Number of Character Appearances (Improved!)

[Wrecan]

FAQ

Q. Where did you get the idea to do this?

A. This started as a game (Guess which character had the most appearances, then second most, etc.), but once all characters with three or more appearances were guessed, someone had the idea of keeping a running total, just for curiosity's sake. Then someone thought it might belong here instead of silly games, so n11 moved the list here instead of there. When n11's thread got 'ported over to the new forum, the formatting changes made it difficult to read. Plus, n11 hasn't shown up for quite a few comics, so the list was falling hopelessly out of date. So I have reformatted the list for the new forums and updated it. n11 hasn't shown up in the new incarnation of the forums, so now I'm doing it.


Q. What counts as an appearance?

A. Any likeness of the character being visible (so Elan's appearance on Nale's blueprint counts, and Belkar's self-portrait in blood counts) and any dialog from a character, even if "off-panel" or invisible (so the strip where the party is in the invisibility sphere counts for each of the main characters)


Q. What's with the stuff in red?

A. Those are appearances in Origin of the PCs and Start of Darkness, and the bonus strips from Dungeon Crawling Fools and No Cure For the Paladin Blues, books available for sale, with content not found on the webcomic. Each page of the book is treated as a separate strip. If you want to know what these appearances and characters mean, buy the book! (You won't be sorry.) And thanks to Mechafox for compiling the appearances from Dungeon Crawling Fools and No Cure For the Paladin Blues!


Q. What if someone appears multiple times in a strip and what's with the numbers in blue?

A. Multiple appearances in one page of a strip still only count as one appearance. However, since we count appearances in bonus materials by the page, we also keep track of appearances in multiple pages of a multi-page strip. We do this with the numbers in blue. For example, Elan, Haley and Roy appear in the first and second pages of the very first multi-page comic, Comic 120. So the second appearance is counted and adds one to their blue count total.


Q. Why haven't you listed the goblins/hobgoblins/zombies/ghouls/ghasts/Azure City guards?

A. A character only gets listed if it is recognizable as an individual or if it's a recurring distinct group (such as the flumphs or the demon roaches). The indistinct masses do not get listed.


Q. What about the [insert unnamed character that only appears once]?

A. If a character appears only once and is not named, then it doesn't get listed. Otherwise, the list would be completely unmanageable.


Q. Who is Ted?

A. The appearances of a goblin caster in #90, #93, #105, and #107 could be the same caster, given the limited context, and he could be given the same “Ted” first mentioned in #90, but the Giant has specified no such connection was ever intended. We're listing him anyway because we think it's clever.


Q. Hey didn't you list Sabine's fiendish form as an alternate form? And wasn't this FAQ question previously about that?

A. Yes. Sabine used to be listed with her red-leathered adventurer form (the one she originally appeared in) as her "natural" form and her fiendish form as a magical alteration. But now she has appeared in her fiendish form more often than her leather-clad form, so I've switched it around. Her fiendish form is now her natural form and the red-leather clad adventurer is one of her alternate magical forms (along with the cop, geisha and schoolgirl disguises she's assumed).


Q. Why is Banjo listed as a character? Banjo is an inanimate object!

A. Blasphemy!! Seriously, you're probably right. But we like Banjo.


Q. Why is Shlubbo Noname-zaki from strip 435 listed? That's not his real name.

A. Well, it could be his real name. Either way, it's funny.


Q. In Other Interesting Alterations, why don't you mention how often we get to see Roy/Miko/Chief/[insert other corpse] as a corpse?

A. We don't keep track of corpses. It's not interesting. It would take up too much time and effort.