Where does Banjo’s divine powers come from?

[Vrock Bait]

I’m guessing it’s from the Azurite gods, but that could potentially just be Elan using his bard spells and pretending otherwise. As at as I can tell, the tour members of the pantheon are Banjo, Banjulthu, Giggles, and Lord Mandolin(possibly non-canon). Lord Mandolin could be in a separate pantheon though, since his eyes have been shown to glow red.

[Fyraltari]

From Elan’s faith.

[Morty]

His "divine powers" are limited to mildly zapping Roy.

[Peelee]

His "divine powers" are limited to mildly zapping Roy.

Which I maintain could be explained as Elan using Prestidigitation, since Roy didn't even really seem to notice.

[Morty]

Which I maintain could be explained as Elan using Prestidigitation, since Roy didn't even really seem to notice.

I hadn't actually considered that, but it's entirely possible. My own explanation leaned more towards its happening in the very beginning of the strip and thus being just a goofy joke.

[Heksefatter]

Since we know for a fact that the stickverse gods are powered by faith and the OotS world is a bit wacky, PLUS the fact that at least Odin considering letting Banjo join the Northern pantheon, I think that we can consider Banjo an extremely minor diety. He probably gains some power from the orcs too, even though they worship his evil brother. At least the orcs acknowledge him as a god.

[Linneris]

Since the only time Banjo actually displayed any divine powers was that tiny cloud in the first book, I would say they come from the rule of funny.

[Peelee]

I hadn't actually considered that, but it's entirely possible. My own explanation leaned more towards its happening in the very beginning of the strip and thus being just a goofy joke.

Oh, almost certainly, but given that some of that early goofiness has been incorporated into the more serious storyline, it could be a decent explanation if necessary. Similar to how Odin's bad days could explain why he was amenable to having a puppet join the pantheon to begin with, even though that was also just a goofy joke.

[Fincher]

Rich incorporated this early installment weirdness into the comic, though, by having the gods be affected by belief. The theology of the comic is designed so that Banjo can be real by virtue of Elan believing in and worshipping him.

Sadly, I don't think Banjo is strong enough to survive the harsh winter betweem worlds.. This is why they must find a way to stop the Snarl this time around. Leave no puppet behind.

[Emanick]

It's definitely Early Installment Weirdness, but I kind of assume that Thor or Odin or maybe even Loki were watching, and conjured that tiny lightning bolt as a joke. We know Odin and Thor were watching Banjo, so it's not too far-fetched.

[RatElemental]

Which I maintain could be explained as Elan using Prestidigitation, since Roy didn't even really seem to notice.

I don't think prestidigitation can do that, but silent image could.

[hroþila]

There was no dweomer, though. I don't think it was a spell, I think it was Banjo having a smidgen of actual power due to Elan's faith. I don't think it had any divine quiddity as such, though .

[NerdyKris]

Rich incorporated this early installment weirdness into the comic, though, by having the gods be affected by belief.

No that's just how gods work in Dungeons and Dragons. (minus the colors thing)

[InvisibleBison]

No that's just how gods work in Dungeons and Dragons. (minus the colors thing)

It's one way gods can work in D&D, but it's not the only way.

[woweedd]

Since we know for a fact that the stickverse gods are powered by faith and the OotS world is a bit wacky, PLUS the fact that at least Odin considering letting Banjo join the Northern pantheon, I think that we can consider Banjo an extremely minor diety. He probably gains some power from the orcs too, even though they worship his evil brother. At least the orcs acknowledge him as a god.

Plus, it's been stated that, by OOTS universe rules, a character will always be of equal strength to their "rival", as with Haley and Crystal. Thus, one can assume that Banjo would gain worship power form the orcs because, otherwise, hs rivalry with his brother would become uneven.

[DaOldeWolf]

Well, if we go by comic 1144 currently only feeds on a really small mount of belief from the orc tribe and Elan. He has a single worshipper in Elan. And he currently lacks dedication and souls so he is really malnourished.

[Roland Itiative]

The "gods need mortals' faith to continue to exist" thing is not unique to OotS, or even D&D. It's a common trope to justify why divine powers create and fight for control of mortal civilizations. It even has roots in some real world polytheistic religions, where gods gain or lose strength based on human worship (though the making/killing of gods in that way is, as far as I know, exclusive to fantasy).

That being said, there usually is a threshold of that needs to be crossed there. If one single being truly believing in a made-up god was enough to make it real, any schizo with a "voice of god" on their head would be creating a new deity, and most heroes would end up gaining divine powers from the belief of common people who come to think of them as godlike.

And even if we follow the rules stated by the comic and assume any modicum of "divine nourishment" is enough to give a fraction of divine power to the one receiving it, Banjo would have 1 mortal's worth of Belief, and 0 of all three of the other components. Elan doesn't really provide any Dedication to his religion, nor does he really Worship Banjo in any capacity. And obviously, Banjo hasn't been given any Souls. Even with we add the Orc Tribe in here through the "rival rule" (which, by the way, is another gag, so now we're merging two gags into a gag chimera and trying to sell it as a possible plot point), none of these numbers will reach triple digits, probably not even double digits.

Banjo could show up and display divine powers again, but it'll probably just be as a callback gag, not an actual plot point.

[Fincher]

Elan doesn't worship Banjo? He was preaching the good word and recruiting others into Banjo's church.

[Roland Itiative]

Elan doesn't worship Banjo? He was preaching the good word and recruiting others into Banjo's church.

Well, the Giant has never defined what exactly falls under "Worship", but I tend to see it more as what most of the dwarves do, paying homage and referencing their patron deities on the regular (even the ones that aren't part of the clergy do that, mind you).

Elan basically only mentions Banjo when he's talking him up to someone else, he doesn't seem to give him any thought at all most of the time.

[Fyraltari]

Well, the Giant has never defined what exactly falls under "Worship", but I tend to see it more as what most of the dwarves do, paying homage and referencing their patron deities on the regular (even the ones that aren't part of the clergy do that, mind you).

Elan basically only mentions Banjo when he's talking him up to someone else, he doesn't seem to give him any thought at all most of the time.

He’s also employing him as a nurse.

Funny thing about starting a cult: you get to decide what is and isn’t a holy ritual. Maybe goofing around counts as worshipping Banjo.

[Fincher]

He’s also employing him as a nurse.

Funny thing about starting a cult: you get to decide what is and isn’t a holy ritual. Maybe goofing around counts as worshipping Banjo.

Yeah, Banjo is a clown. So much of what Elan does could be seen as "following Banjo's example".

[woweedd]

The "gods need mortals' faith to continue to exist" thing is not unique to OotS, or even D&D. It's a common trope to justify why divine powers create and fight for control of mortal civilizations. It even has roots in some real world polytheistic religions, where gods gain or lose strength based on human worship (though the making/killing of gods in that way is, as far as I know, exclusive to fantasy).

That being said, there usually is a threshold of that needs to be crossed there. If one single being truly believing in a made-up god was enough to make it real, any schizo with a "voice of god" on their head would be creating a new deity, and most heroes would end up gaining divine powers from the belief of common people who come to think of them as godlike.

And even if we follow the rules stated by the comic and assume any modicum of "divine nourishment" is enough to give a fraction of divine power to the one receiving it, Banjo would have 1 mortal's worth of Belief, and 0 of all three of the other components. Elan doesn't really provide any Dedication to his religion, nor does he really Worship Banjo in any capacity. And obviously, Banjo hasn't been given any Souls. Even with we add the Orc Tribe in here through the "rival rule" (which, by the way, is another gag, so now we're merging two gags into a gag chimera and trying to sell it as a possible plot point), none of these numbers will reach triple digits, probably not even double digits.

Banjo could show up and display divine powers again, but it'll probably just be as a callback gag, not an actual plot point.

I don't really think it'll be a plotpoint. Just find it interesting as a theory.

[Chronos]

We only see Elan dealing with Banjo when he's talking about him to others, because we only see Elan when he's with others, period. We've never had a strip with Elan just alone in his quarters, have we?

[Morquard]

We only see Elan dealing with Banjo when he's talking about him to others, because we only see Elan when he's with others, period. We've never had a strip with Elan just alone in his quarters, have we?

The closest is maybe this when he returned from Cliffport

[RMS Oceanic]

Rule of Funny

[Vrock Bait]

Rule of Funny

That’s about as coherent as screaming “RUSSELL’S TEAPOT” whenever confronted with conspiracy theorists.

[Dion]

That’s about as coherent as screaming “RUSSELL’S TEAPOT” whenever confronted with conspiracy theorists.

To be fair, the gods literally constructed this world to be a "self-aware stick figure fantasy parody."

"Rule of funny" is probably one of the fundamental laws of the OoTS-verse, like the first law of thermodynamics or the speed of light in a vacuum are laws in our universe.

[Fincher]

To be fair, the gods literally constructed this world to be a "self-aware stick figure fantasy parody."

"Rule of funny" is probably one of the fundamental laws of the OoTS-verse, like the first law of thermodynamics or the speed of light in a vacuum are laws in our universe.

I can see how "rule of funny" could be the answer to why something happens, but it isn't necessarily the answer. Elan had a puppet in the first place because it was funny, but that doesn't mean it appeared out of nowhere rather than him making it.

[Lord Torath]

I think Elan can be said to be praying to Banjo, or at least worshiping him here: Just the Facts, Ma'am.