MitD VI: The Undiscovered Creature (Please Read the First Post)

[NovaeDeArx]

So... I've spent way too much time thinking about this topic, but let me put in my two cents really quick.

First of all, we know Rich is a clever SOB, and certainly smart enough to know that any critter he pulls out of a book is going to get figured out too quickly by you lovely, obsessive people. So, we're talking misdirection.

Reading over many of the MitD strips, there's a very interesting theme that develops, most pronounced during its discussions with O-Chul (but shows up in many other places): the monster seems to be suppressing his or its memory. This, I think, is very important, as the hints that are dropped about its possible identity lead to a very surprising conclusion...

Let's review:
-The MitD has inexplicable knowledge of magic, notable during its references to the Astral Plane (which it recognizes, but can't remember ever entering) and being able to recognize Tsukiko's ritual as only half a ritual with barely a glance.
-It is able to recognize the gates, but seems to ignore them as hard as possible, and not want to recognize or remember them. This seems to be one of the stronger candidates for the MitD overtly suppressing its memory, thought or perceptions to avoid... Something.
-It is hard to estimate its intelligence, as it refers to thinking as "hard". This is probably another clue, as it is able to learn Go far too quickly, and O-Chul's conversation with it is a massive hint that the MitD is holding onto some kind of baggage from the past that is holding it back, and allowing it to be manipulated by outside forces... This sounding familiar yet?
-The MitD had a short-lived "No Girls" club. Hmm.
-The MitD has memories of a large, voracious father, and having "always" lived in the jungle where it was found.

Also, Rich has dropped hints that the MitD's identity lives in a strange place between an original and a borrowed creation. This is a very odd statement, and makes me think that the MitD might be a much more familiar character than we realize. All he really tells us is that the MitD is not a totally random made-up critter, but it CAN be something (or someONE?) that Rich has already established. Dude left a lot of room for loopholes in his statement, and went way too far out of his way to only be specific that the MitD would not be a disappointing "snarglewumpus" ass-pull.

When reflecting on the "lock" on the Snarl's cage, I remember there being a statement along the lines of "the cage/world exists in multiple parallels" or somesuch, translated into magical jargon-babble. When looking through the rift, the raven saw the (or a) world. V specifically stated shortly after something like "clearly we don't know as much as we thought about this".

Finally, I want to revisit V's deal with the fiends as well as the Oracle. The Oracle was asked when V would obtain ultimate arcane power... But was the Soul Splice really "ultimate"? Gods could have easily crushed V, for example. It made him Epic as hell, but Xyklon made pretty short work of him. I suspect that the whole thing was a setup to make the readerbase think that this was the end of the road for V's magical turbocharging.

Putting these all together, I'm thinking that the MitD is some time-shifted amalgam of V and something that will happen to him in the future. V will do something when finally face-to-face with the Snarl that will both really screw him up (memory suppression) and grant him super-awesome-ultra powers.

I also have some suspicion that V can be both the MitD and the Snarl (think about the story of the Gods getting slaughtered by the critter - if the physical form of the Snarl is metaphorical rather than actual, it could be a reference to the tangled time-lines that V creates by going through a rift or rifts) but that is much more of a stretch. However, the Snarl is pretty much the epitome of "ultimate power", able to slay gods and unmake reality for giggles.

It's a stretch to end all stretches, but from a narrative perspective it makes way more sense than anything that's been seen so far. Rich only knew what the MitD was once he developed the whole story. That suggests that the critter has some deep ties to the narrative, and this very very strongly suggests that we've already met it.

It's also vaguely possible that the MitD is some amalgam of multiple characters that fall through a rift together, further pushing the narrative theme of it as a metaphorical "snarl" of various characters' personalities. V's arcane knowledge, Elan's stupidity, Xyklon's raw power, RC or Durkon's clerical magic... Who knows what combination or permutation of their forms and powers could have been kitbashed into something that the hunters and (apparently) RC recognized incorrectly.

It also is a fun call-back to the name of the "Order" of the Stick. The characters serve as a time-looped trap for the Snarl/themselves, in a continuous cycle of self-creation that keeps them trapped throughout eternity.

Depressing as hell, but it'd set up for a cool ending.

Even if I'm wrong, I guarantee that the MitD can and will only be revealed at the end of the whole mess, as it is the only time that its appearance will make any sense to the audience.

Now. Have fun ripping me to shreds