Xykon killed Roy!

[BisectedBrioche]

If he hadn't have killed Roy's dad's mentor all those years ago then he wouldn't have caused Eugene to start the blood oath, which wouldn't have been passed on to Roy. Thus he would never have blasted Roy and sent him plummeting to his death!

[onasuma]

Yes, but what does that have to do with anything. He killed him with a spell anyway

[Studoku]

:redcloak: killed Roy. If he had given :mitd: the phlactery, he'd have broken it and killed Xykon so he couldn't meteor swarmed :roy:.

[Baalzebub]

So? what's the point?

[Assassinfox]

So? what's the point?

For all the people who seem to think Belkar killed Roy. :smallconfused:

[UltimaGabe]

But... if anyone wanted to prove that Xykon killed Roy, couldn't they just point out the fact that, oh I dunno, he blasted him with a Meteor Swarm and sent him falling to his death?

...It's kinda pointless to bring up subtleties in Xykon's involvement when it's blatantly right there in your face.

[Assassinfox]

But... if anyone wanted to prove that Xykon killed Roy, couldn't they just point out the fact that, oh I dunno, he blasted him with a Meteor Swarm and sent him falling to his death?

...It's kinda pointless to bring up subtleties in Xykon's involvement when it's blatantly right there in your face.

Tell that to the people saying that Belkar killed Roy.

[Fawkes]

Technically, they're not saying Belkar killed Roy, but that he was in a way indirectly responsible for Roy's death. I realize that that logic could apply to almost every character, but there's no point in arguing semantics.

[UltimaGabe]

Tell that to the people saying that Belkar killed Roy.

No, you missed my point.

Nobody's claimed that Belkar KILLED Roy, they're claiming that Belkar CAUSED THE DEATH of Roy (as per the prophecy given to him). Whether he did or not is apparently up for debate, but there is definitely evidence that Belkar contributed to Roy's death, seeing as how he provided Roy with the means to achieve his end.

But, you missed my point. Nobody's debating whether or not Xykon killed Roy. Nobody's said, "Xykon didn't kill Roy!!!" because they'd have to be idiots to do so. Just because Belkar caused Roy's death doesn't mean that Xykon wasn't the one who actually carried it out.

In any case, I was pointing out how pointless this topic thread is. If anyone wanted to prove that Xykon killed Roy, there's no better evidence than the fact that he directly caused it, as shown in strip 442-443.

Does that make sense?

[idksocrates]

cause
verb, caused, caus·ing. –noun
1.a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect: You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cause
*emphasis mine


The only thing that Belkar caused was Roy jumping. He only indirectly contributed to Roy's death. He didn't cause it in any, shape, or form.

[Fawkes]

GAH! Semantics! No one wins in an argument over semantics! You are both correct!

*seppuku*

[Jayabalard]

^ first, you listed a noun definition, and his question used cause as a verb "do I get to cause" ... lets look at what wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cause) has to say about the verb form that he used:


Verb

to cause (caused, causing)

1. to set off an event or action


second, you're restricting the event to being a direct result... which would be the case if he had said "to directly cause" instead of "to cause"

since he said "to cause", that's general enough to cover the situation where his action (giving the ring and suggesting that Roy jump up to Xykon) sets off a chain of events that leads to a particular result (Roys death).

Clearly: Belkar got to cause Roy's death.


For all the people who seem to think Belkar killed Roy. :smallconfused:I don't think that anyone claimed that Belkar killed roy, have they? several have claimed that Belkar got to cause Roy's death though.... which isn't the same thing at all.

[mikeejimbo]

No, you missed my point.


And isn't the point of the thread as a satire of the "Belkar 'killed' Roy!" camp?

[Spiky]

I thought Rich killed Roy. You know....DM, author, creator, etc.

[Gaelbert]

Belkar's mom killed Roy, because if she hadn't given birth, Belkar would never have gave the ring to Roy. So HA!:smalltongue:

[Mojique]

Xykon didn't kill Roy! Gravity killed Roy. :smallbiggrin:

[BardicLasher]

Celia killed roy by making that thing a stupid DC 20 STR check to break instead of the more reasonable DC 5.

[jindra34]

Celia killed roy by making that thing a stupid DC 20 STR check to break instead of the more reasonable DC 5.

If were going that far why not yell at WOTC for creating DND

[Cywar]

Gravity didnt kill roy, technically it was the floor...

although... Gravity contributed to his death i guess... but... i wouldn't blame her

[BardicLasher]

If were going that far why not yell at WOTC for creating DND

No, this goes all the way back to GYGAX!


No, no, no, it's TOLKEIN'S fault for creating the genre! TOLKEIN KILLED ROY!


Wait, no... It's the fault of ancient civilizations for coming up with mythology that influenced Tolkein!

...You know what? I'm gonna stick with "Xykon killed Roy."

[Mewtarthio]

The Twelve Gods killed Roy. They gave Miko her Paladin powers, and Miko brought Roy to Azure City.

[Assassinfox]

The Twelve Gods killed Roy. They gave Miko her Paladin powers, and Miko brought Roy to Azure City.

And they helped create the earth, which smacked Roy in the head and killed him.

[jindra34]

The Twelve Gods killed Roy. They gave Miko her Paladin powers, and Miko brought Roy to Azure City.

See prophecy fufilled thread for more rampant speculation as to who caused Roy's death no matter how round about the logic is...

[Mr Wizard]

THE UNIVERSE KILLED ROY!

If it didnt exist then a nonexistant Rich could never make a existing comic containing a nonexistant character that nonexistantly dies!

DAMN YOU UNIVERSE! DAMN YOU!

[jindra34]

THE UNIVERSE KILLED ROY!

If it didnt exist then a nonexistant Rich could never make a existing comic containing a nonexistant character that nonexistantly dies!\

DAMN YOU UNIVERSE! DAMN YOU!

OK that takes the cake for craziest thing that caused roy's death...

[Tolkien_Freak]

No, this goes all the way back to GYGAX!


No, no, no, it's TOLKEIN'S fault for creating the genre! TOLKEIN KILLED ROY!


Wait, no... It's the fault of ancient civilizations for coming up with mythology that influenced Tolkein!

...You know what? I'm gonna stick with "Xykon killed Roy."

This thread makes no sense for that very reason, not counting the fact that, as previously stated, Xykon killed Roy with a Meteor Swarm. Obviously, Xykon killed Roy.

And it's spelled Tolkien.

[Assassinfox]

THE UNIVERSE KILLED ROY!

If it didnt exist then a nonexistant Rich could never make a existing comic containing a nonexistant character that nonexistantly dies!

DAMN YOU UNIVERSE! DAMN YOU!

Great Scott! The conspiracy goes back even farther than I thought! :smalleek:

[jindra34]

Great Scott! The conspiracy goes back even farther than I thought! :smalleek:

Should we give him more than the cake?

[Mr Wizard]

I'd like to eat it too.

[jindra34]

I'd like to eat it too.

Its your cake do what you want with it...

[Demented]

In defense of my client, Mr. Universe, I would just like to say...

FALLING DAMAGE KILLED ROY!


That doesn't make a very exciting newspaper headline, now does it?

In any case, the snarl caused Roy's death, NOT the universe. It POed Soon, who sent his Paladins off to kill Goblins, thus killing Redcloak's mum, causing Redcloak to encourage Xykon to attack Azure City, directly leading to Roy ramming into the ground at terminal velocity!

With maybe a little wriggle room.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

The first thing that went through my mind when I read the subject of this thread was "Snape killed Dumbledore!"

[Mr Wizard]

Horray!

But on a somber, serious note, (because thats just what stick figure comics are) We shed a tear for those that once-had-dots-inside-circles-but-now-the-dots-are-x's.

Damn stick-figure-representaion-of-an-animated-skeleton! Damn you!

[johnnyko]

No, Al Gore killed Roy by inventing the internet, setting this whole "webcomic" hoopla in motion. He's also to blame for the popularity of emo music.

[EvilElitest]

If he hadn't have killed Roy's dad's mentor all those years ago then he wouldn't have caused Eugene to start the blood oath, which wouldn't have been passed on to Roy. Thus he would never have blasted Roy and sent him plummeting to his death!

He also hit him with a metor swarm
from,
EE

[BardicLasher]

Anyone wanna give me a hand figuring out how this was Micheal Jackson's fault?

[Lavidor]

:xykon: killed :roy:! He dropped him off a dragon!
It's very simple: A lot of people were indirectly responsible-
Belkar- ring of jumping
Redcloak- strategy
Fyron- dying and causing blood oath
Eugene- blood oath
Dragon- (re)dying from meteor swarm
And tons more.
But only :xykon: is directly!

[Couatl]

I think a butterfly killed Roy. Damn butterfly.


Only two words for explanation - Chaos Theory :P

[Albion]

SOCIETY killed Roy! Society didn't want Roy's dad to want him to want to be a fighter! Roy had no way out in the long run! I blame society and the Greenhiltian Dream! :smallfurious:

[Rason]

Michael Jackson killed Roy. He touched Belkar as a small hobbit, caused Belkar to lose his jolly and then be a vindictive jerk. Belkar killed Xykon's parents so Xykon turned evil. The rest is obvious

[Quellfrisch]

Roy is not dead, just "stunned" ... *LLaaaLLLaaaLLaalalaa*

[Jayabalard]

If were going that far why not yell at WOTC for creating DNDPerhaps because they didn't create D&D?

[BardicLasher]

Michael Jackson killed Roy. He touched Belkar as a small hobbit, caused Belkar to lose his jolly and then be a vindictive jerk. Belkar killed Xykon's parents so Xykon turned evil. The rest is obvious

I'd say that was great, but Xykon's older than Belkar.

[Fawkes]

I'd say that was great, but Xykon's older than Belkar.

There's no proof of that.

[Twilight Jack]

Even as I type this, I cannot quite believe that I've elected to join this debate, but I feel it would be remiss if I did not try to clarify the "Belkar's Prophecy Fulfilled" camp's position.

Point the 1st: There seems to be a misapprehension on the part of some posters, that the Belkar camp believes that Belkar killed Roy. No one is saying that (No one besides Jayne is saying that). The prophecy given to Belkar is that he would get to cause the death of one of the people he named. As we already know that the Oracle is a rather flippant and literal bastard, it is well worth noting that "cause" is a terribly ambiguous term with many possible meanings.

Point the 2nd: For our purposes, let us define "cause" as follows: a primary factor in a series of events which provides a necessary catalyst for the outcome of those events. In other words, Roy could not die as he did unless he fought Xykon on the back of the dragon. Without the ring of jumping, Roy had no means of reaching the back of said dragon in order to fight Xykon. Hence, had Belkar not given Roy the ring, Roy would not have died in this manner. Hence, Belkar's dubious gift qualifies as a cause of Roy's death in this instance. A chain of causality exists.

Point the 3rd: It is entirely possible for any given outcome to have multiple causes. Indeed, ask any scientist, historian, sociologist, or other researcher, and you will be told that most outcomes have a multitude of causes and correllations. Furthermore, a strict determinist would state that any outcome has a chain of causality stretching back to the dawn of time. Hence, Xykon caused Roy's death; Roy caused Roy's death; Miko caused Roy's death; Shojo caused Roy's death; Hinjo caused Roy's death; Elan caused Roy's death; Belkar caused Roy's death. An astute observer will note, however, that after Xykon and Roy himself, Belkar is the most direct contributor to the precise set of factors that led to Greenhilt's demise (ie, taking a Meteor Swarm to the face and falling amid zombie dragon chunks hundreds of feet to the flagstones below would not have been possible without Xykon's spell/dragon, Roy's choices, or Belkar's ring). Other causes are debatable as to their direct effect on the outcome, one way or another. For example, had Miko not dragged the Order to Azure City, Roy still would have eventually gotten his sword reforged, allowing his father to communicate with him again and tell him that Xykon had not been destroyed. A different chain of causality could then easily have led the Order to Azure City and Shojo's side, by tracking down Xykon ("Hey Mister Oracle, what is the Lich-Sorcerer known as Xykon's next major geographic objective"). Xykon's plan in that case would not have been altered significantly, still involving a zombie dragon and a few decoys. If all that led to Roy and Co. standing upon the wall alongside Azure City's defenders, then everything else could have played out just fine. But, at the very moment wherein Roy had the choice to jump for the dragon, only Belkar had the means to get him there. Hence, he is one of the more direct causal factors in the chain of events.

Point the last: Belkar's Prophecy is the result of a very poorly worded question. As has been debated here ad nauseum, "cause" is an interesting concept and not too terribly easy to define. Ultimately, it isn't important whether this was the death to which the Oracle referred in his answer. It does not preclude Belkar's involvement in the deaths of any of the other people named. "Will I get to cause any of the following deaths?" "Yes." That doesn't mean he only gets to be the cause of one. It's non-specific. What's important is that the next time Belkar refers to his upcoming and eagerly anticipated killing, Haley or V is very likely to point out to him that technically he's already fulfilled the prophecy as he gave Roy the ring of jumping. Which provokes a humorous reaction from Belkar and probably a comment or two regarding the vagueness of the word, "cause."

In closing, it's important because Belkar is going to end up feeling completely cheated of his fun. Which is only slightly less amusing than when he gets to have that fun.

[Finwe]

The first thing that went through my mind when I read the subject of this thread was "Snape killed Dumbledore!"


Actually, Snape kills Trinity with Rosebud! (http://xkcd.com/c109.html)

[Xiander]

You all killed Roy!
Had you not read the comic, it would have never come this far!
I bet some of you even donated! Shame on you!
And Micheal Jackson probably reads the comic too...

This is fun! :)

[whitedog20]

ok I admit it, I KILLED ROOOOOOY!!!!!!!:smallredface:

[BisectedBrioche]

And isn't the point of the thread as a satire of the "Belkar 'killed' Roy!" camp?

And the inevitable Miko/Celia/thog's pet dog killed Roy threads

[Ras Sha'Akhamen]

Thog's pet dog grabbed onto Xykon's bones, turning him into the homicidal madman he is. That one's easy and obvious.

[BobTheDog]

The Silver Dragon killed Roy.

Had it not decided to lair inside Xykon's old dungeon, it wouldn't be killed and then raised as a zombie, and Roy would have no dragon to jump on and later be dropped from.