Looking For Thoughts – Dnah
Join longtime LFG fan and current LFG writer Ryan Costello as he looks at an element of Looking For Group lore, trivia, or development, and shares insight into why he appreciates it. This week, he welcomes the most hands-on, head-first librarian in Legarion with open arms, Dnah!
Who’s got five thumbs and made his return on page 1671? Dnah!
In this age of AI and artists competing to see if anyone knows what a the end of a human arm even looks like, Lar DeSouza bravely raised his hand and said “I do!” He and Sohmer went on to create an instant legend, a fan-favourite new characters, and the ideal Rolex spokesperson.
An Introduction With Reach
Dnah owes leaving such an impression (a hand print, naturally) so quickly to one of the greatest introductions in LFG history. Although Dnah debuted on page 526, you have to read page 525r first to do the gag justice.
Even if you predicted that it wasn’t Cale this time, there’s no way you guessed the real source of the second shadow puppet.
Also surprising, this wasn’t just a one-off moment of weirdness. Dnah immediately introduced himself (something a lot of characters forget to do. I’m looking at you, Big Lady) and explain his history with Krunch. This quickly established his important to the plot.
Offhand Humour
Surprisingly, Sohmer wrote Dnah straighter than any other LFG character. Based on Sohmer’s sense of humour and LFG’s jokes-per-page rate, you’d think the comic’s most ridiculous character to date would be used for laughs. Instead, Sohmer emphasized Dnah’s job as a librarian to deliver exposition, primarily. Characters talk to the hand like it is listening.
Of course, there were hand jokes. Dnah hitchhiking. Dnah being too legit to quit as a prayer of his people. The Hctib Pals. The there were the incidental gags, like any time Dnah is shown reading. But the majority of Dnah’s appearances serve the plot. He took over Krunch’s roles as Benny’s confidant and the group’s scholar.
Richard’s Amputation Quest
Most intriguing, when Dnah first appeared, Richard was already on a quest to kill him.
We knew Aelloon sent Richard to kill someone. However, we only found out what later, after Dnah’s introduction. The dialog is unusually suggestive.
Wait, no, that’s not what I meant.
The dialog only implies who Richard has to kill, but between Richard looking at his hand when he says “I’ll kill this thing Aelloon fears so”, Richard calling the target “an appendage” and then suggesting a High Five Of Doom or Thumbwar of Doom can kill it. Still, we don’t get explicit confirmation that Richard’s hunting a hand-person until he meets a couple of Dnah’s people.
Richard moiders the two guards, proving the hand people can be killed, but that’s the end of this arc. He never tries to kill Dnah, and the contract never comes up again, but that’s not the last time Dnah crossed paths with Aelloon. I know LFG often abandons plots, but while it lasted, the tension rose as Richard and Dnah’s quests brought them closer together.
More Dnah
Like Tim, Dnah came and went regularly. However, his next major storyline contribution was not as a hero but as a victim.
After fitting in the entire Squirrel Queen side quest, Benny, Pella, and Tah’Vraay find a broken Dnah. The state of his injuries fluctuated throughout the comic. It’s just a continuity error, but if you want an in-world explanation, you know how Hctib said the target was unkillable? Maybe Dnah’s kind regenerate.
In any case, the rescue mission turned into peace talks. Naturally, they end with Aellooon’s death. After the timeline jumps ahead 1 year, Dnah only appears sporadically for a while. He and Tim don’t get invited on Benny’s next mission. Then, other than a cameo in a Richard illustration, Dnah didn’t show up again for nearly 300 pages. He did, however, have his origin story told in the pages of NPC (currently unavailable).
When he returns, as the mythical The Green Hand, it’s back to business as usual. Dnah serves as the group’s intellectual and moral consultant, and their muscle. It’s no wonder he became a one-hand-army while they were gone.
Once that arc concluded, Dnah made his last appearance in the background chatting with fellow absentee NPC (abseNPCee?) Dorel. That was over 400 pages ago! That page published on January 24th, 2019. 2019! We had to endure 2020 and then some without our biggest helping hand!
Dnah Grabbed A Hold Of My Heart
I’m on record as Dnah’s biggest fan. As you can imagine, when I took over as writer of LFG, Dnah’s return became inevitable. As I explore new ideas in the status quo Sohmer left me with, I try to spread out returning characters, especially one as significant as Dnah.
As you’ll see in the pages to come, Dnah serves an important plot purpose that builds on everything established about him. I might enjoy writing Dnah more than I like writing Richard. He lets me get important plot information out quickly, while always giving me built-in punchlines at my fingertips.
Now you know,
Costello