The Vanishing Mr. Hat

We all remember Mr. Hat. He represents all that is good about xkcd - he's slightly evil, though usually in a harmless way; he's very, very sarcastic, and he can always be counted on for good fun. Many of the best strips feature him. He is apparently based on a character from a different comic, for we learn in the alt text of his first appearance that "It's no secret that the hat guy is closely based on Aram, from Men in Hats." Check out this strip for an example.

ANYWAY THE POINT is not about where the character comes from, it's about where he went because I've noticed that recently all he's done is get involved in some stupid fight with a female version of himself and that's about it. No more maniacal plots. I think this explains a lot about why xkcd has been sucking so hard the past few months.

But of course, my bold assertions are nothing without empirical evidence, so here we go: I decided to divide the series into 50 comic chunks, and measure what percentage of strips per chunk have him in it. Note that while Mr. Hat is well defined by his hat (see detail at left), not all men in hats are Mr. Hat. He has a very distinct personality. I have noted if there is a possible dispute about his identity.

Note also that except once while it was stolen, Mr. Hat always wears his hat. If he's not wearing it, it's not Mr. Hat. He's enough of a continuing character that I believe this is fair.

Now...to the numbers!!


Chunk 1 - Comics 1-50
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 2 (I'm not counting 45)
Mr. Hat Density Index: 4%

Chunk 2 - Comics 51-100
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 5 (77 seems like just a guy wearing a hat)
Mr. Hat Density Index: 10%

Chunk 3 - Comics 101-150
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 5
Mr. Hat Density Index: 10%

Chunk 4 - Comics 151-200
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 6
Mr. Hat Density Index: 12%

Chunk 5 - Comics 201-250
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 3
Mr. Hat Density Index: 6%

Chunk 6 - Comics 251-300
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 3 (291 doesn't count - he doesn't talk and it's CLEARLY a different hat)
Mr. Hat Density Index: 6%

Chunk 7 - Comics 301-350
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 3
Mr. Hat Density Index: 6%

Chunk 8 - Comics 351-400
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 6
Mr. Hat Density Index: 12%

Chunk 9 - Comics 401-429 (present - not a full chunk yet)
Mr. Hat Comics (number): 2
Mr. Hat Density Index: 7%

Hey let's look at that in CHART FORM-
So from this it looks like, yes, there was a dip in Mr. Hat's appearances. But maybe it's on the rise again? After all, there's a pretty obvious peak there at the end.

Or is there? This is about the time that the Female Version of Mr. Hat steals his hat and they get in a crazy battle of Spy vs. Spy-esque revenge plots. These, I maintain, are not truly the essence of Mr. Hat - he is best when he gives quick, pithy one liners, not when he displays emotion. Anyway, you can decide that for yourself. If you would like, here's what the chart looks like not counting those four comics -

Of course all this raises the question - is his disappearance a cause of xkcd's recent sucktasticness, or a symptom? I'll let you decide that one as well.