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Jaegergeneralsportrait

On hearing of Agatha's death

The Jägergenerals are eight unique Jägers of extreme size and age. At the beginning of the story, Khrizhan, Zog and Goomblast are aboard Castle Wulfenbach. Later we meet Gkika, owner of Mamma Gkika's, and Koppelslav AKA “Gargantua”, the Red Oni, and we learn of the missing Zadipok and the deceased General Øsk. Finally, the incognito Higgs has been canonically revealed as the eighth Jägergeneral. In addition, Dimo is acting as a general at the start of Act II, and the traitorous Captain Vole undergoes accelerated aging that reveals the process of becoming Jägergeneral material.

Jägergenerals are, in fact, the mature form of common Jägers; this usually takes hundreds of years, and most Jägers die before reaching it. Though almost all Jägergenerals possess unique physical characteristics, the most important difference between a Jäger and a Jägergeneral is that a Jägergeneral is no longer driven to fight as a Jäger is, but only fights when they choose to, and can thus fight rationally enough to lead others in combat.[1] In Dimo's case, his experiences as a "wild" Jäger have matured him enough to make him a de facto Jägergeneral far, far ahead of his time.

The trio on the Castle are, at 600-700 years old,[2] the oldest Jägerkin known to date which, thanks to experiments conducted on experimental test subject Vole, explain why they are a good bit larger and seem somewhat less human in appearance than other Jägers. Then again we have no idea how old Da Boyz are, or even if the group who first drank the Jägerdraught were the only group to do that, and time might not alter every Jäger in a similar way. They also seem much more perceptive than your average Wulfenbach-Jäger, and have a grasp of both historical issues and the broader picture, undoubtedly making them excellent allies for Baron Wulfenbach. Despite their higher level of intelligence, they have been known to express their professional disagreements about matters of administrative policy in rather...physical terms.

Although the three on Castle Wulfenbach are among Wulfenbach's highest-ranking advisers, they are ultimately loyal to the House of Heterodyne, and so follow their own agenda.[3] Unknown (as far as we know) to the Baron, the Generals sent at least one team of Jägers into the field to look for a Heterodyne heir. They also knew, and concealed their knowledge, that Agatha Clay was in fact a Heterodyne, and that she was not killed by the Spider Clank. General Zog thought it would make things really simple if they could engineer a match between Gilgamesh Wulfenbach and Agatha Heterodyne, but General Khrizhan seemed to understand that asking Agatha outright at that point would be a little premature.

The Three Generals whom Agatha initially met stayed on Castle Wulfenbach until circumstances caused them to relocate to Mechanicsburg.

MammaGkikaportrait

Also a general... Interesting Uniform

Mamma Gkika is a well-respected Jägergeneral, who remained separate from the other three known Generals.[4]While Khirzhan, Zog, and Goomblast did their own thing, she remained behind in Mechanicsburg where she has secretly provided treatment to injured Jägers.

Upon the ringing of the Doom Bell, she and her charges emerge to fight for Lady Heterodyne.

When Tarvek was brought before the Generals, who had gathered to meet the new Heterodyne (due to tradition). Tarvek revealed (to the readers at least) there used to be eight Jägergenerals. Seven now, after General Øsk died fighting a Doom Wyrm of the Polar Ice Lords. Generals Khirzan, Zog, Goomblast, and Koppelslav are there but three are missing.

The Generals, who had been having a bit of fun with Krosp, gloomily agree that Tarvek should be facing all the Jäger Generals. Miss Gkika is out protecting the new Heterodyne, General Zadipok is actually missing (breaking tradition), and the last is a tricky one. A keeper of secrets that only the Heterodyne should know, and until the Other is gone from Agatha he will stay that way. General Zadipok's absence is troubling to those native to Mechanicsburg and anyone who knows that Mechanicsburg tradition is taken very seriously. Missing from the inauguration of the new Heterodyne means Zadipok is dead, or a traitor to the new Heterodyne.

During the war council the Generals make Krosp wear a stupid hat, insisting that it is customary if he is to sit with them around the table. Although when Tarvek arrives and points that Khrizhan has no hat, the Generals burst into laughter and dismiss the whole thing when he shows how useful he really is, implying that it was just a prank they were playing on Krosp.

Most of the Jägergenerals are stuck in Mechanicsburg when the baron activates his time-stop device; meanwhile, Zadipok evidently remains among the missing, and as noted the Sneaky General has reasons to stay undercover. Consequently Dimo has had to step up and serve as acting general with his new arm, and medallion . Dimo didn't want the job, but for some reason everyone kept going to him with their problems, so the job is his. At least until he ran off with Agatha to Paris and then England. Who's in charge now is anybody's guess.

Four Generals and a cat[]

DerGeneralsIIGeneral ZogGeneral KhrizhanKrospRed Oni GeneralGeneral Goomblast
About this image

Lolcat and Der Generals.

The list of eight generals and headpieces[5][]

  1. General Khrizhan: No hat.
  2. General Zog: tarboosh?, wears a Fez without a tail. That is a tarboosh, right?
  3. General Goomblast: metal cap.
  4. Mamma Gkika: wayyyy too scary to be called General Mamma Gkika, and wears a tall shako.
  5. General Koppelslav/“Gargantua”: Plumed and billed cap, colored black and adorned with a Heterodyne symbol.
  6. General Zadipok: Missing in Action, or a traitor. If so, may his hat burn.
  7. General Øsk: RIP. The Doom Wyrm got his hat.
  8. The Unstoppable Higgs: Higgs has been revealed as the “tricky” undercover General, also known as General Spooky. The identity of this particular General has been a mystery in the comic for such a long time that some fans had given up hope that the answer would ever be unequivocally revealed. Higgs (with his ever-present sailor's cap) was always a fan favorite for the role of hidden General, although this idea was certainly not universally accepted. After many hints throughout earlier volumes, Prince Sturmvoraus finally "outs" Higgs as a General. This is quickly confirmed when the tiny version of Castle Heterodyne directly addresses him as such. Other characters who have been considered possible candidates at one time or another include: Boris, Jorgi, and a person who looks like an extremely old Jäger between Zola and Tiktoffen. Until the Higgs revelation, it was always possible that the secret General might turn out to be a Jäger who hadn't yet appeared in the comic. (Higgs could be Zadipok, but the Foglios wouldn't do that, right?)

Quasi Generals[]

  1. Dimo: As the senior Jäger, or at least one who has been kept sharp by leading a party of "wild" ones, he has been assigned the duties of a general. Wears something similar to Koppelslav, albeit colored green with an added pair of goggles. Later wears a sailor captain's hat. How do you steampunk a Fez? Crossbreed the popular Fez with a more modern army world war 1 era aviator hat.
  2. Captain Vole: The side effects of being removed from the Mechanicsburg stasis bubble have biologically matured him into a general, and possibly made him mentally suitable as well. He used to wear a shako, but is between hats at this time.

References

  1. ...and then we grew up.
  2. See this awesome con report.
  3. Reddit Ask-Me-Anything, 30 May 3013: 'Phil: Gosh, we covered this in the novel a bit. There are 7 Jäger generals, and we've only seen 4. The 3 at Castle Wulfenbach were there cause they had specialized knowledge.'
  4. See the Official Cast Page for Volume 8
  5. Tarvek meets the generals
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