Unprovable OOTS Therories

[martianmister]

Malack is really sexy for lizard-folk standards. That's why he has a high charisma that can effect Tarquin, Durkon and Laurin.

[Amphiox]

Right-Eye's daughter has been secretly raised, and trained, by Serini. They will appear together as the final as yet unmentioned faction vying for the Gates. Laurin's daughter will be the third member of their party.

[Ariko]

So what?

The story is told within the conceit of a D&D campaign. Our heroes are PCs. Heck, they even call themselves PCs.

It follows that they implicitly have "players", in the same way as they mplicitly have a STR stat, even if we'll never actually see it. And regardless of the author's intent, it's perfectly reasonable to read it that way if it improves my enjoyment of the strip. Which it does.

Implicit or not, Rich has stated explicitly that they do not have players.

[YossarianLives]

Hannah Bidetsmith is adopted and is Redcloak's niece.

More seriously, I think Laurin could be an Elan. It would be another reason to hide stuff from Hannah, and she would use either a hat of disguise or a mundane disguise kit to look constantly older. She, like Malack, has long-term plans for the area- possibly going to attack the elves and claim the non-desert part of the continent for the humans, probably ensuring plumbing became a noble and well-paid art.

Without reading your post properly I thought you said Laurin was actually Elan

[ti'esar]

Malack is really sexy for lizard-folk standards. That's why he has a high charisma that can effect Tarquin, Durkon and Laurin.

...Or, y'know, it's because he's a vampire.

[runeghost]

I love the Dinosaur Island hypothesis.
Since it was at a much lower level, it's possible for Scoundrel to not only remember that adventure fondly but still consider Tarquin to be a B-lister.
Also, it explains why Tarquin sees so much of himself in Elan. Because, come on, Nale may have had too much pride to use a name that cheezy, but it sounds exactly like something that Elan would come up with!

For some reason I'd though that was explicitly confirmed, but a quick reread doesn't find anything. It seems very likely either way - old Julio/Tarquin rivalry, T's fondness for Dinosaurs, etc.

[Kish]

What was explicitly confirmed, is that the villain who had just been defeated by Julio when he appeared in Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales, referred to as "that evil villain," was Tarquin.

[Jay R]

Malack is really sexy for lizard-folk standards. That's why he has a high charisma that can effect Tarquin, Durkon and Laurin.

Sexiness has little to do with Charisma. Many sexy people can't lead, and many non-sexy people can lead very well.

[Synesthesy]

Sexiness has little to do with Charisma. Many sexy people can't lead, and many non-sexy people can lead very well.

In real world, yes.

In d&d? Elan has a 18 Charisma "under the hood"!

[Keltest]

In real world, yes.

In d&d? Elan has a 18 Charisma "under the hood"!

physical attractiveness is certainly one part of Charisma, but you can be an unlikable troll and still be handsome.

[Sange]

Shojo is a lich, and the cat is the Phylactery! Sort of

I support this theory.

Mine:
Xykon and Redcloak end up defeating the Order, and Elan dies while laughing (happy ending). Redcloak then betrays Xykon and goblins rule the world.

[Vinyadan]

In the Empire of Tears, the highest honour is now the Order of the Butt-Wash.

[Synesthesy]

physical attractiveness is certainly one part of Charisma, but you can be an unlikable troll and still be handsome.

Even Trolls have Trolless that like them, haven't they?

(I invented the world trolless for female trolls, I don't know if it is right ;))

[Keltest]

Even Trolls have Trolless that like them, haven't they?

(I invented the world trolless for female trolls, I don't know if it is right ;))

not if theyre unlikable they don't.

[chy03001]

Hey all,

Huge fan of OOTS and this is my first post in the forums:

My unprovable theory is that the MitD was not the one who teleported Vaarsuvius and O-Chul to safety. Instead, it was actually the fiends Lee, Nero and Cedrik because they wanted Vaarsuvius to stay alive to take advantage of their deal. Since they were monitoring the situation, they would have know the location of the fleet.

... that's my theory anyway.

[Kish]

I hate to rain on your first post, but that theory is not unprovable but disproven by Word of the Author.

(Rich said that the creature in the darkness used powers he didn't know he had to save O-Chul.)

[chy03001]

I hate to rain on your first post, but that theory is not unprovable but disproven by Word of the Author.

(Rich said that the creature in the darkness used powers he didn't know he had to save O-Chul.)

Huh... didn't know that. Thanks for the update :-)

[Peelee]

Huh... didn't know that. Thanks for the update :-)

I think it was hidden in the book commentary, though if I'm wrong i shall be banana'd soon enough. Easy to miss.

You could amend your theory to something along the lines of the MitD's power being Instant Transmission utilized several times (to get out of the box, get O-Chul and V to safety, and get back into the box) faster than anyone could see because the MitD has a tiny little Goku inside its head controlling it similarly to vampiric control, of course. Unprovability of said alteration not guaranteed.

But that's totally what happened, man.

[Jasdoif]

I think it was hidden in the book commentary, though if I'm wrong i shall be banana'd soon enough. Easy to miss.

The MitD thread cites Don't Split the Party.

---

Anyway, my theory (that I don't have high expectations for): Hel is a splinter personality/aspect inside Thor's mind, and Hel's grudge against Thor is centered on him (as dominant personality) preventing her from having normal contact with worshippers of her own. We've never seen Hel in the same panel with any deity except Thor, and it's far less coincidental that the High Priest of Hel came to inhabit the body of a high-level priest of Thor.

[DaggerPen]

Well, since we're doing "I have no evidence for this and it probably won't happen, but dammit, what if" theories:

Spoiler: SOD Spoilers

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I know there's like no chance it survived the destruction of Dorukan's Dungeon, and that we haven't seen him amongst the mooks anyway, but I like the idea that Right-Eye's zombie may become be seen again at a crucial moment.

[BrotherMirtillo]

Mr. Scruffy is carrying Shojo's soul around in some kind of non-evil soul splice. This is how Shojo influenced the delusional Belkar, and how Mr. Scruffy always knows how to do the right thing at the dramatically appropriate time. It also explains Shojo's attachment to the cat prior to his death.

Ha, nice! I've seen something like that before, and it wasn't even evil.

Towards the end of the first season of YuGiOh GX, it turns out that

Spoiler: anime-style death

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the academy's alchemy professor contracted a fatal disease long before the series started. He created a homunculus clone of himself to store his soul while his original body died. Pretty soon, the professor gets defeated in combat, his homunculus crumbles to dust, and his soul drifts out as a little sphere of light. It happens to drift near his beloved pet cat...

...and the cat promptly swallows the spirit. For the rest of the seasons, that spirit is available for the occasional piece of advice -- or more often, comic relief when the cat burps up the spirit and swallows it again.

..."I have no evidence for this and it probably won't happen, but dammit, what if" theories:

Spoiler: SOD Spoilers

Show

I know there's like no chance it survived the destruction of Dorukan's Dungeon, and that we haven't seen him amongst the mooks anyway, but I like the idea that Right-Eye's zombie may become be seen again at a crucial moment.

To which I say:

Spoiler: other take on SOD

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Zombie? Probably not. But how's about a ghost? And Redcloak's the only one that sees him, or at least Redcloak suspects so, but the MitD wouldn't notice anyway, and maybe Xykon's playing dumb, and oh Dark One, Right-Eye just won't stop staring and [cue Redcloak sucking his thumb]

///

As for additional theories:

-The Eastern Continent is the OOTS-world equivalent of Atlantis: nowhere to be seen, and many folks think that it never existed and that you'd be foolish to believe otherwise. Eugene spent most of his freshman year of college trying to find it.

-We already know Xykon killed five guys named Fyron in Cliffport, one of which was F. Pucebuckle, Eugene's mentor. Unfortunately, at least one of those deaths was a not-so-wacky mistaken identity during the search for F. Pucebuckle. (Xykon is really bad with names.)

And most of all:

-Mr. Scruffy started following Belkar because Mr. Scruffy deemed Belkar to be an honorary cat. The big guy runs, jumps, sniffs, hunts, plays, scratches, enjoys a fine cut of meat, and really doesn't care about much else.

[Sange]

The MitD thread cites Don't Split the Party.

---

Anyway, my theory (that I don't have high expectations for): Hel is a splinter personality/aspect inside Thor's mind, and Hel's grudge against Thor is centered on him (as dominant personality) preventing her from having normal contact with worshippers of her own. We've never seen Hel in the same panel with any deity except Thor, and it's far less coincidental that the High Priest of Hel came to inhabit the body of a high-level priest of Thor.

I think the recent comic would disprove this- as we learn that Hel does try to recruit clerics and has direct contact with Durkoff.

[Vinyadan]

To which I say:

Spoiler: other take on SOD

Show

Zombie? Probably not. But how's about a ghost? And Redcloak's the only one that sees him, or at least Redcloak suspects so, but the MitD wouldn't notice anyway, and maybe Xykon's playing dumb, and oh Dark One, Right-Eye just won't stop staring and [cue Redcloak sucking his thumb]

///

Spoiler

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He wasn't talking to his reflection in the mirror. He was talking to the ghost he could see behind himself.

[runeghost]

Even Trolls have Trolless that like them, haven't they?

(I invented the world trolless for female trolls, I don't know if it is right ;))

Should it be "trollop"?

[veti]

In d&d? Elan has a 18 Charisma "under the hood"!

But Elan can't lead. Won't lead. His attempts at "inspiring" the Order are, without exception, hilariously inept.

There's no great consistency in how the Giant depicts Charisma. Elan has high Cha: we know he's goodlooking, and we can assume he has a decent singing voice, but that's about all. He has no great force of personality, he's often quite diffident, uninspiring to the point of comedy, and many people find him incredibly irritating.

Then there was Miko. She was also goodlooking, had high Cha, dominant personality, but also made everyone hate her.

Roy has a strong personality, good persuasive and manipulative skills, and moderate Cha. We have no real information on his looks. Ditto Haley.

Xykon must have astronomical Cha, but most people (with one exception) wouldn't consider him sexy. Great force of personality and manipulative skills. Not so much at persuasion and making people like him, but maybe only because he can't be bothered.

O-Chul has low Cha, but he's demonstrably both persuasive (of the MitD) and inspiring, to say nothing of all his groupies here on the forum.

[Vinyadan]

But Elan can't lead. Won't lead. His attempts at "inspiring" the Order are, without exception, hilariously inept.

There's no great consistency in how the Giant depicts Charisma. Elan has high Cha: we know he's goodlooking, and we can assume he has a decent singing voice, but that's about all. He has no great force of personality, he's often quite diffident, uninspiring to the point of comedy, and many people find him incredibly irritating.

Then there was Miko. She was also goodlooking, had high Cha, dominant personality, but also made everyone hate her.

Roy has a strong personality, good persuasive and manipulative skills, and moderate Cha. We have no real information on his looks. Ditto Haley.

Xykon must have astronomical Cha, but most people (with one exception) wouldn't consider him sexy. Great force of personality and manipulative skills. Not so much at persuasion and making people like him, but maybe only because he can't be bothered.

O-Chul has low Cha, but he's demonstrably both persuasive (of the MitD) and inspiring, to say nothing of all his groupies here on the forum.

I think you are not taking into account other stats: Elan's low intelligence and wisdom, O-Chul's good wisdom, Roy's good intelligence and wisdom. Xykon and Miko never shew any interest in soft power, as far as I remember.

[Keltest]

I think you are not taking into account other stats: Elan's low intelligence and wisdom, O-Chul's good wisdom, Roy's good intelligence and wisdom. Xykon and Miko never shew any interest in soft power, as far as I remember.

even an idiot can be inspiring. Theyre willing to throw themselves at a task with complete abandon simply because they aren't smart enough to know its hopeless. A character with high charisma and low wis/int will always be more inspiring than someone with low charisma and high wis/int. I cant imagine V or Durkon giving Roy the "its called morale, or sometimes hope" speech ever.

[Vinyadan]

even an idiot can be inspiring. Theyre willing to throw themselves at a task with complete abandon simply because they aren't smart enough to know its hopeless. A character with high charisma and low wis/int will always be more inspiring than someone with low charisma and high wis/int. I cant imagine V or Durkon giving Roy the "its called morale, or sometimes hope" speech ever.

Me neither, V because he's too self-concerned to give such a speech, and Durkon because he doesn't need any hope to do his job.

At the same time, I can't see V or D giving the Azure City Speech. V wouldn't even have tried. D would likely have ended up screaming Led Zeppelin lyrics all over the place. Both would have been better than what Elan did.

What I mean is that characters don't give speeches based solely on their allocated points, but also on their intentions, and that these two values, I think, are both shown rather well in the comic.

[Keltest]

Me neither, V because he's too self-concerned to give such a speech, and Durkon because he doesn't need any hope to do his job.

At the same time, I can't see V or D giving the Azure City Speech. V wouldn't even have tried. D would likely have ended up screaming Led Zeppelin lyrics all over the place. Both would have been better than what Elan did.

What I mean is that characters don't give speeches based solely on their allocated points, but also on their intentions, and that these two values, I think, are both shown rather well in the comic.

Elan did quite well until he began overthinking it out loud. That's a case of his charisma doing a good job, and then his poor intelligence promptly undoing it, certainly, but theyre two separate causes and effects.

[Jay R]

Should it be "trollop"?

Perfect. Nobody's going to top this one. Close the thread.