Girl Genius: Jagers?

[Dark Psion]

What exactly are the Jagers in the Girl Genius comics?

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi

Orcs? Were-Dentists? Shifter-like race?

 

[Storm Raven]

What exactly are the Jagers in the Girl Genius comics?

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi

Orcs? Were-Dentists? Shifter-like race?

Constructs. I'm not kidding. They are soldiers manufactured by the Heterodyne family to serve as their personal army. They are almost indestructable, live to fight, and when damaged, refuse to allow themselves to be repaired by anyone who isn't a Heterodyne. They ended up working for Klaus as a compromise solution when the Heterodyne boys vanished. This is talked about in one of the ealier volumes in the series.

 

[WayneLigon]

They also seem to have a kind of group-mind; there's a recent issue where the three Jagers accompanying Agatha talk about how hard it is to be outside the group.. but that they can also think 'better' because they've been seperated out for so long.

That's one of the things I love about Girl Genius: getting these worldbuilding details at certain times. Now that they are at Mechanicsburg, I expect things will really start to heat up. Judy told her that the castle would 'help her' somehow.

 

[Plane Sailing]

There was mention at some point of people drinking a 'jagerdraught' - maybe it is a potion which turns people into jagermonsters?

Also, hats are very important to them.

 

[Rackhir]

They also seem to have a kind of group-mind; there's a recent issue where the three Jagers accompanying Agatha talk about how hard it is to be outside the group.. but that they can also think 'better' because they've been seperated out for so long.

I don't think it's that they have a group mind, I think it's more that they aren't really built to think for themselves. It's clearly established in Vol 2 or 3 that they have a strong need to "belong" or serve (one of the main reasons they are working for Klaus). Independent thought isn't really a characteristic that's valued in minions after all. Also the impulsive, warlike nature of the Jagers doesn't really lend themselves to a lot of self reflection or analysis.

The wandering Jagers however have had to operate on their own, without anyone to give them orders, instructions or structure. So they've had to learn to think for themselves and define their own role in life.

 

[Umbran]

Also, hats are very important to them.

Unless, of course, it's simply the fangs in the way, and they really mean "head".

 

[Plane Sailing]

Unless, of course, it's simply the fangs in the way, and they really mean "head".

Things like this strip make me thing otherwise...

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi?date=20070209

 

[Umbran]

Things like this strip make me thing otherwise...

The strips in which "any plan in which you lose your hat is a bad plan" makes it pretty clear that the Jager's saftey is the real issue - they tend to be so foolhardy and dim as to get themselves pretty well destroyed, if they don't have a mnemonic.

The chain of "keep your head on your body" to "keep your hat on your body" to the hat having symbolic significance of what's important to Jaegerkin isn't a hard one.