explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3211: Amperage

2026-04-28T10:56:42Z

82.132.236.190:

Seems like this would be at least tangentially related to the Cursed Connectors series, although it's just the outlets and cords this time. [[User:Zakator|Zakator]] ([[User talk:Zakator|talk]]) 05:51, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

I would assume that this is related to styropyro's latest video? [[Special:Contributions/142.126.42.193|142.126.42.193]] 05:59, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
: I’ll second the comment about the new styropyro video; it seems very likely that it inspired Randall to make this comic and is probably worth a mention. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:829C:47BD:C826:B8DB:5A5E:913A|2607:FB91:829C:47BD:C826:B8DB:5A5E:913A]] 07:50, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
: I think that's very likely - in literally every single group of nerds (eg xkcd-adjacent) I've seen people talking about it. I'd be very, very surprised if he hasn't at all seen it[[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 17:28, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

200 amps is NOT "an amount of electricity power"; The amp is a unit of electrical current, from which power can be derived by multiplying by voltage.[[Special:Contributions/2001:8003:7087:E602:3CBE:B25:5BFC:61BD|2001:8003:7087:E602:3CBE:B25:5BFC:61BD]] 07:41, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

The current explanation seems to assume that Cueball is aware in advance of some of the problems his scheme is likely to cause, and is trying to forestall them. That seems unlikely - it's Cueball after all. It's far more likely that he has ''already'' melted all his wiring (and ruined his carpet), but just considers that a new engineering challenge to overcome. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:28, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

It is amusing or instructional to consider how residential wiring would be engineered if the equipment and circuits were designed with a system that supplied constant current rather than constant voltage. Long ago carbon-arc streetlights were all wired in series and run at perhaps 6 or 8 amps. The "failure" mode is not a short circuit but an open circuit. Protective devices close the offending open. Perhaps Cueball would like to explore such a system, running megavolts at 500 amps, unless he already has. [[Special:Contributions/173.188.198.217|173.188.198.217]] 12:56, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

I understand the theory of it, and it clearly doesn't cause any more electrical fires than home run circuits, but the UK's 32A ring circuits on 14 gauge wire will always make me raise an eyebrow. [[Special:Contributions/64.135.140.145|64.135.140.145]] 13:36, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
:The US's pathetically wimpy system always raises an eyebrow for me. No wonder Cueball felt the need to upgrade his house. I would also be frustrated by not being able to run a kettle and a toaster on the same circuit simultaneously. No tea and no toast?? Sacrilege! [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 22:21, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
:: >"frustrated by not being able to run a kettle and a toaster on the same circuit simultaneously." Why must it be the same circuit? The US NEC code calls for TWO 20A circuits in kitchen/pantry. US market kettles are, in your opinion, underpowered, 1500 Watts (or less!), so as to run comfortably on even legacy 15A circuits. The toaster goes on the other kitchen circuit. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 00:52, 25 February 2026 (UTC)
:::Wow, two circuits are mandated?! That goes to show how dire the situation is with their limited available power. [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 05:52, 25 February 2026 (UTC)
::::Just use the stove for your Tea and Toast [[Special:Contributions/66.210.7.66|66.210.7.66]] 16:01, 25 February 2026 (UTC)
:::::Just microwave the lot and be done with it. [[Special:Contributions/176.138.186.7|176.138.186.7]] 21:31, 25 February 2026 (UTC)
:::::This is why I never drink tea when I'm in the US.--[[Special:Contributions/2A00:23CC:D248:8901:C1C2:6444:7428:2D04|2A00:23CC:D248:8901:C1C2:6444:7428:2D04]] 08:59, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
::::::I've heard this before and do not understand the issue. Do you think we have the tea bag in the water while microwaving it? Or do you think the water remembers how it was heated? [[User:BaddDadd|BaddDadd]] ([[User talk:BaddDadd|talk]]) 22:19, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
::::::::No, they don't think that far. Although they believe themselves to be lovers of tea (because they grow up being told they are), Brits are mostly simply prolific consumers of truly execrable tea. But that religion/identity thing they've got going on with regards to tea consumption makes them believe the ceremony and performance of it has validity – superiority even. So a different performance is regarded as wrong. Sure, their belief that their ceremony is underpinned by reason makes them think their hatred of alternatives is similarly reasonable...but it's really just the condemnation of perceived heresy, nothing more. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 00:16, 28 February 2026 (UTC)
:::::::Well, we've gone over this sort of thing before... See [[3022: Making Tea]] for details. ;) (And also take care not to splice apart comments from their signatures!) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:59, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
::I'm not sure why no toaster means no toast. You don't need a toaster to make toast. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 21:53, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
: 2.5mm2 is actually more closer to a 13 gauge (which corresponds to 2.6mm2), and with it being in a ring so electricity has two ways to go it's more closer to what a 12 gauge (3.3mm2) would be able to hold. [[User:Sztupy|Sztupy]] ([[User talk:Sztupy|talk]]) 22:48, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
:: The current will be about equal through the two paths if the outlet is half way around the ring. If it's, say, only 10 percent of the way around, 90% of the current will take the shorter path. [[User:BaddDadd|BaddDadd]] ([[User talk:BaddDadd|talk]]) 22:22, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

xkcd is a good distractor from everything that's going on with the world. Thanks, Randall! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] (BLM) 13:57, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

Retired electrical engineer from a power distribution manufacturer here... The resistance in the wires doesn't increase all that much with increasing current. The increase in heat generated is proportional to the amount of current flowing through the wires squared. Double the current and the heat generated quadruples. Go from 15 amps to 500 amps and the heat generated by the resistance in the wires increases about 1100 times. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1702:7A0:8230:9DBF:A415:F8AF:7799|2600:1702:7A0:8230:9DBF:A415:F8AF:7799]] 17:10, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
:Isn't heat generated proportional to current squared? or is that resistance. maybe im tripping[[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 17:28, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
::Power lost as heat is determined by voltage drop in the line times current [P=IV] and since voltage drop equals current times resistance [V=IR] then heat is determined by resistance times current-squared [P=I*(IR)], so half current makes one quarter of the heat.[[Special:Contributions/57.140.28.40|57.140.28.40]] 18:19, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

120V AC at 15A would not be 1800W. 120V DC would, but the AC power is a sine wave, so to get the overall average power you need to divide by the square root of two. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1009:B1AC:BBBB:1D51:D689:1D5F:6A11|2600:1009:B1AC:BBBB:1D51:D689:1D5F:6A11]] 17:50, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
: To commenter above: 120V in the US is RMS voltage, so it's already divided.
: To original poster: "and inside his appliances and start a fire, even if there is no fault". Unless the appliance itself is drawing more than it's rated for (e.g. 15 or 20A (unlikely)) there's no reason the appliance's internal wiring would disintegrate because it's on a 500A circuit.
:I'm assuming the "cords" cueball refers to are extension cords (which are themselves overloaded) vs. appliance cords which shouldn't have any problem unless the appliance was already suffering some kind of short. [[Special:Contributions/74.76.64.197|74.76.64.197]]
::Absolutely correct. Appliances are designed with appropriate internal wiring, so if the appliance is drawing 500A the appliance can handle 500A. The cord from outlet to appliance is the issue here, as Cueball has already mentioned. [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 22:21, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

Could this perhaps be a reference to [[3198: Double-Pronged Extension Cord]]? [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 21:06, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

There is nothing in the comic to suggest the internal wall wiring is melting or catching fire. I think we can assume Cueball has upgraded the internal wall wiring to match the breaker upgrades. Cueball is only enquiring about cords which don't catch fire, and "cords" are the external extension leads. Cueball doesn't say anything about internal wall issues. [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 22:30, 24 February 2026 (UTC)
:The outlet is a Type B (NEMA 5-15) outlet (note the two vertical slots in the comic), these are designed for 15 Amps. These simply cannot support 500 Amps (the wires to support 500 Amps are bigger than the entire outlet). Cuball hasn't even upgraded to a NEMA 5-20R outlet which can support 20 Amps. [[Special:Contributions/2600:6C54:4E00:99C:67B7:D578:30ED:2471|2600:6C54:4E00:99C:67B7:D578:30ED:2471]] 06:07, 28 February 2026 (UTC)
::You exclude the possibility of them being (deliberately or just by chance) over engineered, perhaps massively so. I don't believe that there's any reason to have an upper limit to capacity, just a hard lower limit below which they must not be expected to fail. Except in any actual fuse/RCD that is fitted for the protection of the nominally-rated hardware (where sockets have such things in them, rather than the lead-plugs, easily replacable/resettable or not), which I would expect to have been 'upgraded' as part of the whole scenario as a matter of course.
::At some point, you can probably work out the physical limit of Type B (or semi-compatible Type A) prongs, which seem to me to be rather weedier than the pins that ''my'' national plug-standard uses, for any given material used (plotting the self-reinforcing resistance vs temperature problem, to check it doesn't go over the material's MP), but that's a cable issue anyway, and who knows how chunky the 'backplate' metalwork actually is, because there's not such an obvious upper limit to that (perhaps divide the backplate ''entirely'' into three distinct 'lumps', plus necessarily sufficient air/other-insulator gap, but that's going to far outperform the plug-pin limitations wihout even trying).
::Or, by sacrificing some slight cross-section, what if it was riddled/jacketed with microchannels through which liquid helium (or other sufficiently cold gas/liquid) flowed, in order to maintain supercondunctivity and/or just soak up the excess resistive heat... hardly something allowed by a standard off-the-shelf socket, I know, but maybe Beret Guy was his (original, or upgrading) electrician. One can then imagine such a coolant household system being extended on demand through specially-designed power leads (hollow-tipped prongs, and open-on-contact 'cup' valves at the bottom of the socket holes, and some clever flexible-yet-insulating way of conveying the house-supply of coolant through any such plugged in lead, all without causing cold-induced brittleness of course!) to 'solve' the problem he's now asking about, caused by him 'solving' his original current-limitation issues. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.97|82.132.239.97]] 12:53, 28 February 2026 (UTC)
:::I agree with you that if you are actively cooling the outlet you could get a lot more power through it. If you are constantly actively cooling it there would probably be significant frost buildup issues, but in this hypothetical situation, you could just dehumidify the entire room, or just use your active cooling when something is actually drawing power. [[Special:Contributions/2600:6C54:4E00:99C:67B7:D578:30ED:2471|2600:6C54:4E00:99C:67B7:D578:30ED:2471]] 15:53, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

TL;DR this is a setup that would make Tim Taylor (from the sitcom {{w|Home Improvement (TV Series)|Home Improvement}}) jealous. [[Special:Contributions/2603:6011:853A:4DDA:3F9A:6297:AF9E:2340|2603:6011:853A:4DDA:3F9A:6297:AF9E:2340]] 04:43, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

I think 1000 MCM copper wire would be sufficient for the cords: https://www.cerrowire.com/products/resources/tables-calculators/ampacity-charts/ https://nassaunationalcable.com/products/1000-mcm-thhn-thwn-2-stranded-copper-building-wire [[Special:Contributions/2600:6C54:4E00:99C:67B7:D578:30ED:2471|2600:6C54:4E00:99C:67B7:D578:30ED:2471]] 04:42, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

Yet another example of the absolutely heinous overexplanation problem on modern exkcd. A comic whose joke boils down to "guy gets rid of electrical safety equipment and is surprised by the creation of serious electrical hazards as a result of this" has exploded to ''nearly 1400 words'' across 7 gigantic paragraphs with long extraneous tangents, in just ''two DAYS'' after the comic went up. This entire comic could be explained in 4 sentences for the main joke and an extra sentence for the title text. [[User:Pie Guy|Pie Guy]] ([[User talk:Pie Guy|talk]]) 04:58, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
:More than that, an overwhelming majority 'exploded' into being within ''half'' a day. The 1.5 days since then has been mostly tweaking.
:Also, he didn't get rid of safety equipment. He actually put more in, but made it more ''relaxed'' safety equipment, and made sure that the greater relaxation is as exploitable as possible so that it still ''might'' get tripped, but only in a worse way. (Simultaneously more forgiving ''and'' less forgiving, depending upon whether you prioritise continuity of service or personal safety.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.204|82.132.236.204]] 11:15, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
Using the standard 15 amp outlets (as shown in the picture) with a 500 amp breaker is definitely a code violation. He needs to replace them with NEC 500 amp rated outlets (if those exist). Then buy extension cords with the corresponding 500 amp plugs. [[User:BaddDadd|BaddDadd]] ([[User talk:BaddDadd|talk]]) 22:26, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
:The highest (US-'standard') rating I've found, on a quick search is the [https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/227652/does-electrical-code-allow-nema-14-60r-receptacles-in-residential-settings NEMA 14-60]-type plug/socket... Of course, if you're dealing with industrial-level currents you probably would be engineering your own conecting units to fit ''your'' particular power-transfer needs, subject only to basic common sense{{Citation needed}} and a more widely encompassing general set of federal power-regulations.{{Actual citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 00:19, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

What could possibly be unfinished about this explanation, please enlighten me [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 04:50, 28 April 2026 (UTC)
:No big mystery. The thing that could yet be incomplete about the Explanatuon is that it has just not ''yet'' had its {{template|incomplete}} removed.
:A potted history of the Incomplete tag:
:*When this site was still 'catching up' on xkcd, pages for more historic comics were added in as more stubs/barebones, and the Incomplete tag was useful to get people to randomly dive in and flesh out these.
:*Then gradually that need waned, as 'early comics' were deemed Explained enough (not that it stops anyone finding some reason to re-edit anything now ''without'' an Incomplete box), and it became more an indicator of new comic pages.
:*The auto-uploading BOT (the current one, based off what its long time predecessor did) adds Incomplete "CREATED BY A BOT" text automatically. And ''obviously'' this is tied in with it being truly Incomplete, because we don't (yet!) have an AGI-powered BOT that can perfectly explain the page immediately without the interventions of us humble bags of meat. (And, frankly, I expect and hope that this never happens, at least not before Randall makes an AI ''draw'' his comics from its own imagination.)
:*For a long time now, though, the site's community has been editing the "CREATED BY A BOT" to be a "CREATED BY <SOMETHING RELEVENT TO THE COMIC>" joke, in the early stages of editing (when things ''probably'' remain Incomplete). But regular visitors, who are likely to relish 'completing' missing bits of Explanation, probably have their own way of keeping track of what comics ''they'' might need to review the pages for, so it's really not a 'nevessary' tag.
:*Then again, some may bounce around the site and find a genuine mystery in a page (that they can't deal with immediately, at least) and choose to either re-add the tag (hopefully with their genuine reason for considering it needing editing) or edit the still existing one (to replace/add to the BOT(/REPLACEMENT) baseline text). That's still doable.
:So, as a general rule of thumb:
:#If it says "CREATED BY A BOT", almost certainly you're looking at the latest published comic and are reading it before someone has saved a "CREATED BY SOMETHING FUNNY" joke over it.
:#If it has a "CREATED BY SOMETHING FUNNY" on it, it has been 'tagged' by someone. There's no official reason why you can't tweak (or replace) the joke text to your own idea of what it could be, of course, but it's not like it matters enough (and you can't erase the page history's original attempt(s), anyway) for such a transient in-joke.
:#Because of viewing habits varying (from jumping on all new comics (and edits to this site) within perhaps mere minutes, to perhaps checking out onoy what has appared once a week, I've seen it suggested that a good cut-off, for 'new' comics having been definitely updated enough to (nominally) being 'Complete', is around a week. i.e. you can let the joke-CREATED BY stand on the latest three comics (maybe more, but assuming just Monday-Wednesday-Friday cycle as baseline). ''Then'' the joke has been appreciated by people and if you ''really'' think there's no more to it then... remove the tag.
:#However, if someone has some actual query as to completeness (or accuracy, or formatting, or...), then they may add that query/etc to the tag. Or add the tag (when currently absent) with the query. So if it sayscsomething like "that list needs to be in a table" or "please explain about 'mesoscopic granulation'", then it's a genuine call to complete something. (I'd personally prefer it if people who add these to a CREATED BY ''didn't'' replace that CREATED BY, as it's like prematurely removing something that needn't be removed, better to append their genuine concern... But YMMV.) Should be self-explanatory, or go in there and append your own query about ''their'' query, maybe... ;)
:#There are those who will also just add the bare {{template|incomplete}} without any explanation included. Unless they hid that away in their edit-Summary (or you can spot something yourself, which you probably want to edit in or at least add your own 'reason' text if you can't) then probably safe enough to just remove. If someone feels strongly enough about it, then they can add it back in with their reasoning.
:...by my reading, in this case, we're at stage 3, above. This has (inexplicably?) been CREATED BY AN IN-JOKEd and then just left for way more than a month. (Though checking the page history may confirm/deny this.) There's no further incompleteness reason given, so... It can be removed. It was fun seeing it, and it's still going to be there in the Page History anyway.
:And looking at the Page History for various comics (back a very long way now, in both comic numbers and times of editing) will reveal the kinds of use we have put towards the Incomplete tags, ever since they were first implemented, and how they have picked up this not-so-literal method of usage that ''might'' be a little confusing to more recent readers of this site, at least until they see what's what... ;)
:However, {{template|incomplete transcript}} is played straight. At least in part because a transcript (usually!) is fairly obviously either absent or complete (barring minor tweaks/corrections, which of course were left there by someone who had ''thought'' they'd properly completed it when they shaved off the tag for it), and also because it doesn't use a 'reason'-type parameter (which isn't to say that one can't add one, but it just wouldn't show the same way). ...so, apart from a slight editing caution on the very latest comic or three, you really shouldn't be seeing Incomplete Template hanging around much.
:''TL;DR;'': you could remove that tag, as I'm betting the page is now Complete (barring minor edits). But only because it's also a non-recent one, because this community also tends to subvert more recent tags for humorous purposes. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.190|82.132.236.190]] 10:56, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

Cueball

2026-04-28T09:39:54Z

82.132.236.190: Punctuation. Also consider the indirect reference (repuctantly, but only for linguistic reasons!) to "[his] wife" isn't definitely about Megan, whose reference to "[her] husband" isn't clearly about that Cueball.

{{Infobox character
| image = Cueball.png
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = '
| first_appearance = [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball|Comics featuring Cueball]].''
:''For the named Cueball, see [[Rob]].''
:''For Cueball's girlfriend, see [[Megan]].''</noinclude>

'''Cueball''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. He is distinguished from other characters by having no distinguishing features, including no obvious hair or hat, although this may just be a normally neat-and-short hair, or even shaven, that can still become ungroomed hair if [[3151: Window Screen|allowed to do so]], rather than total [[1126: Epsilon and Zeta|or partial]] baldness.

[[600: Android Boyfriend|Early comics' depictions]] might even have been drawn to deliberately suggest a subtle tuft of hair, without the head displaying an actual hairstyle or [[Hairy|obvious strands]]. Though predominantly identified by being also hatless, he ''may'' also notably wear something on his head if [[3158: Shielding Chart|there is reason to do so]], while still being clearly the Cueball character through related context.

Several of the [[:Category:Cancer|comics about cancer]] have Cueball representing Randall and Megan representing's his fiancée and later wife. Cueball may also be refering to Megan as his wife in [[3237: Husband and Wife]].

Notwithstanding these complications, this name is unofficial but used here. Like other [[xkcd]] characters, Cueball doesn't necessarily represent the same character from comic to comic. Instead, he represents a generic {{w|everyman}}. In several comics, there are [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|multiple Cueballs]], any of whom can be called Cueball. Early [[xkcd]] comics featured Cueball-style characters who occasionally included facial features (e.g., [[18: Snapple]]), since [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] hadn't standardized his character design early in the comic's run. Several of the [[:Category:Cancer|comics about cancer]] also have Cueball representing Randall himself.

In [[3164: Metric Tip]], Cueball was given an official height of 5'9".

==Name==
The character is rarely actually referred to as "Cueball" on [[xkcd]], but never in the comic image, title text, or visible metadata. The name was developed by early contributions to [[explain xkcd]], referring to the visual similarity of Cueball's head to a {{w|billiard ball}}. [[Transcript|Randall's transcripts]] usually refer to the character as "Person 1" and similar denominations, but they sometimes specifically call him "Cueball", such as in [[1324: Weather]]'s [https://xkcd.com/1324/info.0.json official transcript]. A few comics give Cueball a first name, but only the name [[Rob]] appears several times ([[:Category:Comics featuring Rob|13 in total]]) for a Cueball.

There have been many debates about whether all other Cueballs should be retroactively renamed "Rob" on this wiki. Following the same logic that resulted in the "[[Cutie]]" character being renamed Megan, an argument can be advanced for renaming Cueball as Rob. As it stands, however, it seems the community has not agreed with this logic, with an argument against the name change being the abundance of comics with multiple Cueballs. The topic was discussed at length at the following [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]] topics:
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Cueball/Rob|Proposals § Cueball/Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Merge Cueball & Rob|Proposals § Merge Cueball & Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob|Proposals § Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob]]
* [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699)|Proposals § New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699)]]

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Major characters]]

Megan

2026-04-28T09:32:52Z

82.132.236.190: /* History */ Came to add the punctuation, left after also hedging the bets about those two characters' circumstances.

{{Infobox character
| image = Megan.png‎
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = '
| first_appearance = [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Megan|Comics featuring Megan]].''
:''For Megan's boyfriend, see [[Cueball]].''</noinclude>

'''Megan''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. She is the second-most frequently appearing character, after [[Cueball]], and the most frequently appearing female character. She does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the every-woman to his {{w|everyman}}. This is less clear than for Cueball as there are several comics where there are [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|multiple Cueball-like figures]], any of whom could be called Cueball. There are very few comics where this happens with Megan-like characters, with the few including [[139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards]], [[173: Movie Seating]], [[1409: Query]], [[1496: Art Project]], [[430: Every Damn Morning]], [[2040: Sibling-in-Law]], and in [[1951: Super Bowl Watch Party]].

Of course, she also appears several times in some of the comics with [[:Category:Large drawings|large drawings]], like [[1110: Click and Drag]]. Often this should be seen as different small comics, where there is just one Megan in each story. In [[1608: Hoverboard]], however, there are two identical Megans at the bottom rear end of the Destroyer, where one is talking to the other. As opposed to with Cueball, an example where this is a problem for Megan has yet to be found.

Megan does sometimes appear to have slightly specific personality traits; she has quite odd habits and is sometimes shown to be very focused and intent on a goal. However, as explained above this is not a general rule for a given Megan character.

==Name==
Here on explain xkcd, Megan was originally referred to as "Cutie", or "Cute" (complementing "Cueball" with a matching first syllable). But then an example of Cutie (or Cute) was given a specific name, "Megan", in [[159: Boombox]] and later in for instance [[215: Letting Go]], [[420: Jealousy]], [[478: The Staple Madness]], and [[654: Nachos]]. The name was also refered to, without depicting her directly, in [[596: Latitude]] and in the title text of [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]. As a result, existing uses of the name Cutie were then changed. If this rule should be followed more generally, then perhaps Cueball ought to be re-named "Rob" after [[276: Fixed Width]] (and the [[:Category:Comics featuring Rob|other 12 times]] a Cueball has been named Rob in total). However, the debate regarding this resulted in Cueball staying as Cueball. See [[Cueball#Name|here]] for more details.

She can also be drawn under a different name as in [[672: Suggestions]], where a sexy image of her, hair hanging loose over her face, is called "Susie". And in [[1221: Nomenclature]] Megan is called "Mrs. Whatsit" in the transcript provided in the comic source. In [[734: Outbreak]] Cueball and Megan are named "Ryan" and "Laura", but that is a movie, so they could be actors called Cueball and Megan in real life. A character that looked a lot like Megan, but with somewhat longer hair and a much meaner attitude, was distinguished from her as [[Danish]], [[Black Hat]]'s girlfriend. A similar long-haired version of Megan also appeared in [[1730: Starshade]], while Megan herself ultimately behaves badly in [[3057: Excusing Yourself]].

==History==
Early comics often feature Megan-style characters who may or may not be identified as Megan. [[Randall]] appears not to have standardized his character lineup early in the comic's run, and as a result, certain early female characters sometimes have similar hair to Megan, but some different features. The name (or even pseudonym) "Megan" may be reference to a lost love of Randall's, given that he wrote a passive-aggressive toast for Megan's wedding in [[420: Jealousy]] about how he was madly still in love with her, put across in a way that would generally ruin the day for everyone involved. We also see this earlier in [[215: Letting Go]]. Several of the [[:Category:Cancer|comics about cancer]] have Megan representing Randall's fiancée and later wife. Cueball also seems to refer to Megan as his wife in [[3237: Husband and Wife]].

==Characteristics==
Megan is distinguished by her black shoulder-length hair which generally appears to be parted in the middle in front and is draped behind what are presumably her (undrawn) ears. It is shorter than the character of similar appearance, [[Danish]]. Megan also tends to behave less defiantly than Danish does.

Megan's age is sometimes given, like in [[1409: Query]], we learn that she is 30 or younger, implying that she was born in or before 1984, and in [[630: Time Travel]], we learn she was born in 1983 (born after August 14). But in [[2178: Expiration Date High Score]], we can calculate that she was born in 1981-82 which is slightly different.

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Major characters]]

386: Duty Calls

2026-04-28T09:28:39Z

82.132.236.190: Undo revision 411233 by 2600:1700:BAF0:2430:5289:8FC8:F1E4:3939 (talk) Close to another CN, attached to a link/'cite'. Doesn't add much

{{comic
| number = 386
| date = February 20, 2008
| title = Duty Calls
| image = duty calls.png
| titletext = What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]], and many people everywhere, feel an {{Wiktionary|irrepressible}} urge to correct people on the Internet, and often get intensely invested in arguments over mundane or insignificant topics. In this comic, Cueball is presented as an exaggerated example of one such arguer. His statement that "This is important" shows his excessive investment in whatever (unnamed) topic he is arguing about. Additionally, Cueball's interpretation of the argument as "someone is wrong, I need to correct them" rather than "someone disagrees with me, I should learn from them" parodies Internet arguers' insistence in the obvious, objective superiority of their viewpoint.

The phrase "Duty Calls" used in the title is traditionally used in much more dramatic contexts (say, by a police officer, firefighter, doctor, etc. when talking about their job), so applying it to the job of arguing on the Internet is a humorous mismatch that puts Cueball's disproportionate investment into perspective. In [[955: Neutrinos]] another incarnation of Cueball is cured of a similar disease. A much later comic is simply called [[1731: Wrong]], but here it is not the other people who are wrong! A callback to this comic was made in [[2051: Bad Opinions]].

The title text reinforces the absurd nature of his emotional investment in this argument. His reasoning that "they'll keep being wrong!" if he leaves suggests that the only solution he sees is to continue to argue until everyone on the Internet has agreed with him on all issues–a ridiculously impossible plan. By taking this satire to its logical conclusion–an eternity of arguing on the Internet with no time for pleasure in real life–Randall reminds the reader that getting emotionally involved in Internet arguments at the expense of real life is a terrible, terrible idea.

===Alternative interpretation===

There are a lot of people in the Internet.{{Citation needed}} Some percentage of those people are objectively wrong about known things. In consequence, there are a lot of wrong people in the Internet. So, correcting those people is a {{w|Sisyphus#Punishment_in_the_underworld|never ending task}}. Also, some of those people are wrong because they are {{w|Crank#Slang|cranks}}, and won't accept even a clear demonstration of their error. But the people posting corrections can self-justify their effort because they are helping the {{w|Lurker|lurkers}} who otherwise could be led astray by the errors published.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is typing on a computer.]
:Voice outside frame: Are you coming to bed?
:Cueball: I can't. This is important.
:Voice: What?
:Cueball: Someone is WRONG on the Internet.

==Trivia==
This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023401/https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints available as a signed print] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]