Least Character Development

[Amon Star]

Hi all.

As my last post was about most character development, I thought I would take the opposite tack this time.

Enjoy.

[ampcptlogic]

I would have to say Belkar, mostly because we know so little about his backstory. We have backstory on Durkon, V, Haley, Elan, and Roy. Lots of Character development for H, E, and R and somewhat less character development for D and V. Leaving only Belkar less developed, possibly for comic value and possibly because he's not enough of a sympathetic character or enough an antagonist to make deep character development pointful.

[pestilenceawaits]

I would have to say V. we don't even know a gender. :smallsmile:

[Timberwolf]

Belkar because beyond the fact he's a crazed halfling (and the best character) we don't know a fat lot beyond the sob stories for RP'ing XP

[Megalomaniac2]

I say Belkar too, but in a good way. His simplicity of character, the fact that there's little there besides the stabbing, is part of his appeal.

[Learnedguy]

Heck, even Belkar has more chacter development that V, he's found out a lot about causing suffering since he joined OOTS. V on the other hand, he told us he's married. That's all.

[Aldebaran]

I say Belkar too, but in a good way. His simplicity of character, the fact that there's little there besides the stabbing, is part of his appeal.

Exactly. Thats why we all love Belkster. He is as simple as he can be, while still hillarious. Think of thog, for example. What do we know about thog(besides his love of puppies and ice cream?) Nothing. And yet, we all love him and he is extremely funny

But, onthe other hand, Belkar has deeply seated emotional problems, which may bear a big secret...Sooo, mybe he will surprise us in the future

[Tmabbbb]

I think I might misunderstand your question. My interpretation was" Which character developed the most recently", as in "Which character changed the most recently". For that purpose I select Roy, because Belkar developed to his Mark of Justice and being charmed, Elan and Haley developed to each other, Durkon shows some backstory about his past, and as for V, we haven't seen much from him/her. However, we have seen a comic with him, while we haven't seen a comic with Roy since he played Parcheesi. And in V's comic, he/she shows her dislike for helping others, which I would call development and change. Otherwise, they would be practically equal.

[pita]

:roy: has no development. :belkar: changed his ideals around a little, :elan: and :haley: both matured, :durkon: realised where his true loyalties lay, and :vaarsuvius: and :roy: both have no development. But :roy: has absolutely no character development, while :vaarsuvius: keeps telling us many things about the nature of things.

[Tass]

:roy: has no development. :belkar: changed his ideals around a little, :elan: and :haley: both matured, :durkon: realised where his true loyalties lay, and :vaarsuvius: and :roy: both have no development. But :roy: has absolutely no character development, while :vaarsuvius: keeps telling us many things about the nature of things.

Roy had lots of development. Relationship to farther, ancestral sword breaking, farther and Shojo. Attraction to Miko, being a women, rejecting Miko, dating Celia in a mature fashion. Until lately Roy was the most developed character.

[Skippy]

I think the character with the least development is the all-secretive Vaarsuvius. We know little from... whatever it is. We only know its megalomania and that it has a "partner". Apart from it we know nothing...

[TMTree]

I say Belkar too, but in a good way. His simplicity of character, the fact that there's little there besides the stabbing, is part of his appeal.

Exactly- if he had a backstory-related reason for his actions, they would become sad rather than funny. (So I voted for him).

[The Extinguisher]

I would say it's Belkar, but I have a feeling we're gonna get a big healthy dose of Belkar thats going to develop him as a character as well as keeping his stabbity appeal.

So I voted for V, who is pretty close to Belkar.

[TigerHunter]

:roy: has no development. :belkar: changed his ideals around a little, :elan: and :haley: both matured, :durkon: realised where his true loyalties lay, and :vaarsuvius: and :roy: both have no development. But :roy: has absolutely no character development, while :vaarsuvius: keeps telling us many things about the nature of things.
I think the question is "throughout the entire strip", not "recently".

[BardicLasher]

In No Cure for the Paladin Blues, before the Lizardy Noises storyline, the Giant comes out and says that he's purposely avoid going into V's backstory too deeply... So I'm saying V.

[Brickwall]

Durkon. He's had plenty of backstory, but his character hasn't changed at all. He's always been the fuzzy short guy with the accent and the Lawful Healer alignment. I don't think we've ever seen his character change.

Belkar is a close second. However, I think the ordeal with Miko deepened the sense of his utter psychosis. At first he was just bloodthirsty. With Miko, his sadism on the mental level became more clear (and it is funny too! Rod of Lordly Might...heh...). But that's not much.

V turned from (just) being a boring know-it-all to an insightful and reluctantly helpful, if prideful, advisor to the party on various matters. Backstory or not, V's character developed plenty for me.

I suppose I can see why people voted for Roy, since his changes were subtle. Very subtle. In fact, at first glance, one would assume his previous behavior was just made for the funny, and the difference was that the Giant had commited to story. But, in my opinion, the story changed his behavior. The Giant says some things about this in one of the books.

A just poll, for once.

[krossbow]

Durkon. He is as he's always been: the boring, helpful anchor of the group. He hasn't changed. he still approaches everything in the same dull, reasonable manner.

At least Belkar has shown himself to have goals, to change his relationship with the other members of the order, and to think through different routes (not to mention, apparently caring about someone now, as when he lept onto Nale).

[Skippy]

Remember Durkon is a cleric, and he doesn't do anything before consulting it with his God (W.W.T.D.), and he is the eldest member of the party (at least in appearance). An old dog doesn't learn new tricks. That's why he is as he is.

[Captain van der Decken]

I'd say Vaarsuvius, I don't really think Vaarsuvius has changed as much as the others.

[Maryring]

I found it to be a tossup between Belkar and V. In the end, Belkar came out on bottom, since he honestly do appear to only be able to create two kinds of emotion. Personally, I'd say a Snail has more depth of character than he does. And of course, on the other end of spectrum is Haley.

[War]

In Origins, our good Giant said something about not wanting to delve into Belkar's background too much because if he had a reason for being so psycho, it'd be less funny and more sad. Unfortunate but true; it's the same as with Thog mentioned above. It's true that such a character can still change in some ways, but if he can never really get serious, his development is pretty limited, so there's my vote. Darn funny, though!

[Saithis Bladewing]

I've always felt Belkar has developed the least. We've learnt more and more about V as time has gone on, but we haven't really learnt all that much about Belkar. The Belkster is more or less the same now as he was in comic 1. V, however, has grown a bit. We've learnt more about V's life and how V goes about things. Yes, on the whole we probably know a bit more about Belkar, but V has easily grown more than Belkar's stagnant character.

Not that that's a bad thing. I like the Belkster quite a bit.

[krossbow]

Actually, I think Thog has changed quite alot since we first saw him. Originally, he was just a goon who liked fighting things and had a low amount of intellect. However, as the strip went on, we got a glimpse into thog's psyche, and realized that he wasn't so much of a goon as a big, evil, lovable child, with horrible violent tendencies.

In addition, his comments in Cliffport seem to indicate that he views Nale somewhat like how Elan views roy (Nale let thog stay up extra hour past bedtime on weekends!)

[Tharj TreeSmiter]

I think belkar and V have so far been developed the least, however I think V has more potential for development because that can be done and still hide his/her sexual identity whereas Rich has already said explaining belkars psychotic tendancies would be impossible and would diminish the story.

[Demented]

Still, Belkar now has the Mark of Justice, wants Miko dead, wants her horse dead even moreso, and he now hates Vaarsuvius more than ever.

More often than not, characters remain the same.
The relationships with other characters is where they develop.

In that sense, Durkon might be the least developed.
The most significant time that his character had a chance to develop, it involved Hilgya. But that little story arc has been laid under the ground so deep that the effects probably won't be seen for a long time.

Otherwise, we've learned things that were already part of his character.

[Setra]

Tough choice really, it was a toss-up between :durkon:, :vaarsuvius:, and :belkar:.

I see development as two things, a change in a characters persona, and a deeper look into the characters psyche.

:durkon: Started out as what he was, though in some comics he seemed to change as a character. For instance, his views on Duty, as well as other smaller changes. Example (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0264.html).

:vaarsuvius: Was, again, just what he was, though he has had development, some of it is hard to see. Though I can't think of it right now.

:belkar:, thus far has been, and is still, a psychotic little killer. So I chose him, this may be because I am biased against him.

[Hallavast]

I'd say that while :durkon: has plenty of backstory, he doesn't get much of anything else. He comes off as a rather soft-spoken dwarf in my opinion, but otherwise, he's pretty much the stereotypical dwarven cleric. Unlike :belkar: , he has the potential to be compelling, but he doesn't get much of the spotlight. So, even though he may have slightly more growth of character than :belkar: , I'd say that :belkar: has reached (or at least neared) his full potential for development. Thus :durkon: get's my vote, due to the lower percentage of growth he has in comparison with :belkar: potentially.

[AmoDman]

Vaarsuvius - is he really any different now than at the beginning? I almost said Belkar, which I believe the same is also true, yet we have also learned more about the nuances of his personality (which were hidden) OotS than we have V (who doesn't have a whole lot more to reveal...sans backstory), IMO.

[pita]

The :belkar: theory invented by :vaarsuvius: is completely incorrect?
In one word? Elan.
In one smilie? :elan:.
In two words? :elan::durkon:.
He doesn't hate :durkon:, yet remember this quote:
"And that's why Roy would prefer to be touched by a short hairy guy than a..." don't remember rest.
As with :elan:, he does not lust after him, but he definitely does not hate him. :vaarsuvius:'s theory is incorrect!
Viva La Resistance!

[Tharianor]

I was looking back at old post, and I stumbled in this one.
We can refresh this poll for the present situation, seen V and Belkar development. For me at this point of the story Durkon is the less developed.

[Dagren]

Has Durkon actually had any character development since that thing with Hilgya back in the first dungeon? (Occurs to me that that's actually the only dungeon we've seen)

[Tharianor]

That's what I mean.
IMHO No, not at all!

[Aaron]

Definitely Belkar. All we really know about him is he loves to kill people. V has some character development. Belkar's character development is practically 0.

[Haven]

The answer is definitely Durkon, but that last option was the only honest choice.

Which kind of bugs me because there's a prophecy about his eventual death, and if we're not invested in him what's the point?

[tribble]

:roy: had tons of development, :belkar: figured out he has to pretend to have it, :vaarsuvius: sold leased Vs soul to evil spirits, :elan: and :haley: fell in love and matured, while :durkon: has had nothing at all. Nothing AT ALL.

[Llama231]

Poll?













Durkon obviously.

[David Argall]

I see no reason to think any of the characters have had much character development. They would have done the same actions in the same situation after 100 or 600 strips.

[simplyjas]

I`ll have to give this one to Belkar.
I just love this guy and want to see him develop as a character. I dunt want him to change though. He is so damned funny.

[Kaytara]

I think we need to clarify exactly what we mean by "character development" here, because personally I've encountered that term used with two different meanings.

1) The development of the character, as in fictional figure. This covers anything that advances the character from its starting form as a cardboard cut-out, giving it more dimensions and details. You establish and define what a character is, what his personality traits are and how he acts in certain situations. By this definition, Durkon got character development when we discovered his phobia of trees, V when we learned that the studious elf is already married, and Belkar when he immediately took to Mr. Scruffy. Also, Durkon's character was established rather than developed during the incident with Hilgya.

2) The development of the character, as in personality. The character's personality isn't just revealed, as above, but changed. For this, the character needs to already be well-established as in 1). How can you change if you don't know what you are in the first place? Haley got plenty of this when she grew more responsible, highlighted when she told her Self-Loathing to shut up and sit down. Roy when he reconsidered his reasons for pursuing Xykon. Vaarsuvius when he went from being relatively balanced to completely obsessed with proving himself and his power right and the others wrong, though some may argue that this is just a hidden side of his that surfaced when given half a chance. Hopefully, more character development is coming now, with Vaarsuvius becoming healthfully disillusioned in the passion of his life.

Based on that...
All of the characters are pretty well-established, in my opinion. We know them well enough to guess how they would react in any given situation. As for which characters have been forced to change the least, it's definitely Durkon for me. The aforementioned Hilgya incident did not develop his character in the second sense, but rather cemented his personality, as in the first. All other characters have been forced to evaluate and reconsider their world views significantly. Even Belkar, whom some have mentioned here, has realized that he can't get away with everything and that he needs to rein in his impulses a bit, and that IS major for him, who has always worshipped immediate gratification in the past.
Aside from the little tidbit in origins, though, Durkon's views remain unchallenged.

[X2]

Durkon, I mean... c'mon.

About comic 84, I've had more emotions for my toilet brush.

[ghost_warlock]

:smalleek:
Wow, holy thread necromancy, Batman!


And I even voted before I realized... :smallfrown:

[Mc. Lovin']

Surely the Giant has solved V's and Belkar's lack of background. That's basically what this arc was for.

[liooil2000]

Durkon. Don't ask why.

[Elan man]

belkar no backstory

[Janmorel]

Good old, reliable, 'filling, but bland' Durkon. It's not so much that he's underdeveloped, but his actions are mostly motivated by what he thinks Thor would want, or what dwarven tradition dictates, which makes him predictable and a little dull. It's starting to look like he's the most mentally stable member of the Order though.

[Cleverdan22]

Durkon. The straight man never gets enough character development. But I do enjoy his character and the jokes that he has. Plus he is like the only sane one left in the Order.

[Penquin47]

Durkon.

When even his friends can't come up with a reason why he's different from every other Dwarven cleric out there, that's a sign that the character needs some development.

Belkar is a well-developed character. Sure, we don't know his exact backstory, but we know that he's been a psychopath for a long time, probably with some family advice ('Aunt Judy? Is that you?'), and that he was excluded as a kid (assuming his sob story for XP was true), likely causing or caused by the psychotic tendencies.
We've seen him change. We've seen him go from unrestrained and unrestrainable impulse-driven carnage to clever, sneaky, and a player. Also, he's picked up someone he actually seems to give a crap about (Shojo and Mr. Scruffy).

Durkon... was a Dwarven cleric. Why? Because. He set out on adventure because of a prophecy that he wasn't told about and joined up with Roy because Roy actually treated him like a person.
Hasn't changed a bit in the story. Sure, we've learned more about the Dwarves through him, but he hasn't CHANGED.

[Code Black]

Durkon serves a niche in the group that's he's held for the entire strip, and, as a result, he's barely changed at all, so, by definition and all senses of the word, he's had the least character development.

But, that doesn't mean he's not a developed character. His niche as the older, wiser, and collected Team Uncle is an essential and instantly recognizable part of the group. His role seems to be the mature character who is beyond the age of character growth, but who serves as an example for his younger, more impulsive comrades.

[slayerx]

I see no reason to think any of the characters have had much character development. They would have done the same actions in the same situation after 100 or 600 strips.

The characters would have acted pretty differently...

Elan, would have been more useful as a fighter and more competent as well

Belkar, would not have pissed off the others so much, such as V, Roy, and Miko; he would have instead ACTED like a team player... heh, miko might have never gone crazy over the "evil" that is OotS

V, would have engaged himself even more so into his studies making no waste of his time or power... after all he did look back upon those times he wasted and regretted it as he could have used that time more efficiently.

Haley, not to much difference, but she would have been more honest with herself and be all over Elan; and Elan would return it as such.

Roy, not much difference, but he would not made certain mistakes like leaving Elan behind, wanting to get it on with Miko, and would have had his priorities straight as to exactly why he was going after Xykon (though this would not have changed the story much i don't think)

[rokar4life]

why is everyone saying that Belkar is undeveloped, by the total # of instances of his change(#8 Belkar has a soul, #14 deep seated emotional problems, #22 VERY prideful and a bit on the dumb side.) those are just the ones that i can pick out of the first 25 comics, but it is rediculous to say that he has had none, and i would even say that he has had more than Elan, but Durkon is still last.