Number of Character Appearances VII - To Absent Friends

[Precure]

Should we change "X charmed" entries in alterations into "X with swirly eyes" since most of them are actually suggestion spells?

[Squire Doodad]

Kubota's ring laced with lotus extract

You know, for the longest time I assume "my last dose of lotus extract" was suggesting Kubota had ingested an obscure potion to boost his rolls, but it was actually the poison on the ring.
Curious.

[Yxylu]

For those who having been following my updates closely, know that I finally got my hands on all six Gygax Magazines, so all information from me, going forward, will include them.

They have 1729 words over 56 panels in 6 pages. There are 17 new characters (including two that return in comic 975), the 15th highest of any source, behind Spoiler Alert and ahead of the wallpaper. The number of words per page is the second highest, with 288.17. Only DStP is higher, with 305.52, and 3rd place is Book 7 so far, with 280.96. In terms of words per panel, it’s the only source in the top 7 that’s not a calendar.

Big thanks to my wife and kids for getting me the magazines for Fathers’ Day.

[knag]

Big thanks to my wife and kids for getting me the magazines for Fathers’ Day.

What a nice gift!

[Yxylu]

For 1237 That’s Bait:

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021) +26 words
Durkon Thundershield +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021) +14 words
Elan +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021) +14 words
Haley Starshine +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021) +55 words
Minrah Shaleshoe +1 (1235, 14 Jun 2021) +14 words
Mr. Scruffy +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021)
Roy Greenhilt +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021) +86 words
Vaarsuvius +1 (1236, 14 Jun 2021) +23 words

This is the first update since I got the Gygax Magazine comics counted, so the following numbers will be off from last time.

Roy is still way out in first place of words spoken (64,698).
Haley is comfortably in second place (39,532).
Elan is in third (35,441).
Belkar stays in fourth (33,975).
Vaarsuvius is still in fifth (28,138).
Durkon comes in last for the original Order (22,852).
Minrah (3,279) pulls ahead of Bandana (3,266) and is behind Malack (3,528).
Mr. Scruffy keeps his total of 118 words. He’s in 243rd place.

This is the first time since 889, on 20 May, 2013, that Elan has appeared completely alone in a panel, with no visible Lutey or Armand. That was in a dream sequence, and the last real instance was in 744 on 29 August, 2010.

A couple more facts the grow out there:
This comic was released in the 9 o’clock hour (EDT), as were the previous five. 7.4% of comics are released them, more than any other specific hour.
Thursday is the fourth highest-frequency day for new comics with 15.76%, higher the Tuesday and both weekend days combined.

What a nice gift!

It sure was!

[Emanick]

Updated through 1237
Belkar Bitterleaf, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan (charmed), Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Mr. Scruffy, Roy Greenhilt, Vaarsuvius

Should we change "X charmed" entries in alterations into "X with swirly eyes" since most of them are actually suggestion spells?

Not necessarily, since not every instance of "X charmed" has swirly eyes. You make a good point about "charmed" not being the most ideal description, though - I don't love it. Can anyone think of a better way to put it?

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Updated through 1237
Belkar Bitterleaf, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan (charmed), Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Mr. Scruffy, Roy Greenhilt, Vaarsuvius

Not necessarily, since not every instance of "X charmed" has swirly eyes. You make a good point about "charmed" not being the most ideal description, though - I don't love it. Can anyone think of a better way to put it?

What about Spiral Eyes?

Or Hipnote-eyes?

We could also do - "X influenced"

[Yxylu]

What about Spiral Eyes?

Or Hipnote-eyes?

We could also do - "X influenced"

I’d vote for either “hypnote-eyes” or “enchanted,” since most (all?) such effects are from the Enchantment school of magic.

[RMS Oceanic]

1238
Belkar Bitterleaf (+1), Durkon Allotrope Thundershield(+1), Elan (+1), Haley Starshine(+1), Minrah Elle Shaleshoe(+1), Mr. Scruffy(+1), Roy Greenhilt(+1), Vaarsuvius (+1), Mimi (+1), Serini Toormuck (+1) (Invisible), Sunny (+1)

Any references to the orange voice should now be replaced with "Sunny". And depending on the next comic may be consolidated with The Beholder in #32.

[Yxylu]

For 1238 See It Coming:

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +18 words
Durkon Thundershield +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +31 words
Elan +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +60 words
Haley Starshine +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +104 words
Lutey the Lute-tastical Lute +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021)
Mimi +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021 although we didn’t know it)
Minrah Shaleshoe +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +17 words
Mr. Scruffy +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021)
Roy Greenhilt +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +83 words
Serini Toormuck +1 +1 (1229, 17 Mar 2021) +67 words
Sunny +1 +1 (1189, 2 Dec 2019) +21 words
Vaarsuvius +1 +1 (1237, 24 Jun 2021) +29 words

Roy is still way out in first place of words spoken (64,781).
Haley is comfortably in second place (39,636).
Elan is in third (35,501).
Belkar stays in fourth (33,993).
Vaarsuvius is still in fifth (28,167).
Durkon comes in last for the original Order (22,883).
Minrah (3,296) is still in 25th place, between Bandana (3,266) and Malack (3,528).
Mr. Scruffy keeps his total of 118 words. He’s in 243rd place.
Serini (1,266) moves up two places to 50th, passing Mr. Jones (1,206) and Wrecan (1,258). She is behind Exarch of Hel (1,281), and will likely pass him next time.
Sunny has 27 words, and is in a 7-way tie for 528th place with, among others, Keeno, Redcloak’s Sister, and the Team Peregrine Cleric.

And depending on the next comic may be consolidated with The Beholder in #32.

Since Sunny has a name, and the other beholder probably blew up with the Dungeon, I’m counting them separately.

[ti'esar]

Since Sunny has a name, and the other beholder probably blew up with the Dungeon, I’m counting them separately.

From what I've seen - I didn't actually make this connection myself until I saw other people's comments, fwiw - there's very widespread speculation that the beholder from 32 is Sunny because it would fulfill Rich's promise in the Utterly Dwarfed commentary that a character who appeared on only one page in the entire comic will reappear as a major ally in the first half of this book. (Yes, Sunny and Serini are fighting the Order now, but they still seem like 'good guys' in the long run.)

That said, there's no reason to jump the gun. I'm sure it'll be confirmed sooner rather than later.

[Yxylu]

From what I've seen - I didn't actually make this connection myself until I saw other people's comments, fwiw - there's very widespread speculation that the beholder from 32 is Sunny because it would fulfill Rich's promise in the Utterly Dwarfed commentary that a character who appeared on only one page in the entire comic will reappear as a major ally in the first half of this book. (Yes, Sunny and Serini are fighting the Order now, but they still seem like 'good guys' in the long run.)

That said, there's no reason to jump the gun. I'm sure it'll be confirmed sooner rather than later.

Noted, and I could well be wrong. My reading of the line from Utterly Dwarfed

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.

could apply to Quippie, who only appeared in 1182a, and who was an important ally in terms of getting past the trap. Until I have a more compelling case for a different character, I’m believing the Quippie is the referenced one. Your mileage may vary.

[hamishspence]

"Quippie" isn't really a character, but an object - being a piece of corpse.

[St Fan]

Count me too for considering that Sunny is the beholder from strip #32. First of all, they have the exact same color scheme. Also, both have only 8 eyestalks visible. The difference in looks can otherwise entirely be chalked on the art evolution. Considering beholders are known for a very wide range of appearances, my bet is that it is intentional from Rich's part.

[hamishspence]

Agreed. The difference in speech bubble may also be art evolution. I'd speculate that it wasn't till later that The Giant settled on "aberrations should normally have coloured bubbles".

[Squire Doodad]

Sunny has 27 words, and is in a 7-way tie for 528th place with, among others, Keeno, Redcloak’s Sister, and the Team Peregrine Cleric.

Alllllright! Go Sunny!

It's possible that Sunny is the #32 Beholder, but I wouldn't say it for sure until a little later. Rich will almost definitely allude to it, probably after the battle is done.

[Emanick]

What about Spiral Eyes?

Or Hipnote-eyes?

We could also do - "X influenced"

I’d vote for either “hypnote-eyes” or “enchanted,” since most (all?) such effects are from the Enchantment school of magic.

The issue with any variation of "spiral eyes" is that not all of the alterations show X character with spiral eyes; in fact, the example of "Elan charmed" that we link to shows Elan's eyes as normal-shaped, albeit yellow.

"Influenced" or "enchanted" would be accurate, but, if anything, those both seem vaguer than "charmed." We could consider separating out the spiral-eyes alterations from the non-spiral-eyes alterations, but that would take a good deal of cross-checking that I'm not sure I have time for at the moment.

In terms of whether to consider Sunny the same character as the one who appeared in #32 - I'm heavily leaning towards doing so. The similarities seem too great to be coincidental. I'm considering waiting for more information before listing her as the same character, but... honestly, even if no other information emerges, I think I would still consider it likely enough. Would anyone object if I went ahead and credited her as appearing in this strip, #1189, and #32?

[ti'esar]

Like I said, I think there's no need to jump the gun, since it'll probably be confirmed outright (if only by a punchline) soon enough. It's not like the beholder from strip 32 is currently being listed as a character of its own.

[Yxylu]

For 1239 Saur Loser:

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +85 words
Durkon Thundershield +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +59 words
Elan +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +29 words
Haley Starshine +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +87 words
Minrah Shaleshoe +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +11 words
Mr. Scruffy +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +1 word
Roy Greenhilt +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021)
Serini Toormuck +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +22 words
Sunny +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +13 words
Vaarsuvius +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021) +27 words

There were also some sound effects, but I think I’m the only one that counts those.

Roy stays in first place with 64,781.
Haley is in second still, with 39,723.
Elan’s in third with 35,530.
Belkar is fourth with 34,078.
Vaarsuvius is fifth with 28,194.
Durkon comes in sixth with 22,942.
Minrah stays in 25th place with 3,307.
Serini moves into 50th place with 1,288 words, between Roy’s Archon (1,298) and the Exarch of Hel (1,281).
Mr. Scruffy (119) has caught up to Trigak in 244th place with his first spoken word since comic 1199 last April.
Sunny jumps from 528th place to 439th with 40 words, tying with Lord Tyrinar, Soul-Muncher, and the generic Tinkertown Citizens.

[Schroeswald]

As of this strip Minrah has more page appearances than the demon roaches, making her the 22nd most appearing character.

[Mike Havran]

"Quippie" isn't really a character, but an object - being a piece of corpse.

Banjo is also listed, despite being a puppet.

[Yxylu]

For 1240 Gritty Realism:

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 (1239, 14 Jul 2021) +62 words
Elan +1 (1239, 14 Jul 2021) +127 words
Haley Starshine +1 (1239, 14 Jul 2021) +53 words
Mr. Scruffy +1 (1239, 14 Jul 2021)
Serini Toormuck +1 (1239, 14 Jul 2021) +23 words
Sunny +1 (1239, 14 Jul 2021) +26 words

There were also several sound effects, but I think I’m the only one that counts those.

Haley stays in second place, with 39,776 words.
Elan’s in third with 35,657.
Belkar is fourth with 34,140.
Serini moves into 49th place with 1,311 words, between Roy’s Archon (1,298) and Andromeda (1,394).
Mr. Scruffy doesn’t move, with 119 words.
Sunny jumps from 439th place to 337th with 66 words, tying with Bearded Gaoler from 85a, Eyepatched Bandit from 159, George the goblin from Dragon Magazine #347, Hobgoblin Granary Whip from 511, and Kubota’s Blue Ninja from 453.

This is the tenth comic in a row released between 8:00 and 10:00 Eastern Time, and 19th out of the last twenty during those two hours.

This is (fittingly) only the 16th online comic to have exactly 16 panels. Alphabetically, this is the 412th out of 1240 comics.

Any other stupid stats anyone else wants to see?

[Yxylu]

For 1242 Sunnyside Down:

Belkar Bitterleaf +1 +1 (1240, 26 Jul 2021) +54 words
Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator +1 +1 (1091, 14 Aug 2017)
Durkon Thundershield +1 +1 (1239, 7 Jul 2021) +10 words
Elan +1 +1 (1240, 26 Jul 2021) +24 words
Haley Starshine +1 +1 (1240, 26 Jul 2021) +43 words
Lutey the Lute-Tastical Lute +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021)
Mimi +1 (1238, 28 Jun 2021)
Minrah Shaleshoe +1 +1 (1239, 7 Jul 2021) +1 word
Mr. Scruffy +1 +1 (1240, 26 Jul 2021) +2 words
Roy Greenhilt +1 +1 (1239, 7 Jul 2021)
Serini Toormuck +1 +1 (1240, 26 Jul 2021) +57 words
Sunny +1 +1 (1240, 26 Jul 2021) +27 words
Vaarsuvius +1 +1 (1239, 7 Jul 2021) +25 words

There were also several sound effects.

Though unconscious, Roy still has the most spoken words with 64,781.
Haley stays in second place, with 39,819 words.
Elan’s still in third with 35,681.
Belkar is fourth with 34,194.
Vaarsuvius is fifth with 28,219.
Durkon remains the quietest of the core Order with 22,952 words.
Minrah is still in 25th place with 3,308 between Malack (3,528) and Bandana (3,266)
Serini stays in 49th place with 1,368 words, between Roy’s Archon (1,298) and Andromeda (1,394).
Mr. Scruffy pulls ahead of Rogo and the Female Cliffport Police Officer (120) with 121 words, catching up to the Lockpicking Thief and Priests of the Shrouded Overlord. He’s just behind the Adolescent Black Dragon and Weary Traveller Workers.
Sunny jumps from 337th place to 274th with 93 words, tying with Dragon, leader of the Southern Pantheon.
Bloodfeast doesn’t have anything to say, and remains in 902nd place, tied with 27 other characters, with 5 words.
Lutey and Mimi remain silent, tied with 909 other characters with no lines. I’m not listing all of them.

[Gift Jeraff]

Mimi also appears in today's strip.

[Squire Doodad]

Has Bloodfeast really not had an appearance since 2017? Wow, time does fly.

[Yxylu]

Mimi also appears in today's strip.

Good catch. Added to my list.

Also, on speculation that it’s an error, I’m not counting Lutey in panel 1. It appears in its usual spot on Elan’s back instead of on the floor where it should be.

[Chronos]

Someone pointed out in another thread: One of the crayon drawings in Serini's lair appears to depict an orange beholder and a half-green humanoid. This is presumably Sunny and Serini, as drawn by Sunny. That would give Sunny two additional appearances, in 1225 and 1226.

[Yanisa]

Someone pointed out in another thread: One of the crayon drawings in Serini's lair appears to depict an orange beholder and a half-green humanoid. This is presumably Sunny and Serini, as drawn by Sunny. That would give Sunny two additional appearances, in 1225 and 1226.

On the high res version it doesn't look like a beholder. All the lines are against each other, creating triangles. It resemble more the spikes on a beast. But that's my interpertation.

Still, I would advise against classifying any of the drawings as a someone we have seen before. They lack any detail, because they are just simple drawings.

Check the discussion thread of that time for more info on the drawings.

Or my post on it here:

Spoiler: Selfquote

Show

High res version here. It could be something like that, the larger reddish shape is a circle with 3-4 triangles. Which could be a beast with spikes. The smaller green and red seems to be a O atop a squarish U. Which could be a basic humanoid body + head shape.

Also the right painting is clearly a dragonlike creature. Batwing, lizardtail, round body and round head with a squiggly line for a jaw (sharp teeth).

The middle painting is two symbols. They look like a 2 with a horn and S-shaped tail, and 4 with a 3-shaped tail.

P.S. Explaining pictures in tekst is hard.

[Emanick]

Updated through 1238
Belkar Bitterleaf (+1), Durkon Allotrope Thundershield (+1), Elan (+1), Haley Starshine (+1), Minrah Elle Shaleshoe (+1), Mr. Scruffy (+1), Roy Greenhilt (+1), Serini (invisible) (+1), Sunny (+1), Vaarsuvius (+1)

Updated through 1239
Belkar Bitterleaf, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield, Elan, Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Mr. Scruffy, Roy Greenhilt, Serini (invisible), Sunny, Vaarsuvius

Updated through 1240
Belkar Bitterleaf, Elan, Haley Starshine, Mr. Scruffy, Serini (invisible), Sunny

Updated through 1241
Belkar Bitterleaf (charmed) (+1), Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator (+1), Durkon Allotrope Thundershield (petrified) (+1), Elan (charmed) (+1), Haley Starshine (+1), Minrah Elle Shaleshoe (+1), Mr. Scruffy (+1), Roy Greenhilt (+1), Serini (invisible) (+1), Sunny (+1), Vaarsuvius (+1)

Updated through 1242
Belkar Bitterleaf (calmed) (charmed), Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator, Durkon Allotrope Thundershield (petrified), Elan (charmed), Haley Starshine, Minrah Elle Shaleshoe, Mr. Scruffy, Roy Greenhilt

[Schroeswald]

With this comic Minrah is now in more pages than Sabine, making her the 20th most appearing character by page count.