Alternate universes and omake theater in Megatokyo

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Megatokyo, Fred Gallagher's manga-influenced webcomic, occasionally includes alternate universes containing some of the same characters as Megatokyo, but bearing no relation to the world of Megatokyo. These often contain references to video games or anime series. In addition, some alternate universe sub-stories, such as Endgames, have an actual effect on Megatokyo's overall plot.

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[edit] Endgames

Endgames is a fantasy-styled massively multiplayer online role-playing game existing only in the Megatokyo universe, which was once regularly played by Piro, Largo and Tohya Miho. With the release of Volume 2 in print, Fred Gallagher wrote a short story based in the Endgames world entitled Endgames: Presence. For Volume 3, he returned to the more-familiar comic format and created an eight page short story called Engames: Disabled, which is visually consistent with the rest of Megatokyo.

Endgames is unusual in that it tracks several different "emotional statistics," which are hidden from the player.[1] Miho discovered these statistics and exploited them, leading eventually to the collapse of all the East Coast servers.[2]

It is not known what company developed or published Endgames.

[edit] Piro's in-game character

Piro plays as a female character in Endgames. Her name is Pirogoeth, a strong, bold queen who lost her kingdom of "Kuith" during an in-game war, and afterward joined forces with Largo's character, adventuring through the game's world together.

Piro also possesses a character dubbed Piroko, whom he plays as in first-person shooters, and who is almost identical in appearance to Pirogoeth (the sole difference between them being Piroko's modern military gear). Piroko and Largo's first-person shooter characters are seen fighting nearly every time they appear together. Piroko also appears in the "Grand Theft Colo" omake, this time as a real person, as Piro himself is also present.

Piro's final known in-game character is Pirokiko. While not appearing in the canon storyline, she is featured at Fred Gallagher's personal art site, Fredart, as a possible alternate form of Pirogoeth.[3] Inspired by the .hack Legend of the Twilight manga, Pirokiko is more in line with the 'cute' styled games Gallagher prefers rather than the more serious role-playing games that Pirogoeth is based on.

[edit] Largo

Largo's character persona in Endgames is a male, combination Viking Raider and Roman Legionnaire Captain with height and muscles that his real world counterpart lacks. Largo's character's personality is almost identical to that of Largo, and unlike Piro, he identifies himself and his in-game alternates as one and the same rather than role-player and character. In one story, it is said that Largo's large size frightens off most bandits and robbers that would consider (incorrectly) that Pirogoeth is easy prey. Largo's character has a fondness for ale and often makes rude comments about Pirogoeth's feminity (including her bust size), which often leads to her using spells to attack him (As Largo put it to Erika, "Her skills at healing were useful, as her spells had a tendency to nearly kill me").

His rank was confirmed as legionnaire in the DPD "Largo: Legionnaire of Reaht" (comic 919).

[edit] Unknown

Miho's character in Endgames is a confident, male warrior wizard dubbed Niho by some of the fans. Miho and Piro had an in-game relationship with their avatars, which is first mentioned in strip 432, and further detailed in strips 849 through 856. From the context of the relationship seen in the comics, Niho joined Largo and Pirogoeth's band and became good friends with them. Largo described Niho has having the makings of both a great warrior and magician as well as being able to bridge the Largo-Piro gap. Niho, however, attempted to exploit the emotions of both Largo and Piro, which ended badly. Largo's character ignored the statistics completely. Piro's character resisted the attack and was able to actually make Miho's character care for her. Largo's character attacks Niho at one point and kills him. Pirogoeth heals Largo, but heals Niho also, since she can't stand to see him die. Pirogoeth collapses from exhaustion afterwards, and Niho, now fully healed, stabs Largo. Largo sees this scenario as proof of how emotions betray people.

[edit] Grand Theft Colo - Otaku City

"Grand Theft Colo - Otaku City" is an omake Grand Theft Auto spoof centering around the theft of the moé anthropomorphic Megatokyo server, Makoto. "Grand Theft Colo" spans a total of nine strips, with the first two appearing between Megatokyo chapters 3 and 4, and the remaining seven between chapters 4 and 5.

Most of the major characters of Megatokyo make appearances in "Grand Theft Colo," though their personalities have been altered to be more in-line with the Grand Theft Auto-esque setting.

[edit] Makoto

The personification of the Megatokyo server of the same name, and her appearance is almost identical to her initial namesake, Makoto of Kanon. The kidnapping of Makoto-rin is the reason behind the name "Grand Theft Colo," as Makoto-rin is stolen from ColoGuys[1] co-location facility. She could initially be taken as an alternate of Ping, as most of the major Megatokyo characters have alternates in the story, but the former is explanation enough without this added information; though some traits of Makoto Sawatari, such as her penchant for nikuman, also show up in this character, Ping's personality is much more prevalent than that of the brash trickster Makoto.

Makoto, the server the character is based on, crashed on February 8, 2008 after 5 1/2 years.

[edit] Circuity

Circuity is an omake series based partially on the anime Haibane Renmei, and has left its readers with many different reactions, particularly because of its link to an anime. There are only three characters seen in the story, with a fourth mentioned. These characters hold parallels to four Megatokyo characters: Piro, Largo, Kimiko, and Erika. None of the characters have names, but their personalities and appearances are very similar.

This story is a small allegory about the broader plot of Megatokyo, specifically the relationship between Erika and Largo. Largo trying to push back the wind represents him trying to protect her but she refuses to allow him. An enhanced and extended version of Circuity entitled Circuity: rewound, has been released in the fourth volume of Megatokyo.[4] It includes the character represented by Erika, who had not appeared in the web version.

[edit] unMod

unMod is an omake spanning nine strips appearing between chapters 8 and 9. unMod features alternate versions of Captain Sonoda, Piroko, Largo, and Yuki in a cyberpunk setting. The characters are parallels of their Megatokyo counterparts although Piroko seems to be affected by an angel wing fet-mod that was installed as part of her investigation of an illegally modified girl trafficking ring with the Modification Regulation and Enforcement Division of the North West Pacific Rim Metropolitan Police.[5]

unMod is notable as it is Fred's first attempt at heavy action scenes and experimental nature exploring alternate forms of storytelling within a totally different, cyberpunk, setting. [6]


Megatokyo by Fred Gallagher
Major Characters | Groups and Minor Characters | Alternate Universes and Omake Theater

[edit] References

  1. ^ Megatokyo strip 428. Retrieved on June 18, 2006.
  2. ^ Megatokyo strip 432. Retrieved on June 18, 2006.
  3. ^ "Pirokiko" sketch on Fred Gallagher's personal art webpage. Retrieved on June 18, 2006.
  4. ^ DC Comic's Manga imprint CMX Acquires publishing rights to Fred Gallagher's Acclaimed Megatokyo Series (PDF). Retrieved on June 18, 2006.
  5. ^ Megatokyo Strip 981. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.
  6. ^ Fred's unMod omake Megatokyo Forum post. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.