number of pages he's appeared in, he's currently ranked ninth, behind Mr. Scruffy and Redcloak but ahead of Blackwing.)

[Yxylu]

For 1217 (Silent Alarm):

Durkon Allotrope Thundershield +1
Minrah Elle Shaleshoe +1
Greyview +1
Sound effects

Spoiler: Inanity

Show

Also, with this installment, Greyview moves from 206th place to 196th in terms of words spoken. He has 174, which is a tie with the Knot-Topped resistance leader, and it puts him ahead of Shaman Vurkle, Elan’s Mother, and Buggy Lou, among others.

For 1218 (Group Decision):

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 +1
Blackwing +1
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield +1 +1
Elan +1 +1
Haley Starshine +1 +1
Lutey the Lute-tastical Lute +1 +1
Minrah Elle Shaleshoe +1 +1
Roy Greenhilt +1 +1
Vaarsuvius +1 +1

No sound effects this time, and although all six original OOTS members appear in the comic, no panel has all of them.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1217
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Greyview, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe

Updated through 1218
Belkar Bitterleaf (+1), Blackwing, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield (+1), Elan (+1), Haley Starshine (+1), Minrah Elle Shaleshoe (+1), Roy Greenhilt (+1), Vaarsuvius (+1)

Minrah has passed Celia in the OP! She now ranks #17 in the number of online strips she's appeared in. In terms of the total number of OOTS pages she's appeared on, however, she remains a distant #22, four places behind Celia.

[Schroeswald]

Just realized Roy is getting close to a thousand pages, That’s pretty cool)

[Yxylu]

Just realized Roy is getting close to a thousand pages, That’s pretty cool)

He’s also not far off of appearing in 6,000 panels. He’s currently at 5,941 and the only character above 4,500.

[Yxylu]

For 1219 (Threshold Issue)

Belkar Bitterleaf +1
Blackwing +1
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield +1
Elan +1
Haley Starshine +1
Lutey the Lute-tastical Lute +1
Minrah Elle Shaleshoe +1
Roy Greenhilt +
Vaarsuvius +1

Plus two Sound Effects.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1219
Belkar Bitterleaf, Blackwing, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan, Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Roy Greenhilt, Vaarsuvius

[Yxylu]

For 1220 (Think so)

Belkar Bitterleaf +1
Blackwing +1
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield +1
Elan +1
Haley Starshine +1
Lutey the Lute-tastical Lute +1
Minrah Elle Shaleshoe +1
Quippie +1
Roy Greenhilt +
Vaarsuvius +1

Plus one Sound Effect.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1220
Belkar Bitterleaf, Blackwing, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan, Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Quippie, Roy Greenhilt, Vaarsuvius

Minrah is now tied with the MitD for rank #16 in terms of how many online strips she's appeared in! She's still a distant #22 when it comes to the total number of pages she's appeared in, though.

Thanks, Yxylu, for reminding me of Quippie's name! I couldn't remember what it was, and I'm currently visiting my parents for Thanksgiving (I've been keeping them in my bubble during the pandemic for sanity's sake) so I don't currently have access to my copy of Utterly Dwarfed.

[Yxylu]

Thanks, Yxylu, for reminding me of Quippie's name! I couldn't remember what it was, and I'm currently visiting my parents for Thanksgiving (I've been keeping them in my bubble during the pandemic for sanity's sake) so I don't currently have access to my copy of Utterly Dwarfed.

It’s “Quippie” in panel 5 and “Quippy” in panel 8 of 1182a; I went with the first spelling.

Edit to add: I finally actually added this comic to my tabulation, and Haley now has said exactly 39,000 words. She remains firmly in second place behind Roy (63,007) and ahead of Elan (34,444).

[Yxylu]

For 1221 (Trouble Approaching)

Belkar Bitterleaf +1
Blackwing +1
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield +1
Elan +1
Greyview +1
Haley Starshine +1
Lutey the Lute-tastical Lute +1
Minrah Elle Shaleshoe +1
Oona +1
Quippie +1
Redcloak +1
Roy Greenhilt +1
Vaarsuvius +1
Xykon +1

Oona moves into 66th place for words spoken, above Julia Greenhilt and below all of the indistinguishable Azure City Guards. Greyview moves up to 190th place, between Yydranna and the Male Bureaucratic Deva who was evaluating Eugene.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1221
Belkar Bitterleaf, Blackwing, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan, Greyview, Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Oona, Quippie, Redcloak, Roy Greenhilt, Vaarsuvius, Xykon

Xykon has now (once again) #11 in number of online strips appeared in! "Durkon"* is down to #12. Meanwhile, Minrah is now tied for #15 with Hinjo, while the MitD falls to #17.

Oona *would* have graduated from Recurring Character to Supporting Character with this strip, but I finally decided to expand the Recurring and Supporting Character categories to 11-19 and 20-29 appearances, respectively, so she'll need three more appearances to make the cut.

[Yxylu]

For 1222 (Cross the Line)

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 +1
Blackwing +1 (thoughts only)
Durkon Allotrope Thundershield +1
Elan +1 +1
Greyview +1 +1
Lutey the Lute-tastical Lute +1 +1
Oona +1 +1
Redcloak +1 +1
Roy Greenhilt +1 +1
Xykon +1 +1

Plus 1 sound effect repeated 5 times.

ETA - More word-based milestones:

Oona moves up 4 ranks, passing Loki, Julia, and all the Goblin Warriors. She is just behind the Azure City Guards, and not far behind Nero.

Greyview jumps up nine ranks, passing all the Wights, the Gnomish Magic Item Merchant, Giro, the Council of Clans Moderator, the Clan Whiterock Elder (all of those tied with 176 words), the Male Bureaucratic Deva, Yydranna, Wernsworth, and Displacer Beast Dave. He is now tied with Yukyuk and Tiny Jim.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1222
Belkar Bitterleaf (+1), Blackwing, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan (+1), Greyview (+1), Oona (+1), Redcloak (+1), Roy Greenhilt (+1), Xykon (+1)

No particularly notable milestone reached this time, mostly because Minrah is the only major character close to being tied with anyone in terms of prominence (unless you count Elan and Haley), and she doesn't appear in this strip. Blackwing looked like he was going to pass Xykon in terms of prominence fairly soon, but if he stays out of the dungeon and the Order retreats further in, that may not happen for a while longer.

[knag]

1123: Belkar, Blackwing, Durkon, Elan, Haley, Minrah, Roy, Vaarsuvius

[Yxylu]

1123: Belkar, Blackwing, Durkon, Elan, Haley, Minrah, Roy, Vaarsuvius

Belkar, Blackwing, Elan, Roy, and Vaarsuvius also get a +1 each, too.

[Schroeswald]

1124: Belkar, Durkon, Elan, Haley, Minrah, Lien, O-Chul, Roy, Vaarsuvius

[Yxylu]

A couple of interesting data points:

This is the first appearance of Lien and O-Chul since 1189, in December of 2019.

Lien is only eight spoken words behind Right-Eye, so in the next comic, she may move into 21st place. Or 20th if she says at least 78 words, to bump off Thor.

If this is a chapter break (I’m assuming it is, though I could be wrong), this is the 12th longest chapter so far, with 35 comics.

[Schroeswald]

A couple of interesting data points:

This is the first appearance of Lien and O-Chul since 1189, in December of 2019.

Lien is only eight spoken words behind Right-Eye, so in the next comic, she may move into 21st place. Or 20th if she says at least 78 words, to bump off Thor.

If this is a chapter break (I’m assuming it is, though I could be wrong), this is the 12th longest chapter so far, with 35 comics.

Lien is also only one page off from the amount of pages Right-Eye has been on, (she’s number 27) and O-Chul is approaching (and I might be a bit off so maybe he’s tied with him) Nale as the 16th most appearing character by page.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1223
Belkar Bitterleaf (+1), Blackwing (+1), Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan (+1), Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Roy Greenhilt (+1), Vaarsuvius (+1)

Updated through 1224
Belkar Bitterleaf, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan, Haley Starshine, Lien, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, O-Chul, Roy Greenhilt, Vaarsuvius

Lien, who has now appeared on her 67th page, moves ahead of Malack (66 pages). That puts her at #27 outright and drops Malack to #28.

O-Chul, who has now appeared on 154 pages, is solidly in 12th place, between Hinjo (170 pages) and Nale (149 pages).

Blackwing, at #10 (225 pages), is creeping up behind Xykon (228 pages). It's anyone's guess when - or if - the little black bird will pass the big bad lich!

Minrah, at #22, is still in the no-woman's-land between #21 (Demon-Roaches, 104 pages) and #23 (Bandana, 72 pages).

[Schroeswald]

1225:
O-Chul, Lien

Normally I wouldn’t post this so early but I’m not sure this is accurate. The mysterious cloaked figure, as of yet unnamed, is probably Kermit I think, but can we say that enough to add it to their appearances?

[Yxylu]

1225:
O-Chul, Lien

Normally I wouldn’t post this so early but I’m not sure this is accurate. The mysterious cloaked figure, as of yet unnamed, is probably Kermit I think, but can we say that enough to add it to their appearances?

I called it, absent any other information, Pot-Stirring Captor.

With this installment, Lien moves up two places into 20th place of words spoken with 3,908, behind Blackwing (4,500 exactly) and ahead of Thor (3,830).

O-Chul is firmly in 10th place with 9,794, behind Tarquin (11,366) and ahead of Hinjo (9,240).

Book 7 is running barely ahead of Blood Runs in the Family in terms of words per page (259.76 vs 258.50), and behind Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales, the second place source (with 263.47).

Finally (for now), a fifth new character puts Book 7 in 24th place out of 27 for number of new characters. Only the Cast Page (0), Tenth Anniversary Calander (2), and the Kickstarter Updates (3) have fewer.

[Ron Miel]

The mysterious cloaked figure, as of yet unnamed, is probably Kermit I think,

Kermit? Who is Kermit? I don't recall any character by that name, nor can I find any reference in the Wiki.

Only the Cast Page (0) ... have fewer.

Wasn't the cast page the first thing to go online, even before strip #1? That's the impression I get from the earliest discussion thread. So it should be counted as (6) and book 1 as having 6 fewer.

[Yxylu]

Kermit? Who is Kermit? I don't recall any character by that name, nor can I find any reference in the Wiki.

Not very tall and green skin? I’m assuming that’s a reference to Mr. the Frog.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Kermit? Who is Kermit? I don't recall any character by that name, nor can I find any reference in the Wiki.

Probably a reference to the person responsible for the green speech balloons.

GW