Is there a 'who should play this character?' thread, and is it necro?

[Curtis Cook]

I registered for the sole purpose of asking whether Roy is supposed to be Dwayne Johnson. Ever since the end of the first book I've had the uncanny feeling that's it's Dwayne reading the lines Rich is writing.

Does anyone have suggestions for people to play the other parts?

[Peelee]

There have been numerous threads like that, all dead now. Which means this is now the "who should play this character" thread!

And while I love me some Dwayne Johnson (he always seems like he's just having a blast, which I like), I think Terry Crews edges him out to me.

[The Kool]

I'm gonna put my 2cp on Samuel L. Jackson. He can in fact play roles without profanity, and he has that perfect "you've gotta be ****ing me" look that would suit Roy so well.

[TerrickTerran]

I love Samuel Jackson but he's passed 70 at this point and 20 something Roy seems a little too much of a stretch. Heck at this point Dwayne is stretching it (he's turning 48 next month)

I think in the end, I'd prefer it animated if only then it doesn't matter the ages, just the voices.

[Schroeswald]

I love Samuel Jackson but he's passed 70 at this point and 20 something Roy seems a little too much of a stretch. Heck at this point Dwayne is stretching it (he's turning 48 next month)

I think in the end, I'd prefer it animated if only then it doesn't matter the ages, just the voices.

I would prefer it animated because I don't think the comic would really work in anything that can't provide sticks.

[Peelee]

I love Samuel Jackson but he's passed 70 at this point and 20 something Roy seems a little too much of a stretch. Heck at this point Dwayne is stretching it (he's turning 48 next month).

Age aside, Sam Jackson is a bean pole. Also I don't really all the appeal he has for most people in general.

[Curtis Cook]

And while I love me some Dwayne Johnson (he always seems like he's just having a blast, which I like), I think Terry Crews edges him out to me.

Terry Crews is the wrong 'Rock'. (jk)

Thank you all for responding; apparently this is a very active site! I'm accustomed to not getting responses within the first day, much less the first hour.

I had to look up Terry Crews as the name didn't ring a bell — and for good reason. It happens that I'm totally unfamiliar with his work. It looks like Crews has a sense of humor, which suits Roy well.

While Jackson does show an acerbic wit, I see Roy as more laid-back and a roll-with-the-punches kind of guy who's always very supportive of his teammates and willing to cut a ton of slack, which I've only seen from Jackson the one or two times I've seen him work with children. The rest of the time he's treating the adults (characters) around him like they're children.

Johnson seems very confident in his own abilities and willing to let the people around him shine, or learn their own lessons from their mistakes. His turns in the Jumanji remake and Baywatch spoof illustrate these well — Moana not so much.

[Peat]

I don't know why but something doesn't quite click for me with Crews as Roy. Maybe it's because he's pretty easily bothered in most of the stuff I've seen him, and that's not Roy to me.

[woweedd]

Off-subject: To me, Xykon sounds like Tim Curry, while Redcloak sounds like Tony Jay.

[Curtis Cook]

Off-subject: To me, Xykon sounds like Tim Curry, while Redcloak sounds like Tony Jay.

NOT off-subject! In the initial post I asked whether people had suggestions for actors (or athletes?) to play other parts.

I'm not as solid on the other main characters, but I do have an image of Karen Gillan as Haley and maybe the ever-so-superior Reese Witherspoon as Vaarsuvius.

Maybe one of those boy-band guys as Elan? Zac Efron from New Year's Eve/Baywatch springs to mind, though he might not be 'innocent' enough.

I really have no clue on Durkon or Belkar, though I'd like a genuine Scot for Durkon.

[hroþila]

Canonically, Xykon sounds a bit like James Earl Jones playing Vader and Mufasa, at least enough to want to do an impression immediately after becoming a lich.

[KorvinStarmast]

And while I love me some Dwayne Johnson (he always seems like he's just having a blast, which I like), I think Terry Crews edges him out to me. Yeah, last thread like this I was in I suggested the Rock as Roy. He does comedy well enough, and I think he can do that "look" that Roy often has to give when Belkar or Elan says or does something annoying.

I'm gonna put my 2cp on Samuel L. Jackson. He would make a fine Eugene Greenhilt.

On second thought, I have another nomination for Roy, now that I have seen the movie Black Panther: Michael B. Jordan. I think he would be a good Roy.

[KorvinStarmast]

Canonically, Xykon sounds a bit like James Earl Jones playing Vader and Mufasa, at least enough to want to do an impression immediately after becoming a lich. Is that something that Rich has shared with us? :smallconfused:

[CriticalFailure]

Is that something that Rich has shared with us? :smallconfused:

It’s in SOD.

[Rockphed]

Canonically, Xykon sounds a bit like James Earl Jones playing Vader and Mufasa, at least enough to want to do an impression immediately after becoming a lich.

I think Tim Curry could pull off the level of zany evil that embodies :xykon:. Getting the voice right would probably require an absurd amount of sound engineering.

[MossyMeow]

Related, but somewhat different question: if you (yes, you, the one reading this post) could voice a character from OOTS, who would it be?

Personally, I think I would be Tsukiko.

[understatement]

Lien.

If we're talking voice-acting, you can't go wrong with the Rock as Roy...maybe Saoirse Ronan for Haley? Emma Stone? I dunno. I feel like Michael Fassbender's voice could also work for something...maybe Kubota. Maybe.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Related, but somewhat different question: if you (yes, you, the one reading this post) could voice a character from OOTS, who would it be?

Greyview.

Grey Wolf

[Fyraltari]

Nale looks like a fun part to play.

[Curtis Cook]

Related, but somewhat different question: if you (yes, you, the one reading this post) could voice a character from OOTS, who would it be?

I'm sorry that I don't read the comic often enough to know the characters as well as you guys do, but I think I could do a good job as that Paladin with the blue hair who's with Ochul and recently surrendered to the 'Mystery Voice'.

[Fyraltari]

I'm sorry that I don't read the comic often enough to know the characters as well as you guys do, but I think I could do a good job as that Paladin with the blue hair who's with Ochul and recently surrendered to the 'Mystery Voice'.

You’ll have to fight understatement for the role, though.

[Rockphed]

Greyview.

Grey Wolf

When icy jaws of death find you, the only certainty will be that Grey Wolf would make an awesome Greyview.

Nod, get treat.

[Curtis Cook]

You’ll have to fight understatement for the role, though.

Ah, so THAT'S Lien!

Okay. So, I could be a goblin, maybe?

Or a horde of goblins?

[Schroeswald]

I dunno, lets call me Redcloak.

[ebarde]

I honestly never imagined Roy as being like super huge bodybuilder in terms of physique. Like, if someone of Dwayne's size did the whole arena scene, it wouldn't look like it was such a one-sided fight, plus a less extreme physique could communicate how Roy is supposed to be at least to some extent an all rounder(Although at this point he's as strong as an ice giant, but even the comic lampshades how silly it is considering he's still a regular dude).

[Peelee]

I honestly never imagined Roy as being like super huge bodybuilder in terms of physique. Like, if someone of Dwayne's size did the whole arena scene, it wouldn't look like it was such a one-sided fight

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dex75AvXkAI1byK.jpg

[littlebum2002]

I never understand why this forum, and society in general, insists on having men play roles they are WAY to old to play. I mean how on earth can people think 71 year old Samuel L Jackson can play a role of a 20 something? Or Terry Crews, who is 51, or even The Rock, who is 47? I've also noticed this is pretty much exclusive to the male characters: Ive never seen anyone suggest, say, Sigourney Weaver play Haley.

Here's a wild idea: how about we cast someone who is (-gasp-) age appropriate for the role? I know that's a crazy concept, but it just might work!


(My suggestion is Winston Duke, the guy who plays M'Baku in the MCU)

https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/5a8358b8b32dc64f6a3cb4d6/master/pass/Winston-Duke-Black-Panther.jpg

EDIT: The kid who played Micah in heroes is 24 now and is, apparently, pretty built:

https://celebvogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Mikah.jpg

EDIT 2: also the kid from the Hunger Games:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/34th-hunger-games/images/1/1a/Screen_Shot_2018-09-30_at_4.35.42_PM.png/revision/latest/top-crop/width/300/height/300?cb=20180930213631

[Fyraltari]

I never understand why this forum, and society in general, insists on having men play roles they are WAY to old to play. I mean how on earth can people think 71 year old Samuel L Jackson can play a role of a 20 something? Or Terry Crews, who is 51, or even The Rock, who is 47?

Two things:
1)
We tend to think of actors as the role we most closely associate with them. When someone tells me ‘Sam Jackson’ I picture Jules from Pulp Fiction and it takes a conscious effort to remember he’s not that young anymore. It’s the curse of pictures, just ask Dorian Gray.

2)
Roy is a stick figure with no mark of age and within his group acts mature and seen-it-all, playing both the role of the authority and of the straight man which projects an air of age.
I tend to think of him as thirty-something unlike Elan or Haley who act more young.

3) I lied
Make-up and cinema magic can make a lot to help actors portray younger people (not to mention child labour laws*). A Star is a guarantee of drawing the public in and (usually of competence) this guarantee is generally acquired by time. Besides there is also a tendency of actor playing older roles (especially women*).

*But that’s another discussion.

[littlebum2002]

Two things:
1)
We tend to think of actors as the role we most closely associate with them. When someone tells me ‘Sam Jackson’ I picture Jules from Pulp Fiction and it takes a conscious effort to remember he’s not that young anymore. It’s the curse of pictures, just ask Dorian Gray.

2)
Roy is a stick figure with no mark of age and within his group acts mature and seen-it-all, playing both the role of the authority and of the straight man which projects an air of age.
I tend to think of him as thirty-something unlike Elan or Haley who act more young.

3) I lied
Make-up and cinema magic can make a lot to help actors portray younger people (not to mention child labour laws*). A Star is a guarantee of drawing the public in and (usually of competence) this guarantee is generally acquired by time. Besides there is also a tendency of actor playing older roles (especially women*).

*But that’s another discussion.

As I pointed out, though, this is pretty much exclusive to male actors. So there must be more to it than "well we remember them being young"

[Fyraltari]

I’m guessing none of the playgrounders are studio execs.

[Peelee]

I never understand why this forum, and society in general, insists on having men play roles they are WAY to old to play. I mean how on earth can people think 71 year old Samuel L Jackson can play a role of a 20 something? Or Terry Crews, who is 51, or even The Rock, who is 47? I've also noticed this is pretty much exclusive to the male characters: Ive never seen anyone suggest, say, Sigourney Weaver play Haley.

Name a talented mid-to-late POC male actor who is built like Terry Crews or Dwayne Johnson who us as famous as those two.

[Curtis Cook]

As I pointed out, though, this is pretty much exclusive to male actors. So there must be more to it than "well we remember them being young"

I recently watched "Book Club", which is about four women who went to college together 40 years earlier, which would make their characters roughly 22 years old then and early 60s at the time of the film. At the time the film was released the actresses who portrayed them were 67, 72, 72 and 80. I realize that's not as big a gap as what you're complaining about, but it illustrates that women often do 'play younger' than they are in real life.

In fact, the number of 22-29 year old men AND women who play high schoolers is truly appalling. I just watched a golf movie that I thought was about a fictional college team until fifteen minutes before the end it was mentioned that they were playing for the Texas high school championship. The actor who was portraying a freshman was the tallest person in the movie.

And I agree with Fyraltari's point that "Roy is a stick figure with no mark of age and within his group acts mature and seen-it-all, playing both the role of the authority and of the straight man which projects an air of age.
I tend to think of him as thirty-something unlike Elan or Haley who act more young."

All of which is not to say that your opinion is invalid; I agree that Sam Jackson is to old to play Roy in a live-action treatment, though I wouldn't complain TOO much about him voice-acting the part.

[Peelee]

I lSam Jackson is to old to play Roy in a live-action treatment, though I wouldn't complain TOO much about him voice-acting the part.

I would, given that actual voice actors exist and are almost always better than live-action actors at voice acting.

[PontificatusRex]

John Boyega would make a perfect Roy, in my humble opinion.

Tim Curry (imitating James Earl Jones) for the voice of Xykon.

And I'd love to see Sean Astin play Belkar.

[Rockphed]

I would, given that actual voice actors exist and are almost always better than live-action actors at voice acting.

Also, while a young Sam Jackson would probably have been okay as Roy, I'm not sure that his voice now fits what I want out of Roy. He can deliver the straight lines pretty well, but Roy occasionally gets the funny-man lines.

[Darth Paul]

I would, given that actual voice actors exist and are almost always better than live-action actors at voice acting.

I would debate that, given, for example, the performances in The Incredibles. (Starring Jackson among others.)

As long as I'm here, though, I could see (hear) Jackson voicing Xykon these days, especially giving the "Power is Power" speech. He has the right combination of funny, angry, and just plain badass to pull off being the lich.

Michael B. Jordan (from Black Panther) could do a good Roy (and he's age-appropriate if that's an issue).

Also, I'm on record last thread as suggesting Bradley Cooper for Belkar.

Karen Gillan as Haley? Loved her in Doctor Who...

[Peelee]

I would debate that, given, for example, the performances in The Incredibles. (Starring Jackson among others.)

Don't recall but at a guess, Sam Jackson played one role, where he sounded like Sam Jackson? As opposed to a real voice actor like Maurice Lamarche or Phil Lamarr who could do the entire main cast?

Buggs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Scooby Doo's Shaggy, Popeye, Doug Funnie, Roger Klotz, Ren Höek, Stimpy J. Cat, Woody Woodpecker, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, and the Red M&M are all voiced by one person. All voices sound distinct, and none of them sound like the person who voices them.

Samuel L. Jackson sounds like... Samuel L. Jackson. He can play a single role, which costs a ten to a hundred times what a voice actor costs. And, in the case of Sam Jackson specifically, he quite literally can only play a single role.

Some live-action actors actually can do voice acting (J. K. Simmons comes to mind right off the bat), but those are few and far between.

[Darth Paul]

Ah... so "a real voice actor" is someone who voices multiple characters with their voice. I didn't get that was how you classified it.

[Peelee]

Ah... so "a real voice actor" is someone who voices multiple characters with their voice. I didn't get that was how you classified it.

A "real voice actor" is an actor who primarily, if not solely, works or attempts to work in voice acting. Not live-action actors who will take the occasional high paying gig as "raccoon who technically has a name but who knows what it is because thats William ****ing Shatner," which is offered to them solely for bringing the star power to the film.

I typically dislike live-action actors taking work from voice actors. The least they could do is actually do a different voice and try to let the voice actors be competitive for the job. Like the aforementioned J. K. Simmons as the yellow M&M, for example.

[ebarde]

Eh, to be fair tons of VAs use slight variations, or just straight up their regular voice. And I wouldn't say they are any worse than people that are always unrecognizable cause of it, if their reactions and emotions feel believeable for the character I don't really care if I can identify who that voice belongs to. And it's not like you have to use a different voice for each role, there's a lot more to VA than just the voice you're doing. I mean, how many VAs are typecasted cause they do this one voice that fits this role perfectly, extremely well?

Also, this kinda erases a whole bunch of amazing VAs that wear many hats. I mean you got Mark Hamill, Sean Astin, James Avery...Yeah, it always sucks when a celebrity get's a big role cause of branding, but that doesn't really justify ignoring that there's a huge crossover of on screen/on stage acting and VA

[Grey Watcher]

I don't have a lot of very firm ideas for these sorts of the threads, but George Takei as Lord Shojo is just too perfect.

I'm not 100% sold on it, but Melissa McCarthy can pull off the level of brashness be a good Minrah. I know a lot of the roles she gets have a much more crude sense of humor than OOTS, but I chalk that up to the scripts and not her;. And she's done good enough work in non-comedic roles that I think she has the range to do Minrah's less in-your-face moments.


A "real voice actor" is an actor who primarily, if not solely, works or attempts to work in voice acting. Not live-action actors who will take the occasional high paying gig as "raccoon who technically has a name but who knows what it is because thats William ****ing Shatner," which is offered to them solely for bringing the star power to the film.

I typically dislike live-action actors taking work from voice actors. The least they could do is actually do a different voice and try to let the voice actors be competitive for the job. Like the aforementioned J. K. Simmons as the yellow M&M, for example.

In fairness, that goes as far back as Disney's Pinocchio, who was played by child radio star in his own right. I mean, yeah the difference between "radio actor" and "voiceover actor" is academic in this day and age, but you could still argue that that was taking a role away from someone who actually did voice work for animation as their regular thing in favor of someone who was famous for doing something else.

[ebarde]

Yeah, a lot of voice actors at the time were radio people. And after that you get a lot of people that first persued other venues of acting, or sorta ended up as a VA cause of a gig and ended up really liking it. And of course, there's always those that like doing a bit of everything.

[Son of A Lich!]

If I could voice a character, hands down, no question, I'm calling dibs on the Empress of Blood. I always loved her lines and the character concept in general is fantastic.

...

Let me see if I can find my old microphone...

[ebarde]

I would do Nale, although honestly I feel he and Elan should have the same VA and I don't think I can do Elan...

[Curtis Cook]

I would debate that, given, for example, the performances in The Incredibles. (Starring Jackson among others.)

Michael B. Jordan (from Black Panther) could do a good Roy (and he's age-appropriate if that's an issue).

Also, I'm on record last thread as suggesting Bradley Cooper for Belkar.

Karen Gillan as Haley? Loved her in Doctor Who...

I didn't even recognize Jackson as the ice man in The Incredibles, which was mostly a comic role, so okay.

Cooper's not a bad choice for Belkar.

I don't care for Jordan's accent as the Black Panther, but am not familiar enough with him to know whether he can turn it off. Many British actors do amazing American accents, and Gillan is an example. She can do comedy, action, bad-ass sinister roles (Guardians of the Galaxy)….

I had to look up PontificatusRex's suggestion of John Boyega as Roy. He seems a little too unphysical to me, but when I saw he did the voice of Bigwig I was sold. Whenever I'm in need of a good cry I read over three passages from Watership Down: Bigwig caught in the snare; Bigwig vs Woundwort in the depths of the warren ("My chief rabbit has told me to defend this run, and until he says otherwise I shall stay here."); and the death of Hazel-rah.

[ben-zayb]

Name a talented mid-to-late POC male actor who is built like Terry Crews or Dwayne Johnson who us as famous as those two.All credits to their larger thna life persona, but it doesn't look like Crews or Rocky can pull off the more serious and introspective side of Roy at all. Neither of them also looks like in their late 20s to early 30s, so I can't even say they would be a good live action representation of Roy aesthetically.

I'd have to agree with those saying John Boyega can pull it off. I also believe Jonathan Majors has the chops to pull off a straight man, comedic foil role.

[hroþila]

I don't picture Roy as super buff, so I think I would pick Donald Glover, partly with a view to the inevitable musical finale.

[Grey Watcher]

As for the secondary question of who I'd play, given the chance? If I dusted off my singing skills (haven't sung even quasi-professionally in a long time) I think I'd want to play Elan. Even if he probably has a bit more of a pop-star sound than I ever could manage. Of course, that also might be a cheat answer because it means I probably get to do Nale and Tarquin.

Just for kicks, the Rookie-Cop-Turned-Chief from Cliffport sounds entertaining as well.

Though, to be fair, that'd only work an animated setting. My hair and complexion are way too dark for any of those characters.

And if we're doing voiceover, I may as well take advantage of the fact that I am routinely mistaken for the opposite gender over the phone and play Vaarsuvius.

[Peelee]

Oh, right, I forgot about the second part to the question.

It's a small role, but I'd be content to play the Silver Dragon (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0195.html).

[Darth Paul]

I don't care for Jordan's accent as the Black Panther, but am not familiar enough with him to know whether he can turn it off. Many British actors do amazing American accents, and Gillan is an example. She can do comedy, action, bad-ass sinister roles (Guardians of the Galaxy)….


Jordan was not the Panther. Jordan was Killmonger.

https://am21.akamaized.net/tms/cnt/uploads/2018/03/erik-killmonger-in-black-panther-1200x600.jpg

You gotta admit he looks good in armor.

Then again, so does John Boyega (when he was a stormtrooper). I could see him as Roy, he did some solid comic turns in the Star Wars series.

Who would I play? I always seem to end up as a dwarf or a cleric when we play D&D, so I think I would be a natural Durkon. And I have Scots ancestry, so I c'n do tha accent, y'know.

[Peat]

I'm sold on John Boyega as Roy.

If I could cast myself I'd do Tarquin. He'd certainly have a British accent if Hollywood ever got hold of it.

[WoLong]

All credits to their larger thna life persona, but it doesn't look like Crews or Rocky can pull off the more serious and introspective side of Roy at all.

Agreed. Roy is a big tough guy, but he's also a nerd. I wouldn't trust either of those guys to portray that convincingly.

[Peelee]

Agreed. Roy is a big tough guy, but he's also a nerd. I wouldn't trust either of those guys to portray that convincingly.

Terry Crews would disagree with you, given that he calls himself a huge nerd. Dude even had an art scholarship and originally wanted to do graphic design or visual effects!

[ella ventic]

I love Terry Crews, but don't think he's a good fit for this. He's better at "manic exasperated" rather than "deadpan exasperated," if you see what I mean. Also the age thing, of course. Donald Glover could undoubtedly act the heck out of it, though I think he's too short for this! I do love the John Boyega and Michael B. Jordan ideas. The musical theatre nerd in me also wants to see Daveed Diggs try it.

And speaking of musical theatre, I think we've got to get someone with those chops for Elan (and Nale... and potentially Tarquin!) The people I can think of are slightly too old, though: Zachary Levi/Josh Groban/Santino Fontana/Jeremy Jordan/Andrew Rannells...



As far as the second question, dibs on Celia, please. Gotta love a logician!

[Curtis Cook]

Jordan was not the Panther. Jordan was Killmonger.

You gotta admit he looks good in armor.

Ah. I associate him with the Creed movies, not Black Panther. Yeah, he has both the physicality and the youth to play Roy. Does he have the chops? I've only seen him in those three movies and I don't remember him being anything but serious.

[Liquor Box]

As I pointed out, though, this is pretty much exclusive to male actors. So there must be more to it than "well we remember them being young"

It's not.

You brought this up last time there was a "who would play xxx" thread, but it turned out the average suggested male actors had only a slightly bigger age gap with the characters than the average women actors did.

I can try and find it if you like?


Name a talented mid-to-late POC male actor who is built like Terry Crews or Dwayne Johnson who us as famous as those two.

Jason Mamoa?

I wouldn't cast him though - I don't think he's dark enough.

At the end of the day what matters is whether the person can look close enough to the character in terms of age (and race etc), not whether they are actually the same age. I tend to think a clean shaven Dwayne Johnson can pass for someone ten years younger, especially with the aid of makeup. But I think Crews would look too old.

So the Rock gets my vote - the role almost seems made for him.

The big fellow who leads the outcast tribe in Black Panther (not the guy pictured upthread - too small) is my second choice.


. Also the age thing, of course. Donald Glover could undoubtedly act the heck out of it, though I think he's too short for this! I do love the John Boyega and Michael B. Jordan ideas. The musical theatre nerd in me also wants to see Daveed Diggs try it.


Donald Glover is a skinny little fellow. He's simply not believable against Roy (whose incredibly strong). There's a reason almost every fighting/strength based sport is divided into weight classes.

[ben-zayb]

Ah. I associate him with the Creed movies, not Black Panther. Yeah, he has both the physicality and the youth to play Roy. Does he have the chops? I've only seen him in those three movies and I don't remember him being anything but serious.Honestly he's one of the weaker part of the BP cast. His Johnny Storm is so underwhelming. I am yet to see an impressive Michael B. Jordan performance. Haven't seen Creed, though.

[ebarde]

I'll be honest that watching Black Panther I mostly just wanted to know when Killmonger was gonna show up again to wreck stuff up lol

[Rollin]

In the early years of OOTS--and it was still around when I started reading during the battle of Azure City--there was a brilliant bit of fanart you could find, showing the stick figures of the Order members alongside more "naturalistic" portraits in matching outfits and expressions, that were, however, also clearly Samuel L. Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Michael Keaton, and I never identified who Durkon was supposed to be--he had a pretty distinctive look, and I don't think it was John Rhys-Davies, no.

[RatElemental]

Who would voice Xykon?

I know Ron Perlman has some experience voicing liches (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrlymHW0qU8).

[ebarde]

Xykon is Mark Hammil

[Curtis Cook]

Samuel L. Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Michael Keaton, and I never identified who Durkon was supposed to be--he had a pretty distinctive look, and I don't think it was John Rhys-Davies, no.

I'm assuming Owen Wilson was Elan and Jackson of course as Roy, but I can't for the life of me figure out who Jolie, Swinton and Keaton would've played.

Goblins, probably.

[ben-zayb]

Jolie had been objectified, like Haley. Tilda had to be V because she played androgynous characters—think Gabriel from Keanu's Constantine. That leaves us with Michael Keaton as Belkar... because he played a caped crusader?

[hamishspence]

That leaves us with Michael Keaton as Belkar... because he played a caped crusader?

Some of Michael Keaton's characters have been pretty Belkarish in their evilness.

[Peelee]

Some of Michael Keaton's characters have been pretty Belkarish in their evilness.

Like Johnny Dangerously.

[Curtis Cook]

Like Johnny Dangerously.

The people in our local gaming group still say, "Farging Bastich!"

[KorvinStarmast]

The people in our local gaming group still say, "Farging Bastich!" I have a few friends who still drop the occasional "fargin' war" or "fargin' ice hole!" line at opportune moments. That movie had another great throw away line, Joe Piscopo, something like:

"My mother did that to me ... once!"

(Been too long, I need to go and see that movie again to refresh my pointless one-liner collection)

[Peelee]

I have a few friends who still drop the occasional "fargin' war" or "fargin' ice hole!" line at opportune moments. That movie had another great throw away line, Joe Piscopo, something like:

"My mother did that to me ... once!"

(Been too long, I need to go and see that movie again to refresh my pointless one-liner collection)

You shouldn't hang me on a hook. My motha hung me on a hook once... ONCE!

The line about the .88 magnum aged poorly, unfortunately. But even the trailer was well made!

[Curtis Cook]

You shouldn't hang me on a hook. My motha hung me on a hook once... ONCE!

The line about the .88 magnum aged poorly, unfortunately. But even the trailer was well made!

We've veered off topic here, but this thread has been a lot of fun, and I've learned some things.

My favorite quote from a Michael Keaton movie comes from "Mr. Mom".
Jack Butler: Gonna rip these walls out and, of course rewire it.
Ron Richardson: You gonna make it all 220?
Jack: Yeah, 220, 221. Whatever it takes.

Then later in the movie he dreams that his wife has shot him and is going to run off with Ron. They're standing over his body. (paraphrases)

Caroline: Yeah, I shot him.
Ron: What'd you use, a 38?
Caroline: 38, 39, whatever it took.

And so the 'inappropriately add one to the previous number' meme was born. Well, one, two. Whatever it takes.

[Gaius Hermicus]

I’ve always thought that Tim Curry would be the perfect Xykon. You need somebody who can pull off a fairly harmless-seeming ham evil... right up until all hell breaks loose. Tim Curry seems like the man for the role.

Also... am I the only one who sees Mel Gibson as Julio Scoundrel? The aging, but still iconic sex symbol? The part seems built for him (unless you really needed a Latino Scoundrel I suppose).

[Schroeswald]

Also... am I the only one who sees Mel Gibson as Julio Scoundrel? The aging, but still iconic sex symbol? The part seems built for him (unless you really needed a Latino Scoundrel I suppose).

I feel like Julio Scoundrel does need to be latino, he's clearly not white, draws inspiration from characters and tropes from latin america and his name just doesn't sound like that of a white dude.

[Peelee]

I feel like Julio Scoundrel does need to be latino, he's clearly not white, draws inspiration from characters and tropes from latin america and his name just doesn't sound like that of a white dude.

So Antonio Banderas.

[Gaius Hermicus]

So Antonio Banderas.

Yeah, I suppose so.

[Grey Watcher]

So Antonio Banderas.

Considering that Banderas has played a lot of the characters that inspired Scoundrél (eg Zorro), that seems most appropriate.

[Quartz]

Why are people only considering African actors for Roy? How about some southern Indian / Tamil actors like Bala William? How about some Malay or Polynesian actors like Jason Momoa or Daniel Logan?

[Peelee]

Why are people only considering African actors for Roy? How about some southern Indian / Tamil actors like Bala William? How about some Malay or Polynesian actors like Jason Momoa or Daniel Logan?

.... Like the first suggestion was Dwayne Johnson.

[Fyraltari]

.... Like the first suggestion was Dwayne Johnson.

There also was Jason Momoa.

Edit: also while a fair share of African-American actors have been proposed I’m not sure any African ones were?

[Grey Watcher]

Why are people only considering African actors for Roy? How about some southern Indian / Tamil actors like Bala William? How about some Malay or Polynesian actors like Jason Momoa or Daniel Logan?

Because Roy is dark-skinned enough that it's difficult to parse him as anything but? (Not impossible, but I feel like a lot of, say, Indian people who become internationally recognizable tend to be paler, because of the interplay between culture, socioeconomic stuff, and geography.) And aren't there bits of book commentary that specify Roy as black?

And I think lumping all the non-white ethnicities as interchangeable could lead to some... uncomfortable implications. And more to the point, implications I imagine Rich himself would find very awkward at best.

By way of analogy, Ricardo Montalban, a Latino man, playing Kahn Noonien Singh, an Indian man, is just... weird. (Yes, product of its time and all, but still weird.)

[Gaius Hermicus]

Seeing as Julio is out, I’m going to push for Mel Gibson as Tarquin instead. That role might suit him better anyway.

[hroþila]

Antonio Banderas is white.

[Curtis Cook]

Antonio Banderas is white.

So Spanish does not equal Hispanic? I'd suggest Andy Garcia, but he's getting a little long in the tooth (as is Banderas, which I consider a stronger strike against him).

I did a Google search for 'hispanic actors', and out of the first twenty listed only three were both male and in the appropriate age band — Freddie Prinze Jr., Eddie Cibrian and David Gallagher. Probably our best bet would be to cast a flexible woman (Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Eva Longoria, Alexa Vega), or else go a little older (Valente Rodriguez, Benjamin Bratt, Esai Morales).

Probably our best bet would be to CGI Ricardo Montalban.

[Quartz]

So Spanish does not equal Hispanic? I'd suggest Andy Garcia, but he's getting a little long in the tooth (as is Banderas, which I consider a stronger strike against him).

Banderas is perfect for Scoundrel. That he's aging is just fine. I like the idea of Gibson for Tarquin, but Garcia is also a good fit. But for me the best fit would be Jean Claude van Damme.

For Roy's grandfather, how about Morgan Freeman?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

So Spanish does not equal Hispanic?

It's both complicated and political, so I won't go to deep into the explanation, but "yes and no". In the US, "hispanic origin" definition ranges from "only former Spanish colonies" (note this excludes not just Spain, but Brasil too) to "everywhere south of the US plus Spain and Portugal".

Banderas is both white and hispanic. Which is why when the Oscars tried to count him as a PoC (https://www.npr.org/2020/02/09/803809670/why-labeling-antonio-banderas-a-person-of-color-triggers-such-a-backlash?t=1587126073528), it went down badly. But I see no reason why he wouldn't fit Julio's character.

Grey Wolf

[Rockphed]

If we could grab actors at any point in their life for this, I would suggest Danny Kaye for Elan.

[TerrickTerran]

While I will always love and adore Tim Curry, he's had a stroke and I don't think he'd pull off the manic Xykon like he would have when he was younger. Mark Hamill though is always fun.

[Curtis Cook]

Banderas is perfect for Scoundrel. That he's aging is just fine. I like the idea of Gibson for Tarquin, but Garcia is also a good fit. But for me the best fit would be Jean Claude van Damme.

For Roy's grandfather, how about Morgan Freeman?

The Freeman idea is so perfect that it's almost typecasting. How about the recently introduced sister? There are an abundance of young black actresses, such as Camille Hyde (Alexandra Cabot on "Katy Keene") and Ashley Nichole Williams (Abigail Bellweather on "Motherland: Fort Salem").


It's both complicated and political, so I won't go to deep into the explanation, but "yes and no". In the US, "hispanic origin" definition ranges from "only former Spanish colonies" (note this excludes not just Spain, but Brasil too) to "everywhere south of the US plus Spain and Portugal".

Banderas is both white and hispanic. Which is why when the Oscars tried to count him as a PoC (https://www.npr.org/2020/02/09/803809670/why-labeling-antonio-banderas-a-person-of-color-triggers-such-a-backlash?t=1587126073528), it went down badly. But I see no reason why he wouldn't fit Julio's character.

Grey Wolf

Interesting; thank you for the explanation. My best friend is a Cuban woman who evacuated by plane in the late '50s (both her parents were in the transitional government between the Batista and Castro regimes), and she's as white as anybody I've ever met. On the other hand, Portugal (oddly) and Spain really fall into the Mediterranean category with Italy and Greece, so I can see the point.


If we could grab actors at any point in their life for this, I would suggest Danny Kaye for Elan.

Oh, he'd be a great choice!

[PontificatusRex]

Oh, and Tilda Swinton as Varsuvius. I mean, come on.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffrostsnow.com%2Fuploads%2Fbiograp hy%2F2017%2F07%2F20%2Ftilda-swinton.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

[Askthepizzaguy]

I put a lot of thought into some non-actors for this post. Or at least, not Hollywood actors, and acting is not their main gig. More to the point, YouTube personalities!

I watch a lot of Youtubers, and I feel there are certain people who are just uncannily good for certain parts.

It all began while reading Elan's lines in particular. Elan is this slightly irritating, naive, somewhat oblivious, perky / peppy, charismatic, and often loud character. Sometimes so loud that it is actually harmful to those around him.

There is one youtuber who meets all of these criteria and then some.

The comparisons continue, Elan is especially knowledgeable in his niche, being a bard and understanding narrative structure, and having unexpected skill points in odd places and talents that aren't particularly combat friendly. But he can also be actually useful in certain combat situations and, especially, helpful in a party, as opposed to on his own.

The obvious comparison is to one of The Runaway Guys, Chuggaaconroy.

I have taken to reading literally all of Elan's lines in Chugga's voice. Every memorable moment involving Elan makes absolutely perfect sense if it were being read by this person.

And because ProtonJon is often in videos bantering with Chugga in The Runaway Guys collaborations, along with other projects they do together, I began thinking of where ProtonJon fits.

ProtonJon is sarcastic, snarky, worldly, competent, highly experienced in almost all video games (he completes like hundreds a year, and got famous by playing Kaizo mario and other difficult hacks) and very persistent. He is also comically unlucky, as it seems like the gods of random chance are always conspiring against him. But he is also one of the kindest people in real life, as opposed to his character of playing a bit of a jerk in the collaborations they do. He's patient, merciful, tolerant, and protective of his vitriolic best buddy Chugga, and all of his friends, and even people who have been a jerk to him. He instructed people not to doxx or attack someone who lied about having cancer to trick people into playing his Super Mario world romhack, which he only played to satisfy the supposedly dying wish of someone who had cancer, having long since given up on playing romhacks, because he finds them irritating. He deleted all the attempts to doxx this guy and shut off the comments as well. This is far from the only example, he's instructed mods to unban people after they deliberately insulted and trolled him and got him to snap at them, but they were making a valid point as well. That's the sort of guy this is. He's also low-key hilarious almost all of the time, but he never sounds like he's straining or trying to be hilarious.

I was thinking, due to his sense of humor, if he wouldn't make sense as Belkar, but it just doesn't work. Belkar is a bit too one-dimensional (even Rich has written comics addressing Belkar's lack of depth and character arc, and his arc is basically now pretending to have depth and an arc, leading to actual character growth). So Belkar isn't the right fit, temperamentally, even though Jon can be a playful jerk and a bit of a troll during multiplayer games.

He makes the most sense as Roy, to me. Because he and Chuggaa have this vitriolic best buddies kind of banter, and they have mirroring opposite kind of personalities. Jon is worldly, knowledgeable, and a veteran of lots and lots of games Chuggaa has never played, and often plays the role of a mentor, even a suffering mentor, for Chuggaa, when they do collaborative projects, showing Chuggaa games that he never finished as a child, and helping guide him through the playthrough and even helping with particularly difficult parts. Elan annoys Roy, Chuggaa annoys Jon. But almost never in a way that makes them actual adversaries. It's just how they play off of one another.

Jon's cynical and sarcastic side would play well in the webcomic as Roy, being skeptical of the gods' plans, defiant against his father's abuse and selfish wishes, would match up perfectly with all of the scenes where Roy and Elan play off of one another, being a perfect match for that same dynamic with Chugga, and his caring-for-others, even his opponents or enemies, would match up perfectly with all the scenes where Roy doesn't kill someone even though they might be evil. For example, On the Origin of PCs, when he doesn't kill the orcs who are simply camping out for an Iron Golems concert, even though that is their mission.

Plus all the times Roy was willing to sacrifice himself for others, namely against Durkon-vampire, against Xykon, and even when it might mean dying just to stop the gods from destroying the universe. It just fits with Jon's more heroic and caring for others side of his personality. Jon's willing to endure some **** if it means helping others, which is kind of rare to see in an online internet personality. He's also willing to be merciful to those who do bad things, especially if they have a point or if they try to redeem themselves by apologizing. So he's tough, but not wrathful. And by tough, I mean he will totally crush you if you versus him in just about any video game.

So ProtonJon is basically a near-perfect fit for Roy, and Chuggaa is an absolutely perfect fit for Elan.

For bonus points, ProtonJon would make a fantastic Thog. He does voices, a lot of them, and when he voiced Big the Cat during their Sonic Adventure playthrough, he was utterly hilarious as he voiced that derpy and dumb character with broken grammar and limited vocabulary (except when it was funny otherwise). Particularly when Big the Cat got deep and talked about Nietzsche, whom he called "Neetches", and encouraged people to buy his audiobook.

His snarky and sarcastic commentary and voice also lends itself well to playing some of the recurring Demon Roaches parts.

The only guy I watch online with a Scottish accent that could reasonably fit for Durkon's voice is DDRJake, who does not work with any of the Runaway Guys. So this would be a bit of a cross-over.

That said, he does fit a bit with Durkon's personality.

Durkon is usually pretty chill, almost passive, letting others take a leadership role. You probably won't find many people online who are more chill and unemotional than DDRjake. When he's making jokes, playing a game he enjoys, or even playing a game he hates, there's almost no variation to the man's tone. He's the most deadpan snarker ever, you can hardly ever detect that he's making a deliberate joke unless you get the context of it. He's not humorless, but he doesn't emote his humor at all. He has a noticeable Scottish accent, and it is not at all hard on the ears. It's downright musical and chill to listen to. Playing Durkon would actually require DDRJake to emote more than he usually does, and I have no idea if he has any acting chops. But if he could do Durkon's more emotional scenes, he would be perfect for the role, and not just because of the accent.

In particular, when Durkon becomes vampire Durkon, DDRJake is basically absolutely perfect for the role. When he plays games, DDRJake often takes the most ruthless, brutal, and immoral route to a straight up victory, in grand strategy games or in civilization management games, you can't get a more cruel, ruthless, or cunning leader who is both devastating and terrifyingly effective. Since Vampire Durkon is one of the main antagonists of this atory, Jake would embody that particular character perfectly. Playing the role of a passive and diplomatic persona, but secretly being evil and cruel. All with the proper accent.

He's downright bone-chilling at times. Just watch him play Frostpunk sometime and you'll understand his reckless disregard for human life and comfort in pursuit of a victory. There is no exaggeration here, when the vampires are almost cartoonishly sadistic and cruel in this webcomic, DDRJake would absolutely nail all of those lines without altering any aspect of his online persona. Such cruelties are trivial for him, and so commonplace as to be banal and rote. He doesn't even play it up like scenery-chewing villains often do, he just callously and coldly does what he does.

It's not a totally perfect fit, there may be better, but from youtubers I know, there is no one better. The only weakness I see here is when Durkon has to have an emotional scene, or the vampire Durkon gloats. Jake doesn't really do that sort of thing. Maybe if he has hidden acting chops. Otherwise, he's a perfect fit.

Actually, even though he's a native Scot, he might have to play up his natural Scottish accent a bit more to match Durkon's nearly incomprehensible speech. DDRJake is well spoken, so again, to match how I picture Durkon, he would need to have some acting ability.

Therefore maybe he isn't quite the perfect fit, but how would I know unless he did an audition? I think he could do it. It's not that much of a stretch. But if he can't act, then we would need a different Scot.

I picture Durkon as sounding exactly like Gimli, so if we were doing actors, the same actor would get the part. I don't know how well Jake could mimic Gimli. Maybe someone else would be a better voice fit, but Jake is also a fine pick for all of the above reasons.

Vaarsuvius as a character is loquacious when it is his/her time to speak lines, excessively verbose even, and although s/he is an elf, has been known to emote quite a bit, especially in a threatening manner, such as declaring s/he is about to destroy his/her opponent, or when s/he sold hir soul to the demons in exchange for ultimate arcane power. Vaar is also a bit tsundere in my opinion. Vaar has that same arc with hir familiar, being cold and callous at first, and later, attempting to improve that relationship. And with Belkar, they were initially hot blooded enemies, but at times, the elf was the only one in Belkar's corner, considering his point of view, or coming to his rescue. Come to think of it, Vaar is very tsundere.

You need someone with a loud and forceful, confident, eloquent voice capable of clear enunciation, who is a powerful personality and capable of playing angry, aggressive, assertive, cold, distant, callous, but also, capable of changing for the better.

I noticed a voice that often collaborates with The Runaway Guys that meets all of those qualities during the collaborations, as opposed to her own solo projects. Particularly when she works with Chuggaa.

If you know her work, you obviously know that I am referring to MasaeAnela.

The aspects of her personality I find that most resemble Vaarsuvius are when she works with Chuggaa, or anyone else that might irritate her or piss her off. She has also been known to reject being called "cute", and reject being "shipped" with anyone. There is a vibe about her that makes it very clear her romantic life is her own business and no one else's, and she is not at all a flirt. Much like Vaarsuvius.

She has a hair trigger temper and is scary when she gets angry or has an opportunity to torment someone in a playful way. But she is not really a cruel person at all. And she is also definitely not heroic either, in any of their collaborative projects, she is aggressive and defensive, protective of herself above others, and has a very strong independent streak.

She just fits Vaarsuvius very well, with that neutral with cruel tendencies type of personality, but not cruel for its own sake, only when it serves her interests. She is capable of destroying those who oppose her without mercy, but she is also capable of working in a group with people that irritate her, and even come to their aid when necessary. Just like Vaarsuvius.

She also has a softer, contemplative, intellectual, and chill side, which is most often expressed in her own solo projects. When she is by herself, she is almost exactly like Vaarsuvius on a good day, or a calm day, when Vaar is just being a valued and helpful team member, and typically one of the only competent ones in the bunch.

And like Vaarsuvius, her competence has limits. She struggles in certain games and gets frustrated. Vaar has been known to struggle when direct application of the most powerful magic spells at hir disposal doesn't work. In collaborative projects, Masae is also not typically the one who wins every encounter, game, or versus mode. But she isn't bad either. So the limits to Vaarsuvius' application in every situation are sort of mirrored by Masae not being overpowered either. But when she puts her mind to it, she is also clever and rational and able to outthink, so like Vaarsuvius, even when she is outmatched, you shouldn't count her out. She has depths.

I think what makes her perfect for the part is how she goes from calm and pleasant in her solo projects to harsh and snappy in collaborative ones. Her voice is also very clear, loud, assertive, and intimidating despite how civilized it sounds. Basically, you'd have to hear her snap off at Chuggaa a few times and irritatedly tolerate him at other times, and you'd see how she would make a perfect Vaarsuvius for all of Vaar's most dramatic scenes.

She isn't someone who rambles or filibusters, but I feel confident if she was acting and reading lines, she could pull off those lengthy tirades no problem. She talks non-stop during her solo youtube projects, so she has no issue talking at length. She is just probably not as wordy when getting a point across as Vaar. But otherwise, the persona and voice is a perfect match, and I see no issue with the differences in her own personality being set aside to read Vaar's lines.

When it comes to Belkar, the voice needs to be able to emote well, make lots of dirty jokes and gags, and it needs to be boastful and assertive and aggressive when needed, but it also needs to come across as someone who doesn't take any of this too seriously.

Belkar's personality is selfish and violent, but otherwise fun to be around as long as you are not on his bad side. The "core" of his voice therefore needs to be someone who is actually pretty chill, and likes to have fun and mess around, but also be capable of a range of emoting. The actual specifics of Belkar being violent aren't that essential to the voice aspect.

Of the youtubers I know, the unlikely match for Belkar to me is actually still in The Runaway Guys, filling out the roster with NintendoCapriSun.

Here's the thing, NintendoCapriSun is in some aspects the opposite of Belkar's actual personality. For example, in their collaborative projects, while Tim (NCS) can be competitive and competent (particularly with retro games), he is also known to be quite the teddy bear.

He's more of a caring and passive, compassionate mentor kind of person, when he works with others. He's been known to give advice to folks that he collaborates with, and is the opposite of ProtonJon's more vitriolic mentor or trickster mentor style. He is usually serious about giving help, and unserious about all the jokes he makes. He doesn't really troll very much, and is usually a paragon as opposed to a renegade when he's on a team.

So, at his core, he's a knowledgeable, competent, virtuous kitten. Who tells lots and lots and lots of fart jokes, and engages in innuendo and toilet humor at the drop of a hat. Any hat.

In other words, he matches Belkar's chill and not-serious approach to the OOTS structure and universe. Belkar is not all that seriously invested in the plot, or the NPCs, or anyone else around him, but he does like to make burns and jokes constantly. He's the comic relief of the gang, even though he is competent and dangerous in a pinch.

What's funny is that, unlike the others, the aspects of Tim's personality that most closely match Belkar's more sadistic, aggressive, violent, loud side, prone to emotional outbursts, are when he does his solo projects away from The Runaway Guys.

It is in those settings, when the feelings of those around him are no longer being taken into account, and it is just him versus the video game, that all of Belkar's darkest aspects come bubbling up to the surface.

Tim is known to get enraged (for him) and rant (albeit not at length) about a game screwing him over, and he's been known to get serious, aggressive, and determined when he needs to defeat the challenge in front of him. He is more likely to show irritation, anger, shock, surprise, and otherwise get very loud, when he is on his own, as opposed to how he tends to take a chill backseat during collaborative projects.

Tim is basically a backwards Belkar from the mirror universe. I'm dead serious.

Whereas Belkar has been an unreliable, cold, callous, trolly teammate, Tim is the exact opposite. A reliable, virtuous, loyal paragon of a teammate who doesn't troll his friends. But when Belkar is on his own, he is chill, almost passive (except for the violence) not taking things too seriously outside of combat, and just an endless stream of jokes and innuendo and toilet humor. Tim is like that, except when he is in a group.

And while Belkar is evil, Tim is good. He's mirror universe Belkar, in an uncanny way.

But all the aspects of Belkar's personality are there, they are just being expressed in the opposite situations, and in the opposite alignment, so to speak.

And Tim nails both aspects of Belkar's personality, and his voice is exactly the kind of voice I picture when I hear Belkar speak.

Belkar is a halfling ranger Barbarian with a dim view of humans and non-halfling life forms, or any life forms, and is most definitely not cultured or well-mannered. Tim, while having an appreciation for all life, also kind of has a twisted take on everything, making toilet jokes and sexual jokes and ranting about random stuff that has nothing to do with the plot of what is happening, all the time. He's like an outsider observing either the game that he is currently playing, or society and life in general, and he rips on all of it, doesn't take it seriously, and he doesn't sound anything like the way I picture Vaarsuvius / MasaeAnela talking, or the serious way Durkon / DDRJake talks, or the snarky straight man that Roy / ProtonJon would sound like.

He's personally cultured, but he speaks in a kind of a mixed southern twang that is indicative of his having grown up in the south but lived in a lot of different states, and he doesn't take himself too seriously, and although Tim himself is incredibly smart and has a deep vocabulary, he talks like a regular person who doesn't really give a darn about the social niceties such as politeness.

I also picture him as the guy who could attend a corporate board meeting, dressed completely wrong, like a slob, and making actual farts and fart jokes during the whole meeting, going off-topic, not taking it seriously, and generally taking a dump on the entire concept of being prim and proper.

He just has that Belkar vibe. Their personalities in real life are like mirror universe opposites, like if there were a Linear Guild where Belkar's nearly identical opposite was Good instead of evil, but they are also somehow an entirely perfect match.

I can't think of a better person to play Belkar.

Tim would laugh at everything in the OOTS universe, not take it seriously, not pay close attention, be competent in any fight, and emote perfectly. And he has the chops to be able to play the team troll, even if that's not how he would personally behave. He can do it. He would nail every scene where Belkar is a large ham, and he would also nail every scene where Belkar has to emote for a change. He would nail every burn and joke. And his voice and general attitude are a perfect match.

I know, it's funny that all of the Runaway Guys perfectly fit someone in the OOTS universe. Seems like quite a coincidence, as if the only people I watch on Youtube are these guys, and thus, I forced these matches. But no, I am subscribed to probably 50 other channels and watch others regularly. These guys just so happen to all have personalities that fit extremely well in the Order of the Stick.

Haley is a little bit more difficult for me to place. She has a tendency to make wisecracks, and have her own selfish agenda about things (in the beginning, a bit, but that faded drastically over time to become the near-perfect teammate), and be a bit greedy. She is a rogue, and thus, chaotic. She's also one of the OOTS' more lusty characters, more worldly in the matters of romance, and more likely to be involved with innuendo. She can be serious, but unless the situation is dire, she tends to take a more carefree attitude about things, and crack wise. She is also a skilled liar, able to talk her way out of a lot of situations, so she is cunning and charismatic. That said, she had her shot at being the leader of the team, and while she rose to the occasion, she also was greatly relieved to not have that responsibility put on her. She is better at doing her own thing than leading a team, and better at following direction than doing her own thing sometimes. With Roy around, Haley becomes more competent, I think. There have been many times that she improved or became more combat-effective by following Roy's lead than simply acting on her own initiative. Roy has been a mentor of sorts to her. And she has been romantically paired with the team's bard, who is naive and oblivious to her affections at first, and not especially knowledgeable about subtext.

You might be able to see where this is going, especially if you remember who I cast as Roy, and as Elan.

In a lot of ways, Lucahjin can match Haley's personality.

She's been known to have to explain sexual innuendo to Chuggaaconroy on dozens of occasions where they have done crossover projects. Her worldliness and tendency to make raunchy jokes or innuendo perfectly matches Haley's greater adult-oriented nature when compared with Elan, who also perfectly matches Chuggaa's own naivete and obliviousness. She's done many crossover projects with ProtonJon, wherein Jon plays the mentor figure who helps her improve her skills, most notably in the Banjo-Kazooie playthrough on her channel, or the Fortune Street episode where she first joins The Runaway Guys as they play that. Jon was very much a mentor and teacher figure there, explaining how to play.

Jon also happens to be one of the inspirations for Lucahjin to get into Youtube playthroughs of video games to begin with, much like Roy was the one who recruited Haley.

Although she and Jon are romantically involved and she and Chugga are very much not, this is acting and she could play that role.

Not just her own voice and personality, but the strong similarities between her and Jon's relationship and Haley and Roy's relationship, and the personality dynamic between her and Chugga and Haley and Elan, makes her kind of a natural fit for the cast.

If she did multiple voices, I could also see her playing one hell of a Sabine.

Which makes sense, since Nale would be played by Chugga still, and Sabine is Haley's evil opposite. Lucah might even be an even more perfect match for Sabine than she is as Haley.

Haley might mean more acting on her part, whereas Sabine is literally perfect for her. I can't picture anyone else as Sabine, the lusty temptress. (No one makes more perverted jokes than Lucahjin, not even NCS)

Lucahjin is also gifted at dozens of voices, and her Old Man voice that she uses often, particularly for the judge in the Phoenix Wright series, would be perfect for Lord Shojo, since he's a wacky old guy who acts a bit mental and delusional.

Speaking of other voices, MasaeAnela would also make for one heck of a Miko Miyazaki, and no, I definitely don't think so just because of her ethnicity being an exact match. It is Miko's assertiveness and aggressive, bold, and terrifying aspects that make Masae a good match for the voice. Much for the same reason she would make an excellent Vaarsuvius.

I am sure there may be some others who could deliver a performance that is approximately as good, as Miko is kind of an easy and one-note character to voice, but Masae would wreck the part.

For the main villains, their speaking time is typically limited, and you need a badass voice to carry their scenes which are either full of gravitas, or are comedy relief.

Xykon needs someone who can do a deep voice, but is also charismatic and funny. I can't think of a Youtuber more charismatic or funnier than Patty, aka Pcull44444. His couch commentaries during AGDQ are legendary. He snarks, he sings, he cracks endless jokes, he does a thousand voices, and his natural voice is pretty deep, and he can go deeper and do impressive ranges.

Redcloak needs someone who can voice a goblin, one that can sound threatening when needed for the emotionally dramatic scenes, and otherwise just sound like a villain the rest of the time. I think Tom Fawkes as Lord Donator in the TRG streams does a perfect overlord villain voice.

There's probably more I can add to this cast but this is running long for now. I also haven't had time to proofread this, so more editing for me later.

_________________

So, that fills out the main cast.

:roy: Roy Greenhilt, :thog: Thog, :roach: Demon Roaches: ProtonJon

:elan: Elan the Bard, :nale: Nale: Chuggaaconroy

:haley: Haley Starshine, :sabine:Sabine, Lord Shojo: Lucahjin

:vaarsuvius: Vaarsuvius, :miko: Miko Miyazaki: MasaeAnela

:belkar: Belkar Bitterleaf, Zz'dtri: NintendoCapriSun (AKA Tim)

:durkon: Durkon Thundershield: DDRJake

:xykon:Xykon the Lich: Pcull44444 (AKA Patty)

:redcloak: Redcloak: Tom Fawkes (as his Lord Donator voice)

I kind of want to link to examples of each of these, so it will make more sense, but I have to step away and I don't want to lose the above post since I spent like an hour on it. So, maybe I might edit them in later. Plus they're trivial to find on Youtube or twitch so it's no big if I forget. And I will probably be the only person who is this enthusiastic about casting this particular group, so... this might mostly be a post for myself. If someone quote-replies to this post, make sure to keep the spoiler tags so it's not a giant wall for people to have to scroll past, please.

[Quartz]

I have not heard of any of those.

[Curtis Cook]

I have not heard of any of those.

And that makes two of us.

Well, it's a different take on the question.

[KillianHawkeye]

How about the recently introduced sister? There are an abundance of young black actresses, such as Camille Hyde (Alexandra Cabot on "Katy Keene") and Ashley Nichole Williams (Abigail Bellweather on "Motherland: Fort Salem").

Do you mean Roy's sister? She's not a recent addition to the story.... :smallconfused:

[Curtis Cook]

Do you mean Roy's sister? She's not a recent addition to the story.... :smallconfused:

Yeah, that was who I meant. Sorry, but I have no memory of her. I suppose with the home confinement I should go back and re-read from the beginning.

[RatElemental]

Yeah, that was who I meant. Sorry, but I have no memory of her. I suppose with the home confinement I should go back and re-read from the beginning.

Her first appearance in the comic was here (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0256.html).

[Scizor]

I put a lot of thought into some non-actors for this post. Or at least, not Hollywood actors, and acting is not their main gig. More to the point, YouTube personalities!

I watch a lot of Youtubers, and I feel there are certain people who are just uncannily good for certain parts.

It all began while reading Elan's lines in particular. Elan is this slightly irritating, naive, somewhat oblivious, perky / peppy, charismatic, and often loud character. Sometimes so loud that it is actually harmful to those around him.

There is one youtuber who meets all of these criteria and then some.

The comparisons continue, Elan is especially knowledgeable in his niche, being a bard and understanding narrative structure, and having unexpected skill points in odd places and talents that aren't particularly combat friendly. But he can also be actually useful in certain combat situations and, especially, helpful in a party, as opposed to on his own.

The obvious comparison is to one of The Runaway Guys, Chuggaaconroy.

I have taken to reading literally all of Elan's lines in Chugga's voice. Every memorable moment involving Elan makes absolutely perfect sense if it were being read by this person.

And because ProtonJon is often in videos bantering with Chugga in The Runaway Guys collaborations, along with other projects they do together, I began thinking of where ProtonJon fits.

ProtonJon is sarcastic, snarky, worldly, competent, highly experienced in almost all video games (he completes like hundreds a year, and got famous by playing Kaizo mario and other difficult hacks) and very persistent. He is also comically unlucky, as it seems like the gods of random chance are always conspiring against him. But he is also one of the kindest people in real life, as opposed to his character of playing a bit of a jerk in the collaborations they do. He's patient, merciful, tolerant, and protective of his vitriolic best buddy Chugga, and all of his friends, and even people who have been a jerk to him. He instructed people not to doxx or attack someone who lied about having cancer to trick people into playing his Super Mario world romhack, which he only played to satisfy the supposedly dying wish of someone who had cancer, having long since given up on playing romhacks, because he finds them irritating. He deleted all the attempts to doxx this guy and shut off the comments as well. This is far from the only example, he's instructed mods to unban people after they deliberately insulted and trolled him and got him to snap at them, but they were making a valid point as well. That's the sort of guy this is. He's also low-key hilarious almost all of the time, but he never sounds like he's straining or trying to be hilarious.

I was thinking, due to his sense of humor, if he wouldn't make sense as Belkar, but it just doesn't work. Belkar is a bit too one-dimensional (even Rich has written comics addressing Belkar's lack of depth and character arc, and his arc is basically now pretending to have depth and an arc, leading to actual character growth). So Belkar isn't the right fit, temperamentally, even though Jon can be a playful jerk and a bit of a troll during multiplayer games.

He makes the most sense as Roy, to me. Because he and Chuggaa have this vitriolic best buddies kind of banter, and they have mirroring opposite kind of personalities. Jon is worldly, knowledgeable, and a veteran of lots and lots of games Chuggaa has never played, and often plays the role of a mentor, even a suffering mentor, for Chuggaa, when they do collaborative projects, showing Chuggaa games that he never finished as a child, and helping guide him through the playthrough and even helping with particularly difficult parts. Elan annoys Roy, Chuggaa annoys Jon. But almost never in a way that makes them actual adversaries. It's just how they play off of one another.

Jon's cynical and sarcastic side would play well in the webcomic as Roy, being skeptical of the gods' plans, defiant against his father's abuse and selfish wishes, would match up perfectly with all of the scenes where Roy and Elan play off of one another, being a perfect match for that same dynamic with Chugga, and his caring-for-others, even his opponents or enemies, would match up perfectly with all the scenes where Roy doesn't kill someone even though they might be evil. For example, On the Origin of PCs, when he doesn't kill the orcs who are simply camping out for an Iron Golems concert, even though that is their mission.

Plus all the times Roy was willing to sacrifice himself for others, namely against Durkon-vampire, against Xykon, and even when it might mean dying just to stop the gods from destroying the universe. It just fits with Jon's more heroic and caring for others side of his personality. Jon's willing to endure some **** if it means helping others, which is kind of rare to see in an online internet personality. He's also willing to be merciful to those who do bad things, especially if they have a point or if they try to redeem themselves by apologizing. So he's tough, but not wrathful. And by tough, I mean he will totally crush you if you versus him in just about any video game.

So ProtonJon is basically a near-perfect fit for Roy, and Chuggaa is an absolutely perfect fit for Elan.

For bonus points, ProtonJon would make a fantastic Thog. He does voices, a lot of them, and when he voiced Big the Cat during their Sonic Adventure playthrough, he was utterly hilarious as he voiced that derpy and dumb character with broken grammar and limited vocabulary (except when it was funny otherwise). Particularly when Big the Cat got deep and talked about Nietzsche, whom he called "Neetches", and encouraged people to buy his audiobook.

His snarky and sarcastic commentary and voice also lends itself well to playing some of the recurring Demon Roaches parts.

The only guy I watch online with a Scottish accent that could reasonably fit for Durkon's voice is DDRJake, who does not work with any of the Runaway Guys. So this would be a bit of a cross-over.

That said, he does fit a bit with Durkon's personality.

Durkon is usually pretty chill, almost passive, letting others take a leadership role. You probably won't find many people online who are more chill and unemotional than DDRjake. When he's making jokes, playing a game he enjoys, or even playing a game he hates, there's almost no variation to the man's tone. He's the most deadpan snarker ever, you can hardly ever detect that he's making a deliberate joke unless you get the context of it. He's not humorless, but he doesn't emote his humor at all. He has a noticeable Scottish accent, and it is not at all hard on the ears. It's downright musical and chill to listen to. Playing Durkon would actually require DDRJake to emote more than he usually does, and I have no idea if he has any acting chops. But if he could do Durkon's more emotional scenes, he would be perfect for the role, and not just because of the accent.

In particular, when Durkon becomes vampire Durkon, DDRJake is basically absolutely perfect for the role. When he plays games, DDRJake often takes the most ruthless, brutal, and immoral route to a straight up victory, in grand strategy games or in civilization management games, you can't get a more cruel, ruthless, or cunning leader who is both devastating and terrifyingly effective. Since Vampire Durkon is one of the main antagonists of this atory, Jake would embody that particular character perfectly. Playing the role of a passive and diplomatic persona, but secretly being evil and cruel. All with the proper accent.

He's downright bone-chilling at times. Just watch him play Frostpunk sometime and you'll understand his reckless disregard for human life and comfort in pursuit of a victory. There is no exaggeration here, when the vampires are almost cartoonishly sadistic and cruel in this webcomic, DDRJake would absolutely nail all of those lines without altering any aspect of his online persona. Such cruelties are trivial for him, and so commonplace as to be banal and rote. He doesn't even play it up like scenery-chewing villains often do, he just callously and coldly does what he does.

It's not a totally perfect fit, there may be better, but from youtubers I know, there is no one better. The only weakness I see here is when Durkon has to have an emotional scene, or the vampire Durkon gloats. Jake doesn't really do that sort of thing. Maybe if he has hidden acting chops. Otherwise, he's a perfect fit.

Actually, even though he's a native Scot, he might have to play up his natural Scottish accent a bit more to match Durkon's nearly incomprehensible speech. DDRJake is well spoken, so again, to match how I picture Durkon, he would need to have some acting ability.

Therefore maybe he isn't quite the perfect fit, but how would I know unless he did an audition? I think he could do it. It's not that much of a stretch. But if he can't act, then we would need a different Scot.

I picture Durkon as sounding exactly like Gimli, so if we were doing actors, the same actor would get the part. I don't know how well Jake could mimic Gimli. Maybe someone else would be a better voice fit, but Jake is also a fine pick for all of the above reasons.

Vaarsuvius as a character is loquacious when it is his/her time to speak lines, excessively verbose even, and although s/he is an elf, has been known to emote quite a bit, especially in a threatening manner, such as declaring s/he is about to destroy his/her opponent, or when s/he sold hir soul to the demons in exchange for ultimate arcane power. Vaar is also a bit tsundere in my opinion. Vaar has that same arc with hir familiar, being cold and callous at first, and later, attempting to improve that relationship. And with Belkar, they were initially hot blooded enemies, but at times, the elf was the only one in Belkar's corner, considering his point of view, or coming to his rescue. Come to think of it, Vaar is very tsundere.

You need someone with a loud and forceful, confident, eloquent voice capable of clear enunciation, who is a powerful personality and capable of playing angry, aggressive, assertive, cold, distant, callous, but also, capable of changing for the better.

I noticed a voice that often collaborates with The Runaway Guys that meets all of those qualities during the collaborations, as opposed to her own solo projects. Particularly when she works with Chuggaa.

If you know her work, you obviously know that I am referring to MasaeAnela.

The aspects of her personality I find that most resemble Vaarsuvius are when she works with Chuggaa, or anyone else that might irritate her or piss her off. She has also been known to reject being called "cute", and reject being "shipped" with anyone. There is a vibe about her that makes it very clear her romantic life is her own business and no one else's, and she is not at all a flirt. Much like Vaarsuvius.

She has a hair trigger temper and is scary when she gets angry or has an opportunity to torment someone in a playful way. But she is not really a cruel person at all. And she is also definitely not heroic either, in any of their collaborative projects, she is aggressive and defensive, protective of herself above others, and has a very strong independent streak.

She just fits Vaarsuvius very well, with that neutral with cruel tendencies type of personality, but not cruel for its own sake, only when it serves her interests. She is capable of destroying those who oppose her without mercy, but she is also capable of working in a group with people that irritate her, and even come to their aid when necessary. Just like Vaarsuvius.

She also has a softer, contemplative, intellectual, and chill side, which is most often expressed in her own solo projects. When she is by herself, she is almost exactly like Vaarsuvius on a good day, or a calm day, when Vaar is just being a valued and helpful team member, and typically one of the only competent ones in the bunch.

And like Vaarsuvius, her competence has limits. She struggles in certain games and gets frustrated. Vaar has been known to struggle when direct application of the most powerful magic spells at hir disposal doesn't work. In collaborative projects, Masae is also not typically the one who wins every encounter, game, or versus mode. But she isn't bad either. So the limits to Vaarsuvius' application in every situation are sort of mirrored by Masae not being overpowered either. But when she puts her mind to it, she is also clever and rational and able to outthink, so like Vaarsuvius, even when she is outmatched, you shouldn't count her out. She has depths.

I think what makes her perfect for the part is how she goes from calm and pleasant in her solo projects to harsh and snappy in collaborative ones. Her voice is also very clear, loud, assertive, and intimidating despite how civilized it sounds. Basically, you'd have to hear her snap off at Chuggaa a few times and irritatedly tolerate him at other times, and you'd see how she would make a perfect Vaarsuvius for all of Vaar's most dramatic scenes.

She isn't someone who rambles or filibusters, but I feel confident if she was acting and reading lines, she could pull off those lengthy tirades no problem. She talks non-stop during her solo youtube projects, so she has no issue talking at length. She is just probably not as wordy when getting a point across as Vaar. But otherwise, the persona and voice is a perfect match, and I see no issue with the differences in her own personality being set aside to read Vaar's lines.

When it comes to Belkar, the voice needs to be able to emote well, make lots of dirty jokes and gags, and it needs to be boastful and assertive and aggressive when needed, but it also needs to come across as someone who doesn't take any of this too seriously.

Belkar's personality is selfish and violent, but otherwise fun to be around as long as you are not on his bad side. The "core" of his voice therefore needs to be someone who is actually pretty chill, and likes to have fun and mess around, but also be capable of a range of emoting. The actual specifics of Belkar being violent aren't that essential to the voice aspect.

Of the youtubers I know, the unlikely match for Belkar to me is actually still in The Runaway Guys, filling out the roster with NintendoCapriSun.

Here's the thing, NintendoCapriSun is in some aspects the opposite of Belkar's actual personality. For example, in their collaborative projects, while Tim (NCS) can be competitive and competent (particularly with retro games), he is also known to be quite the teddy bear.

He's more of a caring and passive, compassionate mentor kind of person, when he works with others. He's been known to give advice to folks that he collaborates with, and is the opposite of ProtonJon's more vitriolic mentor or trickster mentor style. He is usually serious about giving help, and unserious about all the jokes he makes. He doesn't really troll very much, and is usually a paragon as opposed to a renegade when he's on a team.

So, at his core, he's a knowledgeable, competent, virtuous kitten. Who tells lots and lots and lots of fart jokes, and engages in innuendo and toilet humor at the drop of a hat. Any hat.

In other words, he matches Belkar's chill and not-serious approach to the OOTS structure and universe. Belkar is not all that seriously invested in the plot, or the NPCs, or anyone else around him, but he does like to make burns and jokes constantly. He's the comic relief of the gang, even though he is competent and dangerous in a pinch.

What's funny is that, unlike the others, the aspects of Tim's personality that most closely match Belkar's more sadistic, aggressive, violent, loud side, prone to emotional outbursts, are when he does his solo projects away from The Runaway Guys.

It is in those settings, when the feelings of those around him are no longer being taken into account, and it is just him versus the video game, that all of Belkar's darkest aspects come bubbling up to the surface.

Tim is known to get enraged (for him) and rant (albeit not at length) about a game screwing him over, and he's been known to get serious, aggressive, and determined when he needs to defeat the challenge in front of him. He is more likely to show irritation, anger, shock, surprise, and otherwise get very loud, when he is on his own, as opposed to how he tends to take a chill backseat during collaborative projects.

Tim is basically a backwards Belkar from the mirror universe. I'm dead serious.

Whereas Belkar has been an unreliable, cold, callous, trolly teammate, Tim is the exact opposite. A reliable, virtuous, loyal paragon of a teammate who doesn't troll his friends. But when Belkar is on his own, he is chill, almost passive (except for the violence) not taking things too seriously outside of combat, and just an endless stream of jokes and innuendo and toilet humor. Tim is like that, except when he is in a group.

And while Belkar is evil, Tim is good. He's mirror universe Belkar, in an uncanny way.

But all the aspects of Belkar's personality are there, they are just being expressed in the opposite situations, and in the opposite alignment, so to speak.

And Tim nails both aspects of Belkar's personality, and his voice is exactly the kind of voice I picture when I hear Belkar speak.

Belkar is a halfling ranger Barbarian with a dim view of humans and non-halfling life forms, or any life forms, and is most definitely not cultured or well-mannered. Tim, while having an appreciation for all life, also kind of has a twisted take on everything, making toilet jokes and sexual jokes and ranting about random stuff that has nothing to do with the plot of what is happening, all the time. He's like an outsider observing either the game that he is currently playing, or society and life in general, and he rips on all of it, doesn't take it seriously, and he doesn't sound anything like the way I picture Vaarsuvius / MasaeAnela talking, or the serious way Durkon / DDRJake talks, or the snarky straight man that Roy / ProtonJon would sound like.

He's personally cultured, but he speaks in a kind of a mixed southern twang that is indicative of his having grown up in the south but lived in a lot of different states, and he doesn't take himself too seriously, and although Tim himself is incredibly smart and has a deep vocabulary, he talks like a regular person who doesn't really give a darn about the social niceties such as politeness.

I also picture him as the guy who could attend a corporate board meeting, dressed completely wrong, like a slob, and making actual farts and fart jokes during the whole meeting, going off-topic, not taking it seriously, and generally taking a dump on the entire concept of being prim and proper.

He just has that Belkar vibe. Their personalities in real life are like mirror universe opposites, like if there were a Linear Guild where Belkar's nearly identical opposite was Good instead of evil, but they are also somehow an entirely perfect match.

I can't think of a better person to play Belkar.

Tim would laugh at everything in the OOTS universe, not take it seriously, not pay close attention, be competent in any fight, and emote perfectly. And he has the chops to be able to play the team troll, even if that's not how he would personally behave. He can do it. He would nail every scene where Belkar is a large ham, and he would also nail every scene where Belkar has to emote for a change. He would nail every burn and joke. And his voice and general attitude are a perfect match.

I know, it's funny that all of the Runaway Guys perfectly fit someone in the OOTS universe. Seems like quite a coincidence, as if the only people I watch on Youtube are these guys, and thus, I forced these matches. But no, I am subscribed to probably 50 other channels and watch others regularly. These guys just so happen to all have personalities that fit extremely well in the Order of the Stick.

Haley is a little bit more difficult for me to place. She has a tendency to make wisecracks, and have her own selfish agenda about things (in the beginning, a bit, but that faded drastically over time to become the near-perfect teammate), and be a bit greedy. She is a rogue, and thus, chaotic. She's also one of the OOTS' more lusty characters, more worldly in the matters of romance, and more likely to be involved with innuendo. She can be serious, but unless the situation is dire, she tends to take a more carefree attitude about things, and crack wise. She is also a skilled liar, able to talk her way out of a lot of situations, so she is cunning and charismatic. That said, she had her shot at being the leader of the team, and while she rose to the occasion, she also was greatly relieved to not have that responsibility put on her. She is better at doing her own thing than leading a team, and better at following direction than doing her own thing sometimes. With Roy around, Haley becomes more competent, I think. There have been many times that she improved or became more combat-effective by following Roy's lead than simply acting on her own initiative. Roy has been a mentor of sorts to her. And she has been romantically paired with the team's bard, who is naive and oblivious to her affections at first, and not especially knowledgeable about subtext.

You might be able to see where this is going, especially if you remember who I cast as Roy, and as Elan.

In a lot of ways, Lucahjin can match Haley's personality.

She's been known to have to explain sexual innuendo to Chuggaaconroy on dozens of occasions where they have done crossover projects. Her worldliness and tendency to make raunchy jokes or innuendo perfectly matches Haley's greater adult-oriented nature when compared with Elan, who also perfectly matches Chuggaa's own naivete and obliviousness. She's done many crossover projects with ProtonJon, wherein Jon plays the mentor figure who helps her improve her skills, most notably in the Banjo-Kazooie playthrough on her channel, or the Fortune Street episode where she first joins The Runaway Guys as they play that. Jon was very much a mentor and teacher figure there, explaining how to play.

Jon also happens to be one of the inspirations for Lucahjin to get into Youtube playthroughs of video games to begin with, much like Roy was the one who recruited Haley.

Although she and Jon are romantically involved and she and Chugga are very much not, this is acting and she could play that role.

Not just her own voice and personality, but the strong similarities between her and Jon's relationship and Haley and Roy's relationship, and the personality dynamic between her and Chugga and Haley and Elan, makes her kind of a natural fit for the cast.

If she did multiple voices, I could also see her playing one hell of a Sabine.

Which makes sense, since Nale would be played by Chugga still, and Sabine is Haley's evil opposite. Lucah might even be an even more perfect match for Sabine than she is as Haley.

Haley might mean more acting on her part, whereas Sabine is literally perfect for her. I can't picture anyone else as Sabine, the lusty temptress. (No one makes more perverted jokes than Lucahjin, not even NCS)

Lucahjin is also gifted at dozens of voices, and her Old Man voice that she uses often, particularly for the judge in the Phoenix Wright series, would be perfect for Lord Shojo, since he's a wacky old guy who acts a bit mental and delusional.

Speaking of other voices, MasaeAnela would also make for one heck of a Miko Miyazaki, and no, I definitely don't think so just because of her ethnicity being an exact match. It is Miko's assertiveness and aggressive, bold, and terrifying aspects that make Masae a good match for the voice. Much for the same reason she would make an excellent Vaarsuvius.

I am sure there may be some others who could deliver a performance that is approximately as good, as Miko is kind of an easy and one-note character to voice, but Masae would wreck the part.

For the main villains, their speaking time is typically limited, and you need a badass voice to carry their scenes which are either full of gravitas, or are comedy relief.

Xykon needs someone who can do a deep voice, but is also charismatic and funny. I can't think of a Youtuber more charismatic or funnier than Patty, aka Pcull44444. His couch commentaries during AGDQ are legendary. He snarks, he sings, he cracks endless jokes, he does a thousand voices, and his natural voice is pretty deep, and he can go deeper and do impressive ranges.

Redcloak needs someone who can voice a goblin, one that can sound threatening when needed for the emotionally dramatic scenes, and otherwise just sound like a villain the rest of the time. I think Tom Fawkes as Lord Donator in the TRG streams does a perfect overlord villain voice.

There's probably more I can add to this cast but this is running long for now. I also haven't had time to proofread this, so more editing for me later.

_________________

So, that fills out the main cast.

:roy: Roy Greenhilt, :thog: Thog, :roach: Demon Roaches: ProtonJon

:elan: Elan the Bard, :nale: Nale: Chuggaaconroy

:haley: Haley Starshine, :sabine:Sabine, Lord Shojo: Lucahjin

:vaarsuvius: Vaarsuvius, :miko: Miko Miyazaki: MasaeAnela

:belkar: Belkar Bitterleaf, Zz'dtri: NintendoCapriSun (AKA Tim)

:durkon: Durkon Thundershield: DDRJake

:xykon:Xykon the Lich: Pcull44444 (AKA Patty)

:redcloak: Redcloak: Tom Fawkes (as his Lord Donator voice)

I kind of want to link to examples of each of these, so it will make more sense, but I have to step away and I don't want to lose the above post since I spent like an hour on it. So, maybe I might edit them in later. Plus they're trivial to find on Youtube or twitch so it's no big if I forget. And I will probably be the only person who is this enthusiastic about casting this particular group, so... this might mostly be a post for myself. If someone quote-replies to this post, make sure to keep the spoiler tags so it's not a giant wall for people to have to scroll past, please.

So you watched the recent TRG Coliseum, eh?

As for more traditional actors: How about Emma Watson for Haley?

[Draconian]

Honestly, I can't think of anyone (who wasn't already mentioned) for the main cast..

But some of my picks for some side characters:

Constance Wu - Miko
Awkwafina - Tsukiko
Jeff Bridges - Odin
Eva Green - Hel
Danny Devito - Oracle

If Christopher Lee was still alive, I'd slot him in for Tarquin.

[Gaius Hermicus]

Honestly, I can't think of anyone (who wasn't already mentioned) for the main cast..

But some of my picks for some side characters:

Constance Wu - Miko
Awkwafina - Tsukiko
Jeff Bridges - Odin
Eva Green - Hel
Danny Devito - Oracle

If Christopher Lee was still alive, I'd slot him in for Tarquin.

Awkwafina for Tsukiko sounds great.

If DeVito was younger, I think he'd be great for Belkar Bitterleaf. The cranky, pugnacious comic relief is sort of his whole shtick.

[Aedilred]

Is there any reason Roy needs to be a stacked like a bodybuilder? I thought part of his thing was that he had unusually average physical attributes for a fighter.

For the purposes of casting I think the manner is much more important than build, provided the actor's in reasonable shape. Roy's a bit of a challenge because while a comedic character he's also prematurely world-weary and a straight man for most purposes. I'm not sure any of Samuel L. Jackson, Terry Crews or the Rock fit the part, age notwithstanding.

Andre Braugher is too old, but I see him playing Roy rather more convincingly. Among more realistically aged actors who've been mentioned already, I think John Boyega is a decent call.

It's hard to picture live-action individuals playing the characters though for the same reason that Rich decided against an art upgrade for the Julio Scoundrél comic: when you've got used to the characters as stick figures, nothing else will look right.

[Peelee]

Is there any reason Roy needs to be a stacked like a bodybuilder?
No reason other than he's incredibly strong, even without the belt.

I thought part of his thing was that he had unusually average physical attributes for a fighter.

Not that I'm shooting it down, but where was that implied?

[CriticalFailure]

Roy has good physical and mental stats and is implied to be incredibly strong and the strongest in the party. Characters with mediocre physical stats are probably some of the casters and maybe Elan especially since he needed that cha based prestige class to be good.

[Curtis Cook]

Her first appearance in the comic was here (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0256.html).

Thank you for the reference. There's a lot I've forgotten.

[ebarde]

Tbh, I don't think having a high strength doesn't really affect your body size all that much, I mean you can have a human being stronger than a half-dragon who is all muscles and double their size, technically. DnD seems to operate in comic book/anime logic, meaning even characters that are supposed to be normal really have some matter of superhuman attributes. If muscle mass was that big of a factor in determining strength, humans would be comparably one of the worst races possible for fighters. I feel that if Roy is played by a bodybuilder, he'll be way more imposing than most other cast members, when he isn't supposed to be someone that seems all that special from a glance.

Heck, even characters like Nale or Elan are probably stronger than any commoner at this point. I feel that casting based on physical stats would just be a really hard rule to maintain and keep consistent.

As for Roy's strength compared to other fighters, that may be an extrapolation of Xykon and Thog's comment on his build, saying that his investment on not-primary stats wasn't optimal or that he should try for a stronger build. Although just cause of level alone there isn't much in the way of fighters that would make it for a fair comparison with him at this point in time.

[The Patterner]

A lot of interesting suggestions for many characters. By far my favorite has been Winston Duke as Roy (the guy from black panther), just look at some pictures of him, he would be great.

I could see Terry Crews being Thog, big and energetic.

Kelsey Grammer as Red Cloak.

Gogo Yubari (axe crazy school girl in Kill Bill) as Miko.

James Hong as Sojo.

Daniel Radcliffe as Belkar.

Have to think about the rest a bit more.

[ebarde]

I don't know why but I always read Roy's lines with Dulé Hill's voice, but idk. As for Kelsey Grammer he's a bit too old, since Redcloak is supposed to be at least biologically a young goblin

[Aedilred]

Roy has good physical and mental stats and is implied to be incredibly strong and the strongest in the party. Characters with mediocre physical stats are probably some of the casters and maybe Elan especially since he needed that cha based prestige class to be good.

We know that his highest attribute is Intelligence, as of his arena fight with Thog. That's even after having the opportunity to buff his Strength score three or four times, assuming his level is mid-teens. He's also got good enough Wisdom that he could have gone into cleric-ing, and he has a Charisma bonus too.

In the albeit non-canonical Snips, Snails 4e comic (but featuring the same version of 3.5e Roy) it's implied he'd be better off multi/prestige-classing into a warrior class that allows him to bring his INT into play than sticking it out as a pure fighter.

We'd normally expect a fighter to have their best stats in STR/CON. By implication, unless Roy has unusually high stats right across the board, his STR/CON are likely to be on the lower end of the scale for a fighter. He's undoubtedly got higher STR/CON than the average person, but that doesn't necessarily make him as stacked as a professional body-builder.

Having the highest STR score in the party doesn't necessarily mean a lot, because other than Belkar I wouldn't expect any of the others to have above-average STR anyway.

I think there might even be a word-of-god comment from Rich on the subject.

[hamishspence]

We know that his highest attribute is Intelligence, as of his arena fight with Thog.

His Str (with all upgrades including belt) is 29, whereas his Int is only 17-odd.

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?607385-Class-and-Level-Geekery-XVII-When-you-Wish-upon-a-Stat

He might have begun at 1st level with Str 16 Int 17, or so - but now, it's fairly safe to say that, even unequipped, he's stronger than Str 17.

[ebarde]

If Int was Roy's highest stat, he'd have more than V. He has a pretty good int but that's it, that being said it's pretty clear to me that his strength could be a whole lot higher if his stats weren't so spread out. We don't really know how stats are decided upon, but considering how much his spread out array is called into question, I'd say his primary stats suffer cause of the whole jack of all trades thing he's got going for

[Peelee]

We know that his highest attribute is Intelligence, as of his arena fight with Thog.

Ignoring the actual numbers, I came away from that fight thinking, "aha, in addition to being strong, he is also smart." I did not come away thinking, "aha, his intelligence far exceeds his strength."

[Aedilred]

If Int was Roy's highest stat, he'd have more than V. He has a pretty good int but that's it, that being said it's pretty clear to me that his strength could be a whole lot higher if his stats weren't so spread out. We don't really know how stats are decided upon, but considering how much his spread out array is called into question, I'd say his primary stats suffer cause of the whole jack of all trades thing he's got going for

I was misremembering some exact wording in the Thog fight. It's this strip (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0791.html) where Thog and Roy discuss how Roy can use his Int score in combat and Thog implies it's Roy's highest. Later, following the win, Roy says "that's how I use my Int score", which I had misremembered as "best score".

There is however this post (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=211493&postcount=201) from Rich where he says that both Roy's INT and WIS are "very good" and his CHA is "decent".

Roy's INT score is at the very least high enough for a career in wizardry to have been viable.

My interpretation of the comic has always been that Roy's strength is decent naturally, but is boosted to superhuman levels by the belt. When other characters say for instance that he's "as strong as a giant" they're referring to his strength as modified by the belt (of giant strength).

[The Patterner]

I don't know why but I always read Roy's lines with Dulé Hill's voice, but idk. As for Kelsey Grammer he's a bit too old, since Redcloak is supposed to be at least biologically a young goblin

Yeah, but in the case of goblins, orcs, undead etc we can't really use human standards, so Grammers age is irrelevant, his voice and body language is what matters.

Also, Red Cloak looks quite young, and to a certain extent act quite young. But he is in fact quite old and very wise (high wisdom), and I feel that Kelsey Grammer could make it work.

Mikael Fassbender is also a good choice.

[Peelee]

My interpretation of the comic has always been that Roy's strength is decent naturally, but is boosted to superhuman levels by the belt. When other characters say for instance that he's "as strong as a giant" they're referring to his strength as modified by the belt (of giant strength).

No magic items and a wooden sword (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0748.html) would seem to disagree.

[Liquor Box]

Tbh, I don't think having a high strength doesn't really affect your body size all that much, I mean you can have a human being stronger than a half-dragon who is all muscles and double their size, technically. DnD seems to operate in comic book/anime logic, meaning even characters that are supposed to be normal really have some matter of superhuman attributes. If muscle mass was that big of a factor in determining strength, humans would be comparably one of the worst races possible for fighters. I feel that if Roy is played by a bodybuilder, he'll be way more imposing than most other cast members, when he isn't supposed to be someone that seems all that special from a glance.

Heck, even characters like Nale or Elan are probably stronger than any commoner at this point. I feel that casting based on physical stats would just be a really hard rule to maintain and keep consistent.

As for Roy's strength compared to other fighters, that may be an extrapolation of Xykon and Thog's comment on his build, saying that his investment on not-primary stats wasn't optimal or that he should try for a stronger build. Although just cause of level alone there isn't much in the way of fighters that would make it for a fair comparison with him at this point in time.


I don't think you've got that right. Half dragons are the same size as the race they're mixed with. The are also significantly stronger than humans. People who are stronger than ogres or bears or creatures who are stronger than humans in real life, are generally stronger because they have some magical enhancement (like a belt).

Within size categories (like medium for humans) the rules don't specify whether stronger people are toward the upper end of that range or anything. I expect different people and gaming groups probably imagine it different ways.

In real life it simply doesn't happen that small people are at the upper echelon of human strength. There are weight classes fighting sports and weight lifting etc for a reason - if there weren't the bigger people would blow the smaller people away.

Roy is (even without his belt) at the upper echelon of human strength. Personally, I find it difficult to imagine him as anything other than a big strong guy even in cartoon form. I think the incongruity would be much worse (for me) if it were a film acted by real people. This is a pet peeve of mine, but I don't think I am alone - see the outcry over Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher.

[Peelee]

I don't think you've got that right. Half dragons are the same size as the race they're mixed with. The are also significantly stronger than humans. People who are stronger than ogres or bears or creatures who are stronger than humans in real life, are generally stronger because they have some magical enhancement (like a belt).

Within size categories (like medium for humans) the rules don't specify whether stronger people are toward the upper end of that range or anything. I expect different people and gaming groups probably imagine it different ways.

In real life it simply doesn't happen that small people are at the upper echelon of human strength. There are weight classes fighting sports and weight lifting etc for a reason - if there weren't the bigger people would blow the smaller people away.

Roy is (even without his belt) at the upper echelon of human strength. Personally, I find it difficult to imagine him as anything other than a big strong guy even in cartoon form. I think the incongruity would be much worse (for me) if it were a film acted by real people. This is a pet peeve of mine, but I don't think I am alone - see the outcry over Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher.

In addition to all this, visuals help convey implications. When an artist wants to convey a strong character, making them muscular is an easy way to visually grasp that this character will probably be stronger than most. Even in worlds where that can be enhanced by magic, or worlds where a lanky character has super-strength, a muscular character still conveys that they are supposed to be very strong. In anime's case, the lanky-but-strong character is playing against type, and it's surprising that they are strong. That's not the case with Roy, nobody is really surprised at his strength.

[Liquor Box]

I was misremembering some exact wording in the Thog fight. It's this strip (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0791.html) where Thog and Roy discuss how Roy can use his Int score in combat and Thog implies it's Roy's highest. Later, following the win, Roy says "that's how I use my Int score", which I had misremembered as "best score".

There is however this post (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=211493&postcount=201) from Rich where he says that both Roy's INT and WIS are "very good" and his CHA is "decent".

Roy's INT score is at the very least high enough for a career in wizardry to have been viable.

My interpretation of the comic has always been that Roy's strength is decent naturally, but is boosted to superhuman levels by the belt. When other characters say for instance that he's "as strong as a giant" they're referring to his strength as modified by the belt (of giant strength).

I don't think anyone would disagree with you that Roy is intelligent, but that in no way implies that he is not extremely strong.

He is. The class level geekery thread notes his strength is 29 (with a belt). I think belts only go up to +8. That is consistent with him either starting with 17 str and improving it four times, or starting with 18 str and improving it three times. So that puts his starting strength at either the 99.6th percentile or the 98.1st percentile. Either way he is very strong.


In addition to all this, visuals help convey implications. When an artist wants to convey a strong character, making them muscular is an easy way to visually grasp that this character will probably be stronger than most. Even in worlds where that can be enhanced by magic, or worlds where a lanky character has super-strength, a muscular character still conveys that they are supposed to be very strong. In anime's case, the lanky-but-strong character is playing against type, and it's surprising that they are strong. That's not the case with Roy, nobody is really surprised at his strength.

Couldn't agree more

Examples bear it out. Nobody doubts that Conan or the Mountain is strong - you know from the sight of them. But characters like Robert Baratheon who are written as being super strong, but is portrayed by an actor who look not out of the ordinary - so the audience doesn't know he's strong without reading the books.


I don't think anyone is saying Roy shouldn't be played as being intelligent. It's just that strength is something that can be gauged (to an extent) by looking at a person, whereas intelligence generally cannot.

[Curtis Cook]

Daniel Radcliffe as Belkar.

This is interesting, and I really admire Radcliffe, but I've never seen him play a borderline psychotic character. In that vein I think I prefer Elijah Wood who not only has already been pre-shrunk to Hobbit size (thus saving the production company a bunch of money), but has already done a delicious turn as a guy who wants to cut everybody up in "Sin City". Thanks for the inspiration, as up until now I haven't been able to visualize anyone as Beltar.


In addition to all this, visuals help convey implications. When an artist wants to convey a strong character, making them muscular is an easy way to visually grasp that this character will probably be stronger than most. Even in worlds where that can be enhanced by magic, or worlds where a lanky character has super-strength, a muscular character still conveys that they are supposed to be very strong.

To support your point I submit: Superman and (the original Fawcett) Captain Marvel. I've always thought that there was no reason on Earth for these two characters to be depicted as over-muscled, since they rarely have to strain themselves and therefore their muscles would never have the opportunity to become damaged and repair themselves, which is what creates muscle bulk.

[Curtis Cook]

I don't think anyone is saying Roy shouldn't be played as being intelligent. It's just that strength is something that can be gauged (to an extent) by looking at a person, whereas intelligence generally cannot.

Just to flog my own horse, to me this is another arguement for Dwayne Johnson as Roy, as Dwayne nearly always portrays a very intelligent character (Maui withstanding).

[Peelee]

Just to flog my own horse, to me this is another arguement for Dwayne Johnson as Roy, as Dwayne nearly always portrays a very intelligent character (Maui withstanding).

About as often as Terry Crews. The "brawns and brains both" character is popular these days.

[Aedilred]

No magic items and a wooden sword (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0748.html) would seem to disagree.

I don't see how that demonstrates that his strength is superhuman? Yes, he can beat up Belkar, but that's not in dispute.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I see Roy more as a younger Denzel Washington. What he does well is playing the most civilized man on Earth, more grounded characters where you'll really feel the impact when they do finally flip out and get angry. To me that's pretty much Roy.

What Dwayne Johnson does well is play exaggerated main characters. The moment he appears on screen you know that he's just much better than anybody else. He's so bankable because he can do it in a very likable way. You'll still think of him as a nice guy. Arnold Schwarzenegger pulls this off too, while someone like Vin Diesel* or especially Steven Seagal always comes across as a bit of an ******* when they (try to) pull this routine. This is not how I imagine Roy though, he's not clearly the best super main character you should be rooting for around, he's more of a Bruce Willis type man up against impossible odds.

*The great thing about Vin Diesel is that there are actors like Sylvester Stallone who are completely serious about their characters and can give it their all and there are actors like Samual L Jackson who are in on the joke and play things up for fun. Great actors can switch between both depending on the project they're in. Vin Diesel somehow manages to continuously be both types of actor at the same time. It's a mixed bag as far as making good movies is concerned, but it sure is interesting to see.

[hamishspence]

I think belts only go up to +8. That is consistent with him either starting with 17 str and improving it four times, or starting with 18 str and improving it three times.

They only go up to +6 (outside of Epic items), hence the question being asked "is it +4 or +6". Plus, being only level 14 or so, he cannot have more than 3 stat improvements - his strength cannot be more than 3 points higher than he started out with.

https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0687.html

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beltofGiantStrength

However, Roy also read a Manual of Gainful Exercise, and they go up to +5.

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#manualofGainfulExercise

Because the two bonuses are different (one is Inherent, one is Enhancement) they stack.

Inherent bonuses, once gained, cannot be negated or dispelled - they're permanent, not going away in antimagic fields.

So we know that, without the belt, Roy's Str will be 23 or 25.

If it's the best belt, and the best Manual, Roy's starting Strength could be as low as 15.

[Peelee]

I don't see how that demonstrates that his strength is superhuman? Yes, he can beat up Belkar, but that's not in dispute.

He gets hit multiple times by Belkar he hits Belkar once, which enough to completely disorient and stun Belkar. Again, I'm not going by numbers; I'm going by how this appears to the average reader of the strip. And that appears as if Roy is massively strong, even without any magical items.

This can be done with non-strong characters - off the top of my head, George McFly landing that punch on Biff. But almost every time it's done with a thin, lanky, or otherwise non-muscular person, it's for a narrative purpose. In George's case, that was the culmination of his entire character arc. For others, it would be a way to introduce them as a strong character without appearing as such. For Roy, it's neither. It's just him being freakishly strong, which we have come to expect.

[ebarde]

Honestly whenever Dwayne plays more grounded and less bombastic characters I always very much get a lot of actor dissonance, cause I feel he is just always doing his wrestler persona a bit too much. Which is understandable since most of the time that's what he's there to do if that makes sense, same way as most wrestler turned actors play larger than life figures that are close to the personas they are used to displaying. Which I get, since a good wrestler has to put on a good show and get strong reactions from people. But whenever I see a movie where he's supposed to be like a taxi driver or whatever, it just feels a tad silly to me cause of all his mannerisms and general showmanship I guess?

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Another reason why I feel John "the Dwayne" Rockson as Roy might be a bit too much is the balance between him and Thog.

Thog is a difficult character to get right. It requires someone who can act and has comedic timing, but he also has to be intimidating. Imagine him in the arena VS Roy, he goes from masked menace to childish simpleton to dangerous murder machine all in the same scene. Now there are people who could pull that off, while still being far enough down the ranking of the stars to play a secondary villain, maybe Scott Adkins, known from the Undisputed sequels (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIljr581he4)? Has he done anything funny? But pull that off while Roy is being played by Dwayne Johnson? That's near impossible. At that point the director is just going to use a CGI monstrosity for Thog and lose all depth, and nobody wants that.

Overall I'd probably be more inclined to cast the Rock as Thog than as Roy. He's got nearly the full range needed, he's maybe just a little too likable to properly switch to kill and destroy mode and a lot too famous for such a small role.

[Curtis Cook]

Overall I'd probably be more inclined to cast the Rock as Thog than as Roy. He's got nearly the full range needed, he's maybe just a little too likable to properly switch to kill and destroy mode and a lot too famous for such a small role.

Big actors do small cameos all the time. And the first time I saw The Rock he was playing a humorless murder machine — his original appearance as The Scorpion King in the Mummy franchise, before it spun off into its own franchise.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Big actors do small cameos all the time. And the first time I saw The Rock he was playing a humorless murder machine — his original appearance as The Scorpion King in the Mummy franchise, before it spun off into its own franchise.

To be fair, as a fan of the first movie in that particular The Mummy series that is one of the sequel scenes that does not hold up to what I was expecting.

To be fair the other way, that's hardly The Rock's fault, he was covered in plastic looking CGI, but it's still not the most convincing evidence that it would strike the right tone with today's movie going audiences.



On the other other hand, it would be kind of meta to make the audience root for Thog, it'll be just like the comic.

[ebarde]

It would be fitting since the character in the arena scene sorta became a parody of wrestler villains, who at times are more popular than the good guys(Does this make Roy Roman?)

[Gaius Hermicus]

Here’s a pretty good example of Johnson playing a Thog-like character: {scrubbed}

I think he could pull off the part.

[Peelee]

Hey, what about that appearance on Voyager?

[Schroeswald]

I just realized someone who would be good as Redcloak, Michael Emerson.

[a_flemish_guy]

morgan freeman as eugene, not only can he narate the beginning without anyone bashin an eyelash before his conversations with roy reveal him as an actual actor within the story but it would also be be nice subversion of his character with him being a crotchety old man instead of the wise mentor you picture him at

seth green as belkar

james earl jones for soon, you could have it as just a CGI, just for the ghost-martyr speech

[Schroeswald]

james earl jones for soon, you could have it as just a CGI, just for the ghost-martyr speech
Why would Soon be CGI? He's like, a human? Why would he just be a fake person when he's a ghost-martyr? If the [whatever we're casting for] is live action he should be live action, if it's animated he should be animated (also, feels a bit weird to cast notable non-asian James Earl Jones as the very asian Soon).

[RatElemental]

Why would Soon be CGI? He's like, a human? Why would he just be a fake person when he's a ghost-martyr? If the [whatever we're casting for] is live action he should be live action, if it's animated he should be animated (also, feels a bit weird to cast notable non-asian James Earl Jones as the very asian Soon).

Humans are notoriously bad at looking like transparent flying ghost figures without at least a little special effects.

[DemonicAngel]

For Shojo, I nominate Makoto Iwamatsu (RIP) or Greg Baldwin. Both did Akku (samurai jack) and Uncle Iroh (Avatar). I can actually see either also do Xykon, now that i think about it.
they both encapture the "Wise old man" and "lunatic big bad" pretty well

[ebarde]

Wait, are we assuming Soon will be completely CGIed from the ground up and not just some dude with a filter

[Ortho]

No magic items and a wooden sword (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0748.html) would seem to disagree.

To be fair, Belkar weighs about 30 pounds, (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0165.html) so I don't think this particular feat is as noteworthy as you're making it out to be.



Wait, are we assuming Soon will be completely CGIed from the ground up and not just some dude with a filter

I think the assumption is that an OotS adaptation would be animated, because stick figures are a core part of the strip's identity. Also, Jumanji's already cornered the market on the live-action-satire-fantasy-starring-Dwayne-Johnson genre.

[Peelee]

To be fair, Belkar weighs about 30 pounds, (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0165.html) so I don't think this particular feat is as noteworthy as you're making it out to be.

The overseers seemed quite impressed, to the point that Roy pre-emptied the half dragon in the roster.

[Schroeswald]

I think the assumption is that an OotS adaptation would be animated, because stick figures are a core part of the strip's identity. Also, Jumanji's already cornered the market on the live-action-satire-fantasy-starring-Dwayne-Johnson genre.

I started with that assumption too, but considering how much discussion there has been over whether X actor is the right Buffness Level for Roy a lot of people definitely aren’t working under it.

[Fyraltari]

The overseers seemed quite impressed, to the point that Roy pre-emptied the half dragon in the roster.

Imagine a monkey is climbing over you constantly hitting you (including your eyes) and you manage to get it off you, and whacj it into near unconsciousness in one strike. That would be impressive.
And the overseers have seen how nimble Belkar was.

[Peelee]

Imagine a monkey is climbing over you constantly hitting you (including your eyes) and you manage to get it off you, and whacj it into near unconsciousness in one strike. That you be impressive.
And the overseers have seen how nimble Belkar was.

So impressive that they thought I'm more impressive than of Andre the Giant who can also shoot lightning from his mouth?

[Fyraltari]

So impressive that they thought I'm more impressive than of Andre the Giant who can also shoot lightning from his mouth?

Apparently, so. I'm not one to tell the professional lanista how to run his business.

[Grey Watcher]

So impressive that they thought I'm more impressive than of Andre the Giant who can also shoot lightning from his mouth?

One thing to take into account is that they might have already had orders that Enor and Gannji were to fight each other, no matter what. So they're effectively disqualified from No. 1 from the start (since No. 1 fights Thog). If they hadn't had that restriction, maybe Enor would be No. 1 after all. It's never made explicit, so we don't know.

[Fyraltari]

One thing to take into account is that they might have already had orders that Enor and Gannji were to fight each other, no matter what. So they're effectively disqualified from No. 1 from the start (since No. 1 fights Thog). If they hadn't had that restriction, maybe Enor would be No. 1 after all. It's never made explicit, so we don't know.

It is actually made explicit (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0783.html):

Elan: How did they end up in the arena?

Tarquin: There may have been a few strings pulled. Consider this another special present for you, my boy.

[...]

Elan: Come on, Dad. don't do this. Let them fight other people, at least.

Tarquin: Where would the fun in that be? The whole point of this match-up was so you could enjoy the extra tragedy of the two of them fighting.

[Peelee]

It is actually made explicit (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0783.html):

Elan: How did they end up in the arena?

Tarquin: There may have been a few strings pulled. Consider this another special present for you, my boy.

[...]

Elan: Come on, Dad. don't do this. Let them fight other people, at least.

Tarquin: Where would the fun in that be? The whole point of this match-up was so you could enjoy the extra tragedy of the two of them fighting.

We don't know when Tarquin ordered that, though. I would argue it's after Roy sealed his spot in the front, since only Enor was called out as being in spot number 2. Besides, even going by the dextrous monkey analogy, it's not as if Thog is particularly hard to hit; they need someone who can make a good fight, not someone who can catch the golden snitch.

[ebarde]

Breath weapons aree purely genetical and thus unimpressive

[Peelee]

Breath weapons aree purely genetical and thus unimpressive

I fail to see how that follows.

[Fyraltari]

Besides, even going by the dextrous monkey analogy, it's not as if Thog is particularly hard to hit; they need someone who can make a good fight, not someone who can catch the golden snitch.
No they don't, they actually need someone who can make a good show. These aren't a martial art competion but gladiatorial games. Entertainment value trumps everything. Enor is way too laid-back to make an entertaining fight.

But that wasn't my point anyway: beating Belkar like he did was a show of strength, dextrerity and quickness. All skills very important to a fighter.

[Peelee]

No they don't, they actually need someone who can make a good show. These aren't a martial art competion but gladiatorial games. Entertainment value trumps everything. Enor is way too laid-back to make an entertaining fight.

But that wasn't my point anyway: beating Belkar like he did was a show of strength, dextrerity and quickness. All skills very important to a fighter.

A.) A good fight is entertaining in this. A bad fight is not entertaining. You yourself seem to agree on this in your second paragraph when you point out skills that are important to a fighter, not an entertainer.

2.) Enor would very likely not be laid back when in a diem to the death against anyone not Gannji.

iii.) The overseers didn't say "I could barely track that!" or "I can't believe he was able to hit him!", but rather, "he got knocked back to Basic!" They are marveling at Roy's strength.

[Aedilred]

I started with that assumption too, but considering how much discussion there has been over whether X actor is the right Buffness Level for Roy a lot of people definitely aren’t working under it.

If we're going to go animated, then I wouldn't have any of these people anyway. So many screen actors are surprisingly bad at voice acting: I'd want to see some VA body of work behind them. Unfortunately, outside Matt Groening cartoons, I don't really know any voice actors well enough to comment.

But I'm sure if you cast Harry Shearer and Dan Castellaneta as all the male characters you'd get a decent result regardless.

[Peelee]

If we're going to go animated, then I wouldn't have any of these people anyway. So many screen actors are surprisingly bad at voice acting: I'd want to see some VA body of work behind them. Unfortunately, outside Matt Groening cartoons, I don't really know any voice actors well enough to comment.

But I'm sure if you cast Harry Shearer and Dan Castellaneta as all the male characters you'd get a decent result regardless.

Groening tends to get the cream of the crop.