What is Biff?

[the Scarf]

What is Biff? The FAQ devolved into a chat after awhile, and this is a rather thought prevoking topic.

What we Know about Biff.

has Amphibian ancestry accounting for his long tongue [2]

Owns a rocket that he got as a prize from a cereal box


Much more will be added later, feel free to post what you think I should add, and discuss the origins of Biff.

[Mystery Fish]

He seems to be immortal, or has regenerative powers like Claire from Heroes

Or he has a really good surgeon... But option two sounds more awesome ^^

[Silfedac]

His skin is tough enough to dent metal.

[the Scarf]

Hmm..Yes, I noticed that too (regarding Kentan's post) and in fact wrote to Chris about it.

Biff is still something of a mystery, especially as he seems to be evolving into a more homo-sapian type being recently. In 158, he definitely doesn't have nipples, and possibly doesn't have a belly button...now he has both...I am on comic 241 right now, and I still don't know anything about his heritage, besides it being amphibious. Does that imply that he is part amphibious? or are you merely making a reference to the supposed evolution of man? (crawling from the water to land) That is why it's difficult to guess the origins, because half the time I can't tell if the caption only has a detail as a joke, or if it is considered "cannon."

Is he perhaps related to flatworms? I've noticed his wonderful healing abilities, is it perhaps due to flatworm genes? You can cut those things in half, but they just grow back! (as a side/ on a completely unrelated note, I just found some candy corn on the floor...I just looked down and there it was....Why is it not squished? It appears to have a thick layer of dust......I'm leaving it alone...)
Another possibility is an X-gene. He heals quickly like wolverine, has shown telekinetic abilities, and is able to walk through solid objects at random...hmmmm.....

Since then, I have read all of the comics, and found a better suited one to prove my point about the belly button.
Comic 242 shows difinitavly that he has none of the details mentioned above.

As for Silfedac, Do you have another example? by a general rule of thumb, I usually only count something if it is mentioned more than once. (though, sometimes this rule is null, depending of the subject)

[Chris Hallbeck]

Comic 242 shows difinitavly that he has none of the details mentioned above.

Dang, I really did a good job drawing the hands on that one.

[Orangey]

See this kind of thing actually sort of bugs me; as some-one studying to be a research scientist, I'm very interested in understanding things; however, things like Biff don't need to be analyzed. It ruins the fun. It's like tearing apart a teddy bear to see what makes it cute; it's point-less and gets you no-where. If you're going to try to pick Biff apart, I might as well point out that just having amphibian ancestry would not help him avoid oxygen taxes; adult amphibians breathe air, not water, and Biff is hardly larval, what with the limbs and all. It's technically correct, but it's also nit-picky and annoying. I could mention that no possible infusion of flat-worm genes could produce such regenerative powers, since planaria genetics wouldn't be able to reproduce any-thing but the simplest organs, but that would be overly analyzing. I could even say that such a dis-proportionate tongue wouldn't be accounted for by amphibian ancestry; real amphibians don't really have such long tongues; it's just a cartoonization because some do feed with their tongues, albeit from a rather short distance.

I hardly think any of Biff's comics could be considered 'canon' (with one n), even the ones that reference other comics; aside from the fact that Biff is  fictional, and there-fore inherently mutable, having set-down 'facts' about him limits Chris in the future; if Biff is always going to be amphibian, Chris can never write a joke about him being a lizard. This is seen easily in the discusion about Biff-nipples; because Chris's art style has changed people are speculating about why. Maybe it's just a cosmetic change. Why not wonder about why Biff doesn't still have a barbed-wire mouth or white areas in his eye-brows?

Additionally, you're kind of creating a double standard: you want Silf to provide extra evidence for his skin-toughness, but one mention of amphibian heritage and it's suddenly 'canon'. Seems silly to me.

But then, this is just one man's opinion.

[DomanickX]

Huh, The way I see it is biff is not an amphibian nor a mammal
He is a Biff. Having threads like this is fun and it lets the fan's imaginations go wild with the possibilitys that our hero biff has any earthly relations. Biff could be an alien on planet neptune for all we know.
We do know for a fact he has traveld to different planets,
And there are plenty of comics to fuel the fact that biff travels in space
Such as http://thebookofbiff.com/2006/12/25/155-space-walk/
But it shows that biff indeed lives in america
http://thebookofbiff.com/2006/09/11/110-plumbing/
so he couldnt be an alien
http://thebookofbiff.com/2007/06/19/271-carve/
So as I said before, Biff is a Biff.

[the Scarf]

Sleeping Orangey. I am sorry if this kind of thing ruins it for you, but for me, I like to know all sorts of stuff about everything...you should have seen me at the height of my Harry Potter obsession, I knew the nitty-gritty details that weren't in the books about my favorite characters. I enjoy picking things apart and seeing how they work.
Relating what I'm doing to Biff and taking apart a teddy bear to see what makes it cute is unfair, because I'm not asking what makes Biff, Biff...I am merely putting together a fact file about him for new readers, and inquiring about his species. Biff is a mystery, and will always stay a mystery. This thread was meant to be a discussion on what he is, and facts about him.

the reason I wanted more evidence on the skin-toughness was because I saw nothing to really back that up, and lots of other comics contradicting it, as he seems to be cut very easily, but have no blood or anything other than clay-like skin.

My flatworm proposal was just a theory, I wanted to see what others thought of it, as it has been speculated on in the comments. The Origins of Biff have often been speculated upon, and I just wanted a place for it all to go. I'm sorry if you think its annoying for me to do so, but I have many ideas on the subject, and I want to hear other peoples opinions and speculations.

I am fully aware that Chris's art style is changing, and coming up with off the wall reasons for the effects is half the fun. I'm not analyzing him scientifically, or seriously, I am just trying to answer questions and give information. Sorry for "taking the fun out of it."

[Orangey]

Okies. One last thing before I don't clutter up your thread any-more (unless I decide to -¸o). Maybe two. We'll see.

The 'teddy-bear' thing wasn't meant to be a direct comparison; I was just saying it gets you just as far. Maybe a better analogy would have been 'taking apart a clock to catalogue all the bits'. More acceptable, but less succinct. As they say, 'brevity is the soul of wit'.

Nope, looks like it was just one.

[the Scarf]

okay...well, glad thats through...now everyone who reads will know what I'm trying to accomplish, and how long-winded we both are!

The clock bit is better..but thats actually something I would do...except the catalogue bit...I really like seeing the insides of clocks...its really neat!

[Mystery Fish]

I want to know how on Earth Biff can drink plutonium and not die from radiation poisoning. Because I want to glow too

[the Scarf]

you know, you could just get a bunch of glow sticks, break them open and smear their innards all over yourself...It may poison you, but hey, less death!

[Silfedac]

We can see that biff has either massively cool time powas or a genius analytical mind. The second theory is supported here, but I like the first theory better.

[Orangey]

Eww, glow-sticks are often toxic...

[the Scarf]

Eww, glow-sticks are often toxic...

hence, my saying

...It may poison you...

I like glowsticks!

[Orangey]

And I like evidence. Hence the link. Mostly it was just me finding out what was poisonous about them.

Oh, that phenol; it's like benzene, but with a hydroxyl group instead of one hydrogen. Those crazy hydrocarbons! What will they think of next?

I prefer bioluminescence; go Lingulodinium polyedrum!

[MagicParakeet]

He was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And he howled at his ma in the driving rain,
But its all right now, in fact, its a gas!
But its all right. He's jumpin Biff flash,
Its a gas! gas! gas!

He was raised by a toothless, bearded hag,
He was schooled with a strap right across his back,
But its all right now, in fact, its a gas!
But its all right, He's jumpin Biff flash,
Its a gas! gas! gas!

He was drowned, he was washed up and left for dead.
He fell down to his feet and he saw they bled.
He frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
He was crowned with a spike right thru his head.
But its all right now, in fact, its a gas!
But its all right, He's jumpin Biff flash,
Its a gas! gas! gas!

Jumping Biff flash, its a gas
Jumping Biff flash, its a gas
Jumping Biff flash, its a gas
Jumping Biff flash, its a gas
Jumping Biff flash

[Mystery Fish]

F@NB0Y$ copyright Scott Dewitt.

[SpriteMeister]

Heheheh...
The simple answer to what Biff is: He's not an amphibian, he an amBiffian.
Hehe... I kill myself.

On another note, I found a filter. It capitalizes the name "Biff" when left lowercase.

[the Scarf]

hehe, awesome...I like the biff thing...it means I don't have to keep up with the spellcheck!