Megan

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Megan

Megan, seen in 973: MTV Generation
First appearance 15: Just Alerting You
Appearances 881
Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: should Megan & Cutie be un-merged? See here.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

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 often appears with Cueball as a couple.

"Megan" 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 everyman. This is less clear than for Cueball as there are several comics, where there are multiple Cueball-like figures, any of whom could be called Cueball

There are very few comics where this happens with Megan-like characters. (Maybe only in 1409: Query and in 1496: Art Project?) In Art Project it was debated lively which of the two girls was Megan. Here however, the hair length in the end decided that one of the two megan-like girls was the "real" one, and the short haired version was an unidentified character. Had the latter been alone in another comic, she would for sure have been called Megan.

For Cueball it is at the moment up for discussion whether it should be standard practice to name neither of the characters Cueball if they are identical and neither of them is given a name (like Rob) or other defining characteristic in the comic. An example of this 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.

Explain xkcd originally referred to this character as "Cutie" (complementing "Cueball" with a matching first syllable). But then a "Cutie" was given a specific name, Megan, in 159: Boombox and later in for instance 215: Letting Go and 420: Jealousy. The name Cutie was then changed to Megan. If this rule should be followed generally, then Cueball should be re-named Rob after 276: Fixed Width (and the 9 times a Cueball has been named Rob in total).

A character that looked a lot like Megan, but with somewhat longer hair and a much meaner attitude was distinguished from her as Black Hats girlfriend Danish.

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.

Unlike Cueball characters, Randall generally does not use multiple "Megans" in strips. Her characteristics are often somewhat consistent. It can therefore be unclear whether Megan-like characters are intended to be one character, or merely generic female characters (or a combination of both).

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.

In 1409: Query, we learn that she is 30 or younger, that her annual income is less than or equal to $100,000, and that she is afraid of flying. She is not explicitly named "Megan" in this comic though.