El Goonish Shive VII: The Comic is 20 Years Old, but the Cast is Still 18

[Taevyr]

I am more concerned by the fact that we see an actual griffin profile. I was hoping this was something else, for the simple reason that almost anything else would be less dangerous than a furious griffin.

I'm rather concerned by the fact that Grace, in her three-tail form, had to actively brace herself against the shockwave of something that wasn't even aimed at her. Also not a good sign in terms of danger.

[KillianHawkeye]

I'm rather concerned by the fact that Grace, in her three-tail form, had to actively brace herself against the shockwave of something that wasn't even aimed at her. Also not a good sign in terms of danger.

I found it interesting that she still maintained her footing when even Cheerleadra was knocked over, although that may be due to Elliot's current stats distribution...

[Vinyadan]

I'll note that Abraham says "modern knowledge. Modern garb" when casting the relevant spells and that Raven says "Murder shroud" when attacking Abraham with exploding crows conjured by a shroud of smoke about him.

Some spells might have a verbal component.

Today's strip actually recalled me of that scene. Elliot looks like Abraham, with those clothes, and the creature looks like the birds from the the murder shroud.

I am more concerned by the fact that we see an actual griffin profile. I was hoping this was something else, for the simple reason that almost anything else would be less dangerous than a furious griffin.

I think it's due to something that was mentioned earlier in the thread.

Spoiler

Show

The lespuko. In particular, Grace used to have nightmares about a lespuko skull. She later made peace with that part of herself, but I wouldn't be surprised if her lespuko blood was the catalyst for the aggression. https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2004-08-28

[Celestia]

I found it interesting that she still maintained her footing when even Cheerleadra was knocked over, although that may be due to Elliot's current stats distribution...

I mean, Cheerleadra doesn't have much footing to begin with while floating in the air.

[KillianHawkeye]

I mean, Cheerleadra doesn't have much footing to begin with while floating in the air.

Oh right, I forgot.

[Fyraltari]

This probably won't result in any weirdness once Tedd and Grace are going to the same college with a lot of the same people.

I mean, I doubt we're going to remember this egs:np arc in 2034.

[Maat Mons]

Does anyone else think Mystery Griffin's face is reminiscent of Spider Vampire's face?

The revelation that different griffins are based on different cat and bird combinations raises questions for me.
Mystery Griffin = Lion + Owl
Dame Tara = Tiger + ???
Andrea = ??? + ???

What other types of griffin should there be? The obvious remaining unused cat options are Leopard, Jaguar, Serval, Ocelot, Lynx, Bobcat, Cheetah, Calico, and Puma. The obvious remaining unused bird options are Duck, Peacock, Ostrich, Flamingo, Penguin, Kiwi, Bird of Paradise, Puffin, and Kakapo.

[Gez]

What other types of griffin should there be? The obvious remaining unused cat options are Leopard, Jaguar, Serval, Ocelot, Lynx, Bobcat, Cheetah, Calico, and Puma. The obvious remaining unused bird options are Duck, Peacock, Ostrich, Flamingo, Penguin, Kiwi, Bird of Paradise, Puffin, and Kakapo.

If you like weird griffon combos, you should read Skin Deep. The "reader questions" between each chapter are filled with requests to draw weird griffons. They ended going from cat/bird combos to more general mammal/bird combos.

[Windscion]

Hm.
Uryuom/Lespuko heritage in the Owl/Lion griffin? (Hell, maybe that's where hybrid creatures of many types ultimately derive from.)
Nothing else springs to mind as a source of "familiar."
Edit: Okay, I lied. Damien also sprang to mind. But I see no connection between Damien and OwlLion!Jerk griffin.

[Lizard Lord]

Hm.
Uryuom/Lespuko heritage in the Owl/Lion griffin? (Hell, maybe that's where hybrid creatures of many types ultimately derive from.)
Nothing else springs to mind as a source of "familiar."
Edit: Okay, I lied. Damien also sprang to mind. But I see no connection between Damien and OwlLion!Jerk griffin.

This griffin being a seyunolu (which is what Uryuom hybrids are called) seems to be the best bet so far. I like it better than this griffin somehow being someone we met before.

Also being able to hybridize with anything and with more than two parenets seemed to be a unique Uryuom trait, but since we known so little about Lespukos it could be that they could have a way to hybridize with other species as well.

[Radar]

Hm.
Uryuom/Lespuko heritage in the Owl/Lion griffin? (Hell, maybe that's where hybrid creatures of many types ultimately derive from.)
Nothing else springs to mind as a source of "familiar."
Edit: Okay, I lied. Damien also sprang to mind. But I see no connection between Damien and OwlLion!Jerk griffin.

This would make sense not just because of Grace sensing something familiar.

There are a few questions to be answered:
1. Why did a different griffin show up for the meeting?
2. Why were they hostile?
3. Why have they some beef with royalty? The two griffins we know from earlier treated royalty with high respect after all.

If the new griffin has some Uryuom heritage, it could immediately answer questions 2 and 3 as there was and still is a secret faction of Uryuom that fought against humanity. Since magic "not changed", Uryuoms can use it again, which could lead to sudden changes in the power balance. This in turn could mean serious problems on the other side of Earth (the griffin side), if the magic system between the sides is connected. That in turn could explain why the griffins we know did not show up and some hostile griffin is roaming the area instead.

[Fyraltari]

3. Why have they some beef with royalty?

Maybe they're from griffin!France?

[Windscion]

Since magic "not changed", Uryuoms can use it again, which could lead to sudden changes in the power balance. This in turn could mean serious problems on the other side of Earth (the griffin side), if the magic system between the sides is connected.

Now that is a scary thought! That could indeed lead to some very PO'd people/creatures.
Seems unfair, but since when is life fair?

[Radar]

Now that is a scary thought! That could indeed lead to some very PO'd people/creatures.
Seems unfair, but since when is life fair?

Or more precisely: some very PO'd people/creatures suddenly have the power to become proactive about their emotional state.

[Windscion]

Or more precisely: some very PO'd people/creatures suddenly have the power to become proactive about their emotional state.

Actually, with a shift in power, conflicts and even war arise, making everyone¹ angry. That is what I was thinking of.

[1: Except for the people who simply become sad, of course.]

[Wildstag]

New page is interesting, he's implementing the "hero/villain" theory from a while back. Also, with Charm being tied to "heroic personality" to some extent, I wonder if any villainous form has an alternate option, an antonymous aspect... or maybe that's just part of the "restraint" keyword.

[Windscion]

It took me a while, but I have figured out panel 4. The trenchcoat is being removed while the torso covering is changing (hence the weird shading) as he shifts from scout!Leadra to Elliot before assuming the form of OathOfVengeancePaladin!Leadra.
(It would not astonish me if, like Nanase's angel form, this form causes auto-burnout. Because he is pushing his limits. But that's pretty speculative right now.)

[Rater202]

I'm not gonna lie, part of me is expecting the villain form to take visual cues from Damien.

Damien's the closest thing there is to a supervillain, in-universe. Elliot has previously thought of Damien as his "worst enemy." And I distinctly recall what I think was a dream sequence where Elliot had a similar haircut to Damien.

[Radar]

Well, is this an appropriate theme?

[Anonymouswizard]

I'm not gonna lie, part of me is expecting the villain form to take visual cues from Damien.

Damien's the closest thing there is to a supervillain, in-universe. Elliot has previously thought of Damien as his "worst enemy." And I distinctly recall what I think was a dream sequence where Elliot had a similar haircut to Damien.

If we don't get female Damien with a goatee and fishnet stockings I'll be disappointed.

[Kish]

Well, other people called that: we are actually seeing the villain form, and almost immediately after Elliott figured out what he could do.

(Elliott, you moron. Who, in this webcomic, has a better-than-50% chance of never actually regretting this, even so.)

[Maat Mons]

If you want kids to be the protagonists of a movie, you need some explanation for why adults don't handle everything. "Adults don't listen" is a serviceable plot device. I guess you could try "there are no adults around" or "kids keep secrets from adults," but those don't impart great life lessons either.

[InvisibleBison]

I'm a bit confused by today's NP. Is the joke that Susan doesn't realize she's not the target audience for kids' movies, or that this guy doesn't realize that Susan already understands the points he's making? I thought it was the former after reading the comic, but the commentary implies the latter.

[Windscion]

I'm a bit confused by today's NP. Is the joke that Susan doesn't realize she's not the target audience for kids' movies, or that this guy doesn't realize that Susan already understands the points he's making? I thought it was the former after reading the comic, but the commentary implies the latter.

Here's a clue: Susan is probably the smartest person in the comic. And Rich is, if not dumb, at least resistant to learning.

[Gez]

I'm a bit confused by today's NP. Is the joke that Susan doesn't realize she's not the target audience for kids' movies, or that this guy doesn't realize that Susan already understands the points he's making? I thought it was the former after reading the comic, but the commentary implies the latter.

The joke is that Susan complains about when the plot revolves around some characters (adults) not listening to what other characters (kids) say, and here the plot of the joke revolves around one character (Rich) not listening to what another character (Susan) says.

[Kish]

Here's a clue: Susan is probably the smartest person in the comic. And Rich is, if not dumb, at least resistant to learning.

I'm with Windscion here. What the precise intended implications of Rich continuing to tell Susan she's wrong are is debatable, but the one thing you can be certain of, is that no part of the intended takeaway is "Rich is right and Susan is wrong."

[Windscion]

"Granted, yelling would have happened anyway because of things that are happening."

I think this means that Elliot's lack-of-restraint `villain` form is more of a "burning up because of overload" form.

[Taevyr]

So, uh

is it more of an AAAAAAA?

or an AAAAHHHH?

'Cause I'm leaning towards "AAAAAAA", but I like to be certain

[Maat Mons]

Those links both go to the same video. And neither has a timestamp.

[Taevyr]

Those links both go to the same video. And neither has a timestamp.

That definitely isn't how it's supposed to be. Should be fixed now.