Eight years is a long freakin time for someone fighting that much. This makes me think Auraugu isn’t just ‘the current best’ but ‘one of the best ever.’ Is he just a very optimized character?
It also is a potential foreshadowing for his fall. Maybe some younger fighter will take his place or he will die in the World’s Rebellion but I dont think he will make it to 10 straight championship wins… Also you take into account hes the early mentor figure for the new Troll Champion along with the former Troll Champion. The first to ever believe in the current troll champion… Ya. Its a potential dramatic/tragic storytelling powderkeg just waiting to be lit…
There is at least some honestly. Asserted our dominance sounds like they beat them down, which is basically the truth. Where as “they decided to move away” or “they could not be reasoned with” or “they weren’t civilized enough to be allowed anywhere near us, we had to defend ourselves even though we were the ones moving into the area they lived in” are common ways of sweeping genocide under the rug of supposed morality.
While I think the gnolls had multiple options and chose to exercise the “genocidal violence*” one…I also think, considering Tatsu’s previous comments, that if this strip featured mustache-guy explaining why only humans got to participate in Gastonian wrestling, Tatsu’s response would have been either “Look how amazingly fair that is, yay Gastonia!” or, at best, silence.
*Really, Gastonia and the World’s Rebellion strike me as remarkably similar in most ways. The difference is that where Gastonia uses euphemisms like “secure the orcs…obstructing Gastonian interests,” the Rebellion openly admits that they’re dealing in slavery.
Yes! To both points. Until now there is nothing in the story which did convince me that the Gnolls *had to* “kill the other fuzzies or starve” and there is nothing which makes the World’s Rebellion seem inherently better or worse than Gastonia.
I thought that was brilliant, too. Opens up a host of ideas, though… are gnolls with stripey fur more fair? Do they have better eyesight/judgement than other gnolls? Or do fuzzy people just say, “Hey, you look like a referee!” Is it so they’re more visible in the tangle (that’s why our refs wear stripes)?
What about other jobs/fur patterns? If you have a spattering of red fur on your belly, will you be a butcher? A star on your chest makes you an “enforcer”?
What I’m wondering is how does a discipline like wrestling come about among creatures with fangs and claws? I mean, sad little humans evolved from pathetic, dull-toothed herbivores, developed fangs relatively late, and claws not at all. It’s kind of understandable why they would try to grapple and pin each other to the ground – because they can’t rend & tear properly.
But why would a clearly superior (and fuzzier) race such as the gnolls ever wrestle? Why wouldn’t every contestant do what the yellow guy in panel #3 is doing?
Yeah, but those beasts use teeth when playing. Wrestling specifically excludes those, so it’s a strangely counter-intuitive concept. It’s like humans sack-racing. Which we do, granted, but we don’t have master sack-racers becoming the chosen champions of their people…
Maybe it’s the differences in our limbs? You say we developed wrestling because of a lack of teeth & claws, but what if we developed it because of the diverse range of movement available in our arms and legs’ joints.
Have you ever watched to friendly dogs playing?. It’s like wrestling with teeth. Also when they growl at eachother while doing that, it sounds like they are trash talking.
(This is something of a problem for me currently. Our secondary cat is part Maine Coon, meaning that she takes longer to grow up and is a lot bigger than most cats; currently she’s twice the size of our primary cat, is still very much a kitten, and is convinced there’s no way she could possibly hurt our primary cat. Unfortunately, my pitiful human senses have a real problem telling the difference between the noises our primary cat makes for playful “I am going to kick your ass!” and the ones she makes for, “Seriously, someone get this overgrown kitten off me!”)
And the wrestling nerd in me marked out seeing the champion of the fuzzy peoples using the cross face/Yes lock. Wait, Danial Bryan is pretty fuzzy too…*Gasps!*
Eight years is a long freakin time for someone fighting that much. This makes me think Auraugu isn’t just ‘the current best’ but ‘one of the best ever.’ Is he just a very optimized character?
It also is a potential foreshadowing for his fall. Maybe some younger fighter will take his place or he will die in the World’s Rebellion but I dont think he will make it to 10 straight championship wins… Also you take into account hes the early mentor figure for the new Troll Champion along with the former Troll Champion. The first to ever believe in the current troll champion… Ya. Its a potential dramatic/tragic storytelling powderkeg just waiting to be lit…
People were also calling for Fr’Nj to die in the battle between the rebellion and the adventurers… she’s still here…
Your gravatar’s face=my reaction to the idea you propose
I hate to be the one to troll the gnoll, but
How many rings does he have?!
Meh I still don’t like these dudes.
“Hey we used to have this big battle royal all the fuzzy races..then we commited geno—dominance on all of them so only we get to do it”
Fun as this is, keeps reminding me they probabbly wiped out multiple races
Charismatic, but still villainous.
There is at least some honestly. Asserted our dominance sounds like they beat them down, which is basically the truth. Where as “they decided to move away” or “they could not be reasoned with” or “they weren’t civilized enough to be allowed anywhere near us, we had to defend ourselves even though we were the ones moving into the area they lived in” are common ways of sweeping genocide under the rug of supposed morality.
There is no but. Villainous usually equals charismatic, or at least implies it.
From all the fuzzy peoples, to now just one clan of gnolls, it seems likely there was also an intermediate step, involving multiple clans.
I am sort of guessing by clan, she means all of the gnolls left. But just a guess.
Well, their options WERE:
1) Starve.
2) Kill the other fuzzies.
[citation* needed]
*unbiased
While I think the gnolls had multiple options and chose to exercise the “genocidal violence*” one…I also think, considering Tatsu’s previous comments, that if this strip featured mustache-guy explaining why only humans got to participate in Gastonian wrestling, Tatsu’s response would have been either “Look how amazingly fair that is, yay Gastonia!” or, at best, silence.
*Really, Gastonia and the World’s Rebellion strike me as remarkably similar in most ways. The difference is that where Gastonia uses euphemisms like “secure the orcs…obstructing Gastonian interests,” the Rebellion openly admits that they’re dealing in slavery.
Yes! To both points. Until now there is nothing in the story which did convince me that the Gnolls *had to* “kill the other fuzzies or starve” and there is nothing which makes the World’s Rebellion seem inherently better or worse than Gastonia.
Hmm, I half exorcted this week’s question to be to Lectrus, asking if he was a cultist, given the heavy speculation.
I wonder… what does the name “Achilles” sound like when spoken with a gnoll’s mouth? :)
I love this chick.
Now we know how Auraugu is supposed to be pronounced.
Yay, I pronounced it right! ^_^
I like the referee’s fur design. :)
I thought that was brilliant, too. Opens up a host of ideas, though… are gnolls with stripey fur more fair? Do they have better eyesight/judgement than other gnolls? Or do fuzzy people just say, “Hey, you look like a referee!” Is it so they’re more visible in the tangle (that’s why our refs wear stripes)?
What about other jobs/fur patterns? If you have a spattering of red fur on your belly, will you be a butcher? A star on your chest makes you an “enforcer”?
I need some more ideas here…
Or maybe they painted him? It’s possible.
Can we know for sure that referee-gnoll is male?
Still worthy to compete? I thought only Gnolls (and a very small group of Catfolk) were even still alive?
She’s a politician. Of course she speaks in dishonest euphemisms.
Thanks for noticing. ^_^
I love her jawbone crown.
Me, I consider myself an Araugamaniac.
Do you have balogna in your slacks?
These are the facts…
I do not. I merely like to have fun with my family and friends.
Aw, that’s adorable. I love the little detail that she has to squint to read.
It really does come down to the little things.
Why else would she have to squint?
That is what makes this wecomic so special: even the bad boys/ girls are adorable.
And if you’re not down with that, we got two words for ya!
Yeah, crippler crossface!!! Lucha-knoll for the win!!!
What I’m wondering is how does a discipline like wrestling come about among creatures with fangs and claws? I mean, sad little humans evolved from pathetic, dull-toothed herbivores, developed fangs relatively late, and claws not at all. It’s kind of understandable why they would try to grapple and pin each other to the ground – because they can’t rend & tear properly.
But why would a clearly superior (and fuzzier) race such as the gnolls ever wrestle? Why wouldn’t every contestant do what the yellow guy in panel #3 is doing?
My hypothesis would be that they have a kind of playlike version of fighting among themselves, as we know from many beasts of prey.
Yeah, but those beasts use teeth when playing. Wrestling specifically excludes those, so it’s a strangely counter-intuitive concept. It’s like humans sack-racing. Which we do, granted, but we don’t have master sack-racers becoming the chosen champions of their people…
As far as I know.
Ah, but those are human wrestling rules. Might be different for fuzzy folk.
You’re right. But as Gristle McNerd pointed out perhaps using teeth is not completely ruled out? The comic suggests so, see yellow guy in panel #3.
By the way: Master sack-racers should become some kind of champions!
Seriously. Sack racing takes skill.
Many of our greatest celebrities and politicians are known for getting racy in the sack.
Maybe it’s the differences in our limbs? You say we developed wrestling because of a lack of teeth & claws, but what if we developed it because of the diverse range of movement available in our arms and legs’ joints.
1) Wrestling would still be very helpful against armoured opponents.
2) Claws and teeth are just more things to grip an opponent with :P
Have you ever watched to friendly dogs playing?. It’s like wrestling with teeth. Also when they growl at eachother while doing that, it sounds like they are trash talking.
Cats, too.
(This is something of a problem for me currently. Our secondary cat is part Maine Coon, meaning that she takes longer to grow up and is a lot bigger than most cats; currently she’s twice the size of our primary cat, is still very much a kitten, and is convinced there’s no way she could possibly hurt our primary cat. Unfortunately, my pitiful human senses have a real problem telling the difference between the noises our primary cat makes for playful “I am going to kick your ass!” and the ones she makes for, “Seriously, someone get this overgrown kitten off me!”)
And the wrestling nerd in me marked out seeing the champion of the fuzzy peoples using the cross face/Yes lock. Wait, Danial Bryan is pretty fuzzy too…*Gasps!*
It must be pretty convenient to be born with referee stripes on your fur. At least he seems to enjoy his work!
No comments on her showing us her fandom looking remarkably like what girls do to get beads or whatever in those Girls Gone Wild videos?
Gnolls Gone Wild?
Gnolls Gone Feral.
The WWF has called… they want “The Raug” back.
Wrestling Federation of Wildlife Fund? Both kinda work :D
Fan? Or Faan?