So that's what this does
^^ I was thinking more of a side-effect of turning you into a Jager if you get too angry. The accent is just part of being one of them.
But... aren't Jaegers constructs?
edited 19th Oct '10 11:44:11 AM by KnownUnknown
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Yeah, but the "here, drink this" kind, not the "sewn together from spare parts" kind.
I will keep my soul in a place out of sight, Far off, where the pulse of it is not heard.
I always assumed they were artificial beings made from the whole cloth.
If it's as simple as giving someone a drink it makes it a little hard to fathom that no new Jaegers were created since the old Heterodynes.
edited 19th Oct '10 11:48:31 AM by KnownUnknown
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
So that's what this does
About the Jagerdraught
, also see the following page.
Hippogrif
Between canon, blueprints, and interview W o G, we do know that Jaegers are created with a potion/serum/drink: Jaegerbrau.
We had it directly suggested by Dimo that Higgs was suddenly healthy after his adventures with Bang and the aggressive goose because he got dosed with the same stuff as Gil.
The question, then, for me, has been why he was given access to that dose, and how close the dose is to Jaegerbrau: Mamma Gkika DID warn Gil not to get angry lest he get stuck that way...and Higgs is so obviously really, really, really controlled, like, say....someone taking Mamma's suggestion more seriously than Gil's been taking it?
My own spin, like that of some others, is that Higgs is Jaegerkin, with a Jager culture, Jager knowledge of Heterodyne history, and Jaeger relatives to run home to when injured. That leaves only one really outstanding problem: that Der Kestle in particular and Tarvek to an only slightly lesser degree appear to recognize Higgs...which means he's almost certainly older than he looks, if only by 20 years or so, and more likely old enough to be legendary, so that Tarvek would have learned about him in his prep for Storm King roles....
Which again may tie Higgs not only to the Heterodynes, but also to the Valois, and the whole Storm King plot.
In any case, Higgs is not a classic Jaeger...or he's a very, very young one, in which case, again, see the above objections to his youth.
Jaegers have been made since the Ancient Heterodynes. W o G has indicated that the oldest Jaegers, in particular the three Generals, go back to the first days, but others are younger. The less physically warped a Jaeger, the younger he or she is likely to be. Maxim has been identified by the Foglios as one of the youngest Jaegers...
edited 19th Oct '10 12:05:03 PM by Hippogrif
Mostly Harmless.
Ah yes, I forgot about that. Followup question: if Gritka's giving people Jagerdraught, wouldn't Gil have turned into a Jaeger a long time ago? And wouldn't it have had an effect on the Jaegers already drinking it?
Zeetha also seems to know about Gritka's potions and such - wouldn't she find that side effect a little noticeable enough to say, after all, she was the one who listed the side-effects.
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
So that's what this does
Gil has a very strong resistance to most things.
It's definitely not just slipping someone a shot of Jägerbrau, but that's how it begins. The whole procedure is top secret, always begins with high grade assault troops, and has an 85% wastage rate. It does start with an unmodified human and Jägerbrau, but there are various Secret Procedures to follow before you have a finished Jägermonster.
Battledraught is an entirely different potion, but it is intended for Jägerkin, and can be dangerous for other people.
Hippogrif
What Mamma Gkika gave Gil is almost certainly not traditional Jaegerbrau. That had really bad statistical results: most people who got it died or went mad, with only a small percent surviving to become Jaegers.
My own theory has been that the draught Gil (and possibly Higgs) got is a modification of either Jaegerbrau or Battlebrau, or of one of Mamma's healing formulas. My favorite theory is that Jaegers, whose children are human in all respects, including comparative weakness and normal life-span, got tired of burying their kids...and chose to find some way to do something about that, creating a brau for their kids that would keep them hearty and healthy without forcing them to also become blue or green, lumpy, with fangs. Again, given Mamma's comments I suspect the effect wears off over time. A Jaegerchild would , perhaps, have to take it regularly for the long-life effect to come into play?
All theory, mind you. But it matches what we know so far.
Mostly Harmless.
So that's what this does
Oh, I am convinced she didn't give either of them the full on Jagerbrau. Whatever it is, though, it is related to it and has side effects if you get too angry.
Not only has Higgs gotten too angry, but he needs to take Zeetha to a miracle healer and he only knows of one. Hilarity may yet ensue.
Whatever Higgs is, it's not because of something Mamma gave him yesterday (a week ago? When? I have no idea how much time has passed any more. And in any case, her comment to Gil about getting stuck sounds much more like any mom and "Your face will freeze that way"; ie, I don't think she was serious. Just another person treating Gil like a kid. Kind of a, "Get a grip, honey.") Remember that he talks with Castle Heterodyne (who RECOGNIZES him) about Heterodynes from, presumably, decades ago ("Remember old Igneous?") Higgs is either a very unusual Heterodyne himself, a particularly unusual kind of Jaeger (they said it didn't always work, ie turn them into a Jaeger a la da Boyz, Mamma, the Generals, etc; they didn't say every failure DIED), or another, as-yet-undisclosed sort of construct. Whatever he is, he's not a baseline human and his status as such didn't change recently.
Hippogrif
Mamma Gkika's warning was serious, even if her snappy line was snarky. Getting mad = Not Good, and she did give a reason, even if phrased amusingly.
No, one dose would not account for Higgs. But I'm not presupposing one dose, myself. I'm presupposing a series...with possible long-term effects.
And, of course, only as theory: we don't have all the data in yet.
Mostly Harmless.
Zzzzzzzzzz
There's no "what did Mamma give Gil?" to it. Mamma Gkika herself identifies what she gave Gil as Battledraught (Third Frame: "Hy give hyu some Battledraught."
Hippogrif
Jeez, Madrugada, you are so right! I blanked that entirely. But...we still are left with the question of the odd side effects and the ultimate use on non-Jaegers. And...we're still left with Higgs, who fits NO known category really well. Sigh...
Mostly Harmless.
Man, I know she's bad, but is anyone else getting a Draco in Hot Pink Pants crush on Zola?
Hippogrif
LOL! No....not crush on the Pink Z.But then I already survived my own fondness for Tarvek...I don't expect to get lucky twice and have Zola turn out to be a Reasonably Nice Person, as I expected for Tarvek. She seems to be authentically narsty.
Mostly Harmless.
Serious in getting mad can have bad effects (probably up to and including death, given how most Sparky-generated "medicine" seems to work and how badly injured he'd been), but not permanently stuck that way as in he's Bruce Banner permanently on green setting.
And again, Higgs's...whatever he is-ness...predates the entire comic. He didn't JUST start becoming old enough to remember long-dead Heterodynes, be known to the Castle, and having battle resilience that would make a Jaeger jealous. That means he hasn't been popping into Mamma's the last few months for doses because he was in Wulfenbach's...air force? Navy of the skies? Military service. And he'd been there long enough and was normal-looking and acting enough no one, apparently, thought anything about it. Just the "known to the Castle" bit is odd in and of itself—it's not that he's a something, he's a particular someONE the Castle knew. It didn't say "I know what you are," it said "I know YOU." Whoever and whatever he is, the Castle knows him as an individual.
Hot Pink Stuff Zola Anya Talinka Venia Zeblinka Malfezium is a total turn-off. She is wholly narcissic, she loves being cruel, and NOT for the pleasure of watching others suffer—that at least would be some kind of engagement with another—and she has less conscience than Caligula. It is, so far as I can see, the pure exercise of power, the sort that is said in 1984 to be an end in itself. It is, if I may inject real-world ugliness, the sort of power that led Saddam Hussein's sons to grab women off the street, use them (to put it delicately), and kill them without remorse, not even the formality of remorse that Lu'Other exhibits. In a way, the dehumanized term Stuff is appropriate for her, since she recognizes no shared humanity except that which she can convince others to acknowledge for her benefit.
We're now past two full forum pages on this one GG page. Zola is a very ... successful ... villain.
Random theory: Higgs is the first Jaeger, or one of the first, as a result he's a bit different than the rest - possibly he was one of those to test the Jaegerbrau when it was first created, and continued to test subsequent renditions of it until it was finally perfected.
The result of the imperfect concoctions is that he looks like a normal human but is extremely tough, resilient, and long lived, and while he may have the bloodlust and, of course, accent, of those who took the draught, he is able to repress it.
That ability to repress might not even be an effect of the potion - it definitely seems the old Heterodynes trusted him in some capacity throughout the years, it's entirely possible he's just that strong minded. After all, only a couple decades of having to be sharp after the Heterodynes disappeared made Maxim, Dimo and Oggie much smarter than the usual Jaeger fare - who knows how sharp Higgs had to be to survive centuries of service with the bloodthirstiest of the bloodthirsty Heterodynes.
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Hippogrif
Melisande, you're missing the fact that my version of the theory gives him an ongoing connection with the Jaegers...child, grandchild, a fellow-rider like Old Man Death and Carson. Some reason he'd have been receiving something extra on the side, with long-term effects. That explains an ongoing difference preceding the comic and preceding Higg's entrance into the narrative.
And...not taking Mamma's snarky comment literally seems dangerous. Not entirely, obviously, certainly dangerous, but...truly, I do think perma-jaeger-like is possible.
No matter what else, he's not a standard Jaeger. Construct? Maybe. Bran-new, freshly turned Jaeger? Possibly. Something else entirely? Well, yeah, always an option — but then I doubt the Fs would be dropping as many hints as they've been doing that point Jaegerward.
He's strong like a Jaeger...but not so strong he doesn't break at all. He's welcome — and apparently recognized — at the Jaeger bar.
He knows Jaeger habits and ways well enough to navigate the brawl without having to engage in it.
He's got Old Heterodyne Information.
He's recognized by Der K.
He's apparently recognized by Tarvek.
Dimo indicates he was given Jaegerbrau, not a usual thing for just anyone.
So...he's got some sort of Jaeger tie...and shares some things in common with the Jaegers. And if regular doses of Battlebrau with its odd side effects doesn't explain some of it, then........?
Mostly Harmless.
Gil received Battledraught (which I almost typed as Baddledraught) and Dimo implies that Higgs received the same treatment.
If Higgs was a member of the Heterodyne household who had repeatedly received that Strong Schtuff it might explain his longevity and toughness.
edited 19th Oct '10 1:51:14 PM by GreybeardFan
So that's what this does
I did consider the Higgs as first Jager option myself. But if they were going to do that, why not go one better? I already linked a strip which references someone getting Jager-like effects from drinking something, who would be familiar with Heterodyne history. Not that I believe that Higgs is the first Heterodyne either but it seems ... less of an ass pull than some never-before-mentioned Jager progenitor.
But, I could probably sit here all night making up wmgs for Higgs' origin and I have a landlord inspection due way too soon for that.
wearer of many chevrons
Look at the last two panels. There is not just a change in facial expression, Higgs is swelling. His face is widening, his chest is lifting and broadening. I think the comparison to Bruce Banner is perfectly apt. I would not be the least surprised to watch Wednesday's strip show him making a physical shift that terrifies everyone and Zola's cockiness is in for a rude shock. At least I hope so. Hot? Her? Ultra-bitch is more like it.
If it moves, eat it!
Zola's Oh, but I'm not just anyone as the Moveit #11 takes hold suggests that she has a bunch of secrets, secrets on how she was constructed. And that suggests to me that she'll have some von Pinn tricks in her. How much that may cost Higgs I can't say. It will depend on whether he goes after her at close range or with a projectile and whether he tries for blunt trauma or penetrating trauma.