Are Belkar's cooking skills a reference to something?

[Bohandas]

Are Belkar's cooking skills some kind of literary reference that I'm missing? I ask because I've seen at least two other series with where one of the main characters was a chaotic evil ne'er-do-well who was occasionally mentioned to be really good at cooking (the other two are Bender from Futurama, and Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force). It seems an odd coincidence, so I was wondering if there might be something they're all referencig that I might be missing.

[Mechalobster]

Belkar's enjoyment of fine cuisine is probably the only "stereotypical" halfling trait that he possesses.

I don't think you need more than a passing familiarity with the works of Tolkien to know that he wrote that hobbits love them some food.

[Ruck]

I recall Bender being rather hideous at cooking.

[hroþila]

Belkar's enjoyment of fine cuisine is probably the only "stereotypical" halfling trait that he possesses.

I don't think you need more than a passing familiarity with the works of Tolkien to know that he wrote that hobbits love them some food.
I'm not sure hobbits love fine cuisine per se. They like food alright, but I think they would look down with suspicion on food that's fancier than what they'd expect. Kinda like Obelix, who will devour boar after boar, but after trying some fine Roman delicacies he'll dismiss them as "salty".

[LadyEowyn]

Yes, hobbits prefer solid home cooking rather than fine cuisine. But all of them are good cooks.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I'm not sure hobbits love fine cuisine per se. They like food alright, but I think they would look down with suspicion on food that's fancier than what they'd expect. Kinda like Obelix, who will devour boar after boar, but after trying some fine Roman delicacies he'll dismiss them as "salty".

To be fair, it seems they slapped garum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLDlUGXJMFY) on everything. It probably was very salty.

Grey Wolf

[Peelee]

I recall Bender being rather hideous at cooking.

You dare besmirch the Zinc Saucier?!

[RatElemental]

I don't recall Master Shake being a particularly good cook either. Frylock definitely was.

[Kantaki]

You dare besmirch the Zinc Saucier?!

Magic water is cheating.:smalltongue:

[2.5 cats]

In the book Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tails, which is all OotS "non-story" material, there are a dozen or so comics that were done for the now-defunct Dragon magazine. These were much like the first couple dozen regular OotS comics, which were all one-off gags in a dungeon crawl with no larger story.

In one of these, Belkar intimidated an evil snail by threatening to cook it, and the punchline was that Belkar saying he had ranks in Gourmet Chef. Comic #475 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0475.html) makes reference to this.

So basically it was a punchline in a parallel-universe one-off comic that got adopted into the main story.

[woweedd]

I recall Bender being rather hideous at cooking.
For humans, maybe.

[RatElemental]

For humans, maybe.

And decapodians.

[Kantaki]

And decapodians.

Well duh. getting cooked isn't very healthy for (alien) lobster in most cases.:smalltongue:

[Bohandas]

I don't recall Master Shake being a particularly good cook either. Frylock definitely was.

You didn't see the episode where he made lasagna that was so good Carl was willing to repeatedly injure himself to get it? And he's implied to be a fan of TV chef Alton Brown. And there's all the episodes where he has highly expensive and specialized cooking equipment (including a deep-fryer capable of frying an entire cow, and a nuclear powered grill). Not to mention all the other episodes where he seems to have an extensive taste for, and familiarity with, expensive cuisine (I recall one episode where Meatwad stole his duck l'orange, and another episode where he he became obsessed with eating lobster)

EDIT:
And he gets into an argument with the Broodwich over what ingredients should go into a sandwich

[Squire Doodad]

You dare besmirch the Zinc Saucier?!

I'm 40% Saucier!

[Ruck]

You dare besmirch the Zinc Saucier?!

Oh, anybody can seem like a great cook if you dose your diners first.

[woweedd]

By the way, if I had to guess...Belkar's into cooking because Halflings generally are, and it's one of the very few traits that he shares with his breateren, along with being a continuity nod. As for why there's a general trend of Chaotic Evil types being good chefs...I'd guess that it's because cooking, here in the states, is seen as a non-masculine vocation, and generally associated with caring for and looking after people, something which creates an amusing contrast to the sinister and off-putting nature of CE. Like a high-school kid who has a “girly” hobby and keeps trying to convince folks that it’s actually super-hardcore.

[Squire Doodad]

By the way, if I had to guess...Belkar's into cooking because Halflings generally are, and it's one of the very few traits that he shares with his breateren, along with being a continuity nod. As for why there's a general trend of Chaotic Evil types being good chefs...I'd guess that it's because cooking, here in the states, is seen as a non-masculine vocation, and generally associated with caring for and looking after people, something which creates an amusing contrast to the sinister and off-putting nature of CE. Like a high-school kid who has a “girly” hobby and keeps trying to convince folks that it’s actually super-hardcore?

Also, poetry, music, art etc. all are very extracurricular in comparison to the old pillaging annihlating and genoicidifying hobbies most overlords would have. Cooking can be defensible in that you don't trust anyone to not poison you.

[Kantaki]

Also, poetry, music, art etc. all are very extracurricular in comparison to the old pillaging annihlating and genoicidifying hobbies most overlords would have. Cooking can be defensible in that you don't trust anyone to not poison you.

Meh.
It all depends on what base materials you use.
If you do it right every hobby can be „pillaging, annihilating and genocidifying”.


How was that instrument made again...
The corpus from the ribcage of a unicorn.
Two strings from its entrails.
Another two from a human's
The fifth and sixth from an elf's
And the last two are taken from a dark elf.

And that mural that immoralizes your victory?
Why don't you use your enemies in it?

[Squire Doodad]

Meh.
It all depends on what base materials you use.
If you do it right every hobby can be „pillaging, annihilating and genocidifying”.


How was that instrument made again...
The corpus from the ribcage of a unicorn.
Two strings from its entrails.
Another two from a human's
The fifth and sixth from an elf's
And the last two are taken from a dark elf.

And that mural that immoralizes your victory?
Why don't you use your enemies in it?

I see. And your peaceful poetry about the pleasant forest rife with life in springtime?

[brian 333]

I see. And your peaceful poetry about the pleasant forest rife with life in springtime?

Based on a life-sized diorama constructed with the zombified corpses of pleasant forest creatures, of course. Those pixies were hard to mount without shaking off all the dust.

[Squire Doodad]

Based on a life-sized diorama constructed with the zombified corpses of pleasant forest creatures, of course. Those pixies were hard to mount without shaking off all the dust.

Mhm.
And
Uh
I'll be fleeing now, 'kay?

[CriticalFailure]

that's one way to describe taxidermy

[Squire Doodad]

that's one way to describe taxidermy

Taxidermy is when you artistically flay the tax collector who came to your Doom Fortress before you had your morning coffee, isn't it...

[CriticalFailure]

That sounds about right to me.

(Also: do you listen to The Magnus Archives, or was the tax collector reference just a coincidence?)

[Squire Doodad]

That sounds about right to me.

(Also: do you listen to The Magnus Archives, or was the tax collector reference just a coincidence?)

Coincidence, I think pretty much yeah.

[Kantaki]

I see. And your peaceful poetry about the pleasant forest rife with life in springtime?

Accompanied by the aforementioned instrument.
Either that or the screams of tortured prisoners, but that's tricky to get to sound right.

Edit:
Also, the instrument and the mural are based on the dark elves from Markus Heitz Dwarves books.
Who got their own spin-offs.
And no, those don't focus on a inexplicable white sheep among them.
:smalleek:And yet they come off as likable.:smalleek:

[Elvensilver]

Are Belkar's cooking skills some kind of literary reference that I'm missing?
I suppose they aren't a reference, since CE-cooking is a bit to dark a theme for Oots. But if they'd be a reference, the darkest cook I know about in literature would be Hannibal Lecter, from Silence of the Lambs, a known cannibal and gourmet. This combination of a refined, homely skill with the ruthless supply of ingredients makes good and creepy villains, although Belkar does not eat humanoids - just uses them as crockery.

[Mightymosy]

The immediate association I had when first reading the strip where Belkar is revealed as a chef, is that movie where Stephen Seagull is a chef on a battle ship and has to fight a hundred terrorists or something (bit fuzzy since it's been some time).

[Albion]

The immediate association I had when first reading the strip where Belkar is revealed as a chef, is that movie where Stephen Seagull is a chef on a battle ship and has to fight a hundred terrorists or something (bit fuzzy since it's been some time).

Good one! "Under Siege" And it's not the only time when a chef has turned out to be a total badass or vice versa. Although I of course thought of Samvais Gamgi when I looked at the halfling being all cuisine.

[diremage]

Knowing how to cook, even if you are only cooking for yourself, means inflicting less spam, spam, eggs and spam on your delicate palette and improving your own quality of life. For the average Chaotic Evil, it's literally a skill they are going to use several times a day for their own benefit. Belkar does sometimes come across as Chaotic Stupid, but not always.

Although Belkar also finds the labor of others on his behalf to be very satisfying, even if they might not necessarily have as many ranks in Gourmet Chef as he does. Because in the heart of every halfling is an Evil Overlord waiting for the chance to rule over the world with an iron chef's hat.

[Dion]

that movie where Stephen Seagull is a chef on a battle ship...

I would movie with Stephen Seagull.