#653: "It's a secret."

[Kurosen]

A secret forever.

[Adghar]

So THAT'S how he got his hadoken...

[The Wizard Who Did It]

Brian that was absolutely horrible, you just butchered my favorite fictional character ever...

Good job.

[Noober]

I have to say this comic hit me as one of the ones that's come the most from outfield. I'm really wondering why he told Fighter he only just started puberty though. This also raises all sorts of questions (like how old is he), and perhaps a few answers (Like why is he so interested in getting it on with WM).

[Skyshot]

Fighter manages to look cool and be hilarious at the same time.

"Don't tell each other..." Hee hee! It makes so much sense and yet so little!

[The Fifth Power]

Everything that happens, happens to hurt Black mage.

Reading this is like sadomachoism, in comic form. It just hurts you, but you can't help but want more.

Thank you sir, may I please have another?

[Kalbelgarion]

So that's why he really, really has the hots for WM...

[Skit]

Oh my. That was entirely fantastic! Oh Black Mage. You poor loser... If I were the nitpicking type, and I am, I would say that this places Black Mage and Fighter's ages around 20, 21, since it is not impossible for puberty to hit so late, but it is still very humiliating. I would place Red Mage at about 30 and Thief at around 1000, for no other reason that this got me thinking about it.

[MFD]

Wow. I am impressed... BM and half of his horde o' fanboys have something in common!

That's what we call in the vernacular a ZING.

[POS Industries]

"I'm a helper!"

Beautiful.

Well, so much for the theory that with this class change comes a little bit more of Fighter's hidden intellectual prowess. As for the question of why BM would even tell fighter that, maybe he had no choice when Fighter noticed that his voice had gotten noticably deeper.

Oh yeah, and this is definately another one of those "things that's sure to piss off continuity freaks". You think the shitstorm was bad over Thief's outfit that was always black? Hoo boy...

Love it!

[Kurosen]

MFD wins the thread before it's even begun.

[Zargon]

OMG... Fighter acting stupid but being smart about it. very awesome.

"What's happening to me?" 'over 1,000,000 sold'. Nice touch. very wrong, but nice touch.

[Rocketlex]

I don't think Black Mage told Fighter intentionally. I think Fighter found Black Mage's "book" seen in panel six.

[Major Blood]

Okay, on the awesome chart, fighter gets another check.

[Draven]

and here i was thinking that BM was gonna stab Fighter in the head...TWICE!!

shocker. very nice twist with the whole puberty. kinda sad cause...yeh

[The Wizard Who Did It]

Wow. I am impressed... BM and half of his horde o' fanboys have something in common!

That's what we call in the vernacular a ZING.
See, I'm just happy I'm not actually a fanboy. I just think that BM, and most of the other characters in fact, is nicely constructed. I have this crazy theory that the whole reason he hates the world is some defensive mechanism, due to the fact that he needs to control the world through pain and fear because he couldn't control the world except through power and fear when he was young. Example, talking about killing his brother and saying, "Who's mommy's favorite now!"

Yes, I am a nerd. Or in Mauve's words, a freak.

Anyways, I am very interested to see when we not only have pre-existing members, but new members signing on to say this one thing, complaining and flaming about this change in, um, perspective.

[Fifthfiend]

Game on?

Game on!

Seriously, this does explain why he's such a moody son of a bitch.

[Kupo-chan]

Well, I guess that comfirms it, Same old Fighter, Same old Light Warriors.

I don't beleave this really rasises the question of how old the light warriors are, because I'm positive that everyone has always wondered. I'm almost positive they're under 20, I haven't played Final Fantasy in a while, but aren't they refered to as "youths" at some point? Mabie in the remake?

I really liked this comic. With all this class change stuff, we really havent gotten alot of the Light Warriors just being The Light Warriors, Which might ahve been the cause of all those comments about how they were acting out of character. But I digress, That comic was great, definately the funniest in a while, other than that theif color-change thing. That was brillant.

[Rocketlex]

I like the idea of them all being around 17-19.

[Kroze Gamegod]

Wow,
This story arc is REALLY out to get BM this time...
I feel bad for him...
And Brian, it ain't over till the fat lady sings....
Well that is unless MFD is indeed a fat lady....

And I'm SO tempted to steal Jayce's glory once again....

[Neodymium]

How doth thou win a thread before it hath begun, ethpethially if it HATH begun already? BY PLAYING SUPER METROID!!

...AH! AH! NOW I know why BM can only use Hadoken once per day... it's glandular... PUBERTY!!

Poor BM. The world just won't roll over and die for him, like it should.

*dances off to Ridley theme*

[Nucleus]

Yes, for some reason I think of Fighter and Black Mage being about 17, Red Mage 18, and Thief 19 or 20.

But these would be Elven years, making him the eldest by a much greater margin, I wager. Not that it makes any difference.

[MFD]

MFD wins the thread before it's even begun.

I do try.

The strip is still bringing a chuckle to my lips, despite having read it awhile ago.

[Kupo-chan]

I like the idea of them all being around 17-19.
Yeah. That sounds about right.

Except for Theif of course. That would make him about...*checks D&D manual* 120-130?

[Kroze Gamegod]

*Kroze just can't resist the temptation for more mocking*

22 down, 8 to go!

It had to be done....

[Transcend]

Let's see now. Given by my own personal reckoning, Black Mage is 19, Fighter 20, RM 22, and Theif, to human eyes, would look maybe 25.

[Zek]

Well, you guys know what this means. BM already had his class change. Sorry fans.

[Swiftbow]

I've never quite gotten why it is that elves are supposed to mature so much more slowly. Sure, they live a long time, but humans don't take 20 years to fully grow because we live longer than a dog. It takes longer because we have more to develop. And, since I have yet to see any evidence that elves are considerably more advanced than humans (again, other than lifespan), it would seem to me that they should mature at about the same rate, but then just stay "young" for just so much longer.

[Kupo-chan]

I've never quite gotten why it is that elves are supposed to mature so much more slowly. Sure, they live a long time, but humans don't take 20 years to fully grow because we live longer than a dog. It takes longer because we have more to develop. And, since I have yet to see any evidence that elves are considerably more advanced than humans (again, other than lifespan), it would seem to me that they should mature at about the same rate, but then just stay "young" for just so much longer.
Concider this, if our race lived longer, wouldent we also be concidered "childern" for longer, and treated as such?

[Kurosen]

It's already happening. We are much more like children at 18 than we were a hundred years ago because the average human lifespan has increased so much since then.

[Kupo-chan]

I didn't even think of that. Thank you. You are a wise, wise man, Mr. Clevinger.

[PhasmaRok]

A lot of 18-y-o's I know have the maturity of children, anyway.

And I'd buy the LW's being maybe 20 at the oldest.
For Thief, it'd be in elf-years of course. And as for why elves mature more slowly.... it's because you touch yourself at night.

[Swiftbow]

Concider this, if our race lived longer, wouldent we also be concidered "childern" for longer, and treated as such?

I wasn't talking about being "treated" as children. It is true that kids were once considered men at around 13 years old (or younger), but that didn't mean they were done growing. Growth has pretty much always ended in the 18-20s range.

But even if elves did extend the "child" consideration longer (and ok, sure, that might make sense), 120ish just seems, well, crazy? But anyway, it doesn't really matter, but I felt compelled to post because everyone seems to be assuming 8-Bit elves age like D&D elves, which may or may not be the case.

[Rocketlex]

Does this mean that elfen puberty can last for decades?

[BitVyper]

I've never quite gotten why it is that elves are supposed to mature so much more slowly. Sure, they live a long time, but humans don't take 20 years to fully grow because we live longer than a dog. It takes longer because we have more to develop.

Er, no we don't. We're just helpless a lot longer than most animals. Hell, we have -less- to develop than quite a few, and we generally take a good fifteen years longer to get most of our physical growth done.

We do start with less mentally though.

[kynikos]

It's already happening. We are much more like children at 18 than we were a hundred years ago because the average human lifespan has increased so much since then.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

I think that the causal inference is dubious. There are too many variables (e.g. child labor laws, mandatory public education, deeper understanding of developmental psychology, etc.) to draw this conclusion. Of course, the increase in human lifespan may have something to do with the changing views on adolescence; however, the evidence only supports a positive correlation, not a causal relationship.

-kynikos

[Sam_Drugbringer]

That Statement was a bit Blanket. While one could argue the overall trend is for older people to be considered younger, in many comunitys children end up growing up faster.

That said, there is a big diffrence between the diffrence between living 50 and 100 years, and living 100 and 10,000 years. I can't imagene Thief being considered a day older then 50 in normal years a youth, and even that's pushing it.

[Kurosen]

Pardon me for making a brief post in a forum. I was unaware it would count for 25% of my grade.

[Sam_Drugbringer]

Oh god. I'm always hoping Kurosen will post more, and now I've ticked him off so he might post less. :(

[kynikos]

Oh god. I'm always hoping Kurosen will post more, and now I've ticked him off so he might post less. :(

It was probably my fault as much (or more) than yours.

Brian, I meant to disagree but not be disagreeable. I apologize for any offense.

Best regards,
kynikos

[talse]

it would seem we know why black mages face is always enshrouded, it's not just the ancient magik's flowing through turning it into a field scape of the unimaginable, he's also, as fighter so kindly put it, a pizza faced mutant (http://www.nuklearpower.com/images/cookie/cookie05.jpg) of most likely a highly offensive calibur.

[BigDemonicBunny]

...ahh, who needs enemies when you have friends like Fighter (as well as RM&Thief).

In any case, as for the aging of elves I don't think we have even grasped the physical and mental necessities for a higher species to be immortal and evolutionarily successful. As such we imagine them to be much like us (except having longer lives) since we have no idea how they would be constructed if they were not like us. I'm sure we could figure it out, but not without more thought on the subject than it would be worth.

[Kurosen]

Sorry, my sarcasm can come out in heaps at times ;D

I did't mean to claim that longer lifespan is the only contributor to our society's extended-childhood over the last one hundred years, but that it's certainly a large part of it. We've had child labor laws and mandatory public education since roughly 1850 - 70, so it's not like it was a radically new idea to keep 12 year olds out of factories by 1906.

In any case, kids today are dumb and spoiled. Now buy a T-shirt!

[Kaelus]

It was probably my fault as much (or more) than yours.

Brian, I meant to disagree but not be disagreeable. I apologize for any offense.

Best regards,
kynikos

Brian, you're ready to start a religion. o.O

*ductapes mouth to control the urge to say Kuro-chan* =X

[Godna]

I've never quite gotten why it is that elves are supposed to mature so much more slowly. Sure, they live a long time, but humans don't take 20 years to fully grow because we live longer than a dog. It takes longer because we have more to develop. And, since I have yet to see any evidence that elves are considerably more advanced than humans (again, other than lifespan), it would seem to me that they should mature at about the same rate, but then just stay "young" for just so much longer.


Maybe elves just have a glandular(sp) issue and thus they mature uber slow as the cost for their pointy ears and immortality (the natural hatrid of dwarves is just an added bonus;) )

[Amake]

Let's see now. Humans mature slowly our heads are so freaking large. It forces kids to be born when they're only half-baked fetuses, and so much of our adolesence is spent in a kind of post-womb limbo, like kangaroos. So a horse can stand on its own legs a couple of minutes after its birth, and is able to function as an independent specimen after a year or something, while the corresponding figures for a human is 1-2 years and 15-20 years.

The point being that our ginormous brains are to blame for all this.

And I don't think elfs have any bigger heads. Unless the pointy ears count, hehe.

Oh yeah, and the comic was funny. :D

[Lyndyn]

Sorry, my sarcasm can come out in heaps at times ;D

I did't mean to claim that longer lifespan is the only contributor to our society's extended-childhood over the last one hundred years, but that it's certainly a large part of it. We've had child labor laws and mandatory public education since roughly 1850 - 70, so it's not like it was a radically new idea to keep 12 year olds out of factories by 1906.

In any case, kids today are dumb and spoiled. Now buy a T-shirt!
Hmm, on that same note, since the weight of amaricans has also gone up, shouldn't that mean that in a few years super models with be huge? Now that you have that image in your head, I wonder if there are any plans for new T-Shirts..

[kynikos]

Brian, you're ready to start a religion. o.O

*ductapes mouth to control the urge to say Kuro-chan* =X

Hey now! I was apologizing for being too pedantic (breaking out the latin name of the fallacy) but not for disagreeing. Certainly, I don't wish to offend someone who's work I respect but I didn't mean to imply that I was capitulating out of idolatry.

In point of fact, I still have a great deal of uneasiness with regards to drawing causal relationships out of correlative data, particularly when dealing with large scale sociological phenomena.

[Clarificatory note for fellow pedants: Perhaps an inference to the best explanation can suggest a hypothesis involving a causal relationship in such cases (and maybe Brian does have something like this in mind); however, such an argument oftentimes requires truly painstaking rigor. Absent such, doxastic abstinence seems to be the most honest course.]

-kynikos

[mandrke]

So a horse can stand on its own legs a couple of minutes after its birth, and is able to function as an independent specimen after a year or something, while the corresponding figures for a human is 1-2 years and 15-20 years. ] accually the reason for walking is about a year is because we walh on two legs not on four and why we are sexally mature at 15-20 years of age is simple... Education!
Then (<10,000 years ago) we leaned to hunt,fish,forrage and find shelter just to name a few! Now it's to learn langarge, maths, computing skills, and social skills.It has been found that some people have matured very young-it's in "Ripleys Believe It Or Not" and we are matureing faster than our parents!

[Desmant]

I KNEW IT! I predicted this joke back when Red Mage first got his class change.

[Seran]

Poor Black Mage! They should stop taunting him already. At least Fighter tries!

Hm...well, there goes an explanation for his attraction to White Mage...

[Satan's Onion]

You could almost say that whole exchange was BM's own fault--that is, if he'd just let that comment slide he could have saved himself another metric butt-ton of humiliation (albeit at the cost of a great strip to us). On the other hand, if he's only just gotten those big glandular upheavals behind him (or is still in the middle of them), then he can hardly be to blame for not keeping his cool. It's just his hormones acting up on him :p .

[Vision]

"I'm a helper!" I love that. LOVE it. To death, and then some. I can't say I'm surprised, I guess-but it's still great.

[Trixbeat]

Would puberty also trigger the violent emotions that we have seen from BM? I imagine BM class changing when WM is in danger. Which would be, unfortunately, a long way to go...

[Kaelus]

Hey now! I was apologizing for being too pedantic (breaking out the latin name of the fallacy) but not for disagreeing. Certainly, I don't wish to offend someone who's work I respect but I didn't mean to imply that I was capitulating out of idolatry.

In point of fact, I still have a great deal of uneasiness with regards to drawing causal relationships out of correlative data, particularly when dealing with large scale sociological phenomena.

[Clarificatory note for fellow pedants: Perhaps an inference to the best explanation can suggest a hypothesis involving a causal relationship in such cases (and maybe Brian does have something like this in mind); however, such an argument oftentimes requires truly painstaking rigor. Absent such, doxastic abstinence seems to be the most honest course.]

-kynikos

Hmm... all right, sorry for the misunderstanding, then. *bows*

...but I still think that Brian could have his own church if he really wanted to. >.>

PS: loved the speech! o/

[Deck Knight]

As to the ages, maybe Black Mage is only 14. Only, he's a TALL 14 year old. rather than Puberty hitting late, it came at a normal time and he just had a huge growth spurt to be as tall as the other Light Warriors(or they are just short, being as tall as an elf, of course).

But of course, BM doesn't want anyone to associate him with age (especially one so young) because applying such a mortal concept to him is far more embarrasing than Fighter talking about puberty. That and noone takes 14 year olds seriously.

Think about this:

http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010618

On the puberty note, apparently Fighter has, at least according to White Mage. http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010523

"Morals", right...

[Jaysc]

22 down, 8 to go.

[bass_virus]

Well now we know why BM is so against showing himself without his hat, it's cause he has so much acne and facial hair it looks like a gorrila with hemorode's ass.

[XxSeffyxX]

Considering how he is pubesent I think he will get "Lonely" and has his class change all over the inside of the tent

[bass_virus]

Yeah, one joke about BM jacking off was enough thank you.

[XxSeffyxX]

Your welcome

[Transcend]

You could almost say that whole exchange was BM's own fault--that is, if he'd just let that comment slide he could have saved himself another metric butt-ton of humiliation (albeit at the cost of a great strip to us). On the other hand, if he's only just gotten those big glandular upheavals behind him (or is still in the middle of them), then he can hardly be to blame for not keeping his cool. It's just his hormones acting up on him :p .

Of course it's all BM's fault! You see, everything that happens is in order to hurt BM. And pain hurts worse when you know it's your own damn fault. And BM humiliates himself, hurting himself twice as badly.

And I don't think BM is any younger than the rest of the LWs. After all, he and fighter met up after both leaving their respective academies at what can be assumed to be about the same age. We can only assume that puberty has come for BM at a humiliatingly late age.

[Mental-Rectangle]

Man, Black Mage has been the pinata of the team since the comics got into the double-digits. So much for character development.

[the1jeffy]

It's already happening. We are much more like children at 18 than we were a hundred years ago because the average human lifespan has increased so much since then.

Actually, there was a brain study done that shows that full brain maturation doesn't happen until around 25. I can't for the life of me find the damn link. (see edit)

Also, it stands to reason that physical "late bloomers" would have to rely on their enormous brains to thrive - therefore becoming more "spell-casty" than "meat-sheildy." So, BM fanboys like myself do indeed have that in common - we might be late bloomers. I was for sure (had baby teeth until 8th grade summer). I'll take huge brains over more meat with which to take damage any day. Go brains!

edit
Brain study here. (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/teenbrain.cfm)
Still looking for interview from doc involved with it.

[Green_Ogre]

Meh, it's nice to poke fun at BM for a change. Make him hurt a little. I mean, after all, he did rule hell for 20 minutes and destroyed the hellspawns spines.

[psycosulu]

Poor Black Mage, the effects of prolonged puberty has warped his fragile little mind.:P

[Jared Todd]

Yeah, one joke about BM jacking off was enough thank you.

Too bad I was "too lazy" to read back and see it. I would've liked to.

I just can't see BM as being young. I'm picturing these guys as like... I don't know, a mix of 17-26. Just a nomal group of characters that are oddly childish. You know how cartoons go sometimes. There is no real age for people. This joke kind of ruined my whole opinion of the comic because it messed me up. You can never think of a comic as being more real than it is for a moment just to make a joke! That's big rule #1.
However... it's just a joke. So meh. Probably recover within a few hours anyway.

[ZAKtheGeek]

This kind of brings up the question of how long the entirety of the story so far has taken. Probably less than a year, apparently, since BM has been hitting on WM forever...

[Particleman]

This kind of brings up the question of how long the entirety of the story so far has taken. Probably less than a year, apparently, since BM has been hitting on WM forever...
I don't think it's been more than a few weeks, a couple months at most.

[Number 81]

How many Hadokens have we had? 1 hadoken = 1 day. RM's mime does not count.

Anyway, I think I know what Brian is doing, he is building humiliation and anger inside of BM, so that when the class change does come BM will have more motivation to bring out the BIG spells, maybe an ultima.

On a side note about ages: I always thought as the LW to be around college-age, except for thief who would be older, but have all the characteristics of a college age person due to the longevity of elves. [330] (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030916). However, their maturity has often tricked me into thinking much younger. In the movie "8-Bit Theater V" we clearly see that WM is 'impressed' by fighter when thief steals his clothing (Also noted by the pink pixel on her cheek [33] (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010523)). For some reason the first thing that came to my mind was "pedophilia", due to fighters constant childlike nature. But I digress...
As Brian once said, the light warrior's level is as high as needed to make the joke funny. It appears to be the same with age.

[Dasanudas]

What's scary is I've known people like Fighter, "I'm great at keeping secrets! I've never told anyone X or Y or then there's..." Makes me want some stabbity-doom to happen, and they're not even about me!

As for prepubescent BM, if you notice, he's the shortest on the team (his tall pointy hat barely reaches the tops of the heads of the others) - so he hasn't has a growth spurt yet. I'm interested in why "Barry" decides to be the first try and cheer him up; I'm thinking he's going for group moral bonuses more than any concern for BM - especially after the exchange before (and during) BM's last Hadoken.

As for aging and maturity, I would like to add that average life spans increasing does not mean that people are living longer. It sounds nice, but you are forgetting one part - average. That means taking into account the people that die when children or even at childbirth. It only takes a few data inputs of "zero years" to really screw up an average. Thus, a major factor of average life span increasing is not people living longer, but that less and less people are dying at such young ages. Comparing today to "days of yore," it is rather indisputable that more and more babies are living to maturity and consequently the average life span goes way up.

I'm not saying that people aren't living longer, but that statistics such as average life span don't work so well here. The best data to see is the average age of people in a nation - which has also been getting older in the US, thus more of the nation is at an elderly age than at a younger one and can be an indicator that old people aren't dying fast enough and are bleeding my taxes away (which I don't pay, but hey, why be silent when you can complain?). Ultimately, my point is more old people should be shoved out of airship doors.

Edit: As for the LWs ages, definately late teens, maybe early twenties for Thief. All FF games have the main chars be in their teens, cept for, like, one old fart like Auron or Cid from 7. Actually the only one that strays from that far as I can tell is my favorite - 4j - which has them all around 20-30, three old farts, one child, and only one youngun (the spoony bard, of course).

[BTC]

i would think fighter is at least 20, wasnt he at fighter camp in '86?

http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010406

*edit* plus he was old enough too appreciate chicks in chainmail

[Knight McWarrior]

*edit* plus he was old enough too appreciate chicks in chainmail

Also, in the flashes, that scene had fighter with a squeeky voice.




You know, this is a forum about a hilarious sprite comic which occasionally doesn't make sense, not an elf seminary.:sweatdrop

[Krylancelo]

i would think fighter is at least 20, wasnt he at fighter camp in '86?

I do so love it when people post with concrete evidence and good points for the very first time. Welcome.

[ZAKtheGeek]

That would make plenty of sense if this was actually happening, like, on earth.

The '86 could very well have no connection to the time at which it occurred at all.

Even if it does, we can only tie it to the first time it's mentioned. A real year passing doesn't mean one passes in the 8bt world...

[Burkion]

Poor, poor BM. Then again, puberty can suck the big one if you get it too early, like myself... (Started at FOURTH GRADE. FOURTH FUGGING GRADE! I had a full blown mustash by fifth grade, god damnit!) Corse, I'll never know why I was called Hitler due to my mustash, as it wasn't like his at all, but then again...

[King_black_mage]

Poor poor black mage that must suck. to have eveone laugh at you. Thats no fun

[Red Dragon 50]

Poor poor black mage that must suck. to have eveone laugh at you. Thats no fun

yea. Black mage always comes up on the short end of the stick.

[Burkion]

Which is why he is awsome. Now, since he just so recently hit puberty, I'm surprised he didn't invint Self Love before...

[Juputoru]

"I'm a helper!" - Best line of this strip XD The "don't tell each other that" line comes close, though.

I pictured the LWs as being late teens/early twenties myself(or the elf equivalent, in Thief's case). Which would mean that BM got a really late start in puberty, but since everything happens to hurt him, that's not *that* much of a surprise. And it'd make things funnier than if he was in his early teens, so...

Hmm, horrible acne on top of a face horribly distorted by arcane magiks. No wonder BM is so self-consious about his face. And I need to get to these threads sooner before all the good points are stolen. :<

[Fifthfiend]

It's already happening. We are much more like children at 18 than we were a hundred years ago because the average human lifespan has increased so much since then.

Actually the increase in average lifespan is mostly due to the decreases in infant and child mortality.

Past the ages of four or so, you'll probably live about as long as you ever would have.

I would agree that we of modern society reach full intellectual maturity later than prior generations, but to my view this is more to do with the artificially prolonged adolescencse and developmental retardation imposed by social mechanisms of restraint like forced schooling and legally enforced paternal dependence.

It's certainly well-established that among developed nations, physical maturity is being reached earlier than ever.

[edit] And Dasanudas already basically covered this.

-1 point to me.

Pardon me for making a brief post in a forum. I was unaware it would count for 25% of my grade.

You're right.

We should all just go back to calling you a fucker for retconning Thief.

RED NINJA RULEZ 4-EVAZ!!!!AMIRITELOL!

[Krylancelo]

COMMUNIST BASTARD! Muahahaha!

I direct you to http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=12987&page=19
Specifically, my post immediately after Sir Brian's.

[Kurosen]

Thief doesn't steal any more and he's secretly a half-dragon who doesn't believe in himself and any part of the comic that took place in Elf Land was a dream by, strangely, Berserker. Ha!

[Burkion]

Some how, I saw that coming. Heh.

[Bells]

Thief doesn't steal any more and he's secretly a half-dragon who doesn't believe in himself and any part of the comic that took place in Elf Land was a dream by, strangely, Berserker. Ha!

Yeah... sure... and the Rockman/Megaman series isnt the most ret'fuck'con'ed series 3v4r created...

actually... If you ever stop doing comics, i guess you could find a Job with Capcom doing their Game Scripts! :D

[Sprinkle_Death]

Heh, I just thought of something funny. Probably untrue, but funny anyway.

What if Brian meant for BM's italic text to be voice cracking? That is a part of puberty after all.

[ZAKtheGeek]

And everyone else's is just... not?

[Krylancelo]

*Sniff* NEVER GIVE UP, THIEF! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES! ALL THEM BAD MEN HUNTING YOU FOR YOUR PRECIOUS BLOOD ARE JUST JEALOUS, IS ALL!

[Novasol]

I see "It's a secret!" and am promptly reminded of the Moblins in Legend of Zelda. "It's a secret to everyone!" despite the fact that everyone knew about them.

[Fifthfiend]

Thief doesn't steal any more and he's secretly a half-dragon who doesn't believe in himself and any part of the comic that took place in Elf Land was a dream by, strangely, Berserker. Ha!

Goddammit Clevinger, you twisted evil bastard.

...

Though to be honest Im too much of a Grant Morrison fan not to think that all that might not somehow be cool.

...

But seriously if you even think about blaming it all on Golden Age Superman then may God have mercy on your soul!

[PCD]

I nearly cried when I read this comic. It was that goddamn funny.

I always imagined them late-mid twenties. Give or take a few centuries for any elves.

[The Truth Is In Here]

Four young warriors arrive each holding a lightbulb

14 is young

BM is 14
Fighter is 5-and-up in brain 20 or so in body
RM is 20
Thief is 1527

[Transcend]

Four young warriors arrive each holding a lightbulb

14 is young

BM is 14
Fighter is 12-and-up
RM is 20
Thief is 1527

Fighter 12? Uh-uh. No. Not possible. First of all, he's quite strong, is capable of romantic attachment (see EPS), and physically, apparently very well developed. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010523) No, he's likely at least 17.

And BM has to be as old. First of all, they left their academies at the same time. Secondly, it wouldn't be funny if he were 14. He would be starting puberty at 13--a very normal age to do so. That would just mean he was young, which is not worthy of derision. Rather, it would be quite impressive that he had managed to gain such skills at such a young age. No, he has to have a ridiculously late puberty for this to be funny.

[Kurosen]

Fighter has alluded to attending college courses. Black Mage went to a wizard school and while he was eventually kicked out, he'd gotten far enough to know quite a few doom spells. Fighter and Black Mage are probably in their early to mid-twenties, Red Mage is probably a little older, and Thief's age is undetermined. He's probably "mid-twenties" in "elf years", but since we know that a 37 year old elf is still an infant, it's safe to say Thief is much, much older than his comrades.

[Transcend]

Fighter has alluded to attending college courses. Black Mage went to a wizard school and while he was eventually kicked out, he'd gotten far enough to know quite a few doom spells. Fighter and Black Mage are probably in their early to mid-twenties, Red Mage is probably a little older, and Thief's age is undetermined. He's probably "mid-twenties" in "elf years", but since we know that a 37 year old elf is still an infant, it's safe to say Thief is much, much older than his comrades.

Okay, so, Fighter and BM are a year or two older than I would have guessed, RM about the same by comparison, and Thief, well, we still don't know. Thanks.

[ZAKtheGeek]

So, BM informing fighter that he never actually went to college was just a joke?

[Kurosen]

Fighter may not have gone to college, but the implication (no matter whom we believe) is that he's old enough to have done so in the past.

[capnchicken]

Forgive me if its already been said, but:


It's already happening. We are much more like children at 18 than we were a hundred years ago because the average human lifespan has increased so much since then.

Is translated as

Darn kids need to grow up and get a job. GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!! Why when I was your age.....

[Noober]

I've worked out with pure facts and logic that the three humans are all around their late teens/early twenties, while Thief is 130ish. The most he can be is 134. Becaue D&D says so. Assuming he rolled for his age instead of choosing it. Facts and logic! Facts and Logic!

Facts and Logic!

[AkumaX13]

that "I'm a helper" line reminds me of a line from Reboot when everyone except Bob got dumb....

Damn.. that was a good show....

[bass_virus]

I'd say for age that

Black Mage= 19-22
Fighter= 19-22
Red Mage= 21-25
Thief= impossible to really tell

[JONJONAUG]

I'd put Black Mage and Fighter at around...18-21. Red Mage is probably about one or two years older than them, Thief is well above 500 or so.

[Bweetza]

Not one of the better comics. At this point Black Mage is just being made fun of, and not even in a clever way. The humor in this comic is on par with Episode 244: Technical Jargon, using juvenile humor that just stops being funny at a certain point. It also reveals a bit too much about Black Mage in my opinion. I can only hope that his class change makes up for this.

[Swiftbow]

How many Hadokens have we had? 1 hadoken = 1 day. RM's mime does not count.


I'm pretty sure he hasn't cast a Hadoken every day. There have been a number of transitions indicating time passing. Not to mention that they walked halfway across the world before they even got the ship, and they've been a lot farther than that since.

Fighter has alluded to attending college courses. Black Mage went to a wizard school and while he was eventually kicked out, he'd gotten far enough to know quite a few doom spells. Fighter and Black Mage are probably in their early to mid-twenties, Red Mage is probably a little older, and Thief's age is undetermined. He's probably "mid-twenties" in "elf years", but since we know that a 37 year old elf is still an infant, it's safe to say Thief is much, much older than his comrades.


One last thing on 37 year old infants... those poor, poor parents. ;)

[ZAKtheGeek]

I'm pretty sure he hasn't cast a Hadoken every day.
Based on what we know about BM, he'd cast no less than 5 each day, given the chance.

Rather, we don't see every single hadoken that's casted.

[ElfLad]

Well, since BM appears to be a magical prodigy, I'd say there's a case for him skipping a few classes before getting kicked out of college. Meaning he could very well be 16 or 17.

BM = Doogie Howser

[Kroze Gamegod]

Fighter has alluded to attending college courses. Black Mage went to a wizard school and while he was eventually kicked out, he'd gotten far enough to know quite a few doom spells. Fighter and Black Mage are probably in their early to mid-twenties, Red Mage is probably a little older, and Thief's age is undetermined. He's probably "mid-twenties" in "elf years", but since we know that a 37 year old elf is still an infant, it's safe to say Thief is much, much older than his comrades.

Do the "Dark Warriors" ages sort of reflect the Lite Warriors ages or are they all way older... (Except for Vilbert of corse... he's got to be the youngest out of the bunch...)

[Kurosen]

Garland was an accomplished military officer, so he's probably in his 30s. Drizz'l, as an elf, is quite old. Bikke is a grizzled old sea dog and probably in his 30s or 40s. Vilbert is an angsty goth teen, but possibly a vampire, and definitely the son of a being many thousands of years old, so he could be between 15 and 1500.

[Burkion]

Now how in all the HELLS did Garland become an acomplished military officer? ...oh, wait...King Steve. That's its own explination.

[Kroze Gamegod]

Drizz'l, as an elf, is quite old.

A Dark Elf to be exact....
Which could be longer or shorter then normal elves depending on what source material you are going by....
But that leaves the question, is Thief older then him?
Or doesn't it really matter....

[Transcend]

A Dark Elf to be exact....
Which could be longer or shorter then normal elves depending on what source material you are going by....
But that leaves the question, is Thief older then him?
Or doesn't it really matter....

I really don't think it matters. I'm guessing it's comparable (meaning several human lifetimes, of course); they are both princes. But with the exception of this comic's joke, it seems the ages are all at best curiosities.

[The Truth Is In Here]

What step of puberty are you thinking of? Facial hair, going to the mall, answer me.

[Dasanudas]

Y'know, just some off-topic banter, but I was thinking that the NPF is putting a lot of thought into the theoretical ages of fictional characters. Imagine what could be done if even this relatively small group of people could focus on slightly more serious matters. Something like, oh, I don't know - the next person who for the rest of their life will get to be a judge on what the laws of the most powerful nation on Earth are meant to say?

...That banter aside, I'm going with Bikke being in hislate 30s to 40s, he's grizzled, but his beard is still black, not the characteristicly haggard white of the 40s to 50s pirates. Garland's in his 30s, Drizz'l is younger than Thief, but just as unknown in age, and Vilbert's ageless - twas created from undead sperm, man, ya don't age when you're born undead, you just get more life experience - inly problem is he's spent his whole life at home and LARPing with the Sulk, so he's still a whiny youth mentally.

[Kaelus]

Vilbert's ageless - twas created from undead sperm, man, ya don't age when you're born undead, you just get more life experience - inly problem is he's spent his whole life at home and LARPing with the Sulk, so he's still a whiny youth mentally.

Yeah, but for how long has he been existing in the world? As long as he keeps with the angsty and childish goth attitude, I don't think his real age would really matter...

[---garland---]

can we stop discussing what age the lws are? i mean it:

A) is pointless since there is nothing to gain from it. why do we even want to know their age anyway?

b) is boring, time consuming, and it takes up a lot of space.

C) completely ruins the joke since if bm's age was younger and it was normal it wouldnt be embarrassing

d) is just a joke, it doesnt have to make sense .

.. but thats just me. if you want to sit here arguing about a completely pointless (and in my opinion boring) subject, go ahead.

[Natheson]

Discovered that after I posted. :P

[BlackMageFF1]

I used to be a Black Mage fanboy, until episode 34, then I liked RM and BM equally, then after episode 643, I've been a Red Mage fanboy

[Transcend]

Imagine what could be done if even this relatively small group of people could focus on slightly more serious matters. Something like, oh, I don't know - the next person who for the rest of their life will get to be a judge on what the laws of the most powerful nation on Earth are meant to say?

Um...we could turn into Democratic Underground, Free Republic, or, more likely, an unholy mix of both? Do you want that, Dasanudas? Is that what you want? Do you want the Nuklear Power forums to be a place where people can, in their free time, uselessly parrot catchphrases and talking points to express their pleasure or displeasure in events over which they have no control?

The world would likely be a better place if everyone from DU and everyone from FR were locked in a cage, in my opinion. Partisans are what keep politics from functioning, and, unfortunately, internet discussions of politics are purely partisan affairs--generally speaking, only partisans can stomach responding to partisans.

[Dark Seraphim]

On a somwhat related note...

How much time has passed in the comic? Did BM start pubrety before he met Thef and RM?

[ZAKtheGeek]

He must have. The evidence is weak and scarce.

[Transcend]

On a somwhat related note...

How much time has passed in the comic? Did BM start pubrety before he met Thef and RM?

Given that he met WM and started hitting on her heavily before he met them, yes, I would say, certainly he did.