Chekov's Whiplash

[Coat]

We know Tarquin is packing a whip instead of his axe. (Frame 4) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0863.html)

But Team Evil have hopped it, the Linear Guild is gone, and the Order of the Stick is surrounded by a dino-army, a lvl 17+ Psion, and Myron, as well as Tarquin - they're in no position to start anything.

Why show us Tarquin picking up the whip if he's not going to use it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekov%27s_gun)? But if he is going to use it, who on?

[Vinsfeld]

Maybe he WAS going to use it, but then the Giant changed his mind during the pause due to the thumb injury.

Maybe it was just to show us how well prepared Tarquin is.

[Shred-Bot]

It's actually a jumprope! He was just getting in some cardio while waiting for Malack atop the pyramid. Tarquin's amazing abs don't just happen, he has to work for them!

[Snails]

Patience. We are not through with Tarquin, quite yet.

Going way out on a limb, I would guess he will eventually disarm Haley who is aiding Elan's mother, shortly before he is snuffed by Sabine. (The man is collecting very competent women for enemies, in a very short time span. That is not going to work out for him.)

[IrishFast]

Is it possible that he simply uses the whip to control his pterodactyl mount? We may see him use it in that capacity soon.

EDIT: Just took a look back and saw he was riding a triceratops when he returned to the desert. If he doesn't use it on that mount (assuming he uses it as a goad and not a weapon in the first place), it might have been left behind when he changed clothes.

[Porthos]

Conservation of Detail is overrated.
-Some dude

===

In other words, we may never see a use for the whip.

So why did Tarquin pick it up? Perhaps for no reason more than to show that unlike some fighters we can mention, Tarquin realizes that wandering around a potentially hazardous place without a backup weapon is, perhaps, a bit silly.

So he picked it up in case he needed it. And if he doesn't? Well he goes along his way content in the knowledge that he won't be forced to use a bow when he doesn't have any quivers with him. :smallwink:

[Tiiba]

He will use it to defeat a horde of macaques.

(Hint: double entendre.)

[EnragedFilia]

He packed the whip because it's small enough to fit in a saddlebag (without invoking the carrying capacity dissonance inherent in the rules) and because he wouldn't be stupid enough to not have a backup weapon. If he uses it it's a Chekhov's whip, if he doesn't it's a red herring, and either way a narrative purpose is served.

[Snails]

Porthos may be right.

The point might have been to demonstrate that Tarquin considers himself highly competent with a wide array of weapons. The choice of whip might have been simply because it is an exotic enough choice that does not have to be explained to the audience. "And here is the orcish serrated double-sword in my back pocket that I brought because it completes my half-orc Halloween costume" would have been too weird.

[sr123]

[post=11671842]unlike some fighters we can mention, Tarquin realizes that wandering around a potentially hazardous place without a backup weapon is, perhaps, a bit silly.

Seriously. This is he second time this fighter-who-will-remain-nameless has been caught useless in a dire situation because he didn't carry a backup weapon. He's got STR up the wazoo and hammerspace to spare, and a backup dagger for grappling should be common sense regardless. This is worse than a superhero without a cell phone.

Anyway, regarding Tarquin's whip, I'm somewhat curious as where he got proficiency. Granted, fighters have more than enough feats to spare, but could he have some Bard in him after all?

[SavageWombat]

Maybe someone just needs to tell Roy that it's OK to put a green hilt on your other weapons as well.

[EnragedFilia]

Perhaps Niu (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0705.html) could give him some pointers, particularly in regards to the benefits of occasionally taking a potential target's damage reduction into account.

[martianmister]

He supposed to make an Indiana Jones reference/joke, but the order did it first. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html).

[Gift Jeraff]

He supposed to make an Indiana Jones reference/joke, but the order did it first. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html).

Maybe the roach in the last panel borrowed his whip?

[Turgon9357]

1) Whips also work pretty differently from other weapons. They don't typically do any meaningful damage, but are useful for many combat maneuvers. Part of Tarquin's shtick is 'fighter combatant with many exotic and bizarre ways of defending himself'.

2) Real-life warriors sometimes did something similar. You've got your big, formation fighting weapon such as a naginata, and you've also got your easily stored back-up weapon such as a monkey's fist.

3) Style. Lot's of style.

[Tock Zipporah]

Go read this article Rich wrote on texture: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/YUMiX2JPVjHIJ6h5VlD.html

It explains the importance of fleshing out a world with MANY details, so that people won't always catch which were the most important ones. Basically, instead of one Chekhov's gun, you use a gun, a whip, an axe, a sword, a candlestick, and a hat, and no one will realize which is the important one until it's revealed.

[Pyron]

Considering that he's ruling a slave-driving nation, I think the whip is standard issue equipment that's in all of emergency packs.

[F.Harr]

We know Tarquin is packing a whip instead of his axe. (Frame 4) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0863.html)

But Team Evil have hopped it, the Linear Guild is gone, and the Order of the Stick is surrounded by a dino-army, a lvl 17+ Psion, and Myron, as well as Tarquin - they're in no position to start anything.

Why show us Tarquin picking up the whip if he's not going to use it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekov%27s_gun)? But if he is going to use it, who on?

He has to get the dinosaur's attention SOMEhow.

That sucker is HUGE.

[Reddish Mage]

Go read this article Rich wrote on texture: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/YUMiX2JPVjHIJ6h5VlD.html

It explains the importance of fleshing out a world with MANY details, so that people won't always catch which were the most important ones. Basically, instead of one Chekhov's gun, you use a gun, a whip, an axe, a sword, a candlestick, and a hat, and no one will realize which is the important one until it's revealed.

Yep, instead of Chekov's Whiplash, its obvious what we have here is a Red Whipping.

[FlawedParadigm]

Yep, instead of Chekov's Whiplash, its obvious what we have here is a Red Whipping.

To be preferred to Red Weddings, no doubt.

[Mike Havran]

He's going to use it in his Climactic Final Battle with Elan and Haley and he showed it to us so that we get 100+ strips to wonder and speculate how.

[137beth]

I wonder how many people using the phrase "Chekov's gun" have actually read/seen/been in Chekov plays...

Anyways, Tarquin is not going to use the whip. It was actually a Beckett's Whiplash.
explanation:
Samuel Beckett, author of plays in which almost nothing happens, and possible events which are 'foreshadowed' end up not happening.

In particular, in Beckett's play Happy Days (not related in any way to the TV show), there is a gun sitting out in act 1. At the end of act 2, someone climbs towards it, "maybe" with the intent to kill himself...and is too tired to get there. It doesn't go off. Hence the Beckett's Gun is the counterpart to Checkov's gun.

[dtilque]

I thought Tarquin would use the whip in a battle with Elan, where Elan casts Animate Rope to make it form the shape of a pretty girl tie up Tarquin. No doubt T has a good counter to this, but it'd be interesting to see what it was.

But what about Tarquin's original weapon? He abandoned his axe when he threw it at Belkar (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0862.html) during the ambush. This is not the kind of thing you leave lying around (if nothing else, they could sell it), but no one's been seen carrying it. So I figure Haley put it in her bag of holding. Perhaps she can use it in the current negotiations ...

[Tock Zipporah]

Yep, instead of Chekov's Whiplash, its obvious what we have here is a Red Whipping.

Ha cha cha cha cha! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CdVTCDdEwI)

[Boogastreehouse]

I think it looks better with a little space here


Conservation of Detail is overrated.
-Some dude

===

In other words, we may never see a use for the whip.

So why did Tarquin pick it up? Perhaps for no reason more than to show that unlike some fighters we can mention, Tarquin realizes that wandering around a potentially hazardous place without a backup weapon is, perhaps, a bit silly.

So he picked it up in case he needed it. And if he doesn't? Well he goes along his way content in the knowledge that he won't be forced to use a bow when he doesn't have any quivers with him. :smallwink:


Go read this article Rich wrote on texture: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/YUMiX2JPVjHIJ6h5VlD.html

It explains the importance of fleshing out a world with MANY details, so that people won't always catch which were the most important ones.

Agreed. It would be a pretty boring story if the only items focused on were plot-important and if every action a character takes fits neatly into a trope. I have to admit that I feel "Chekov's Gun" is referenced more often on these forums than "Deus Ex Machina." Honestly, I enjoy browsing through TV Tropes sometimes, too, but I take it out of my mouth (http://izquotes.com/quotes-pictures/quote-responding-to-a-woman-contestant-who-explaining-why-she-had-twenty-two-children-said-because-i-groucho-marx-308117.jpg) once in a while (http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/grouchocigar.asp).


Basically, instead of one Chekhov's gun, you use a gun, a whip, an axe, a sword, a candlestick, and a hat, and no one will realize which is the important one until it's revealed.

Well, I think it's going to be Redcloak, with the Candlestick, at Kraagar's Gate.


I think it looks better with a little space here

[Coat]

Go read this article Rich wrote on texture: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/YUMiX2JPVjHIJ6h5VlD.html

It explains the importance of fleshing out a world with MANY details, so that people won't always catch which were the most important ones. Basically, instead of one Chekhov's gun, you use a gun, a whip, an axe, a sword, a candlestick, and a hat, and no one will realize which is the important one until it's revealed.

I think this is one of the main reasons why I like this comic so much.

[Reddish Mage]

I think it looks better with a little space here
Agreed. It would be a pretty boring story if the only items focused on were plot-important and if every action a character takes fits neatly into a trope. I have to admit that I feel "Chekov's Gun" is referenced more often on these forums than "Deus Ex Machina." Honestly, I enjoy browsing through TV Tropes sometimes, too, but I take it out of my mouth (http://izquotes.com/quotes-pictures/quote-responding-to-a-woman-contestant-who-explaining-why-she-had-twenty-two-children-said-because-i-groucho-marx-308117.jpg) once in a while (http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/grouchocigar.asp).
I think it looks better with a little space here

How often does either Chekov's gun or Deus Ex Machina appear in the comic? Off the top of my head it appears p we have the one incident with explosives, and the time Thor actually destroyed the tree with a sonic thunder attack.

[Boogastreehouse]

I think it looks better with a little space here


How often does either Chekov's gun or Deus Ex Machina appear in the comic? Off the top of my head it appears p we have the one incident with explosives, and the time Thor actually destroyed the tree with a sonic thunder attack.

I'm not referring to how many times examples of these tropes are found in the comic.

I'm discussing the frequency of which these tropes are brought up here in the forums.


I think it looks better with a little space here

[Forikroder]

We know Tarquin is packing a whip instead of his axe. (Frame 4) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0863.html)

But Team Evil have hopped it, the Linear Guild is gone, and the Order of the Stick is surrounded by a dino-army, a lvl 17+ Psion, and Myron, as well as Tarquin - they're in no position to start anything.

Why show us Tarquin picking up the whip if he's not going to use it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekov%27s_gun)? But if he is going to use it, who on?

you realise he probably nabbed another axe while at the Palace? or decided that an army was enough of a weapon to not bother packing one? if he had his whip it should be at his hip but its not seems like all he has is his dagger

[sr123]

How often does either Chekov's gun ... appear in the comic?

I'd like to ask how often, if ever, the subversion of Chekov's gun happens in the comic, as some are claiming may be happening if the whip is never mentioned again. I don't believe I've seen that kind of misdirection anywhere yet in the comic, except perhaps to be pointed at as a joke.

One example that comes to mind is Hinjo's cold iron katana (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0588.html), which seemed bulky for him to mention and which he is never seen using (the never fight a demon). Does anyone have another example example?

[EnragedFilia]

Here's a few

Xykon has never actually cast Cloudkill (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0670.html) on-panel.

Or pushed the "Eviscerate" button (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0416.html) on TeeVo's remote.

And most of the portions of Haley's personality (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0319.html) never really had a chance to assert themselves. Especially that one that's probably still hiding in the corner (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0382.html).

[Gift Jeraff]

I think Xykon cast Cloudkill in SoD.

[Tass]

I'd like to ask how often, if ever, the subversion of Chekov's gun happens in the comic, as some are claiming may be happening if the whip is never mentioned again. I don't believe I've seen that kind of misdirection anywhere yet in the comic, except perhaps to be pointed at as a joke.

One example that comes to mind is Hinjo's cold iron katana (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0588.html), which seemed bulky for him to mention and which he is never seen using (the never fight a demon). Does anyone have another example example?

That made it seem less deus ex machina.

Less: "Yeah sure, he just happened to have a silvered katana"

and more: "Well he is the lord of the city, he has money to spare, of course he would have special katanas for fighting fiends, just in case."