I agree with the guy who said that BM is Chaos. Not the BBEG at the end of the game, but a manifestation of the idea. Which is why he's so attracted to WM, a manifestation of Order. Their world views are polar opposites, but y'know what they say. Opposites attract.

Black mage isn't evil. There's good in him, I know it.

Because Black Mage was originally... ANAKIN SKYWALKER!!

lol. Sorry, but all this talk about BM having a good side reminded me of "Return of the Jedi". I just thought I'd add that joke.

I don't think :bmage: has a good side so much as a 'less evil' side. Like in #186.

My personal view is that the "less evil" side is what's left of his real human self, and the "more evil" side is the irresistible, mind-shattering will of his all-consuming power. His original good side is laying broken and sodomized in a corner somewhere.

I think we are looking at half of the story. We have all the dirt on :bmage: but we haven't learned anything about WM 's past, I mean we know now HOW BM got his Hadoken and how he first met :fighter: but we don't know how WM became a mage of faith, and if we do, then point out the episode. In order to understand the full situation we must first know both sides of the argument. WM is a white mage, she follows her beliefs, and probably is chastise, but that is all I can honestly say about her without going into speculation.

Basically if you are too lazy to read all that (because I know I would be)
we can only prove 1/2 of the equation of :wmage: and :bmage:

EDIT: not sure about the spelling of Chastise, but if you don't know it means she's not allow to... well... you know... have sex

Yeah, but his statement in #489 would seem to imply he actually does care (to some extent).

"Chastise" means "punish." The word you're looking for is "chaste."

actually, I think that he may have considered wasting the opportunity to get something for sacrificing them would have been 'sicko'.

I, myself, also believe that BM is confused about morals. Like here: http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030920

I also believe that BM deffinatly has a possible chance of turning to the light. He almost got to a break through before. Like here: http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030531

Of course there are small signs that say the opposite. Such as the last pannel of episode 262. it was just a random one I found. I know their are others.

But, anywho, I'm still a believer. Yup.

Wait... Wait...
:wmage:"You did it, blackmage!"
:bmage:"So, you still don't hate me?"

Blackmage saved them all, even when he knew that the Hadoken could end all his chances with WM? And he really does care about what WM thinks of him, it wasn't a trick? He saved WM, and the other LW (I believe his intention was only to save WM, but that saving the others was accidental), When he could have saved only himself with minimal effort?
He... He... Blackmage did a good thing for others (He saved WM), even when the possibility of great personal loss was certain?
CRWAZY!

Am I the only one who see's the possibility that BM could be the Nuklear Power equivilent of Darth Vader if he had wound up joining the Rebellion? There is good in him, but it takes a whole lot of stuff to go down before it can manifest itself, perhaps culmonating in BM's death?

YOU STOLE MY IDEA!!!!!

You now owe me approx. $921,643,613.54 .... not including taxes.

Looks like it's WM hammer time!

Black Mage is simply amoral he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong he's definatley not evil he just commits acts based on the benifit to himself. Also, there is one good thing he did. He massacred old people thus lessoning their burden on the populous as a whole he should be given a medal. BM understands his actions and their possible ramifications, but only in the sense of their affect on himself, typical psychopath. As far as WM goes their is an inherent innocence and gulibility in her world view. Her skema is of a world that has good in everything. Accepting a change to one's skema is very difficult especially when it's at the core of your belief system, so her previous overlooking of BM's actions is just a molding of things to fit her world view and thus protect her self-esteem. Okay that's enough. Except, the characters aren't all black and white if things were ever that simple, well, we'd be bored.

I agree with the people saying that there are three sides to BM's concious(y'know, what Jimmney Cricket was for Pinochio) his bad side, his REALLY bad side, and his good side, the really bad side is his chaotic powers manifest into a persona all their own, crying out to be let loose upon the world to ravish it as they feel it should be. His bad side is the dark side of his being, its no where near as...hardcore as the darkest side. His good side I'd say is, like someone else said earlier, sitting in a corner somewhere licking its wounds, possibly plotting revenge against the two bullies inside BM's head, akin to the tormented teen that finds his dad's gun and takes it to school to make the bullies pay. I can easily see BM becoming something of an extremeist for good, one that would make WM look like a cheap harlot in terms of purity.

As I told Shiny when he made a joke

:bmage: -10 :rmage: -8/-8 :fighter: 8- :thief: -10 (you owe me 10 dollars for that)

Actually, I disagree. I think it's precisely BM's status as an amusing killer that makes him popular. His apparenty willingness to more or less sort of work with the others does help, but don't go so far with that that you forget that he's attempted to murder Fighter repeatedly and has even stabbed the others as well. He just can't actually manage to kill any of the other main characters, but it hasn't been for lack of trying (maybe he hasn't tried his hardest, but he's certainly made at least token efforts). Were they as killable as the random townsfolk who've been unlucky enough to wander into the paths of the "Light Warriors," they'd all be dead except for White Mage.

I didn't say they WERE evil, although willingly participating in mass-murder, even if it wasn't specifically your idea (and actually, for Thief, murdering countless dwarves WAS his idea), certainly DOES count as not just evil but in fact arguably incredibly evil. But be that as it may, it's not my main point here. You can call them whatever you like -- call them "Bob" if it suits you. All I said is that save for White Mage, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single GOOD character in the comic. I didn't say there weren't self-interested characters.

Anyway, it just seems to me that a number of you take this way too seriously. There are certainly Web comics out there that have deep, angsty, intricate storylines and tons of "will they/won't they" romantic couplings, but 8-bit has always felt to me like sort of a BREAK from those types of comics. Don't overthink it. Just let it ... be. ;)

Again he gets it right. 2/2 so far.

Edit: wrong name in the quote. Hoshit.

sometimes it seems that BM IS using his power for good but is executing the punishment in evil ways. whilst killing the oldmen he was looking for the oldman who lied about the armor being in the giants forest in the cave of no return, and lieing is a sin so BM punished him with justice..but thats when his powers come in and he gets out of control. Also when he basically killed almost all the dwarves he did it in a time of almost war (it was a kill elves on sight but not actually war thing) and he had the permission of prince and one day king thief. he also saved the LW's on the way to elfland the first time by using his hadoken to speed up the travel even though RM still tried to keep the fire arrow and it did blow up pravoka..and he saved himself and fighter in giants forest when he first introduced the power of the hadoken.the only really bad times hes used them is...probably the onion kid.., and a few guards.., and a guy with a ladder, etc. nothin special

I'm not so sure. If Black Mage really, REALLY wanted to kill his commerades, I'm sure he could have done that by now. However, he seems to find their company preferable to (or at least less irksome than) that of the rest of the morons that populate the earth. Indeed, the only time he actually makes attempts on his companions' lives is when they do something to particularly annoy him.

Granted, but Thief's actions were not so much motivated by a desire for cruelty as they were a flaring up of the ancient feud between the Elven and Dwarvish nations. As we saw, the dwarves would just as readily slaughter any elves if given half a chance. Of course, it's still hardly an admirable action...

While 8-bit Theater is certainly not a serious comic, it is a character-driven comic. Our heroes are not simply one-dimensional devices for setting up and delivering jokes, but are multi-faceted individuals with well-defined personalities and (often conflicting) motivations. The fact that so many people speculate not about what Black Mage will do, but why he does what he does is a testament to this.

Actually, BM can kill them anytime he wants to. He's done it twice already when they were at Sarda's remember? They would of stayed dead if Sarda didnt fix everything.

Personally, I never thought that the BM/WM pairing would ever happen, and I want BM to stay morally bankrupt. He just wouldn't be funny if he wasn't.

Still, it would have been nice to see BM try to do something not just in his own benefit, but to try to impress somebody. A greater friction between the most moral character of the comic, and the most amoral one.
As I said, WM IS BM's greatest conflict at this time.
He is still undecided about how to use his power (Right now, he is just trying get even more power), and WM was something that kept the balance between his amoral search for benefit and power and the possibility of an alternative kind of pleasure (WM, In any shape or form of a relationship) that doesn't derive from the destruction and pain of others.
Without WM, what's to keep WM from dedicating the rest of his life only to attaining and exploiting power?

Heh. I want to see the new comic already. I had never waited this long just to see the shit hit the fan.

I always find myself rooting for Black Mage to get her even though I know it's not gonna happen. I like to call it the Tom & Jerry Effect. Cause didn't you always hope the cat would kill the damn mouse?

Off topic: Dont you find it Ironic that parents complain theres too much violence in cartoons and yet when you look at that show, they have a mouse dismembering the cat in almost every episode.

On Topic: I know BM getting with WM wont happen. Unless she got really drunk.

http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030531

Actually, this comic sums up everything I've been saying sicne I had my doubts about BM being Chaos.

Maybe he isn't, but he could become Chaos.
Without WM's influence, would BM ever question or care about the consequencies of his actions?
As I see it, he cares for only three things: Himself, Power and WhiteMage.
If he truly sees no chance of ever being with WM, or if WM finally rejects him as a worthless amoral creature without any chance of redemption... He will only have to things to focus about: Himself, and power.
Do you imagine what that would lead him to?
Other than the inmediate murder of WM, I mean.

Which is why the song should be 'Behind Blue Robes'. Try it, you'll like it.

To the Others (you know who you are),
as follows is IMO, Pedantic, and Wandering:

Black Mage is Evil. He chooses Evil. He does know what he is about, make no mistakes, he is just a tad socially retarded. He however perhaps doesn't understand why other people waste their time being Good. To him the rewards of Evil are obvious (and immediate), and the only impediment is Temporal in nature (the various Authorities that might try to stop him). Whereas those who are Good are generally so because of reasons Spiritual (morals), and the reward is a little less imediate (but very much eternal).

A rare few are 'Good" for temporal concerns, i.e. they aren't smart enough to get away with, and yet are canny enough to know this.

This is the very essence of the BM/WM schism. Temporal vs Spiritual. Immediate vs Eternal.

Black Mage has been to his Final Justice. It is rulership in Hell. White Mage is 'unsure' of her Final Reward, but has it on Good Faith. Surety vs Suposition.

Both are righteous in their actions, Black being Selfish, WM being Selfless.

And yes they really are polar opposites. It is an age old 'truism' that opposites atract. Just look to our mass media throughout the ages.

I'm sure Mr Clevinger has.*



I want you to remember, A love so full it could send us all ways...--EvilE

*I should perhaps add Bombastic to the opening litany.

Heh, I actually thought that was funny. Sick? Maybe. Funny? Yes!! :D All of what BM has done, like the murder of that orphan's family (way back when the Light Warrior's are telling their side of the story of how they solved the mystery at Crescent Lake or something..), I cracked up so bad.

evileeyore: You probably couldn't have said it better in my opinion.

I still say WM and BM will end up together in the end......
I mean the irony is just too incredible to pass up.

Or perhaps I love irony too much....

///

Keep dreaming, chief, keep dreaming.
As I have heard, Brian already said that such thing wasn't going to happend.
I can tell you that BM will probably have a miserable or painful ending and/or destruction. You see, I came to the conclusion that while Brian finds BM a funny character, he doesn't intend to give him any kind of lasting pleasure at all. In fact, he may be planning to perpetually punish him for every bad thing he has done.
He may give him chances to change or progress as a character... But he will always keep BM perpetually amoral and uncaring for everything, because the character has no actual resources or bases for a change.
Sure, BM wants to be with WM... But he has no idea or hints about how to do it.

It's like watching a man who ignores what a stair is, trying to reach the roof of a house... Watching in amusement, but never giving the man instructions about how to use a stair.
Sure, it wouldn't be funny if BM stopped killing... But it would be fun to see him struggling wtih hesitation once he gets a reason to not kill. Because, right now, he has no reason to not kill everyone he wants to and exploiting the resources of his world exhept for punishment from the authorities or people more powerful than him.

http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010320

Hmm...he looks into a strategy guide and then uses the Hadoken...could BM be lying?

///

Those comics are to the (revised) actual story what the early Batman is to the post-Miller (Dark Knight) Batman.