Why does he seem more like a lich?

Symachus was cursed with miserable immortality, so there's no reason he'd look as fresh as a demigod blessed with immortality. Didn't he look pretty worn out by the end of "Mohkadun"?

Let's not forget that Father Time stripped him of most of his godhood. It didn't look good at the end of the Mokhadun arc, I doubt his look has improved since.

Ah! You're both right. That actually makes much more sense now (though either way, I was on the "Yffi-is-Symachus" for a long time before someone pointed out that we are expected to *think* that, which may be classic Pete-speak for "think again!").

Also, why does that strip in Guigui's post lead to a deviantart site instead of the usual archive link?

because I messed up and copy/pasted the wrong link. Thanks god it wasn't something too embarrassing.

I was also under the impression that the "bird" comment was more in reference to the plague masks worn by the Strakoi.

It’s clearly Satin back for revenge. He’s back for revenge for all that spam! Riff is to Satin as telemarketers are to Bunbun. The full sluggy circle is about to come back to day one.

Mind you, now, that is saying a long life, not eternal.

Same. And since Symmie had the whole bird mask thing going himself, it makes sense.

Maybe... TOO much sense. Yffi doesn't really feel like him... but who knows?

This is actually the very last time we saw Symachus. I can't imagine him becoming the very confident and knowledgeable Yffi, who also seems to have some sort of compassion, at least for Edda. But ...maaaaaaybe...?

https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?ch ... 2014-06-27

I'm keeping time-travel Wilcott in my back pocket, but I'm wondering if whether Macha might be Yffi. He has a desire to learn, and seems to have a decent amount of compassion... he's blind, and he's a sort of demigod, which means he might still be around (the "god blood" probably gets diluted after that, so I would expect any further descendants -- like the ones we know -- to be regular mortals).

I really like this idea. However, there is a limited number of people that Chaz would acknowledge with "We Meet Again." Symachus would be one of those, Macha would not. Of course, we do have a rather limited knowledge of Chaz's journey once he got tossed out of the Pyramid of the Gods.

Father Time would be another that Chaz might acknowledge that way, but I have a hard time imagining him getting involved unless he's been keeping an eye on the Fate Web. And given the 'illegal' activities of the Fate Spiders, I don't get the sense that he has. See also https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?ch ... 2014-07-09

I also thought that I'd remembered Pete giving a nod to those speculating that Yffi is Symachus. But I finally found the reference in the Defender's Blog of December 22, 2021, and, of course, he was a lot more vague:

Possibly including Yffi regardless of who he is, if Chaz was very observant. https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?ch ... 2021-10-07 They didn't really have contact, but it was a significant encounter in a way.

I imagined he might have gained confidence with lots of experience. Sort of like, if you hang around forever while dissatisfied, you'll eventually have to become determined to do something about it. You could say the same about compassion and experience, but that sounds less intuitive, and it starts to feel more contrived. But then again, just because Symachus was a jerk doesn't mean he wouldn't feel compassion for anyone at all. But... I don't know.

He'd also have to have learnt to stand up straight. Maybe with magic, but, again...

I like the Macha speculation.

As others have noted, Symachus has been a popular speculation of his identity. Another strong one I recall being thrown around is Allie Bookbinder's son. Both he and his mother "died" offscreen in very vague terms, and so later when Yffi was going on about blood magic and birds, it was speculated that her declaration that she'd never die until her work was done was actually fulfilled and she became the first vampire (Vrykolakas were explained to have come from Greece so that tracks, although I don't recall any reference to which vamp type was "first"). And that her son at some point decided to do it too - Yffi certainly has the look of a permanently staked Vorpyr for what that's worth - and then spent the rest of his undeath trying to make better vamps, thus creating the more magic-powered Strakoi?

It's hard to verify this stuff because the vampire lore is probably the second most confusing thing in sluggy canon.

Those vampire specs sound like an excellent way to tie everything back together and would make a lot of sense if true.

Still. I want to see a Kill Bill-esque storyline of Satin seeking revenge on everyone who ever spammed him. Maybe 'Bob' was actually Hatori Hanzo. "I can tell you with no ego, this is my finest sword. If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut." Sounds like Chaz to me!