Character Development: Mikkel

[Sunflower]

On p. 230, Crazybean had some excellent insights into our characters (when Emil did his usual foot-in-mouth thing, being disrespectful about the great defeat of Kastrup).  I'm distributing his/her comments among each person's thread, with the minimum of overlap needed for context. 

Crazybean
Oh Emil...how braindead do you have to be XD. I'm glad Mikkel calls him out on this. At least he's got the good grace to be ashamed.

My favourite thing might be Mikkel's little cough and emblazoning of his firing relocation.

I just need to gush about Mikkel. I nearly died when he gave Lalli a *cookie* of all things!
I wonder if he *always* does that or if he just packed the cookies when he heard he was heading out with a bunch of kids.

*imagines Mikkel handing out cookies as treats to the gruff seasoned soldier types after battle* It subverts the standard action hero scenarios so nicely. Instead of hanging out in the tough guy bar, SSSS got cookie treats . While other suicide mission candidates prepare themselves with training from hell, stocking up on weapons and developing battle strategies, Mikkel…*bakes cookies.*

"Goodness, we‘re heading out on a mission to Monster City in just a month. Must step up my baking."

Peter Sadlon
Emil isn't a jerk as much as he might come off from time to time. He's certainly immature and he goes into situations and conversations half-cocked, but it's hardly the same thing. I'm sure Mikkel understands this and is exercising as much patience as he can until he figures out the best way to remedy Emil's condition.

Crazybean 
I know. I love the guy but he's got much to learn. And Mikkel teaching him will be hilarious to watch.

Mikkel sure has his work cut out for him. Humbling Emil, domesticating socializing Lalli, keeping Sigrun from being reckless. I think Mikkel will be due for a looong vacation once they've returned home.

I wouldn't want Emil to change too quickly though. He's just too funny when he's being smug and making a tool of himself. It also makes watching his misfortunes more funny. Otherwise all the bad luck he has would just feel mean. I feel sorry for him anyway.

[Sunflower]

More on Mikkel from p. 230:

Rabbit
I think we might be getting closer to Mikkel's reasons for being on this mission. It's not just that he's unemployed and bored/in need of money, a lot of people he used to know are names on that wall now and he's not, and now he has a chance to go where they couldn't.

Paul Ferris 
He's a great character, full of intrigue and surprises. Minna has done a brilliant job constructing this story, it could be a novel (with about 4 times the page count for description and exposition, of course).

P__ 
Probably he'd rather have been there to fight than away to live (at least in hindsight, not sure he was against the "relocation" when it happened)

Aleksey Krigleikov (True name, in Cyrillic, doesn't render correctly here.)
I can almost hear Mikkel's thoughts [about Emil]: 'God, he's just a cub. They're throwing cubs against trolls again. I could have a son of his age.'

Ann Marie
I think Mikkel needs a cuddle.
*volunteers*

TerraWolfe 
And to think SO MANY people were so afraid of Mikkel waaay back before he was introduced...

Richard Weir 
Yeah, that "hypodermic syringe and bonesaw" look went against him I think.

Ann Marie 
Confession: I have yet to come across the bonesaw pic. ... Should I be afraid? Is my fictional cuddlebuddy a dangerous psychopath? ....
Well, so what if he is. I'm sure he just needs some love. :-D

OrigamiOwl 
Hehee, I don't think so ;3 in the picture he's just holding the saw and syringe whilst looking 10000570% done X'D (or just reeeeeally tired of Emil)

Ceceoh 
Mikkel, you inject the morphine BEFORE you saw!

Ann Marie 
Oh thank you! Yeah his expression is more, "wow, does my job suck" than "heheh I get to cut someone up!"

I'm going to want him to wash up and change out of those bloody clothes before that cuddle, though.

hushpiper 
I interpreted his expression as a deadpan "Alright. Let's do this." more than anything else.

[Solovei]

More on Mikkel from p. 230:


Aleksey Krigleikov (True name, in Cyrillic, doesn't render correctly here.)
I can almost hear Mikkel's thoughts [about Emil]: 'God, he's just a cub. They're throwing cubs against trolls again. I could have a son of his age.'

THE FEELS D:

[asadderandawiserman]

Sure, Emil/Lalli is a fun relationship, but the relationship between Mikkel and Lalli is probably my favourite of the comic so far. Mikkel's clearly decided that if Lalli wants to be treated like a pet, he's not going to waste his own time and energy trying to get him to act differently.

[asadderandawiserman]

Are double post allowed when separated by enough time, and are about completely different things?

A theory that I don't entirely believe and don't really want to believe, but I thought of looking at today's page, sort of latched onto me. Is it possible that a major motivator in Mikkel's character is cowardice, even though it's very well hidden. It's important to remember that cowardice in real life is usually far less obvious than in fiction. I first thought of it when we saw that Mikkel wasn't keeping Tuuri company like he said he would, nor was he really keeping guard, so why did he want to stay outside? Maybe he was scared. Also, he told the crew that he was transferred a couple of days before the defeat at Kastrup, but what if that wasn't precisely true? Maybe he asked to be transferred, or deserted. We know he's a good liar from the face cancer incident, and we haven't really heard an explanation for why the Admiral was so angry at him, or why he's been fired from so many military professions.

Again, I'm aware that this is based on very little evidence, and that it has flaws, but I strongly believe that Mikkel has a major character flaw we haven't seen yet (maybe laziness?) that will explain parts of his history. Anyone got any other ideas what it could be.

[JoB]

Is it possible that a major motivator in Mikkel's character is cowardice

Hmmm, dunno. He is standing in a place right now that all the might of the Danish Invasion Fleet couldn't reach back in the days of the Great Defeat of Kastrup - if he fled that battle out of fear, why would he go beyond that today, which he cannot have known beforehand to be any less of a suicide mission? If you want to see someone crippled by his fears, look no further than at Onni - and how far away from the action he drew his red line.

[LooNEY_DAC]

Concerning Danes, with insight into Mikkel

Given what we have seen of and been told of the Danes, my inferences, and how they affect our Mikkel, are as follows:

The Danes are all about proper appearances, more so than the reality/practicality. When it comes to choosing, they'll go for image over substance every time. Thus Admiral "BRIAN BLESSED" Olsen, the ginormous tank-things, Mikkel's description of the defense mounds ("They weren't much use, to be honest"), etc.

Thus also the Defeat of Kastrup. The Danes charged out from their tunnel with great pomp and enthusiasm, but not nearly enough caution. Why? Appearances. Surely the image of Danish military might would send the Rash filth running in terror! Again, I compared Kastrup to Isandalwana in another thread, as the battles seem to share a common cause for their defeat: massive underestimation of the enemy. Fortunately for the British, Isandalwana was followed by Roarke's Drift, rather aptly demonstrating how leadership can mean the difference between a great defeat and a great victory. Unfortunately, the Danes had no Roarke's Drift following Kastrup, and so their precious image was tarnished, leaving them shamed to the present of the comic.

So how is the heir of Michael Madsen (whose phone photo of his boss sported horns, mustache, beard & tail) and Signe Sorenson "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that another passenger already asked to be taken to the Bahamas, so we're heading over there now") going to deal with a bunch of guys even more prideful than Emil at his worst? He becomes the biggest practical joker in the Known World.

That's my take, thus far.

So, to what degree and in what ways am I utterly off the beam with this?

[SeaAngel]

Concerning Danes, with insight into Mikkel

Given what we have seen of and been told of the Danes, my inferences, and how they affect our Mikkel, are as follows:

The Danes are all about proper appearances, more so than the reality/practicality. When it comes to choosing, they'll go for image over substance every time. Thus Admiral "BRIAN BLESSED" Olsen, the ginormous tank-things, Mikkel's description of the defense mounds ("They weren't much use, to be honest"), etc.

Thus also the Defeat of Kastrup. The Danes charged out from their tunnel with great pomp and enthusiasm, but not nearly enough caution. Why? Appearances. Surely the image of Danish military might would send the Rash filth running in terror! Again, I compared Kastrup to Isandalwana in another thread, as the battles seem to share a common cause for their defeat: massive underestimation of the enemy. Fortunately for the British, Isandalwana was followed by Roarke's Drift, rather aptly demonstrating how leadership can mean the difference between a great defeat and a great victory. Unfortunately, the Danes had no Roarke's Drift following Kastrup, and so their precious image was tarnished, leaving them shamed to the present of the comic.

So how is the heir of Michael Madsen (whose phone photo of his boss sported horns, mustache, beard & tail) and Signe Sorenson "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that another passenger already asked to be taken to the Bahamas, so we're heading over there now") going to deal with a bunch of guys even more prideful than Emil at his worst? He becomes the biggest practical joker in the Known World.

That's my take, thus far.

So, to what degree and in what ways am I utterly off the beam with this?

I... find it hard to believe that a whole nation is all about appearences, especially in a life-or-death matter. It seems to me much more plausible that they just weren't well enough prepared. It happens.
I don't see why a character's sarcasm has to have its origins in a WHOLE NATION. There are a billions of possible explanations about his snarkiness...

[LooNEY_DAC]

I... find it hard to believe that a whole nation is all about appearences, especially in a life-or-death matter.

I'm thinking of the Eastern concept of "face", especially as expressed in Japanese culture, where (traditionally) enough "loss of face" meant the only way to redeem yourself was to kill yourself--which has an Old European analog, as well. And of course when you generalize broadly there are exceptions to a greater or lesser degree; I think what we've seen points to my statements as either the Danes' majority view or the view of the Danish leadership. Of course, Minna could put something out that completely contradicts this without a second thought, but, until she does, I'll stand by my interpretation as viable.

It seems to me much more plausible that they just weren't well enough prepared. It happens.

It does, but unpreparedness is usually a product of underestimating your enemy, which I cited as why I think Kastrup was analogous to Isandalwana specifically.

I don't see why a character's sarcasm has to have its origins in a WHOLE NATION. There are a billions of possible explanations about his snarkiness...

Not the cause of his snark: the cause of his lack of restraint with the snark.
Anyway, everything you've said could be right; I just disagree, for reasons aforementioned. But thank you for talking about it.

[SeaAngel]

I'm thinking of the Eastern concept of "face", especially as expressed in Japanese culture, where (traditionally) enough "loss of face" meant the only way to redeem yourself was to kill yourself--which has an Old European analog, as well.
[...]
I think what we've seen points to my statements as either the Danes' majority view or the view of the Danish leadership.
[...]
It does, but unpreparedness is usually a product of underestimating your enemy, which I cited as why I think Kastrup was analogous to Isandalwana specifically.
[...]
Anyway, everything you've said could be right; I just disagree, for reasons aforementioned. But thank you for talking about it.

Does Denmark count as "eastern Europian country"? I was under the impression it was a nordic country...

But we've seen only two post-Rash Danes... The loud one and Mikkel...

Or maybe just not knowing your enemy well-enough! Especially if you're staying in isolated islands and don't face monsters every day like those living in mainland...

In my opinion is too early to do any kind of speculation, but sure, agree to disagree :-)

[Richard Weir]

Something significant in Mikkel's account of the disaster was the weather - he mentioned an unseasonal spell of warmth. It is implied that the Danes were attacking in winter and were depending on the cold to keep the trolls inactive, preventing them moving out of their nests en mass. That way, the Danes could slaughter them at a rate of their own choosing, so they would always have the advantage of numbers. The warm spell allowed the trolls to be too active, and when stimulated by the noise of Danish operations they attacked at night and overwhelmed the Danes.

We don't know if had a contingency plan for warm weather. At the first sign of an increase in warmth, they should have stopped operations and retreated back behind the doors (or even back to the far side of the bridge!) and waited until the weather turned cold again before resuming their attack. I suppose it is possible that the warm spell came on too quickly for them to react - without satellite weather-forecasting, an increase of temperature of 10s of degrees can happen in hours with no warning. Or maybe they were too slow to react, or even that they had failed to plan for unexpected weather. We just don't know.

Regardless, Minna has told us far too little for us to know to what extent the Danes erred or were the victims of seriously bad luck, or a combination of both. We certainly can't start to pin blame and talk about arrogance or loss of face, less still can we pin those on Mikkel.

[LooNEY_DAC]

Probably it was an arrogant presumption of mine. Time will tell; perhaps Minna will even decisively disprove my half-baked thoughts by sending Admiral Olsen through with a rescue expedition.

With regard to Mikkel, I was just suggesting someone whose family sense of humor inclined that way already would find fertile soil deflating the egos of his fellows in such circumstances.

[Mayabird]

The Danes may have gotten a bit arrogant due to earlier successes.  There are a lot of reclaimed islands that Denmark seems to have settled.  After the aggressive and victorious Kattegat and Skagerrak Campaigns, which protected trade routes and brought (a tiny bit of) new territory under Danish control, they decided to go for another island - Sjælland.  This time though they massively overreached into a much, much larger and much, much more densely monster-plagued land. 

[Sunflower]

I stumbled across some useful analysis on p. 236:

Hot Stuff
Does anyone else see Mikkel as 'the concerned father type'? first, he did not demand it of him, but showed Lalli proper human interaction by forcing the boy to greet him in a respectful way, as well as giving him a cookie for a night well scouted.

Second, although his interaction with Emil was somewhat unorthodox, he offered [medical] assistance with his vanity; public appearance might not be as important to Mikkel as it is to Emil, but because it is important to Emil, it became important to Mikkel... [After all,] face cancer is not a joke.

Finally, he wants to look after everyone, and now especially Tuuri, the girl that gets left in the Cattank for the obvious reason of lack of immunity. So caring, so thoughtful.

[Sunflower]

Replies to the previous comment:

Tman 
He reminds me of those butlers in movies who inexplicably are also fighters, strong-men, doctors, and generally the most useful person in the world in addition to being polite and calm.

Celidah 
I can see it now. Mikkel lumbers in and rumbles, "You rang?"

Euodiachloris 
He's a Team Mom, not Team Dad. Mum does all the necessary work that keeps everybody together, body and soul. Dad does the flashy, actiony stuff and is allowed to bumble a bit (not looking at Sigrun).