Character Development: Mikkel

[KMK]

I believe that Mikkel is carrying a few more Neanderthal genes than most. Look at the skeletons of a Neanderthal and a Cro-Magnon.  http://www.templeoftheola.org/neanderthal-v-cro-magnon.html
My own grandfather was built with a huge barrel chest like the Neanderthal. He walked like a bear. The hair on his forearms was 4 inches long and curled to a dark cloud of 2 inches. He was a very powerful man who stood 6 foot 2 inches. This is the kind of man that I see Mikkel. True when he was older he had a pot belly but the rest of him was fit.

[Sunflower]

A reflection I had on p. 293:

Mikkel would probably be a successful police interrogator.

Sort of the "good cop" to Emil's "bad cop" -- except he's also got those deep, searching eyes to express that he knows you're holding something back and the endless, deadpan patience to wait till you cough it up. (As well as the massiveness conveying that you'd better not mess with him.)

[kapitod]

I find it weird that Mikkel isn't counted as military, or at least ex-military, but then I'm assuming that a Healer is the same thing as a Medic.  Also being involved in the Kastrup Campaign and having worked for Admiral Olsen suggests that he must have been in the military in the past, unless of course his involvement was as civilian support.

hmm, thats a good point. I read it at first as military leaders in general, not just Norwegian.

The Norwegian military seems like the sort of group that gives less than the usual amount of craps about anything that doesn't involve troll killing.

[Vafhudr]

We could actually speculate that Mikkel was a full-soldier - 10 years ago. Medic and farmer might have been rather recent career choices. The Danes lost their military in the attack against Kasturp and they probably now operate a skeleton crew of an armed force due to associated costs (money, but also manpower, if the outbreak on Bornholme was very serious) - my guess is that the Danish force is now mostly navy based - it operates and maintains bases like that of Admiral Olsen, probably operates a navy, both military and merchant that occupies and navigate that particular stretch of sea, but not much of a land army. With the re-structuration that could have occurred in the face of military disaster, it's likely Mikkel dropped out for a while, but went back and re-trained as a medic - because 1) there is always a moron somewhere that needs medical attention - and 2) it has application outside of the military. There is also the possibility he was drafted into the military or drafted back into the military due to lack of manpower. But since we don't know the state of the Danish Forces or their attitude, it could just be that it's a seasonal gig for Mikkel at this point. Especially during winter, for a farmer.

[Mayabird]

Trond's comment about wasting more blackmail makes me wonder - did he blackmail Mikkel into doing this?  All we know is Trond knew Mikkel from earlier, but we don't know the details of how Mikkel was convinced to do this.  Does Mikkel have something darker in his past than merely being an annoying prankster at just the right moment to save his hide? 

[RandomTexanReader]

A reflection I had on p. 293:

Mikkel would probably be a successful police interrogator.

Sort of the "good cop" to Emil's "bad cop" -- except he's also got those deep, searching eyes to express that he knows you're holding something back and the endless, deadpan patience to wait till you cough it up. (As well as the massiveness conveying that you'd better not mess with him.)

The following is exactly how Mikkel interrogates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZhFJ7VSqrE

[Traca]

I just wanted to put it out there for those like me who really wanted to know Mikkel's eye color. Personally, I was hoping for his eyes to be the pretty brown/olive of his great(times ?)grandmother, but...

http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=201
http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=247

He has his great(times ?)grandfather's eyes.

(seriously look at her eyes!!!
http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=22
prettyyyyyy!)

Also, I've figured out the other's eye colors much easier (Mikkel stop hiding or closing your eyes!!!)
Sigrun = purple (or blue that catches the light just right like that)
Emil = blue
Tuuri and Lalli = grey (that can look blue in the right light or when Lalli does his scout mage thing)
Braidy/Reynir = green

At least that's the colors I see. If you see different colors, let me know!

Also is it just me or do we only see Mikkel's eye color when he's happy? We saw it when Sigrun mentioned his home and when they made it out safely with books.


Sorry for the long amount of text. I'm a newbie(troll bait) so please let me know if anyone has done this before.

[starfallz]

I too have wondered about Mikkel's eye color! I hadn't spotted the second reference, but both point to blue. The Print Drive picture also has me think blue: http://sssscomic.com/journal.php?entry=18

I also tend to think of Emil's eyes as more of an aqua color than straight blue.

[curiosity]

They definitely look blue on the comic pages, even when you zoom in. BUT I've zoomed a print drive picture, and...

...green?

[starfallz]

They definitely look blue on the comic pages, even when you zoom in. BUT I've zoomed a print drive picture, and...

...green?

Grey?

[kahli]

There is the possibility that his eyes actually change color. My eyes do that fairly often. They'll be hazel one week, then blue the next. A few days ago my eyes were grey, but just now when I looked in the mirror, they were green. I don't know how or why this happens but I'm assuming that it's genetic as my Dad's eyes have a tendency to switch color too.

[Kuuskytkolme]

Light or blue eyes sometimes appear to change color with the lighting, even when no actual physical changes occur.

[Sunflower]

I too have wondered about Mikkel's eye color! I hadn't spotted the second reference, but both point to blue. The Print Drive picture also has me think blue: http://sssscomic.com/journal.php?entry=18

I also tend to think of Emil's eyes as more of an aqua color than straight blue.

I also see Emil's eyes as aqua, and all three Hotakainens' as a very pale gray-blue (although Tuuri's could be more plain light blue -- Minna sketches them in as dark sometimes, whereas Onni and Lalli almost always have very pale irises). 

[Sunflower]

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Nicolas Bertolero • 25 days ago
I'm liking Mikkel more and more. He seems rational and level-headed, important attributes to have in such a treacherous territory. Very curious to discover why he couldn't hold jobs very long ... maybe he couldn't follow asinine orders from superiors? Also, his sideburns rock.

AmityM  Nicolas Bertolero • 25 days ago
If he's anything like his ancestors, he has a sharp tongue and doesn't do anything he doesn't care to, which can make him an unreliable part of any kind of organization.

This kind of work might be his best fit -- no organization to speak of in the first place.

Aprillen  AmityM • 25 days ago
I think Mikkel might possibly be the smartest of these guys. By far. That can definitely factor in when it comes to holding jobs -- being smarter than your superiors (and not inclined to deny or hide it) can be very grating to said superiors. Add some snark and an... unusual sense of humor, and there you go.
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Hrolfr  Aprillen • 25 days ago
Also in my experience, there is a certain sort of personality hat sits there quietly and discreetly most of the time, just fixing stuff in the background... until they lose their cool and tell people "stuff" straight with no filter in place and with no discretion.

AmityM  Aprillen • 25 days ago
Good point!
Mikkel isn't *just* smart though (I don't know about *the* smartest, Tuuri is clearly right up there with him) -- he's also easily bored. People like that require exceptional leaders to be able to manage them well -- no offense to Admiral Olsen but by definition most leaders are mediocre!

JaneB  AmityM • 25 days ago
and maybe he lacks a little judgement about just WHO to pull the face cancer type prank on. I can imagine the combination of snark and smarts and lack of respect for authority (it rolls off Sigrun 99% of the time because of her blithe gung-ho-ness, but many officers would have Had Words with Mikkel several times over already.

Heck, MY boss would have, and I work in a UNIVERSITY as an academic, smart, snark and not-very-easy-to-lead come as standard around here) would create situations where Mikkel knew full well something might not be a good idea but found it too appealing not to carry on with, or was too bored to resist (the many, many little tricks we played on our computer illiterate boss in one lab come to mind... he was a good sport most of the time, but did come down all boss-like when the computer monitor began flashing radiation level warnings and he called the central safety team of the university in a panic...)

[kapitod]

I think Mikkel might actually be the smartest one there, or rather he has the best combination of smarts.  Tuuri has some book smarts (though not a lot of real world experience), Sigrun and Lalli have "street smarts" when it comes to actual combat.  I would say that Emil is the dumbest, but most likely that's probably due to be a wealthy Swede who then decided to join the army out of boredom.  He's probably as smart as anyone else if he actually applied himself and wasn't so damned arrogant.

But Mikkel seems to have the best combination out of all of them.  He's got more real world knowledge than Tuuri, better social skills than Lalli (but most people have that), a better sense of everyone's limitations than Sigrun, and just generally more than Emil.  Including physical size there.

If we as around in 2015 then he would probably be a teacher in a secondary school, and the most respected one there too.