I’m pretty sure one of the reasons Anasigma chose him was because he had no close family or friends, so nobody would miss him when they killed him and stole his brain. He has mentioned family a couple of times before, but usually implies either that he isn’t close to them and doesn’t see them often, or that they’re dead.
I think it comes up in his blog. I don’t think there’s a link to it ’round here anymore—in any case he doesn’t update lately, far as I know—but I found it on the Skin Horse Wikipedia page.
(He’s acquired some ex-post-facto relatives in the course of things—there’s Aimee, who I think we all agree is his sister, and then there’s Duplicate Nick.)
A reminder for the people who don’t like Tip – he didn’t come here for particularly good reasons, but the moment someone might be in trouble he wants to help.
Baron Mistycorn, on the other hand, continues to be a jerk.
Oh good, he beats out ~literally the worst person~ among the non-villain cast.
Tip wants to help people who might be in need? Great, he clears the absolute minimum bar of human empathy for not being a totally selfish asshole.
Now ask yourself, ~why~ does he want to help them? We’ve literally never been shown or told what his motivations are. As far as I’m aware, he has never said anything like, “It’s the right thing to do” or similar. It’s possible he’s simply obsessed about doing his job, or “completing his mission” if we want to consider his military mindset. He sure doesn’t ~act~ like he has human empathy – he just acts like he has a task to complete, and sets about it with a dogged determination.
Everything about Tip’s motivations is unclear. Even though he sometimes does the right thing, we have no idea if he does it for the right reasons, because the rest of the time he’s just this self obsessed black hole concerned utterly with himself. He reads like some sort of alien trying to pass as human and not quite succeeding. That or some kind of sociopath. He just has weird, inexplicable emotionality. (Or perhaps a lack thereof?)
Also, ask yourself – why do so many people find Tip unnerving as a character, but Nick has become something of a fan favorite? Are the readers just reading between the lines and projecting something which isn’t actually there onto the character? Or is Tip maybe actually meant to be unnerving? The number of people who will gleefully point out Wizard of Oz parallels make me think it’s some intentional character reference or other.
In the original Oz story, Tip is under a curse and not at all himself, which is bad for everyone. Disconnect between your true self and your public or active self is a recurrent motif in Baum’s material, which also gets darker and more surreal as it progresses.
Am particularly enjoying your current Vegas….which is world-famous for CHEATING
honest blackjack counters.
Also their muck-mucks bankrolled some actions in MY country I disapprove of.
Hey, Tip, shoot up their signs!
Maybe the Baron will find a salient slot machine hiding in a corner somewhere and they can be bros, maybe mellow out a bit. Or at least not annoy everyone else.
Vegas Dawn, what’s with power not turned on,
Could it be a jaded close from ways gone by?
And did we hear you say, you were flipping the wrong relay,
To make you try expansion on the sly?
It’s 4:01 and these batty guys calling maybe.
All the lights ‘round Vegas have gone crazy.
‘Cause they’re right downtown with the fruitcakes all unmanned,
Coming in a mysterious clockwork van.
In the olden days they lit up Vegas Dawn.
City of neon you weren’t streetwise on.
Where a man could have a spree without a guide,
And promise he’d be taken for a ride.
Vegas Dawn, what’s with power not turned on,
Could it be a jaded close from ways gone by?
And did we hear you say, you were flipping the wrong relay,
To make you try expansion on the sly?
(Repeat chorus.)
—from “Delta Dawn,” Larry Collins and Alex Harvey, sung by Tanya Tucker.
That’s one snarky marquee…
Good he’s seeing how tox some of guyculture can be. It doesn’t have to be.
That’s a good point, actually. Is Nick in touch with his human family?
That depends on how he feels about the fact that he had helicopter parents.
(the devil made me say it)
Yer mother was a Sikorski and your father was a 707! (with a Harrier thrown in, it was a three-way)
Which actually would kinda make sense.
Maybe with an atrocious French accent.
I’m pretty sure one of the reasons Anasigma chose him was because he had no close family or friends, so nobody would miss him when they killed him and stole his brain. He has mentioned family a couple of times before, but usually implies either that he isn’t close to them and doesn’t see them often, or that they’re dead.
I think it comes up in his blog. I don’t think there’s a link to it ’round here anymore—in any case he doesn’t update lately, far as I know—but I found it on the Skin Horse Wikipedia page.
(He’s acquired some ex-post-facto relatives in the course of things—there’s Aimee, who I think we all agree is his sister, and then there’s Duplicate Nick.)
I don’t recall Nick ever mentioning his father, but when we first met him, he implied that his mother was dead.
“No living family or friends”: http://skin-horse.com/comic/being-a-man-either/
A reminder for the people who don’t like Tip – he didn’t come here for particularly good reasons, but the moment someone might be in trouble he wants to help.
Baron Mistycorn, on the other hand, continues to be a jerk.
Oh good, he beats out ~literally the worst person~ among the non-villain cast.
Tip wants to help people who might be in need? Great, he clears the absolute minimum bar of human empathy for not being a totally selfish asshole.
Now ask yourself, ~why~ does he want to help them? We’ve literally never been shown or told what his motivations are. As far as I’m aware, he has never said anything like, “It’s the right thing to do” or similar. It’s possible he’s simply obsessed about doing his job, or “completing his mission” if we want to consider his military mindset. He sure doesn’t ~act~ like he has human empathy – he just acts like he has a task to complete, and sets about it with a dogged determination.
Everything about Tip’s motivations is unclear. Even though he sometimes does the right thing, we have no idea if he does it for the right reasons, because the rest of the time he’s just this self obsessed black hole concerned utterly with himself. He reads like some sort of alien trying to pass as human and not quite succeeding. That or some kind of sociopath. He just has weird, inexplicable emotionality. (Or perhaps a lack thereof?)
Also, ask yourself – why do so many people find Tip unnerving as a character, but Nick has become something of a fan favorite? Are the readers just reading between the lines and projecting something which isn’t actually there onto the character? Or is Tip maybe actually meant to be unnerving? The number of people who will gleefully point out Wizard of Oz parallels make me think it’s some intentional character reference or other.
In the original Oz story, Tip is under a curse and not at all himself, which is bad for everyone. Disconnect between your true self and your public or active self is a recurrent motif in Baum’s material, which also gets darker and more surreal as it progresses.
Looks like the gang is going to do a blackout sketch.
Looks like it will fall to Dr. Jones to handle Pavane’s Lovetron Jubilee…
Am particularly enjoying your current Vegas….which is world-famous for CHEATING
honest blackjack counters.
Also their muck-mucks bankrolled some actions in MY country I disapprove of.
Hey, Tip, shoot up their signs!
To be fair to BM, that was actually pretty good.
Maybe the Baron will find a salient slot machine hiding in a corner somewhere and they can be bros, maybe mellow out a bit. Or at least not annoy everyone else.
Vegas Dawn, what’s with power not turned on,
Could it be a jaded close from ways gone by?
And did we hear you say, you were flipping the wrong relay,
To make you try expansion on the sly?
It’s 4:01 and these batty guys calling maybe.
All the lights ‘round Vegas have gone crazy.
‘Cause they’re right downtown with the fruitcakes all unmanned,
Coming in a mysterious clockwork van.
In the olden days they lit up Vegas Dawn.
City of neon you weren’t streetwise on.
Where a man could have a spree without a guide,
And promise he’d be taken for a ride.
Vegas Dawn, what’s with power not turned on,
Could it be a jaded close from ways gone by?
And did we hear you say, you were flipping the wrong relay,
To make you try expansion on the sly?
(Repeat chorus.)
—from “Delta Dawn,” Larry Collins and Alex Harvey, sung by Tanya Tucker.