‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 445

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30 Comments

I got all the whispers.

And are we going to see Kat try and stop Bandit? That would really confuse the other group.

My thoughts so far:
“Knight Sacrifice” reminds me of the Dude’s chess set, in which Kleya and Jane are both queens (http://navcomic.com/not-a-villain/page-196/). So in this case, we have to find out who the Knight is, and that’s either the Dude or the Bandit (or someone as of yet unknown). The sacrifice could be a result of the Bandit’s actions, or it could be a risk that the Knight is taking, since it might result in death by Kleya’s hands.
Clearly, Bandit is about to do something that will piss Kleya off so much that they think she will lash out and kill the team. However, is the Dude scared that she’ll kill his avatar, or that she’ll somehow locate his kido and kill the Dude’s body as well? Given her ability to shut down Tenka city, I imagine the Dude fears the second option.
Now, as to what will piss off Kleya.
It could be another demoli move that will make her jealous, like when the Bandit crashed the two islands together, but that wouldn’t set her off on a murderous rampage. My second thought is that it’s something dangerous that will kill the other team, thus reducing Kleya’s erbana percentage, but then again, that’s just annoying, it won’t make her kill everyone.
So my conclusion is that it must be something personal, perhaps something that reminds Kleya of her parents. Or perhaps it’s just a skill that immediately triggers the Virus, just like saying Kleya’s true name will.

Also, I love the lighting effects on panel 5!

I think you are going too far.

The Dude is the one that will be sacrificed for the attack, and Kleya has to save him or will lose Erbana points.

Hey!

I think it looks like Kleya’s the Black King and Jane’s the Black Queen in that picture you linked…
Not sure who the White Queen is, but from the back profile, I would hazard to guess the White Queen is a male…

What the H***, Bandit?! <- the exact response this is probably meant to elicit

This isn't the most… cohesive group, is it?

Bandit’s got his own objective: push Kat until he finds out what her limits are, so he knows how mentally and emotionally stable she is and whether she can even be approached.

Her competitive streak is said to have been a big part of the reason why she played a part in the cataclysm of the recent past. But to Bandit, the Game is likely JUST a game. He doesn’t care all that much if his character is perma-killed. He certainly cares less about it than he does about finding out whether Kat IS redeemable.

And who the h*** knows what Jane wants?

It won’t confuse the other group, because she’s playing Erbana and would have to prevent a killer Demoli attack, even from her own group. But it’s very clever of Jake to use this encounter to convince Brandon that Kleya has changed.

Brandon could still say she hasn’t changed. If stopping Bandit is required for her Erbana Path, it could be argued that she’s still highly intent on winning at all costs, even if it’s just winning at Erbana.

So, I am gonna assume the “Knight” in “Knight Sacrifice” is The Dude. (I like how you had him use chess terminology since we’ve seen Brandon and Jake playing that) Also I am going to guess since the panel ended midway through his last word, that Kleya is going to do *something* before he can finish.

And even though Bandit is suppose to be obnoxious, I find the move a poor choice on Jakes part. It could potentially alienate both Brandon and Kleya.

What is he going to do? O.O

Also, am I the only one who finds it funny how Bandit just assumes the leadership in Jane’s absence even though Kat is supposed to be something like second-in-command?

Makes the most Sense actually. Dude doesn’t have enough spine (or at least he doesn’t show enough), Danni is too in experienced, and Kat wouldn’t trust herself enough in that position.

We know that Kat originally played demoli. For some reason, I think Bandit is going to use a demoli special that Kat designed(or really liked at some point). If not, it probably involves killing a teammate to deal massive damage to an opponent. My guess is that it is both. Knight Sacrifice may (slight but extant possibility) be the name of the special he is going to use.

There are a lot of options here, but it almost certainly is a premade demoli special. We know that no one has played Erbana in quite some time, but not much about demoli. The virus acted up when they chose their alignments, and it is assumed that some of that response was caused by the bandit’s actions. If no one really plays demoli, as is implied, then this special may very well trigger the virus in some way.

The real question is: What is The Bandit’s goal? Is he trying to see Kat’s determination in acting nice in the context of the game? Is he trying to test Kat by pitting her against the virus that she probably designed? Is he trying to get her to hack to stop something that Is NOT Nice? Is his goal something that we do not even have enough information to guess?

The Virus didn’t act up on its own when they chose their alignments, it acted up because Kleya got upset that they were a villian group.

It acted up when the islands collided, though mostly to notify Kleya what happened.

It just went even more berserk when she discovered they were a villain group.

Your post, together with that it seems that the Dude and the Bandit are only in the game to test how the virus works and reacts, made me think the following is happening. Knight sacrifice is a demoli special that they planned beforehand to use, it was created by Kleya before the ending, it either sacrifices another player on their team or the Dude is afraid of being around someone purposefully poking the virus.

Although sacrificing a player doesn’t seem to fit the Bandit’s personality, but then again, this fits with Kat saying “he wouldn’t”. Also I cannot seem to figure out him saying “then hope she’s changed”.

KAAAAAAMEEEEEEE-HAAAAAMEEEEEE-HAAAAAA!!!

I just had to. :p

So Kat’s task is to keep a Morto and a Demoli in check, on a Villain island, with another group trying to pick a fight with them. Aneeka, you’re cruel. XD
I am starting to think that staying at 100% Erbana in this Game requires a pure Hero group if you’re a normal mortal.

This makes me wonder whether Erbana players are considered gems or outcasts by other players. I used to think Erbanas are precious rare gems and that other parties would fight to the death to get the chance to headhunt one of them, because maybe there are some quests that just can’t be done without them (e.g. The Cave of Poisonous Spiders that requires 1000 super-expensive “Ultimate Antidotes” unless you can use the plants that grow there or coax the spiders into letting you milk them for ingredients), but I am starting to realize that Erbanas have to take all the fun away from others in order to keep a high alignment. So…. yeah.

I still believe that there are headhunters out there, though, because it’s not unusual that the top 5 random people of a tournament don’t get along well and there just have to be parties where people quit the Game for all kinds of reasons.

The whispers weren’t confusing, unless those two weren’t Dude and Bandit whispering. 🙂 I am only confused about who the Knight is, but I think it’s not an actual character from the party and it’s more like a gambit of high risk. In chess, a “gambit” means “sacrificing a piece to get positional advantage”. Usually it’s done with Pawns. Knights (or even Rooks) are rare sacrifices unless there is an easily-foreseeable profit from it, because the risk is high, so you have to be very certain on what you’re doing (no problem in Bandit’s case I guess^^). Never do it against computers, because they only agree to take your sacrificed piece if they’re sure to win. Seeing that Dude thought of Kat as a machine for quite some time…. well, the tension rises.

This is the only time they’re doing 5 new. It’s usually just one to replace someone who died. This was a special occasion caused by Bloody Mary slaughtering her entire team.

The knight to be sacrificed is The Dude.

“Dude? Already!? I’m not ready to die yet!”

Playing against computers is boring.
Much more fun to troll your opponent.

I cant shake the feeling that EVERYONE on Kats team wants to kill each other. You know the saying. “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”

Dude: “So, with Kat’s Special on the weak end now, the bluffing stakes are at their highest?”

Bandit: “Not yet. I’m going to up them even more.”

Woww NAV just escalated to a whole new level!! Can’t wait even MORE for the next page 😀

PS: The whispers are great on this page 🙂

I am rather confused by who each whisper belongs to.
It now seems to me that they are possibly color coded to the speaker, but who is which color is a total mystery still.
I though maybe it was based on primary costume coloration, but that didn’t work, as some of those combos only make some of the whispers incomprehensible.
Maybe I missed something obvious to everyone else, but I’d love some help with this.

Love the art in that new attack, looks like it’ll be almost as flashy as bandit himself. I feel, in this occasion, he’s using it as a lure rather than actually using it for the purpose intended. Still I look forward to the inevitable fireworks.

Oh, and, forgot to type this, I’m betting Jane is about interrupt.

I’m 90% sure that Bandit is sacrificing HIMSELF. And that it just happens to be so big of a sacrifice that it might end up killing everyone. That’s why I think Dude is like, I DONT WANT TO DIE ALREADY!

Anyway reason i think this is because on the chess page, I think it’s pretty obvious that Dude would likely be the king, not a knight. Since he clearly must make himself the best. 😀

This would probably a good point for Jane to show up – thus spoiling Jake’s test of Kleya’s new attitude.

I just have to chime in that this is an especially great page. It’s got both unexpected actions by the characters and builds even more anticipation for what comes next. And the artwork is very cool and dramatic.

Also belated appriciation for the glow in the dark “D” shirt; it’s awesome!

Bandit is so cool in panel four that he doesn’t even *need* a nose.

Not A Villain Webcomic

Webcomic of a semi- reformed hacker trying to redeem herself in a post- apocalyptic world she may have created.

‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 445