Grace

In literature, most characters that are perfectly good exist for the purpose of dying. Some examples are Aeris from FF7, Simon from The Lord of the Flies, and Jesus Christ. All of these characters were completely innocent and completely good. There deaths were designed to add tragedy to their story, and as their death is probably the most memorable thing about them, it can be argued that their purpose in the story is to die.

El goonish shive also has a perfectly good, completely innocent character. Grace. The last story ends with "...for tomorrow night will be painted black." and had a silhouette of a character that can be presumed to be Damien. "Painted black" foreshadows a heavy tragedy. Could it be that Grace will die soon?

I hardly think Dan would go so far as to kill off a character, especially a fan favorite. It's far too dark for EGS, especially since it's less than two years old. I also find it interesting how you refer to Jesus Christ as a fictional character in a fictional story.

if Dan kills off grace, he will be brutally murdered by her scores of rabid fans. (including myself)

*nodnod* Yes yes, he will not survive 24 hours if he kills grace off.

I think that somethings definitley going to happen when the story picks up, but not Killing off Grace... They may try to take Grace or something along those lines tho...

I also find it interesting how you refer to Jesus Christ as a fictional character in a fictional story.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone calling Jesus Christ a fictional character. The Bible has been translated, rewritten, embellished, changed around by governments, and otherwise altered so much that at this point, Jesus is as much of a fictional character as a historical figure. However the real reason I listed him as an exaple is that I felt like I needed to list three people.

Aeris was also a fan favorite, and she was killed anyway. On the other hand, Dan probably cares more about his fans than Squaresoft. Thinking about it, it’s too early for Dan to kill grace, even if he plans to. But I still think something major will happen to Grace in the next story.

Could it be that Grace will die soon?

Not too likely.

The people who killed off aeris are just lucky that it's around $1000 for a ticket to japan.

People have considered flying to Squresoft studios to force the Yoshinori Kitase to change the scene?

I thought Aeris was in only a brief section of the game?

And in addition, there are still a few mysteries (http://www.elgoonishshive.com/story.php?0341) around Grace, which still have to be solved.

<Signs don't-kill-grace-petition, for you can never be sure... :lookaroun>

I have a feeling Painted Black will deal with those questions.

And in addition, there are still a few mysteries (http://www.elgoonishshive.com/story.php?0341) around Grace, which still have to be solved.

<Signs don't-kill-grace-petition, for you can never be sure... :lookaroun>

Um...There may be some slightly mystertious things about her past, her connection to General Shade Tail, and I beleive Dan said that the skull-thing in her nightmares has some signifigance, however there is nothing mysterious about that strip. If you are wondering how she knows Uryomoco, she dos't. Tedd told her to temporarily change back to go to the bathroom, and she obviously did not.

Claire-Tedd meant during the actual act of 'going'. Which Dan didn't include for obvious reasons.

Claire-Tedd meant during the actual act of 'going'. Which Dan didn't include for obvious reasons.

That isn't how I read it the first time, but looking back on those strips, I think your right. Also, Grace did respond to the Uryomoco, so I she did know it. I was completely and totally wrong about something. I bang my head on the wall in shame.

I don't think Grace will die in this particular storyline; it would really tick everyone off.

Maybe it's not even that she'll die at all. Maybe it was "Beta Grace" who died?

Why are fans so obsessed with death? That scares me...

I thought Aeris was in only a brief section of the game?
If you play straight through, without the sidequests of the 3rd disk (IE, the entire disk almost), then aeris was in a little under 1/2 the game. After she's gone, you head over, attack sephiroth, and end the 1st disk.
She was still very much a main character, everything you did before she died involved her. She helped you crossdress, you attacked shinra HQ to save her, you went on a date with her. Then suddenly, pbbbt, you become a total idiot and forget about phoenix downs...



Dan wouldn't kill grace off, remember http://www.elgoonishshive.com/filler.php?0012
Killing off grace would be suicide, in more ways than one. :P

The other possibility is that Grace isn't completely innocent. We know so little about her past, there may be some skeletons in her closet ot go along with the flaming ones in her dreams.
Completely innocent characters are also good for plot twists.

Grace isint totally innocent, but for someone who picks up a language so quickly she should learn quicker, either that or social interactions are difficult things, or she may have some undignosed social disorder, which isint that rare these days.

Also the mear mention that Grace could die has put me into survivour mode. I am trying to limit my compassion for her, But i'd still miss her.

Grace could die in this story line, but no one ever said that death was final in the Shive Universe. If they can find a Diamond that can get rid of curses they could find something to bring her back.

Lazourus Grace? Mmm, no wait... that isint kinky isint it?

Grace? Dead? hmph. I've already broached this subject and fully support Dan on any character killing sprees he might create.:jaguar:


... ... ... ... any.


:headshot:

:dead:


After all, Death is the trump card of any author to produce hatred, sorrow, and get things rolling. If anyone has to die i'd say Grace would be the most likely, though Susan is a close second. And Nanase running up even with ellen.

(prompting a scene where Nanase Tells Ellen that she loves her after the battle and right before breathing the last.)

I doubt there'll be killing sprees this close to all this plot development. I expect a killing spree after a 'casual'-type storyline, to catch us off guard.

If Nanase died, I would cry.

Really.

Why are so many bunnies obsessed with death?

Why are so many bunnies obsessed with death?

Yeah, that's 70% me. I don't know why I'm obsessed with death. I have a fire-soul, that could be it.

Grace could die in this story line, but no one ever said that death was final in the Shive Universe. If they can find a Diamond that can get rid of curses they could find something to bring her back.
Actually, I do. If a character dies, then that character will stay dead in the storyline. Death becomes too trivial if you can just bring the deceased back from the dead.

Ah...'in the storyline'...then filler is still open ^_^

That's just wrong! Fillers are happy things where nice things happen and NOT DEATH.

Godamn if you want death look at my motherboard, it's more than enough to make a T101 break down and cry.

I mean a character might be resurrected for a filler appearance. I assume.

hopefully no one will die at all....

Um...There may be some slightly mystertious things about her past, her connection to General Shade Tail, and I beleive Dan said that the skull-thing in her nightmares has some signifigance, however there is nothing mysterious about that strip. If you are wondering how she knows Uryomoco, she dos't. Tedd told her to temporarily change back to go to the bathroom, and she obviously did not.

Who says she didn't? If she changed she would of done it in one of the cubicles (is that what you call those things? You know what I mean anyway). And in the previous comic she responded to Uryomoco, understanding it.

It's not that much of a mystery anyway, cos Hedge knows Uryomoco, so it's no surprise that she would know it too.

Actually, I'm still trying to track it down, but Dan has said in a post there will be deaths. I think it went "There'll be death...oh yeah...there'll be death." But I may be crossing my wires on this issue. *shrug* Either way, no one's dying tomorrow. I think ;)

Well, whatever Dan decides wether Grace lives of dies is up to him and I respect him for it as a fellow wrighter and artist. All I can really do is stop voteing for his comic or continue to not donate money to his site.

Grace will be missed for sure, she's cute and histerical at times. But let's face it time changes all. People change, they age they die. That's life, and Dan has done a very good job of making his comic as close to reality as a weird/ choastic/ online comic can be.

I sulte you Dan, and if Grace does die, I will not hunt you down (but I won't be able to protect you from the others... sorry)

~Love ya' lots, but not too much.

<<newbee out>>

I come back from my vacation in West Virginia, and the first thread I read is discussing the possibility of Grace dying. NOT what I was hoping for. All I can say is if Dan kills off Grace, I'll probably burst into tears. Same goes for Nanase...although that could seriously be one dramatic scene, as Woodtopian already suggested.

1ph |>4~ |<1|_|_2 9|)\4<3, |-|3 \/\/1|_|_ ph4<3 73|-| \/\/|)\47|-| 0|[ 73|-| |o0\/\/3|)\ph|_||_|_Y |_337 {{9|)\4<3 ph4|\|80y |_3910~}}!!!!!!!

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j00 |-|4\/3 833~ \/\/4|)\~3|>!!

455|_||\/|1~9 j00 4|)\3 |_337 3~|_|ph 70 |)\34|> 7|-|15.....

quit speaking leet already... I'm too lazy to try to translate it all the time...

Heh...

1ph |>4~ |<1|_|_2 9|)\4<3, |-|3 \/\/1|_|_ ph4<3 73|-| \/\/|)\47|-| 0|[ 73|-| |o0\/\/3|)\ph|_||_|_Y |_337 {{9|)\4<3 ph4|\|80y |_3910~}}!!!!!!!

1 \/\/1|_|_ |o3|)\50~4|_|_Y 7|-||_||\/|85<|)\3\/\/ |-|1|\/| |_|~71|_ |-|3 49|)\332 70 8|)\1~9 |-|3|)\ 84<|<!!!!!

j00 |-|4\/3 833~ \/\/4|)\~3|>!!

455|_||\/|1~9 j00 4|)\3 |_337 3~|_|ph 70 |)\34|> 7|-|15.....

translates to:

If Dan kills Grace, he will face the wrath of the powerfully |_337 Grace Fanboy Legion!!!!!!!

I will personally thumbscrew him until he agrees to bring her back!!!!!

You have been warned!!

Assuming you are |_337 enough to read this.....

Has anyone noticed how Dan hasn't given out his address?....And that we don't know what he looks like??? now I assume that's 'cause he doesn't want us to all fly out there and waste his time with kissing his feet, but it's kinda hard to track someone down with that little info...
If he kills anyone I will probably cry, I mean they're all so wonderful...
also the second someone dies the strip will turn from being halarious to being alot more serious, after all even if we can't hunt down and kill Dan I'm sure that the characters will hunt down and kill dark tedd for something as brutal as that....
roight well if you have to kill someone Dan can you kill....hmmmm kill those two wannabe comic stars cause anything else will leave someone seperated....
wow, everyone in the strip is either with someone or being set up to be with someone...Wow I just noticed that =P

Death becomes too trivial if you can just bring the deceased back from the dead.
*Hack cough cough DBZ cough hack cough.

Sorry, throat problems.

Anyway, I can answer some of the less trivial, non-death related questions using my baseless, bogus theories that I've concocted. Grace and the rest of the Experiments know Alienese because they were tought it during their stay at the Lab by persons unknown. C'mon, it's a government facility, there's bound to be a few aliens hangin' around. And besides, she's a frickin' genius (http://www.elgoonishshive.com/story.php?0162), which fits into my Master Theory anyway...

Secondly, the Big Floating Head of Doomitude is Damien. Think of it like that boss in Bloody Roar; no one in the "story" has seen his animal form until your final battle with him, and it's a disgusting, twisted mess. Actually, it resembles the BGHOD to an extent...

Thirdly, if anyone dies, we could always do the Who Shot J.R. Ending...

[Wayne&Garth]: Doodly doo... doodly doo... doodly doo... doodly doo... doodly doo...

Hello, I need someone to help me to track down Dan, for both worshipping and possible torturing reasons...

No one should kill Dan if he decides to have any of his characters die. This is, after all, his story, and he has his reasons for telling it in whatever way he does. True, if a character died, the mood of the comic would become serious, and the comic would loose some of its hilarity. The comic already has some seriousness. An example is Ellen. Yes, the idea of a bisexual female duplicate of someone is silly, but look at everything from her point of view. She touches the diamond, expecting to be cured, and then finds herself in her same form. Thinking that she is just a living manifestation of the curse, she thinks that she will die in less than a month. So, as a result of trying to cure herself, she is now stuck in her same curse body, a guy has the body and life that she wants, and she will die in less than a month. Yes, she does find out that she will not die, but she still has to deal with being the living manifestation of a curse that she was trying to get rid of, having a brother in the exact position she wants, and having no memories of her own, and an identity that belongs to someone else. She now has to build her own unique identity from scratch, and forget the identity that she already had. This, in my opinion, is ever so slightly tragic.

Dan may choose that one of the characters must die. It his artist decision to do so, and in my opinion, could make the story stronger and more interesting if done well. The story may have some tragedy in it as well as an enormous amount of comedy. I know that none of you will kill Dan, but you should not yell at him either. Something like the death of a character is meant to make you angry, angry at the circomstances that killed them, not the author. Dan may also decide not to kill anyone, and that would be fine by me.

Look, I do not care what you say, if Grace dies, revenge *must* be wreaked upon Dan. That kind of evil cannot go unpunished. I do not care how he is punished as long as it is enough to make him seriously regret his actions. And, hopefully, somehow undo them.

Grace is the only thing stopping shade tail from killing Lord Tedd and ruining a potential brilliant story.

Grace is the only thing stopping shade tail from killing Lord Tedd and ruining a potential brilliant story.

Er, what?

I wonder if Grace was Tedd's mother's name. Sure, she wouldn't show up in the obituaries, but still...

Or maybe she was the scientest who decided to make most of the experiments male.

Either that, or Grace and Shadetail get into a huge, final battle that ravages the entire planet, killing almost everyone except for Tedd, finally ending when Grace sacrifices herself so Tedd can kill Shadetail... nah, that's... too... anime... inspi.... ah dammit, everyone's going to die.

*raised eyebrow* Granted I don't doubt there may be 'a few deaths' (long long long term in the comic) but that's rather morbid :(

But it is animé...

Good thing Dan gets his inspiration from music then! Let's hope it's happy music... ^_^

Has anyone noticed how Dan hasn't given out his address?....And that we don't know what he looks like???
Well, theoretically, we can't even be sure that he's ONE person. Dan could be the "avatar" of a whole group of authors or EGS could be even a secret project of a large familiar comic distributor testing the response to the comic before publish it officially... Don't hit me, that's only a theoretical thought

As for the Death thing, fortunately, Grace will at least survive the "Painted Black" arc, according to some other hints, Dan gave. But when it really should come to the mentioned, I would propably be on GST's (the forum one) side.
I don't like deaths in stories (especially the one of Grace of course...). The problem with deaths is that, other than other dramaturgic possibillities, it's final. The character is not availible anymore. Any character development or interaction with it comes to an abrubt and inreversibly stop. Everything which could have done with the character later becomes impossible. Because of that, I think, character deaths are a waste of character development and backstory. :ermm:

Anyways, Dan is the author and I would propably stay loyal to EGS even if he'd kill someone... after the punishment of course :D

My feelings exactly. I would absolutely hate Dan to kill anyone.

Even Susan. Though I'm not so sure about that one.

Wow...I get a kick out of the crazy theories around here.

There are a number of characters whose death would be like the wedding in I dream of Jeanie (Genie?). It was a wonderful episode, but it killed the show. The only way that Dan would kill off: Elliot, Ellen, Ted, Grace, Sarah, or Nanase is if that signalled the beginning of the end of the comic. Justin's, Mr. Verres', or Susan's death would go over little better, but could be used as a plot enhancer.

Back to the point, Dan isn't going to kill Grace unless he plans on ending the comic soon, either plotwise or through the vast numbers of bunnies he would lose.

Benjamin's right, but I don't think he'd be killing Susan or Justin anytime soon. There is so much more he could do with both of those characters. They may yet become as vital to the story as a whole as all the other characters.

Lets look at AMD... Squidi killing off Crimson Blade and Hetchter... Crimson Blade was not a major loss as he was minor, but Hetchter was a loved character. But he has a master plan... However, even the greatest master plan cannot stop a death of a character from destroying a comic. And Hetchter, no matter how loved he was, is not loved like the EGS characters are loved.

I agree that this is one helluva morbid conversation. :normal:

I agree that this is one helluva morbid conversation. :normal:

Ditto. Lets stop talking about death now. O.o''

...Although, it looks like Squidi is going to kill yet MORE people in his comic. Gah. Enough with the killing!!

I still say that Lucile is going to kill all of the stupid little minions, Grim. Squidi hasn't had enough fun with the character to kill her yet.

I still say that Lucile is going to kill all of the stupid little minions, Grim. Squidi hasn't had enough fun with the character to kill her yet.

Good point!! Forgot about her being tough and stuff. It freaked me out to see the normally cute minions looking so evil, though.

The only way that Dan would kill off: Elliot, Ellen, Ted, Grace, Sarah, or Nanase is if that signalled the beginning of the end of the comic. Justin's, Mr. Verres', or Susan's death would go over little better, but could be used as a plot enhancer.


I don't want Justin to die. I want to see his character developed. And Susan I want to see turned into a guy. Preferably permenantly. And then she could go out with Justin.

As for Mr. Verres...there is no point in killing him off! If Dan has to kill someone off, he would not make it a character like Mr. Verres as a)he is so useful for being funny, and b)it would have little impact as he is basically just a gag character when it comes right down to it...
If Dan killed someone, it would be someone shocking. Which means a main character, ie. Elliot, Sarah, Tedd, Grace, Ellen, Nanase, Susan or Justin. Anyone else just wouldn't have the right impact. The point in killing a character is that everyone has to hate it, unfortunately. And if he killed off any of them, everyone would be like "Oh my God!" and hate him for it, which gives it impact. Plus it would ruin the budding romances, as everyone is paired up with someone (in case you can't figure, they are all paired up in my list back there...)

Yes, but killing off a main character could cause SERIOUS problems for the comic as a whole. I don't see how killing a main character could improve the comic; it would just piss off the fans. I couldn't feel the same way about EGS if one of the main characters was missing, and I'm sure many people would feel the same. It just wouldn't be EGS. They are main characters for a REASON.

Plus I'm scared of him killing off Ellen or Nanase. That would just be terrible. It would wreck all the building up of their character that he's been doing. Their interaction together would be much more interesting...

Or Susan or Justin, who have so much more that could be done with their characters.

The characters he wouldn't ever kill off are Grace, Elliot, Tedd and Sarah. They're the ones that have been in since the beginning, after all. Killing them would be like killing the comic.

I don't think Dan hates his fans, I don't think he's going to kill a beloved character. I think he also loves his characters too much to demote them to occasional appearances in filler comics. Man, that would be awful...

Okay, of the cast:

He's not going to kill off Elliot, Tedd, or Sarah. That would be like killing off one of the "big four" from Seinfeld. But that same logic says he'd kill off Grace (Susan Ross). He might be planning that, but she's a fan favorite, so he'd lose a lot of his readership. (Marketing, marketing.) Then again, that didn't save Piotr and Ilyanna...

Justin is the least-liked of the main supporting cast. That's not to say he's disliked, it's just not many chose him as their favorite, most going for Grace or Nanase. I wouldn't be too surprised if he died.

Ellen and Nanase...I don't see any creative advantage to killing either of them off. It would be very anti-climactic, for one. A little later on, he might kill off one, but not before this whole thing is resolved. Or he might kill them both, just because he can. (Too used to Pete...)

Susan might die, because there's really not much to the character...she's just sort of there.

Liz could die. Liz could definitely die.

Melissa might wind up in harm's way chasing Justin.

Tony could die, but I don't think he will. There would just be something missing from the strip if he did.

I don't think Greg will die. He's just too funny.

The playah is a one-dimensional character, and he's become a little stale. He could die.

Any of the faculty could die.

I don't think any of the parents will die, with the possible exception of Mr. Verres. Or Nanase's parents could die, but that would be a cop-out for Dan.

Rat and Matt probably won't die: they're too far under the radar.

But that's just my opinion.

Did you ever consider the fact that hey, Dan loves the characters as much as we do, probably more, so the chances of him killing off any of the major ones are a thousand to one? It would be like killing part of himself.

And saying there's not much to Susan's character is silly. She's a very deep character, mostly because she hides her true natures under a veil of bitchiness. More people should like Susan. She spices things up so well, as none of the other characters are nearly as bitchy as she is. The hammer queen has become an important part of the cast. Justin, now he's a character that's, just there. At the moment he is, anyway, but I'm pretty sure his personality is going to be evolved, probably at the same time as Susan's, as they share the same tastes and stuff. I'd like to see those two getting along.

...How many times have I said that Susan should get turned into a guy and go out with Justin?

And not just for that either. Turning her into a guy would be absolutely hilarious. And permenantly? (Which is what I'm hoping...) Well. That would be a very interesting turn for her character, eh?

And also it might get rid of the Susan fans. By this I mean of course that maybe, just maybe, Morrighan would change that avatar. *prays* ^_^

...It ain't gonna happen is it...

This is a comic with:
Human:human transformation
Human:animal transformation
Alternate Universes
Magic
Anime type powers
Aliens
Lots of potential for more Groovy Technology

If anyone 'dies' in the comic, the potential for bringing them right back is pretty good! ^_^

Except that I believe Dan has said that he won't ressurect people if they die, except for fillers.

heh personally i don't think dan will kill anyone for several reasons (especially grace)
1. this is painted black no painted red
2. grace is has no reason to die she is yes the perfectly innocent one but she is constantly tortured in her sleep and whenever tedd is not around to distract her i imagine her memories bother her quiet a bit. she will not die however her torture will likely continue and increase until it becomes a notable crises.
3 it is true i know some one who would kill dan if grace died
4 grace has much more story line from all of the hints to here dark past... perhaps moreso then we think

but honestly none of us know and thats the best part about this comic isn't it leaves you thinking...