Why is Redcloak medium sized?

[Lord_Butters_I]

I just realized something: Goblins are Small, yet Redcloak is just as tall as the humans, hobbos, and Xykon, all Medium. Did he cast some kind of permanant Enlarge Person spell in SoD, or did Rich just decide to draw him bigger to get more detail in his movements?

[mockingbyrd7]

There are goblins in strips 1-120, you'll see that they're all Medium. It's either an art-preference, a choice he made about his D&D world, or both.

[Capt'n Ironbrow]

indeed... If the characters hadn't defined them as Goblins, I'd have thought they where Orcs as Goblins are usually portrayed just a bit taller than Halflings (while Orcs man-sized or just slightly taller)... they should be about Belkar's or Durkon's size, but in a stickfigure comic it's not so big of a deal and I don't find it distracting. the room for detail in redcloaks appearance and movements can't be a reson, the little fellows of the OOTS do not have less of the suposed visual detail because visual detail is not really an option in this piece of work. ;)

[Nomadic]

I think it is partly artistic license. An enemy normally looks more fierce/dangerous when they are larger.

[Lord_Butters_I]

That's what I thought, I just thought there might be some sort of underlying reason for his big-ness that I didn't know.

[NeonRonin]

I think this was speculated upon in another thread somewhere... I don't have a problem with Medium-sized goblins myself; it can easily be explained away as either an artistic choice, or campaign setting choice. Faerun elves are taller than Greyhawk elves, so OoTS goblins can easily be taller than other settings' goblins.

[Exarch]

I thought they were Hobgoblins, and just called "goblins" for simplicity.

[Chronos]

The green guys like Redcloak are goblins. The orange guys that Redcloak is currently commanding are hobgoblins. Redcloak is the only green-skinned goblin currently in the comic, but there were a bunch of others back at the beginning of the strip.

[Lyinginbedmon]

The shorter ones back in Dorukon were teenagers weren't they?

[Tolkien_Freak]

Haven't we gone over all of this before?

It's artistic license/homebrewing. There's no reason they're Medium except that The Giant wants them to be Medium.

[nerulean]

Haven't we gone over all of this before?

It's artistic license/homebrewing. There's no reason they're Medium except that The Giant wants them to be Medium.

Chill, man. There's only so many things that can be discussed about the comics, we're bound to get some rehashing of old threads. However, you are of course right. They're medium because Rich decided they'd be medium. Why? Because.

[Borris]

The shorter ones back in Dorukon were teenagers weren't they?
And yes, the short goblins in the dungeon of Dorukan were all children or teenagers.

[Belkar's Left Foot]

So that the fourth panel (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0369.html) looked that much more bad ass.

[Black Mage]

They're homebrew goblins for Rich's setting. He could have made them Huge or Tiny if he wanted to.

[Shatteredtower]

Beside height, they're also not the standard colour for D&D goblins, which tends to range from yellow to red.

I blame Spider-Man. :smallwink:

[Morty]

I blame Spider-Man. :smallwink:

I'd rather blame Warhammer.

[Capt'n Ironbrow]

But boy, are Warhammer Goblins cool! They're nomadic tradesmen/raiders who pay each other in teeth, ride big wolves, have (wolf)chariot races and 100 uses for snotlings you'd never thought of, can domesticate trolls, giants and the vicious squigs for as far that is possible and get stoned/high/hallucinated on mushrooms
Oh, and they're also an emergency foodsupply for the larger Goblinoids (Orcs and Black Orcs)...

[The_Hunting_Enemy]

Why does this keep getting asked?

[TreesOfDeath]

Rich drew the goblins larger than nomral so they wouldn't look so puny. And he couldn't make Redcloak smaller than the others because that would look silly

[Morty]

But boy, are Warhammer Goblins cool! They're nomadic tradesmen/raiders who pay each other in teeth, ride big wolves, have (wolf)chariot races and 100 uses for snotlings you'd never thought of, can domesticate trolls, giants and the vicious squigs for as far that is possible and get stoned/high/hallucinated on mushrooms
Oh, and they're also an emergency foodsupply for the larger Goblinoids (Orcs and Black Orcs)...

Yeah, Warhammer gobbos are cool. But they're probably the reason goblins and orcs are usually green now.

[Tolkien_Freak]

and get stoned/high/hallucinated on mushrooms

ANYONE can get high on mushrooms if they're the right[wrong] kind of mushrooms.

[Draz74]

Yeah, Warhammer gobbos are cool. But they're probably the reason goblins and orcs are usually green now.

Probably true, considering that Warhammer orcs were probably an important inspiration for WarCraft orcs, which in turn have influenced a ton of other settings.

I notice Erfworld has even adopted OOTS's goblin/hobgoblin racial coloring.

[Alces]

Yeah, Warhammer gobbos are cool. But they're probably the reason goblins and orcs are usually green now.

There's nothing wrong with being green. And yes, they're damn cool - Goblin Fanatics. 'nuff said.

[mikeejimbo]

He's not, he's still small. However, everyone else has also been reduced a size category, so humans are actually small too. (Belkar is Tiny, Ogres merely medium) :smalltongue:

[RobbyPants]

I just realized something: Goblins are Small, yet Redcloak is just as tall as the humans, hobbos, and Xykon, all Medium. Did he cast some kind of permanant Enlarge Person spell in SoD, or did Rich just decide to draw him bigger to get more detail in his movements?
Due to that he colors them different than their standard description in the Monster Manual (they're normally orange, not green), I'd say it's just how he pictures them in his world.

[Shadowdweller]

I'm personally of the opinion that Xykon is far too cheap (if not distracted) to worry about such proprieties and probably just purchased a bunch of one-size-fits all stickfigure minions wholesale.

[Gez]

There's nothing wrong with being green.

But it's not easy.


:smalltongue:

Actually, Belkar is Medium. See the second page of this double-length strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0298.html).

[Wizzardman]

Yeah, Warhammer gobbos are cool. But they're probably the reason goblins and orcs are usually green now.

Hey, don't forget: Magic the Gathering has had green goblins for the entirety of its existence.

[Chronos]

The shorter ones back in Dorukon were teenagers weren't they?This might actually be Rich's reason for making them medium. If he made the adult goblins medium, then he would have had to make the young ones tiny, and while he can still get enough detail on a small creature, a tiny creature would be very difficult.

Wizzardman, doesn't Warhammer predate M:tG?

[Uzraid]

The goblins were green in the illustrated edition of The Princess and the Goblin that I read 25 years ago. I think this maybe, just maybe, is older than Magic: The Gathering or freaking WoW.

U

EDIT: Also older than Warhammer, FTW.

[Morty]

Hey, don't forget: Magic the Gathering has had green goblins for the entirety of its existence.

I never played M:TG so I don't know.


Also older than Warhammer, FTW.

Heh, so the greenness of the goblins have deeper roots.

[Threeshades]

Rich once stated (I cannot find where unfortunately) that he made the Goblins medium sized so they don't look that whimpy in comparison to the party and it doesn't look that pathetic when they run away from a bunch of goblins.

I really would love to give you the source but I can't find it. Maybe it was actually in one of the books, if so it's Dungeon Crawling Fools.

[Nimrod's Son]

I'd rather blame Warhammer.
Hey, no one forced you to paint 'em green. :smallwink:

[DSCrankshaw]

I figure it's the same reason Celia's medium sized.

It's inexplicable (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0617.html).

[Torick]

I figure it's the same reason Celia's medium sized.

It's inexplicable (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0617.html).

I was going to say the same thing.

OotS has lampshaded its fast and loose application of creature sizes before, and it doesn't appear to have much more to say than "well, isn't that weird?"

My guess is, the same is true for the goblins, and the underlying reason is likely similar. Celia's being medium-sized simply draws attention away from a size factor that would otherwise be predominant and distract from her other characteristics, and might make her relationship with Roy seem odd. Similarly, the goblins are probably medium-sized, as others have suggested, because small goblins would be less intimidating and more difficult to take seriously (anyone think we're ever going to see kobolds character-developed as far as the goblins? I don't).

(Of course, Belkar came out successfully small-sized, and despite the strip deliberately drawing attention to it in a couple of places, manages to have enough character that he's not simply known as the small party member. Eh, chalk it up to author whim, I suppose.)

[Tyrion L.]

Well, Redcloak is Medium because he simply wouldn't be as cool-looking if he were small. I'm trying to imagine a WoW Goblin commanding Orcs, because that's how it would be if Red were small. So he's Medium.

And it's probably more difficult to use the Halfling or Elf base than the Human base.

[NerfTW]

But it's not easy.



Actually, Belkar is Medium. See the second page of this double-length strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0298.html).

No, he's medium because he's wearing stilts at the moment. Therefore, he is also a "medium sized" creature like the human paladin he's talking to. He's trying to draw attention away from the fact that he's actually a small creature, noticeably similar to the one who just went on a murderous rampage.

[Roland St. Jude]

Rich once stated (I cannot find where unfortunately) that he made the Goblins medium sized so they don't look that whimpy in comparison to the party and it doesn't look that pathetic when they run away from a bunch of goblins.

I really would love to give you the source but I can't find it. Maybe it was actually in one of the books, if so it's Dungeon Crawling Fools.

Sheriff of Moddingham: Two and half year thread necromancy.