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

[ti'esar]

Originally Posted by thereaper

No matter how much I zoom in or out on the latest strip, it appears like the MitD is shaking hands with O'Chul.

It's hardly conclusive, but it's something to consider.

It's also an illusion.

[DaggerPen]

Originally Posted by thereaper

No matter how much I zoom in or out on the latest strip, it appears like the MitD is shaking hands with O'Chul.

It's hardly conclusive, but it's something to consider.

It looks like he has a little hand, but this is also occurring entirely in the minds of one or more Order members, so unless they've somehow figured out what the MitD is, it's more likely that whoever's mind conjured up the image (my bet's on Elan) just kind of assumed that the MitD had a hand with no real knowledge of him.

[Geordnet]

Originally Posted by thereaper

No matter how much I zoom in or out on the latest strip, it appears like the MitD is shaking hands with O'Chul.

It's hardly conclusive, but it's something to consider.

O'chul definitely seems to be holding something, and nothing would make more sense than the MitD's hand. Or analogous appendage.

If that is the MitD's hand, it would appear his coloration is in the "yellowish" range of the spectrum. (It is impossible to say with certainty exactly what color it is, but it's certainly not red, blue, green, or purple.)

Originally Posted by DaggerPen

It looks like he has a little hand, but this is also occurring entirely in the minds of one or more Order members, so unless they've somehow figured out what the MitD is, it's more likely that whoever's mind conjured up the image (my bet's on Elan) just kind of assumed that the MitD had a hand with no real knowledge of him.

Unless Rich has decided to give us a sneak peek, which I would think is more likely than some convoluted in-comic explanation.

[SaintRidley]

Absolutely nothing in #887 regarding MitD actually tells us anything about MitD, considering it's all an illusion cobbled from the minds of a group with two members who have actually seen the thing, and even they never saw whether it had hands or not.

In short, #887 provides no new information for this thread at all.

[Kish]

Originally Posted by ReaderAt2046

And I already thought about the MITD being male, but it's not too incredibly odd for a female player to play a male character. Having a man refer to himself as "Mrs." is much odder.

If this implies that male players play female characters very rarely...that definitely doesn't match my experience.

(If it implies something else, I hate to think what.)

[Conte_Vincero]

I think we should look into that prospective "hand" while this is roy's illusion, remember that Roy has never seen MitD so this is unlikely to be tainted by his misconceptions. If anyone knows a way of enlarging this then please do. I would but

Spoiler

I took quicken instead

Spoiler

Everyone else gets to tell bad jokes so why can't I

However I'm not sure it is a hand. I think it might just be him handing MitD a bowl of stew.

[ReaderAt2046]

Originally Posted by Kish

If this implies that male players play female characters very rarely...that definitely doesn't match my experience.

(If it implies something else, I hate to think what.)

It wasn't intended to imply that.

[Olinser]

Originally Posted by Conte_Vincero

I think we should look into that prospective "hand" while this is roy's illusion, remember that Roy has never seen MitD so this is unlikely to be tainted by his misconceptions. If anyone knows a way of enlarging this then please do. I would but

Spoiler

I took quicken instead

Spoiler

Everyone else gets to tell bad jokes so why can't I

However I'm not sure it is a hand. I think it might just be him handing MitD a bowl of stew.

This illusion is based on their own preconceptions and knowledge.

Belkar and Haley have seen the MiTD, and Roy probably had a conversation about him with O'Chul.

There are such a stupid amount of things totally wrong with the illusion right now that we should treat everything in it as false and just ignore it.

[Geordnet]

Originally Posted by SaintRidley

Absolutely nothing in #887 regarding MitD actually tells us anything about MitD, considering it's all an illusion cobbled from the minds of a group with two members who have actually seen the thing, and even they never saw whether it had hands or not.

It is whatever Rich decided to show us. This page came entirely from his mind, and he does know what the MitD looks like and may have decided to give us a sneak peek, regardless of what the characters know.

Originally Posted by SaintRidley

In short, #887 provides no new information for this thread at all.

It provides nothing conclusive. But it can be taken into account, on a purely hypothetical basis; maybe set some people thinking in directions they wouldn't have before.

So, if that is the MitD's hand, what sort of creatures might have a hand that color, and also large enough that Rich would draw it in a non-stick form?

Originally Posted by Conte_Vincero

If anyone knows a way of enlarging this then please do.

There's know way of getting it at any higher resolution than it is now, except asking Rich for a higher-resolution copy.

However, I zoomed in and this is what I got:
██
██

Originally Posted by Conte_Vincero

However I'm not sure it is a hand. I think it might just be him handing MitD a bowl of stew.

Oh, I didn't think of that. That would make sense, and it's even the right color.

Originally Posted by Olinser

This illusion is based on their own preconceptions and knowledge.

It's based on what Rich wants to show us. He may decide to keep it within the limits of the OOTS's preconceptions and knowledge, OR he may decide to use the opportunity to give us another clue as to the MitD's true form. Unless Rich tells us which it is, you can't really say for sure.

Originally Posted by Olinser

There are such a stupid amount of things totally wrong with the illusion right now that we should treat everything in it as false and just ignore it.

I disagree. Of course the illusion is all but useless as evidence, but we shouldn't automatically assume that everything in there is absolutely untrue. We just need to keep its inconclusive nature in mind.

We can still say "what if it is true?", extrapolate, then see if it fits with corroborating data. It's just that only the concrete corroborating data would actually be evidence for whatever conclusion is reached (which includes "it can't be true, because it conflicts with solid data").

[Shale]

Rich went out of his way to show that anything the main characters don't personally know doesn't match up with reality. Redcloak is a healbot who doesn't help out in a fight, Tsukiko, Thanh and Durkon are alive, Tarquin and Nale are willing to accept a defeat, etc. There's no reason to think that this one tiny maybe-a-detail is accurate when literally nothing else on the page is.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Originally Posted by Geordnet

It is whatever Rich decided to show us. This page came entirely from his mind, and he does know what the MitD looks like and may have decided to give us a sneak peek, regardless of what the characters know.

No, this is incorrect. What he showed us is precisely, and uniquely, what the characters know, and what their minds invent to fill in the details that they don't. This is most obvious from the eye patch on RC, and the wrong-shaped holy symbol he wears. All evidence says as much, and Rich has confirmed that it is based on their knowledge - or rather, lack thereof.

None of the characters having this illusion has ever seen MitD's hand, and thus cannot possibly know what it looks like. They may assume he has one, but that tells us nothing about MitD.

If Rich wanted to give us the shape and colour of the hand, he could have done so earlier, in more believable context.

Grey Wolf

[Geordnet]

Originally Posted by Shale

Rich went out of his way to show that anything the main characters don't personally know doesn't match up with reality.

Hm, that is a very good point...

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf_c

If Rich wanted to give us the shape and colour of the hand, he could have done so earlier, in more believable context.

Or, he didn't plan to show us MitD's hand -but he saw an opportunity, and took it.

It's more or less moot, though, since we now have an established pattern, (Rich went out of his way to show only things the characters know in the other panels) and an alternative explanation that fits it better (O'Chul is offering a bowl of stew to MitD).

While it is still hypothetically possible that it is the MitD's hand, it probably isn't. (The only reason I was arguing up to this point is that I didn't see the connection between what the characters know and what Rich drew, until Shale pointed out evidence that Rich was deliberately limiting himself to IC knowledge.)

[Bongos]

Hard to tell what it is in that picture, but from O'chul's body language it appears he is giving the MitD something.

I don't see anything that really looks like an MitD hand.

Of course we all know that when the MitD picks something up or holds something his hand is not visible, why would this case be anything different?

[pwning doodes]

Who here likes MitD better than Xykon? If so, please come help him out in the Favorite Character Tournament thread! The monster we have all been speculating about for so long seems at risk of getting outvoted by his evil lich lord, just as the real Xykon keeps him under control in the comic. Help save MitD from this tyranny: simply go to the favorit character thread and post "MitD". Together, we can vanquish Xykon in this small way.