Comma Chameleon

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Familiar number: 54
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Comma Chameleon
Clandestine reptile She's a mistress of disguise Watch her come and go.

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Ability: When the chameleon eats a piece of familiar equipment, it gains that familiar's abilities, including Arena Strengths and Weaknesses, for around 45 turns. When it's not emulating another familiar, it does very little.

Throne/Bjorn: Unknown

Hatchling: Comma Chameleon egg

Familiar-Specific Equipment: N/A

	Ultimate Cage Match	Scavenger Hunt	Obstacle Course	Hide and Seek

Mumming Trunk Abilities:

*Hover for details

Cannot breathe underwater

Combat Messages

• When not emulating another familiar:

  <name> chases arounds tiny insects.

  <name> suns herself on a nearby rock.

  <name> blinks lazily at you.

Familiar Equipment Consumption Messages

• Each piece of non-generic familiar equipment has a unique message when the Chameleon consumes it, and another unique message when its effect wears off. For the specific consumption messages, please see the following pages:
  • Comma Chameleon Messages (A-Me)
  • Comma Chameleon Messages (Mi-Z)
• Attempting to feed the Chameleon generic familiar equipment yields:

  You try to put the <familiar equipment> on <name>. She looks at you quizzically, and squeaks, "I may be out of line, here, but I don't understand, exactly, which familiar it is that you, my owner, want me to emulate."

• The following cannot be consumed because they are not associated with a particular familiar:
  • annoying pitchfork
  • ant hoe
  • ant pick
  • ant pitchfork
  • ant rake
  • ant sickle
  • das boot
  • flaming familiar doppelgänger
  • fishy wand
  • lead necklace
  • little bitty bathysphere
  • little box of fireworks
  • lucky Tam O'Shanter
  • lucky Tam O'Shatner
  • Mayflower bouquet
  • miniature antlers
  • miniature gravy-covered maypole
  • origami "gentlemen's" magazine
  • oversized fish scaler
  • panda outfit
  • plastic pumpkin bucket
  • rat head balloon
  • sugar shield
  • Toddler-sized Dragon Costume
  • wax lips

It is unknown if a Comma Chameleon can use the serrated proboscis extension, and given the rarity and expensiveness of the equipment, it is likely to remain unknown.

Familiars with no specific Familiar Equipment

• Black Cat
• Disembodied Hand
• El Vibrato Megadrone
• Mad Hatrack
• Ragamuffin Imp

Arena Messages

• When entered in an Ultimate Cage Match, a Scavenger Hunt, or an Obstacle Course:

  <name> sits there, blinking at you, occasionally licking one eyeball. It's clear she doesn't know what to do.

Notes

• After every second win in The Cake-Shaped Arena, you will receive a random piece of familiar equipment. This includes equipment that Susie does not normally give out, such as miniature cartons of clove cigarettes. This does not include Mr. Store equipment such as lucky Tams O'Shanter or pairs of wax lips. In addition, the chameleon cannot get equipment for any Mr. Store familiar, including but not limited to attention spanners and funky brass feces. Strangely, the chameleon can steal pet rock "Snooty" disguises, pet rock "Groucho" disguises, and sets of diamond-studded fronts, despite them being indirect products of a Mr. Store item.

  <name> sneaks behind Susie's podium. She returns, and squeaks "You do NOT want to know what's behind that podium." She also drops an item from her mouth (or mouth-analogue.)

• If you switch to another familiar to get the normal Caked-Shaped Arena reward (for example, win 9 times, swap to another familiar to get its equipment and then swap back for your 10th Comma win), you will not get a piece of equipment on the 10th Chameleon win; the regular item drop restarts the count and you will have to win an extra battle. However, you can adventure with another familiar between getting items from the arena with your Chameleon.
• The Chameleon can be used to battle the Sorceress familiars, though it cannot be used in place of the Star Starfish when using Richard's Star Key in her Lair or be used in place of an elemental Gravy Fairy to enter The Spooky Gravy Barrow.
• The effect of the Chameleon's change varies; each piece of equipment eaten appears to yield between 40 and 49 adventures worth of change. In addition, most non-combat adventures (shoring, adventuring at The Hippy Camp in disguise, meatsmithing, etc) don't seem to deduct adventures from this total. Battling at The Cake-Shaped Arena does count, however.
• Even when the Chameleon is imitating another familiar, you can still feed it a different piece of equipment.
• While the Chameleon is imitating another familiar, it gains five pounds, even if the equipment normally grants a different benefit. For example, a shock collar (which grants no weight boost to a Stab Bat) grants +5 weight, but doesn't decrease its rate of attacking you. Likewise, a cracker, which normally grants an Exotic Parrot +15 weight, only grants the Chameleon +5 weight. This boost vanishes when the duration runs out.
• Familiar abilities which rely on having a specific piece of equipment equipped will not work on a Chameleon. Feeding your Chameleon a metallic foil radar dish will provide messages and effects like an unequipped Crimbo P. R. E. S. S. I. E.; that is, it will give stats like a volleyball. Feeding her any jub-jub bird will provide messages and effects like an unquipped Frumious Bandersnatch; the stat gains will not be tuned to any one stat, but will be randomly distributed.
• As of February 12, 2009, Chameleons can breathe underwater when emulating a water-breathing familiar.
• A Chameleon mimicking a Stocking Mimic will pull out a bag of many confections once per day and equip it, even though the Chameleon cannot normally equip familiar equipment. Unequipping the bag ends the Mimic mimicking effect with the message "<familiar name> turns back into a slimy lizard." While imitating a Mimic, the Chameleon's weight is computed based on the amount of candy it has consumed, up to 100 pounds. Feeding the Chameleon candy from your inventory or winning fights with the bag equipped will increase the candy counter; winning fights with or without the bag will increase the Chameleon's experience total as usual.

References

• The name of this item is a reference to the Culture Club song, "Karma Chameleon". "Watch her come and go" refers to a lyric in the original song ("You come and go, you come and go"). "Red, gold, and green" (her normal colors, mentioned in a few expiration messages, like the smile-sharpening stone and iced-out bling) is also a lyric from the song.
• The name of this item also refers to how it is displayed when you have the familiar equipped and fed. A Comma Chameleon emulating a Leprechaun is displayed as "(Name) the Leprechaun, Chameleon" which can be read as "(Name) the Leprechaun comma Chameleon."