Killing off OOTS characters

[Wreckingrocc]

If you had to (and could) tell Rich Burlew to kill off one OOTS character, and he listened, which character would that be?

Personally- Belkar. His only funny line in, like, the past 200 pages was "I am a sexy shoeless god of war!" Other than that, he is just annoying. He was funny at first, but, his character has just lost all the humor and coolness.

[NENAD]

Belkar is constantly getting in the way of plot advancement and wasting comics killing red shirts.

Die, Belkar, die!

[FujinAkari]

None of them, they all exist for a reason and the comic would be irrecoverably lessened if they were to leave before their part was played.

[Kiren]

If you had to (and could) tell Rich Burlew to kill off one OOTS character, and he listened, which character would that be?

Personally- Belkar. His only funny line in, like, the past 200 pages was "I am a sexy shoeless god of war!" Other than that, he is just annoying. He was funny at first, but, his character has just lost all the humor and coolness.

Nah the mr.Scruffy thing was funny, and didn't he go against the mark of justice with the gnome, any way

Varsurvius hasnt done anything In a while

[Wreckingrocc]

V's awesome, Rich just focuses on Belkar too much. Look at how much time has been wasted following this rebel group crap?

Get the Order back together, and go do another dungeon crawl or something!

[Surrealistik]

V, for gods sake. Can't stand the pretentiousness of the character.

[Admiral_Kelly]

Belkar and Durkon will die eventually some point during the comic (according to the Oracle). Although both deaths could be in the epilogue and/or they could get resurrected.

[NENAD]

V can be annoying, but he can be easily developed (he already has been developed, but it doesn't seem to have done too much to make him less pretentious, though perhaps now he's less noticeably pretentious because he's more serious and reclusive). Belkar, on the other hand, is completely one-dimensional, cannot be developed, and is frequently a detriment to the plotline.

[Wreckingrocc]

I hate this new 'Serious, realistic' OOTS.

I liked the 'funny, worth my time' OOTS.

[NENAD]

During the battle, the more serious tone helped build drama. Now it's basically just The Empire Strikes Back. I'm all for a return to light-hearted humor, at least until the next climax.

[Mesfens]

Kill :durkon:

That character is so boring, and even in his description on the cast of characters page: always-reliable. Yeah, that is true. And he never does anything remotely interesting, unlike :elan: or :vaarsuvius: So he helped kill a gnome druid, that's a down in my book because gnomes have been terribly abused in this comic and ought to be treated better. And I'm a fan of gnomes. :smallbiggrin:

[Admiral_Kelly]

@Mesfens: First; I am pretty sure the druid in question was a dwarf EDIT: my mistake; he was indeed a gnome. Second; he did not kill him (in fact, he got away (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0399.html) - check the last panel of the second page). Third, the only gnome killed, humiliated, or harmed during the comics run was the 'Fox News' gnome (paladins, on the other hand, get WAY too much bashing). You can have your opinions, but get the facts straight.

[Callista]

Durkon.

Why? He's the most underappreciated member of the OotS. Without him, they will actually be forced to think about how much he contributed. The resulting lack-of-cleric trouble could cause quite a few close calls and/or funny situations, too. It's always been a given before: "Oh, don't worry; Durkon can take care of that." Everything from HP loss to poisoning to actual death. Even Belkar counts on him. Take Durkon out of the party, and it's like yanking the bottom out of a tower of blocks. Chaos (and possibly hilarity) ensues!

Ever played a cleric? Ever played in a party without a healer? Then you know what I mean!

[Wreckingrocc]

Adding to my first post: If not :belkar:, then my second pick would be :sabine:. Why doesn't :haley: just tell :durkon: to use detect chaos to figure out if she's a demon or devil? She hasn't really contributed much, unlike :thog:, the comedic relief villain, and :nale:, the recurring bad guy... :sabine: just has no contribution to anything.

[Estelindis]

Durkon.

Why? He's the most underappreciated member of the OotS. Without him, they will actually be forced to think about how much he contributed. The resulting lack-of-cleric trouble could cause quite a few close calls and/or funny situations, too. It's always been a given before: "Oh, don't worry; Durkon can take care of that." Everything from HP loss to poisoning to actual death. Even Belkar counts on him. Take Durkon out of the party, and it's like yanking the bottom out of a tower of blocks. Chaos (and possibly hilarity) ensues!

Ever played a cleric? Ever played in a party without a healer? Then you know what I mean!
I wasn't going to respond to this thread, as I don't want any OotS member to be killed off permanently (Roy, of course - I assume - is just killed off temporarily), but this post just changed my mind. I agree with Callista (something I seem to find myself doing a lot, actually). Durkon is underappreciated in the party and his loss would provoke some interesting reactions.

[monty]

I'd tell him to kill off :roy: .

Wait, he already did that. Never mind then, how about :miko: ?

Dammit, beaten to it again.

[Kish]

I hate this new 'Serious, realistic' OOTS.

I liked the 'funny, worth my time' OOTS.
If you're thinking the plot's going to go away and it will go back to gag-a-day strips in a random dungeon, you'd better be prepared for disappointment.

[Querzis]

Definitly Belkar or at least make him join Team Evil or the Linear guild. I think Belkar is really funny and cool but he keeps getting on the way of the plot and his evilness is just making the rest of the OOTS look darker. I especially means Haley, I could see her as CG before but now? Not so much. Belkar killed a defenseless gnome and will do it again with any defenseless bystanders he see. Roy could keep him in line and it seems he was really the only one. Without his permanent jailer, Belkar is a bigger theat to anyone then any evil people Haley might be able to make him kill. So I simply cant see Haley as really good if she just let him get away with that. At least make him pay with his treasure share for the gnome resurection or something. Belkar is too evil to stay in the OOTS any longer so if Rich doesnt kill him, at least make him switch side already! Come on, we all know he would have already done it if he didnt had such a short attention span.

And by the way Tired N' Drowzy, there is no way OOTS would have so much fan if it was still a joke comic in a random dungeon. I started reading it when it was around strip 250 and though I kinda liked the old comic, I became a real fan when it developped such a serious and realistic plot. I know lots of OOTS fan who never even played D&D or who started playing D&D because of the comic. The jokes are just a bonus, its not the reason most of the people come here and spend so much time discussing the plot of the comic or doing crazy theories.

[squid96]

I'd kill Xykon. I mean, he's the main villain in the comic. And if they kill him they can go back to adventuring in random dungeons.

[Night10194]

Belkar. He's got all of one joke. "I kill someone or something. The Party Does Not Approve. Hilarity."

Seriously. We get it. He's Chaotic Evil. He's a sociopath. The party 'hilariously' doesn't dump him or kill him. Can we get rid of the little bugger and move on with the characters capable of development now?

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Two are destined to die, one (at least) is destined to come back.

Belkar and Durkon are doomed, at least according to the Oracle. By doomed, I don't think they will be given the opportunity for a "do-over" like Roy is getting.

But the methods of their doom is what I wonder about...

Belkar kills just out of idleness and whim. I think he will be killed by the Snarl through an equally callous and careless act. Divine retribution for his behavior...

Durkon is a bit trickier... Somehow, I suspect he'll become an undead, and destroy his homelands... Very tragic, even darker than anything shown so far...


God, that's depressing. I blame Cerebus. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0242.html)

[Jube]

Two are destined to die, one (at least) is destined to come back.

Belkar and Durkon are doomed, at least according to the Oracle. By doomed, I don't think they will be given the opportunity for a "do-over" like Roy is getting.

But the methods of their doom is what I wonder about...

Belkar kills just out of idleness and whim. I think he will be killed by the Snarl through an equally callous and careless act. Divine retribution for his behavior...

Durkon is a bit trickier... Somehow, I suspect he'll become an undead, and destroy his homelands... Very tragic, even darker than anything shown so far...


God, that's depressing. I blame Cerebus. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0242.html)

As "Dark" as this comic has gotten I don't think it's anywhere near that level.

I can see Belkar dying to the snarl (Or anything really) I wouldn't be suprised if he died. The oracle however never predicted Durkon's death, just that he wouldn't go home untill he was dead.

Him becoming a ravenous undead monster and attacking his homelands would add nothing to the story. Least as far as I can see.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

If you're thinking the plot's going to go away and it will go back to gag-a-day strips in a random dungeon, you'd better be prepared for disappointment.

Well, personally, while I like the plot, it just gets depressing after a while. I wish it could be just a little bit lighter.

I am so sick of Azure City and it problems. It would be great just to have everyone back together (and alive), and having some fun adventures.

I know it's gonna be a while, but that's just how I feel. I still love the comic though. :smallsmile:

[Remirach]

Yeah actually I am one of those who is starting to wish Belkar would just die already. He didn't used to bother me -- he's been pretty funny on occasion -- but when they can't or won't keep his more atrocious impulses in check, it gets old fast. He isn't even a compellingly evil personality like most of the other villains, he's more like a running gag masquerading as a real character.

[Woof]

Belkar. I've never been a fan of evil characters. His "funny" lines do absolutely nothing for me.

[Fiery Diamond]

Belkar. I was always kinda iffy on whether I liked having Belkar in the cast at all. He had a number of funny jokes earlier on, but now it's getting monotonous. "Oh, look, I stab a traveler for no reason. I want to kill more people but you won't let me." That isn't funny, it's annoying. Seriously, either have him be more than one-dimensional or make jokes based on his less morbid side (i.e., just his stupidity, not his evil).

Everyone else I like.

-Fiery Diamond

[John Campbell]

Belkar is hilariously awesome, and reminds me of any number of people I've adventured with. He's a horrible excuse for a (demi-)human being, and, despite his fighting prowess, probably a liability to the group, overall, but he's always interesting.

The last thing Durkon did that was funny, cool, or interesting was pwn Leeky the druid with thunderbolt and hammer to the face. I think that may have been the first thing he did that was funny, cool, or interesting, too. Hell, most of what he does for the party is seldom even shown... it's just assumed to happen off-panel. He's a valuable asset to the group, but he's boring.

If I had to pick one of them to go adventuring with, I'd take Durkon without a second though. If I'm picking someone whose exploits I'm going to read about in a webcomic, though, it's Belkar all the way.

[zuzak]

Azure City.

[The Hop Goblin]

Rather than an open ended question like the title entails - this seems to me to be setup by the OP to be a Belkar bashing thread - and made sure to keep pushing the subject back onto his opinion whenever someone had a different idea...

Can you entitle your future threads more clearly? Thanks.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Rather than an open ended question like the title entails - this seems to me to be setup by the OP to be a Belkar bashing thread - and made sure to keep pushing the subject back onto his opinion whenever someone had a different idea...

Can you entitle your future threads more clearly? Thanks.

Meh... Belkar IS doomed to die, and probably will be the next one to go. That's why I think Rich had Belkar kill Solk like he did.

All of the other killings Belkar were involved in were semi-reasonable, but Solk was brutal and pointless. I wondered why Rich would have Belkar actually KILL Solk like that, rather than scare the heck out of him. That was (to me) the only time Belkar wasn't somehow justified in killing someone.

What can I say, everyone has their favorites... I thought Belkar was crazy/funny up until now. He WAS one of my favorites, now, not so much. :smallannoyed:

[doliest]

I wouldn't kill any of them, but belkar is one character I will suggest NO ONE kills, mainly 'cause he qualify's as my favorite characters for the party, durkon is kinda boring but if he dies, no tree jokes :smalleek:

[DementedFellow]

Personally, I think the only interesting thing about V is his/her androgyny. Sure s/he is a glass cannon, but aside from being pretentious, there is little personality.

[Nychta]

Keep Belkar! He's the psychotic, hilarious reminder of why we don't create evil characters.

I agree with the 'Get rid of Durkon' thing. I really don't like some of the decisions he makes, such as siding with Miko at the start, although I can understand why he would. He never really contributes to any punchlines.
However, a lack of a cleric in any party is flat-out hilarious. I'm sure some of you have played in at least one scenario where the cleric just couldn't make it. Well, I have, anyway, and the number of times where we went "Oh, no big deal, I'll just get a cure--- oh... damn!" were, well, too many to count.

I'm not denying that clerics are valuable and useful; come on, everyone needs a cleric. But if you take away an asset that the Order takes for granted: Poof! Instant humour! And the humour is in addition to the fact that we get rid of a largely joke-dampening character.

[monty]

I'd have to agree with killing off Durkon, now that I think about it. Remember when he got lost in the dungeon?

"Time for heals..."
"Oh no, where's the cleric?!?!"

[Ghastly Epigram]

Out of the Order itself, Mr. Walking Band-Aid (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0006.html) would be the one I would miss the least. He has very few funny moments, his character is not fleshed out (Belkar may be one dimensional, but he still has more personality than Durkon), he contributes little to the plot...the list goes on. A bit of a no-brainer for me.

Something I find fairly interesting about this discussion is that only the non-human half of the Order are being mentioned. What does this tell us? HUMAN SUPREMACY! *Slaughters a goblin*

[Trazoi]

If I had to pick one of the six OotS members to be permanently removed from the group, it's have to be Belkar.

Roy, Haley and Elan are the three most well developed members of the group, so the loss of any of them would be a big minus to the comic.

Durkon might be one of the least developed characters (although he does get a lot of back story in Origin of PCs), but he fills a vital role as the solid, dependable character that people can turn to. His main role personality-wise is to help the others get back on track (Haley seems to need this most often; I doubt she'd have hung around as long as she did in Azure City if she was with Durkon rather than Belkar). He can also act as a second straight-man for any jokes when Roy's not around; he's the guy you want around when one of the others is describing some crazy scheme that you don't want to reveal to Roy. Without him the group is too skewed towards wackiness.

I like how V's pretentiousness and often misplaced sense of logic works in the strip, so I don't want to see that go. V tends to balance out the impulsive nature of most of the rest of the group with severe introspection, which provides a nice balance.

Belkar also provides a nice contrast, because he doesn't really fit in with the rest of the group dynamic at all. That's a great source of humour. Unfortunately I feel he might be a little played out compared to the others - he really doesn't fit in at all and if the OotS group was acting sensibly rather than for comedy purposes they'd have dumped him ages ago. I personally don't think he needs to go, but as the storyline gets into more serious territory he might need a bit more re-inventing for him not to stretch believability.

[blackspeeker]

Something I find fairly interesting about this discussion is that only the non-human half of the Order are being mentioned. What does this tell us? HUMAN SUPREMACY! *Slaughters a goblin*

Dear Gods! We're speciesists!




Alright, I'm over it now. I couldn't request the death of any character, because it would interfere with Rich's story and I know if I did make a request and he listened he would make me rue the day I asked him to kill someone off.
Thankfully he doesn't listen to us, otherwise he could introduce far more annoying characters than belkar.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

If you had to (and could) tell Rich Burlew to kill off one OOTS character, and he listened, which character would that be?

Personally- Belkar. His only funny line in, like, the past 200 pages was "I am a sexy shoeless god of war!" Other than that, he is just annoying. He was funny at first, but, his character has just lost all the humor and coolness.

Well, if I had too, and it had to be a member the OOTS, it would definitely be Belkar. I find his antics extremely tiresome now. He only makes things a lot worse for the OOTS. Enough already.

But other than that, I really can't think of anyone else I'd want to kill off permanently. Not even the NPC's.

[NENAD]

Vaarsuvius and Durkon are both real...We just haven't seen much of them yet. They could both be developed into more likeable characters. I find Durkon likeable enough already, and even though Vaarsuvius is one-dimensional, he has more different types of jokes than Belkar and he could gain more dimensions.

I can't think of any way Belkar could possibly be developed past his psychopathic homicidal mania. I say, feed him to the Snarl. Though to be fair, Belkar probably wouldn't be annoying if he wasn't used so much! If Rich used the standard Belkar routine (i.e. I kill someone, party does not approve, laughtrack plays) less often, we probably wouldn't be so sick of it right now. Belkar jokes are formulaic and easy to write, though, so I doubt we'll see an end to them until they start having serious affects on the size of the fanbase. You guys can tell me how likely that is to happen.

[zuzak]

I think that Roy's death has had a lot to do with Belkar becoming less funny. I mean, he used to just be evil enough to enjoy killing enemies a little too much. If Roy had been present when Belkar murdered the gnome, I'm pretty sure there would be more punishment than not letting him have chocolate. Remember this chart? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0489.html)

[snoopy13a]

From the Order: Belkar

If we include all of the characters: Redcloak

[Wreckingrocc]

The last person I would pick from the Order is Elan, and from anyone, The Monster in the Darkness.

[The Extinguisher]

I'd tell him to kill off :roy: .

Wait, he already did that. Never mind then, how about :miko: ?

Dammit, beaten to it again.

Maybe kill off Shojo.
...Goddamn it.

[drengnikrafe]

The people I would most hate to see go are Vaarsuvius, Elan, and Haley. I believe that the most interesting death would be that of Belkar, and then follow him into the afterworld for a bit.
Think about it: We've seen the LG heaven, but where do the CE characters go when they die? It would be interesting to see Rich's Interpretation of that...

[Wreckingrocc]

If he gets pwnd by the snarl, there won't be an afterlife.

[OITS]

Getting rid of Durkon? Got feebleminded? He ist the coolest of the whole Order. Without him, there would be no more views of Thor, an umcompensative loss. Furthermore, I would miss his accent, especially when he is writing something^^ Of course there would be some fine jokes about the lack of heals, if he'd died temporarily, but taking him away permanently would be a) impossible (because of the heals) and b) enormous damage to the balance of the group. Roy is lawful but he is some sort of "hey, look at me, I'm lawful good, ain't that cool?" guy. So he is the strongest part of law in the group, and without him, there would only be the good-vs.-evil struggle left (Belkar vs the rest of the Order). Roy just can't defend lawfulness as good as a cleric. A dwarven cleric. Hell, dwarfs are the coolest race and clerics are the coolest class, and Durkon is the coolest member of the Order. And he is afraid of trees!(insert 17 exclamation marks)
Killing Belkar would also put away one of the struggles concerning alignment, even if he has gotten kinda boring, he still has style and his character is very good for making things happening that noone would expect. (just like Durkon (who agrees to get the whole OOTS imprisoned for... well, because of the rain))

Somebody said, Redcloak should be killed... well... I don't think, I'll have to defend him, for there are enough others to do so. He is damned cool too.

[Wreckingrocc]

Nicely put. My background on my computer is #40 (Durkon based).

[Calinero]

I've seen lots of people calling out for both Belkar's death and Durkon's. I don't particularly want anyone to die, but I agree that they need development more than anyone else. Belkar is the stereotypical "kill things!" CE, and Durkon is a stereotypical stoic dwarf. They need more!

[vivi]

I'd say :miko:, but since shes already dead...

[The Extinguisher]

Belkar doesn't get character development without being any less funny. Why do you think Xykon was given a born evil backstory. Because he wouldn't be funny that way. Belkar's recent murder is to show how evil is he. He's not neutral, or good. He has no limits.

Personally, I'm confused to this Belkar hate. In the previous comic, people were complaining that Celia wouldn't let him slaughter to his hearts content.

Maybe we can kill of Xykon.
...I'm not very good at this.

[Kaolix]

Am I the only one noticing the decline of posts about how Belkar is not TRULY Evil, he's actually neutral, or good, or lawful, or whatever, and a rise in the number of posts about how people don't like this newer, eviller, more sadistic-for-his-own-pleasure Belkar?

Anyone think theres some kind of correlation there?

Personally I like Belkar, he tends to provide a nice twist or alternative to most of the discussions within the party. Playing evil characters in RPG's can be brilliant, and often far more entertaining than good, and without Belkar the comic would not contain this perspective (Villains /= Evil Heroes). Needless to say I think that would be a bad thing - one of the most appealing aspects of the comic is how it contains so many of the possible facets of RP.

As such, my vote also goes for the 'I couldn't bear any of them dying before their due time'. It would simply remove too much possibility.

[Sixscimitars]

Nobody. If any characters got killed off before their time was due, then the impact on the story could be massive, unless they were so mind-bogglingly insignificant that no one can remember them. Besides, I like pretty much everyone-even Miko.

[Remirach]

Am I the only one noticing the decline of posts about how Belkar is not TRULY Evil, he's actually neutral, or good, or lawful, or whatever, and a rise in the number of posts about how people don't like this newer, eviller, more sadistic-for-his-own-pleasure Belkar?

Anyone think theres some kind of correlation there?

Correlation but not, perhaps, causation -- personally I never doubted Belkar was evil, but I didn't start to get sick of him until he was allowed to run completely unfettered, which is actually a brand-new development. Nowhere before in the run of the strip has Belkar had the freedom to do what he has now -- Roy would keep him in line with threats of physical violence or death, and then there was the Mark of Justice. Now he's not restrained by the limits of a town and unhampered by a leader who is going to try and take him in hand... it's not making him any more EVIL, but he's taking over the plot and not just the humor aspect. And Belkar is a character not even DESIGNED for serious development.

[Rayzin]

I think they should all die so they can go on some crazy interplanar adventure to destroy Snarl.

[Felixaar]

Belkar, though without him there would be less whores.

Just sayin'.

[Wreckingrocc]

No, Felixaar, he has no doubt killed whores in his time. Without him, there'd be more.

[zuzak]

No, Felixaar, he has no doubt killed whores in his time. Without him, there'd be more.

Not if V's theory (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0335.html) is correct.

[OITS]

Just to remember: without Belkar, O-Chul wouldn't be where he is now... just think about it - no acid-breathing shark. Those jokes alone "allow" Belkar to stay.

Without Durkon, there'd be no need for Haley to carry Roy around for there is no real chance to get him resurrected (none of the clerics of Azure City would be able to with their low level). You cannot put any part of this story away without ruining it.

[Wreckingrocc]

Sorry, let me rephrase the opening question: If it didn't have to negatively affect the story (I.E. if the character's story role was patched up during their death, like if Redcloak died, Zykon gets an new henchman who does the same stuff but has a different personality)

[Darakonis]

Rich has made the villains so likable that I actually root for them, and not the OOTS. I don't want to see the OOTS wiped out - I just like it when they fail...

I don't want to see Xykon ever killed off (though I know he will be) - that guy is hilarious.

I wouldn't be surprised if Redcloak ends up joining forces with the OOTS in the end, to kill Xykon. Rich seems to be building up to that, by making him spare the lives of those humans. He's showing us that RC isn't just some evil, despicable villain.

I was starting to really dislike Roy until he died. I hope he stays dead (though I know he won't) - his frustration amuses me.

I would want to kill off Dashing Elan, and see a return of Bumbling Fool Elan. I'm sorry, but that's one character that I just don't want to see be "cool" in any way. He's hilarious when he's being pathetic.

I'd like Belkar to join the bad guys. Would be interesting.

Haley, Durkon, and V are not characters that really resonate with me. I wouldn't mind seeing them developed further, or at least develop characteristics that I can either love or hate.

[Wreckingrocc]

Just pulling it back up... It was at the bottom of page 2:smalltongue:

Keep posting, this topic seemed interesting. Any other opinions?

[Cthulhu101]

Kill off........ Nobody, but If I must choose, kill off a angel roach, nobody will miss those.

[Draco Dracul]

Rich has made the villains so likable that I actually root for them, and not the OOTS. I don't want to see the OOTS wiped out - I just like it when they fail...

I don't want to see Xykon ever killed off (though I know he will be) - that guy is hilarious.

I wouldn't be surprised if Redcloak ends up joining forces with the OOTS in the end, to kill Xykon. Rich seems to be building up to that, by making him spare the lives of those humans. He's showing us that RC isn't just some evil, despicable villain.

I was starting to really dislike Roy until he died. I hope he stays dead (though I know he won't) - his frustration amuses me.

I would want to kill off Dashing Elan, and see a return of Bumbling Fool Elan. I'm sorry, but that's one character that I just don't want to see be "cool" in any way. He's hilarious when he's being pathetic.

I'd like Belkar to join the bad guys. Would be interesting.

Haley, Durkon, and V are not characters that really resonate with me. I wouldn't mind seeing them developed further, or at least develop characteristics that I can either love or hate.

I also don't want Xykon to die, I whan his phylactery and most of his body destroyed, with the exection of his head which would be kept by the Greenhilt family as a trophy/nik-nak/pet.


Also, kill off that temple priest from the first town.

[Ghastly Epigram]

Well it is no fun if you just kill off NPCs that appeared in like one comic. Geeze people. :smallamused:

On a somewhat related note, this is why I hope it goes back V and Durkon on the boat, because those ten strips were some of the most character development they have ever gotten, and I would really like them to get more screen time and get a bit more fleshed out. (Which is ironic, considering how light-hearted those strips were.) Because as it is now, like I said before, it would have to be Durkon for me. The way I see it, it is a vicious cycle; characters like Haley and Roy are better developed and have more jokes, so obviously we are going to want to see more of them. And the less of V and Durkon we see, the less we want to, because the others appear to have more potential and seem more interesting. So to me this is really their big chance to break out and prove they really are major characters.

Out of fairly important NPCs, Hinjo. He is nice and all, but is rather boring and steals far too much of the limelight.

[dragoncmd]

All of the other killings Belkar were involved in were semi-reasonable, but Solk was brutal and pointless. I wondered why Rich would have Belkar actually KILL Solk like that, rather than scare the heck out of him. That was (to me) the only time Belkar wasn't somehow justified in killing someone.

I look forward to a comment about that action in a future book, but for now, I think it was a response to all the "Belkar's alignment" threads. The Giant wanted to cement Belkar's alignment as evil, and show the importance of Roy in holding the team together. Who remembers all of the rants about Roy being a stupid and useless character before he was killed? Belkar still is one of my favorite characters, but that strip really shows how evil he is.

As for the previous rant about V, V and Belkar are the only characters in OOTS that has not truely grown in any way. Roy has changed a huge amount over the course of the comic, while Haley and Elan both have had their own bits of characterization. V still remains static. I love V's character, but Rich needs to take him/her somewhere. After 550 strips of the same old stuff its bound to get stale.

If I had to pick a character to kill off, i would pick Durkon. He is a fabulous character and a great straight man for the jokes, the the lack of a cleric would open up a few inresting possibilites and challenges for the party.

[Jayngfet]

trigak

oh wait...

[Crimples]

I say none. They are all cool and interesting. Different characters make the story rich. I like their interaction with eachother and their quirks. In the end they are all part of it for giggles and plot. No culling unless it fits into the plot like Roy.

[dish]

None of them.

The Giant has promised us future V character development, and I want to see it.
Durkon and Belkar have prophesied deaths - though these may not be permanent deaths, as others have noted - and when the time for those comes it'll happen.
The death of Xykon would pretty much end the quest, and I really want to see how Redcloak continues to develop in the future.
Again, we've been promised more information about Sabine, which I'd like to find out about, and what would be the point of killing off Nale or Thog?
Hinjo could maybe be expendable, but it would be nice to see the Azure City situation resolved satisfactorily.
O'Chul seems to be being set up for a sacrifice, and I'd hate that because we're learning to love him more and more.

Is anybody else important enough to matter?

(I do agree that Belkar probably killed Solk in order to finally cement his 'definitely evil' alignment.)

[Quorothorn]

I hate this new 'Serious, realistic' OOTS.

I liked the 'funny, worth my time' OOTS.

Gag-a-day gets old fast. Looking back, the first few dozen OotS strips seem quite weak to me in comparison to the later ones (they're still good, just not as interesting).


Adding to my first post: If not :belkar:, then my second pick would be :sabine:. Why doesn't :haley: just tell :durkon: to use detect chaos to figure out if she's a demon or devil? She hasn't really contributed much, unlike :thog:, the comedic relief villain, and :nale:, the recurring bad guy... :sabine: just has no contribution to anything.

They've always had other things to do. And as Rich said in the commentary on the subject of why don't the characters just use [some rather obscure spell] to solve their problem instantly: "Well, that's exactly why they don't". Also, there are plans for Sabine; that is clear.


Vaarsuvius and Durkon are both real...We just haven't seen much of them yet. They could both be developed into more likeable characters. I find Durkon likeable enough already, and even though Vaarsuvius is one-dimensional, he has more different types of jokes than Belkar and he could gain more dimensions.

I can't think of any way Belkar could possibly be developed past his psychopathic homicidal mania. I say, feed him to the Snarl. Though to be fair, Belkar probably wouldn't be annoying if he wasn't used so much! If Rich used the standard Belkar routine (i.e. I kill someone, party does not approve, laughtrack plays) less often, we probably wouldn't be so sick of it right now. Belkar jokes are formulaic and easy to write, though, so I doubt we'll see an end to them until they start having serious affects on the size of the fanbase. You guys can tell me how likely that is to happen.

My problem with Snarl-feeding is that, if there really is nothing post-death for those it kills (which I don't believe; personal real-life belief that truly, permanently destroying a soul is impossible), then no one deserves it, not even Belkar or Xykon.


No, Felixaar, he has no doubt killed whores in his time. Without him, there'd be more.

Seriously now, why would he kill them when he could bang them instead? I think you're forgetting that Belkar has more than one facet to his personality.


I would want to kill off Dashing Elan, and see a return of Bumbling Fool Elan. I'm sorry, but that's one character that I just don't want to see be "cool" in any way. He's hilarious when he's being pathetic.

I dunno, it seems to me that Elan is still lovably bumbling; it's just he also has some degree of effectiveness (that combination has always been present, actually: it's just now the effectiveness is more than 2% of the time).


For instance. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0505.html)

[Drackthor]

Am I the only one noticing the decline of posts about how Belkar is not TRULY Evil, he's actually neutral, or good, or lawful, or whatever, and a rise in the number of posts about how people don't like this newer, eviller, more sadistic-for-his-own-pleasure Belkar?

Anyone think theres some kind of correlation there?

Honestly, I think the only true correlation there is that if Rich Burlew put out a comic that made your printer shoot out genuine $100 US bills, there'd be a thread complaining about how Rich isn't thinking about other countries, a thread about how this page is taking away from the story as a whole, and a thread about how this page takes forever to load.

[Charles Phipps]

Roy is more interesting dead and I hope he stays a Spirit Guide.

[Kish]

Roy is more interesting dead and I hope he stays a Spirit Guide.
I hope the next strip does make my printer shoot out $100 bills, myself.

[Morty]

Roy is more interesting dead and I hope he stays a Spirit Guide.

Without being noticable by anyone, he's going to be one heck of a Spirit Guide.

[Charles Phipps]

Without being noticable by anyone, he's going to be one heck of a Spirit Guide.

That's the whole shtick of Roy isn't it? Roy is the Charlie Brown of Fantasy Protagonists in that absolutely nothing goes right for him. It's what makes him funny.

Being unable to get resurrected is certainly an example of it.

[Beholder1995]

trigak

oh wait...

Don't rule out Trigak. While it's immensly likely that Elan was just fooling around- you never know. He may be a reccuring villain.

While we're at it: Yikyik. Oh, dang.

[dranderhilt81]

If Belkar died, like forever, I'd probably stop reading. Belkar is the funniest character in the whole series.

People say he's one dimensional and doesn't serve the plot at all or even hinders the plot. There's not one webcomic that i read for plot. Webcomics, to me, are suppose to be funny. everything else comes after, and Belkar makes me roar.

There's not any characters that I would wanna kill off. Maybe Haley. She hasn't been that funny lately. Well, taking a level of ranger to get the favored enemy of "flying tramp" was a pretty good line. But other than that, I don't find her that funny anymore.

The funny thing with humor though, people either find it funny or annoying. If it appeals to ones sense of humor, they say it's funny, if it doesn't, people say it's annoying. Belkar appeals to my sense of humor.

List of priorities just with the order of the stick gang.

Belkar (best)
Belkar again
Roy
Durkon
Elan
V
Haley (she use to be much higher on the list)

[Crispy SpThief]

I don't think I could kill any member of the Order. They all have their own wodnerful additions.

Roy: perfect straight man, and has some hilarious sarcasm.
Elan: Oddball sense of humor, great for thos "out of the blue awkward" moments.
Durkon: Come on, his playout of the dwarven stereotype is hilarious, and his lil quirks (scared of trees. XD )
Belkar: Nothing like a lil more chaos blended with evil for some fun moments, though his eagrness to kill can get a lil annoying. he makes up for it with some of the best lines out there.
V: I love sexual ambiguity, and V is king/queen of that.
Haley: Classic Rogue, cute (though not as cute as Lien), and her ability to swindle people never cease to amuse me.

Really, it's "Sophie's Choice" all over again with this topic.

[Wreckingrocc]

To rephrase the question: Now there are two.

1. Who would you kill off from the 6 in the Order? (saying Roy counts as wanting him permenantly dead)

2. Out of the Comic: Any character you want to be dead forever.

[Kosmopolite]

I think they should all die so they can go on some crazy interplanar adventure to destroy Snarl.

This.

Seriously, though, although I see the criticisms against Belkar, V and Durkon, I don't think the comic would be the same without them. That isn't to say that I'm worried about it affecting the storyline or whatever, but I think (as others have said) that the whole group dynamic works well. The problem right now is that the group isn't together, so the emphases and screen-time of certain characters are out of whack. When they're all back together and playing off each other again, I think there'll be more fun to be had with these characters. Perhaps individually they're not the best, but as part of the group, I think they work well.

On the other hand, my least favourite character at the moment is probably Belkar. Without Roy (or anyone but Hayley) to play off of, his scenes are pretty formulaic, and don't do anything to advance the plot (in this plot-scentric portion of the comic), which has irked me a bit lately.

Also:

None of them.

The Giant has promised us future V character development, and I want to see it.
...
Again, we've been promised more information about Sabine, which I'd like to find out about, and what would be the point of killing off Nale or Thog?

Where?

[Quorothorn]

Where?

Author's commentary sections in No Cure for the Paladin Blues.

[Kosmopolite]

Ah. I only bought what isn't online. What's in them (other than that) that you can't read online?