Oddworld Encyclopædia

The Oddworld Encycylopædia (abbreviated to TOE) is a subsite of the Oddworld Library created by Max the Mug. It is a collection of encyclopedic articles pertaining to the Oddworld canon and games. It was launched on 1 April 2006, but its development can be traced back to 2000. The Encyclopædia currently contains 52 articles, 4 of which are navigation pages.

History

Early years

Max the Mug created his first fansite in 2000, it taking the form of a webpage on Xoom called The Kennels. On it, a conjoined twin Glukkon called Glasp took the reader on a tour around the Kennels, which hosted one of each Oddworld creature known to fans at the time. At the time, there were numerous Oddworld fansites, most of them small. The dominant sites were Oddworldian (run by Sydney) and Oddworld-Web (run by Abe Babe). Max had aspirations to develop a site superior to these as a source of canonical knowledge, anticipation for which built up on the Oddworld Forums as Max demonstrated great familiarity with Oddworld information. By 2001, his project had become known as The Scrabacombs, but by 2002 this was renamed The Oddworld Encyclopedia, the nickname he had been given on the Oddworld Forums.

Launch

Despite numerous promises that the site was coming, only an FAQ appeared (in 2003)[36] before The Oddworld Encyclopædia finally launched in April 2006—although the April Fools’ Day joke articles were little appreciated by members of the Oddworld Forums given the site’s long-awaited appearance.[37]

A paper document kept by Max the Mug shows that he was originally planning to launch The Oddworld Encyclopædia with 65 articles, although this was subsequently reduced to 50. Several of the planned articles listed on the document have stars next to them. These correspond closely to the articles that were published within a month of TOE’s launch.

Wave 1

On 2 April 2006, TOE’s April Fools’ Day articles were removed and replaced with 18 articles that subsequently become known as Wave 1.

• Clakkerz
• Gabbits
• Grubbs
• Mudokons
• Outlaws
• Paramites
• Scrabs
• Sligs
• Vykkers
• Abe*
• Munch*
• Sekto*
• Stranger*
• Vykkers Conglomerate***
• Paramonia**
• Scrabania**
• Monsaic Lines**
• Paramonian Temple***

* These articles were originally planned to be part of Wave 2.
** These articles were not originally planned to be part of Waves 1 or 2.
*** These articles were not amongst those initially planned for early inclusion, although ‘Vykkers Labs’ was.

A number of articles were planned for Wave 1 but were not part of it.

• Fuzzles*
• Glukkons*
• Wolvarks*
• Interns*
• Steef**

* These articles were instead released as part of Wave 2.
** This article was rescheduled for Wave 2, then Wave 3, but still remains unpublished.

Wave 2

A second wave of articles was published on 13 April 2006.

• Fleeches
• Fuzzles*
• Meeches
• Glukkons*
• Wolvarks*
• Slogs
• Shrykull
• Interns*
• Slurgs
• Molluck
• Humphrey
• Irwin
• SoulStorm Brew**
• Necrum**
• Wilderness Region**

* These articles were originally planned to be part of Wave 1.
** These articles were not originally planned to be part of Waves 1 or 2, although ‘Necrum’ and ‘SoulStorm Brewery’ were initially planned for early inclusion.

A number of articles were planned for Wave 2 but were not part of it.

• Elums* ** ***
• Meep* ***
• Meetles*
• Rats* ***
• Steef** ***
• Abe$
• Munch$
• Stranger$
• Sekto$
• Lulu*
• Almighty Raisin* ** ***
• Shaman*
• Magog Cartel**
• RuptureFarms** ***
• Mongo River**
• History**
• Moolah**
• Spooce**
• Slig Barracks ** ***

* These articles were planned prior to TOE’s launch to be part of Wave 2.
** These articles were planned subsequent to Wave 1 to be part of Wave 2.
*** These articles were rescheduled for Wave 3.
$ These articles were instead released as part of Wave 1.

Wave 3

Wave 3 was never released.