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Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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__NOTOC__{{DISPLAYTITLE:explain xkcd}}
''Welcome to the Explain XKCD wiki!''
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<font size=5px>''Welcome to the '''explain [[xkcd]]''' wiki!''</font><br>
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<span style="font size:210%;">We have an explanation for all [[List of all comics (full)|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:All comics|R}}}}''' xkcd comics]], and only {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} ({{#expr: {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} / {{LATESTCOMIC}} * 100 round 1}}%) are incomplete. [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|Help us finish them!]]</span><!-- Note: the -1 in the calculation above has been removed (it was there to discount "comic" 404, but we've categorized it to be a comic and so has Randall.) -->
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'''The latest comic is number [[1090]].'''
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=Latest comic=
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All the comic explanations (so far) are [[:Category:Comics|here]].
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== Rules ==
Don't be a jerk.  There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations, feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
 
  
If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its Discussion.
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Don't be a jerk!
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There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
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If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.
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Please only submit material directly related to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that can legally be posted and freely edited. Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.
  
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[[Category:Root category]]

Latest revision as of 19:52, 31 July 2025

Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 3208 xkcd comics, and only 59 (1.8%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

 Go to this explanation

Latest comic

Early Arthropods
'Ugh, I'm never going to be like spiders. My descendants will all just be normal arthropods who mind their own busines and don't do anything weird.' --The ancestor of a bunch of eusocial insects
Title text: 'Ugh, I'm never going to be like spiders. My descendants will all just be normal arthropods who mind their own busines and don't do anything weird.' --The ancestor of a bunch of eusocial insects

Explanation

This comic pokes fun at spiders, which have a very unusual way of catching prey.

Note that evolution in real life does not work the way the comic implies, as creatures cannot decide which direction in which to evolve.[citation needed]

Spiders are a recurring theme on xkcd.

The hovertext mentions the eusocial insects, another group of arthropods. They are notable for not "minding their own business", as their ancestor arthropod apparently expects.

Eusociality has evolved multiple times in the Hymenoptera alone, as well as in termites. There is no arthropod species that is the ancestor to all the eusocial arthropods and no others.

Transcript

[Wide panel with three small arthropods standing on the ocean floor. Two of the creatures are facing the leftmost one. Small bubbles and particles float around them.]
Arthropod 1: Now that we're multicellular, what are your plans?
Arthropod 1: I'm gonna evolve little legs and swim around with them!
Arthropod 2: I'm gonna evolve sharp pincers and use them to crunch stuff!
Arthropod 3: I'm gonna evolve glands to make string from my butt and use it to construct elaborate geometric nets hundreds of times my size to catch other animals.
[Beat panel narrowed in on the arthropods.]
[Same scene:]
Arthropod 1: Dude.
Arthropod 2: Can you please just be normal about this?
Arthropod 3: What??!


      new topic.png  View comic discussion

New here?

Last 7 days (Top 10)

Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors above have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.

You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to create an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd comics, characters, What If? articles, and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd comic, it should be here.

  • The incomplete explanations are listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!

Rules

Don't be a jerk!

There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.

If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.

Please only submit material directly related to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that can legally be posted and freely edited. Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.

If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.