The Order of the Stick/Tropes G-O

Tropes A-F | Tropes G-O | Tropes P-Z

"Hobgoblin wizard: Oh, right. Forgot to mention. Whenever you start to whip an elderly slave, there's about a 60% chance that some sort of hero will show up to stop you."
 * Game Breaker: The characters usually don't get a chance to take advantage of such, but strip #767, in which Haley uses a potion of Glibness, is an exception. Enterprising players have noticed that, according to the Rules as Written, a Bluff check roll of 20 or better can convince people of some really ridiculous things -- and Glibness gives a whopping +30 to Bluff checks!
 * Gannon Banned: In-Universe example. The misspelling "Zykon the sorcerer" remains a bone of contention not just for the forums, but for the dread lich himself, who can even spot his name being mangled in a speech bubble.
 * Gender Bender: The Girdle of Femininity/Masculinity, or Belt of Gender Changing. Roy ends up wearing it starting strip #235:"Oddly, He Can Still Get Dressed in Under a Minute".
 * Genre Savvy: Several members of the cast...
 * Especially Elan. Though it's worth noting at times, he's predicted things to happen by genre, only for it to be subverted and not happen, such as here. Basically, he's Genre Savvy when it comes to standard fantasy but not so much when concerning his own story.
 * V recognizes that if Elan has someone tied up, he's likely a major villain, and if said villain is smugly blathering about a lengthy trial, he's going to drag down the comic. Thus, s/he simplifies matters. "Disintegrate. Gust of Wind."
 * Even very minor characters can prove to be unusually Genre Savvy in this world.

"Horace: ROY! Heads up!"
 * Tarquin doesn't stop at just being Genre Savvy, he even spreads the word to his guards, as seen on the manual he hands them.
 * Gilligan Cut: "If you want to bring us before your liege, you'll have to drag us there in chains."
 * Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: In strip #794, Elan mentions Haley can "make out with any of our recurring villains you want". The title of the strip is "We Recommend Tsukiko".
 * Give Me a Sword: Horace Greenhilt to Roy in "The Grand Fighter".

"Elan: I know that sometimes the hero has to play baccarat with the enemy, even though logically it would make more sense for them to just be trying to kill each other. What I don't know is how to play baccarat."
 * Gladiator Games: A main source of entertainment in the Empire of Blood, and part of the judicial system.
 * "Glad to Be Alive" Sex: Roy and Celia
 * The Gloves Come Off
 * Notably done by, who reaches this point when . As expected for this trope, the results are not exactly what anyone hoped for, and leads to some solid Character Development for all involved parties.
 * Also shortly after played straight by
 * Gods Need Prayer Badly: Sufficient belief can elevate anything to godhood, as first seen here, but -- as far as we know -- the world was created by gods who existed before mankind, and thus seem to be exempt from that rule.
 * Godwin's Law: Evil is measured in kilonazis.
 * Going to Give It More Energy: The party comes across a hydra on the way to the oracle. Belkar starts happily chopping heads off left and right. Vaarsuvius wants to just blast it with magic, but Roy says to wait, without explaining why. Just as V is about to let loose anyway, the hydra collapses due to its heart no longer being able to pump enough blood to all of its heads.
 * Go-Karting with Bowser: Discussed in "Welcome to the Arena".

"Lien: Seriously, how many times do I need to go over the, "Good, not dumb," thing?"
 * Good Angel, Bad Angel: Used for Elan and Belkar, with plenty of twists.
 * The Good Guys Always Win: Invoked.
 * Good Is Boring: Averted during Roy's time in Lawful Good heaven. He gets to meet his deceased relatives,, and the general attractions include a Tavern of Infinite One-Night Stands. It's also explained that this is only the first level -- once people get bored with the earthly stuff, they resume climbing the mountain, with "true perfect enlightenment" waiting at the top.
 * Good Is Dumb: Lampshaded by the strip titled "Because Good Is Dumb".
 * Good Is Not Dumb: "Improbable Causes". Even stated repeatedly.

"Belkar: How about nut shots? Crowds love nut shots. Saget was on the air for like 8 years."
 * Good Is Not Nice
 * Roy, while Lawful Good, enjoys verbally lambasting both his friends and enemies a bit too much. He's prone to some moments of cruelty, for example, after bandits kidnap Elan during their quest for the Starmetal, he wants to leave him with them and continue on. Naturally, the rest of the Order (even the Chaotic Evil Belkar) disagrees. Although he changes his mind later and is shown to regret having done it.
 * For a guy who's waiting for a place in the Lawful Good heaven, Roy's dad Eugene is a pretty sarcastic, selfish Jerkass. It's widely speculated among fans that Eugene has been shifting more and more toward Neutral over the years he's been stuck in the waiting area. But since he's been told by one of the Devas (who are, for the record, incabable of lying) that the only thing keeping him out of the Lawful Good heaven is his unfulfilled blood oath, it seems that actions taken after you die can't alter your afterlife destination.
 * Miko Miyazaki is made of this trope.
 * Most of the Sapphire Guard practically embody this trope, at least in Start of Darkness.
 * The elven commander also says this about him(her?)self
 * Good News, Bad News
 * Played straight two ways in "They've Had Time to Train, Too".
 * Roy plays with it in "All Available Resources" by having the good news and bad news being the same. It's all in the intonation.
 * Good Powers, Bad People
 * Good Wings, Evil Wings: Celia, Sabine, and the Celestials and Devils seen from time to time.
 * Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die: Elan's Rousing Speech prior to the Battle of Azure City.
 * Grapes of Luxury: While "Checking In", Miko sarcastically suggests that the gang take in the luxury of being fanned and fed grapes. Haley tries to get that arranged, and is a bit annoyed to find that Roy gets the treatment later.
 * Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress
 * In "Block and Tackle", Tarquin and Vaarsuvius can exchange a few words before V decides to use Feather Fall on Haley, and she has yet to hit the ground.
 * In "Holy Enunciation", Elan has the time to rejoice having found Durkon, and then notice Sabine isn't holding him anymore ("Uh oh"), before falling.
 * Green Around the Gills
 * Happens to a motion-sick Roy, immediately followed by a Vomit Indiscretion Shot.
 * Earlier, Roy has the same reaction from seeing Belkar's tortilla chips with salsa (extra chunky).
 * Belkar inspires this again, this time to Durkon, with another creative use of the Linear Guild's kobold's head.
 * Grievous Bottley Harm: Roy breaks a potion vial in Thog's face during the gladiator match.
 * Groin Attack
 * Most noticeably in the "pin " comic.
 * Lampshaded, naturally:

"Elan: Haley and I need to go... uh... have sex. Tarquin: Well, you'll miss the big fight, but you do what you need to do. Haley: Come on, V. And bring the cat, just in case. Tarquin: ... Huh."
 * Group Hug: Thog is denied one in "We All Just Want to be Held Sometimes". Poor Thog.
 * The Guards Must Be Crazy: Unfortunately for Elan and Haley, Tarquin is Dangerously Genre Savvy and he makes sure they're not.
 * Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Lizardfolks in general.
 * Hammerspace: Any of the weapons or gear that don't Stick to the Back.
 * Notably, Belkar had a lead sheet he stored in hammerspace. He used it to block Detect Evil spells. And to bonk Miko on the head. It's a multipurpose lead sheet.
 * Harmful to Minors: children are targeted by an enemy, their legs broken, and their parent crucified. And then their other parent comes in, possessed, and tears the enemy apart from the inside.
 * Have You Told Anyone Else?:
 * Head-Tiltingly Kinky: From #789, when the Order needs an excuse to confer in private without Tarquin listening in.

"Tsukiko: "Gate"? What gate? MitD: Hey, that's my line!"
 * Hearing Voices
 * Haley while her mind is fractionning into different aspects of her personality.
 * Vaarsuvius under the Soul Splice hears the whispers of the three evil spellcasters.
 * Heart Symbol
 * A single red heart for Elan and Haley's first kiss, in "Your Ship Has Come In".
 * Elan and Haley get another heart symbol for their first kiss after the group split up.
 * When Kazumi and Daigo share their wedding kiss in strip #501, they each get a Heart Symbol. Like everything else from Azure City, the hearts are blue.
 * Normal pink hearts accompany Belkar's seduction of a female bard in #611.
 * Heh, Heh, You Said "X": "Delayed Gratification". Look at the bottom-left panel.
 * Hello. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father. Prepare to Die. All of which are invoked here as a Shout-Out to the original.
 * Hereditary Curse: Eugene Greenhilt made a Blood Oath that neither he nor his descendants would be able to go into the afterlife until Xykon was destroyed. This curse binds him to his oldest offspring. Apparently the rules of the Celestial Realm give you credit for a good-faith effort, though, which is why.
 * Heroic Team Revolt: Roy's refusal to go back and save Elan from the bandits has the team up in arms. Even Belkar goes back for him. Roy redeems himself after having a My God, What Have I Done? moment.
 * He Who Must Not Be Named: Hilariously mocked in "Half the Elf, Double the Fun".
 * Hey, That's My Line!: "Shhh! Principal's Coming!":

"Roy: Excuse me. I just wanted to let you you know that this in no way reflects my views on the differently-abled."
 * "Hey You!" Haymaker: Roy to Geoff.

"Tarquin: There's no need to run around like a cockatrice with its head cut off."
 * High Altitude Interrogation: Roy and Durkon dangling the kobold oracle upside-down by a window to get a third prediction, the first two being less than helpful.
 * High-Class Glass: Ambassador Gourntonk is a lizardfolk with a monocle.
 * Highly Visible Ninjas: The Goblin Ninjas are wearing black against a white background, but the atrocious spot and listen checks of the main characters cause them not to notice them. Even when the ninjas say things like "We're standing right here."
 * Hilarity Ensues: Played straight most of the time, but also subverted. When Xykon describes how he got his crown, he says
 * Hilarity Sues
 * Used when lawyers abduct a squid-thingy for breaching copyright.
 * Later invoked by V to deal with a troublesome opponent who was also a ripoff of Drizzt.
 * Afterward, Belkar sues Miko to prevent her from trying to Detect Evil on him. Since she's Lawful Stupid, she cannot help but comply to the restraining order.
 * Rodriguez then tries to serve another restraining order... on Belkar. It goes about as well as you could expect.
 * Hit and Run Tactics
 * A half-ogre with a flail tries this against high-level fighter Roy. Unfortunately for the half-ogre, Roy manages to take advantage of his predictability.
 * Belkar wisely takes this approach to fighting Miko after breaking out of jail. Bear in mind that Miko had successfully taken the entire party alive when they attacked her head-on.
 * Hitman with a Heart: As seen here, Female!Roy calls out the dwarven hitman on his threat to blow up the inn, noting that all of his behavior so far indicates a Never Hurt an Innocent mindset. He backs down and admit he would never cause the death of innocents. Unfortunately, the inn gets blown up anyway after Belkar, intent on some mindless slaughter, bumps into the hitman.
 * Hold Your Hippogriffs: Used every now and then.

"Ninja: HEY! You got your hatred of all that's good and pure in my contract killing! Huecuva: Well, you got your contract killing in my hatred of all that's good and pure!"
 * Hollywood Tactics: Averted. The invasion of the Azure City is based on attrition warfare, but Redcloak employs some finesse by using elementals as heavy units to destroy the main wall, as well as a ninja infiltrator to open the main gate to the throne room.
 * Hook Hand
 * Captain Axe has an axe hand.
 * Classic pirate Hook Hand in "The Return of Mail Call" (though used as a corkscrew).
 * Hope Spot: Awesome! The Azure City Resistance
 * Horrible Judge of Character
 * Tsukiko, no doubt, notably falling for Xykon's Evilly Affable charm. The poor deluded soul seems to believe that he's hiding a caring heart under a tough exterior. Even the Monster in the Darkness has worked out Xykon's status as an unredeemable villain. She also believes Redcloak to be a spineless wimp.
 * Going the other direction, things would have gone a lot better for Azure City if Miko hadn't concluded that the Order of the Stick and Lord Shojo were in a vast evil conspiracy with Xykon and Redcloak based on a series of deductive leaps that would leave a logician weeping.
 * Elan is immensely reluctant to admit that is a Lawful Evil general serving  a brutal dictatorship.
 * Celia as well. See "A Seller's Market" and "A Dish Best Served With +1d6 Cold Damage".
 * Ian Starshine starts out seeing Elan as evil to the core and doubting any of the Order have redeeming features. He goes on to bond somewhat with Belkar, who he seems to consider less evil than the others.
 * Hot Mom: We have two examples:
 * Roy's mother
 * Elan's mother
 * Hot Skitty-On-Wailord Action
 * Hinted at with Belkar and Elan's comments about Owlbears.
 * Maybe alluded to with Enor, but he could be just as well a magical hybrid.
 * Hulk Speak: thog most prominent example, but anyone with low enough intelligence score (like most orcs, ogres and a dwarf barbarian) tend to talk this way. Leading to the ultimate example, not nale, not-nale. And, being OotS, lampshaded.
 * Hurricane of Puns
 * The parade in the Empire of Blood features far too many blood-themed puns.
 * The has probably set a new record for the amount of puns-per-panel.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Roy asks the half-ogre in "Perfect Combo" if it is unwise to try the same tactic turn after turn.
 * I Always Wanted to Say That
 * remarks this about getting to dramatically reveal his identity to his offspring.
 * He just wanted to keep the theme going.
 * Impersonating the Evil Twin: Elan manages to (finally) use his twin situation to his advantage when he tricks a prisoner of into attacking Nale by making said prisoner believe Nale was him.
 * I Am Spartacus: Parodied in "Under the Arena".
 * Idea Bulb: In "Armor Begone", Elan gets a half-witted idea, represented by a candle. Later, in "The Cliffport Redemption", a (better) idea is represented by a lantern.
 * Idiot Ball
 * Elan carries this constantly for laughs because he's the bard. All of the other characters alternate between carrying the Idiot Ball, carrying the Smart Ball, and behaving normally.
 * Lirian in Start of Darkness goes through more or less every power she has that WON'T work on a lich in her second duel with the newly lichefied Xykon. It's most likely a way for non-D&D players to be brought up to speed to all the powers and immunities of a lich, but still you'd expect an epic level ex-adventurer would not try using Poison on an undead creature.
 * I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Perilous Path of Crushing Doom.
 * I Don't Pay You to Think: Subverted when Belkar says this to Vaarsuvius. S/He retorts by angrily saying s/he's not paid to do anything but think.
 * I Fell for Hours: Judging from Roy's monologue, his famous fall takes at least a few minutes.
 * Ignored Enemy: A ninja and a huecuva try to kill Hinjo at the same time, but end up fighting each other instead over who gets to claim the kill.
 * Ignored Enemy: A ninja and a huecuva try to kill Hinjo at the same time, but end up fighting each other instead over who gets to claim the kill.

"Vaarsuvius: Damn it, I am a wizard, not a divining rod! Durkon: I be a healer, not a footstool!"
 * Ignore the Fanservice: Roy for Sabine, although he wasn't entirely unfazed by Haley's.
 * The Igor: Giro. He isn't a real hunchback, though.
 * I Have Nothing to Say to That: Frequently used for punchlines. See "A Is Always A" and "Hey! You! Get Off of My Cloud!" (spoilers).
 * I Know You Know I Know
 * "Stuck in the Sand Trap" goes through several rounds of it about a master illusionist.
 * Vaarsuvius also does it in "Also, His Popularity Has Waned", thoroughly confusing Elan.
 * I'll Kill You!
 * Said by Yokyok.
 * Miko to Belkar.
 * One heartfelt exchange between Haley and Crystal.
 * Amun-Zora to Tarquin.
 * I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder:

"Elan: Ooh! C'mon! Pick me! Durkon: Are ye gonna... Roy: I'm thinking."
 * I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Well, a post-death version, anyway, in Start of Darkness. The previous bearer of the Crimson Mantle manifests in spirit form to his newly-minted acolyte, asking him to wear it and learn from it. The acolyte is reluctant to do so at first, because he's not qualified, but his master says (amid the carnage of scores of goblins being wiped out by the Sapphire Guard) that the acolyte is rapidly moving up in the church's hierarchy. The acolyte takes it, and gains powerful knowledge from it.
 * Improvised Weapon
 * Xykon kills the wizard Fyron Pucebuckle by beating the man to death with his own Wizzie Award.
 * "thog improvise!"
 * O-Chul takes out a Demon-Roach, Jirix, and Redcloak's right eye with a bar of his cage.
 * Belkar makes an angry mob back away from him... while armed with a pebble.
 * Potions aren't just for drinking.
 * I'm Thinking It Over: In the second strip, the party is split into two teams, by the traditional method of Roy and Haley taking turns choosing someone. Eventually, Elan is the only one left, and it's Roy's turn to choose.

"Crystal: You little twit, I'm gonna kill you! Belkar: Yeah, and I'm gonna drop a house on you and sing about how I represent the Lollipop Guild. C'mon, let's keep our threats realistic, shall we? I mean, if you said, "You little twit, I'm going to temporarily inconvenience you!" I'd think, hey, she might really mean it!"
 * Inconvenient Summons
 * The fish in the Lawful Good afterlife.
 * In a Dragon Magazine strip, a celestial dog is summoned by Durkon just before it could finish the cure for all diseases.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun
 * Elan's prestige class depends on puns for power. Naturally, the ones he comes up with later in battle fall into this.
 * Strip #418 is just full of them.
 * "... This is a cart of gophers, isn't it?"
 * "Protecting my brain still constitutes self-defense."
 * They had theurge for a snack!
 * I Need You Stronger: During the siege of Azure City, Xykon offers to postpone his fight with Roy so that Roy can get strong enough to pose a bigger challenge. Roy refuses. He shouldn't have.
 * Ineffectual Death Threats: Belkar tends to consider any threats to his life as this (and to be snarky about it, too), since he has a high opinion of his fighting skills. To tell the truth, he's been right thus far. There's notably the instance with Crystal:

"MitD: Your screws have thumbs on them? Neat! I wonder if they can screw themselves..."
 * Inferred Holocaust: Invoked. uses "Familicide" on an Obviously Evil Black Dragon. This spell kills everyone who shares the blood of the subject, regardless of their distance from the subject, along with all who share their blood. Dragons are Color Coded for Your Convenience, so nobody really cares about the death of about 1/4th of the planet's black dragon population. The problem is, "the propensity for both dragons and humans to breed outside their species is well-documented."
 * Infinite Canvas: Occasionally.
 * The most remarkable example is certainly Roy's fall.
 * Also, Haley breaking the third wall for a change.
 * Informed Attribute: A few, due to the art style.
 * For example, Samantha or Haley are supposed to be very beautiful, despite having the same basic design as every other human character.
 * Similarly, Elan has an 18 charisma in a system where an 18 represents the peak of human perfection. He is incredibly attractive. Not that we can tell.
 * Also, nobody is aware that Haley is wearing long pants until she points it out.
 * In Its Hour of Need
 * Innocent Innuendo:

"Xykon: Meh. As last words go, I've heard better. [...] Miko: Meh. As indignant speeches go, I've heard better."
 * Also, played for laughs in "Just Like on Three's Company".
 * Everyone wants a ride on Hinjo's junk.
 * Insane Troll Logic
 * Tsukiko.
 * The Empress of Blood also gives a good example of Cum hoc fallacy.
 * And of the Artistic License Economics variety: The couple that owns the potions store where V goes to buy once doesn't understand how economy works... they always charge less for one potion than what it costs. They believe that, by selling in volume, they compensate, but since the only thing they sell is potions, all of them at a loss, they do nothing but lose money. And when V points this out... they start a sale.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: When the gods were rebuilding the world, guess what the Monkey god wanted in.
 * Instant Ice, Just Add Cold
 * Cone of Cold.
 * Haley's +5 Icy Burst bow.
 * Instant Runes: "I See a Red Robe and I Want to Paint it Black". (Über spoilers!)
 * Internal Retcon: Forms the conclusion to the arc, though how long it will last is unknown.
 * Interrogated for Nothing: Redcloak tortures O-Chul for weeks after the capture of Azure City to get him to reveal details of the guardianship of the remaining Gates, details that O-Chul doesn't have because his order put Honor Before Reason and never violated their oaths to find out. Later, it is revealed that Redcloak has known for a long time that O-Chul really didn't know anything, but has been continuing the torture anyway as a ruse to keep Xykon in Azure City long enough to solidify the hobgoblin regime.
 * Interrogating the Dead
 * Played for laughs; Xykon needs Redcloak to cast Speak with Dead so he can ask a dead goblin where his keys are.
 * Later, the Order of the Stick tries the same spell on Just as Durkon warned, though, corpses are rather poor informants.
 * I Resemble That Remark: In the prequel On the Origin of PCs, after Roy claims that wizards put too much faith in magic, his father Eugene immediately proves his point by asserting loudly that magic is perfect and all-powerful.
 * Ironic Echo
 * "Pot v. Kettle":

"Roy: Well I hate to break it to you dad, but this isn't the end of the line. More like half-time. Eugene: What? How can you halve time itself? Roy: *Sigh* I should have known a sports metaphor would be wasted on you."
 * "... I intend to betray your principles all over the friggin' place."
 * "Stop talking."
 * Ironic Name: The prequel book, Start of Darkness, gives us a fat demon lord named "Xyklon the Consequential". He is of no consequence.
 * Irony: Girard believed that Soon would betray the oaths for some self-appointed authoritarian reason and booby-trapped the location he gave. Given what he says about Serini and the backdoor summon clause in Dorukan's Cloister spell, Soon was the only one who didn't betray the oath.
 * It Got Worse: Things get continually worse throughout the prequel book Start of Darkness, especially for Redcloak. And considering that the book starts with, you know it's going to get pretty bad.
 * I Think You Broke Him: The last panel of "Easy Come, Easy Go".
 * It's Personal
 * "TALKY-MAN BROKE THOG'S TUSK!"
 * "Malack. How's the family?" "HARM."
 * It's the Best Whatever Ever!
 * Elan has a habit of saying this, usually shortly before the other shoe drops.
 * "It was the best adventure EVER!"
 * "Woooooo! Wind Walk is the best cleric spell ever!!!"
 * "That was the best day EVER!" Wait for the surprise, Elan, wait for the surprise...
 * Because you and your dad are going to tell "the best story EVER."
 * The Monster in the Darkness can get into this too: "This is the best tea party EVER!!"
 * I Want Grandkids
 * Roy's mother.
 * Celia's mother too, apparently.
 * Jacob Marley Apparel: Parodied with the Ghost of Lame Monsters Past.
 * Jock Dad Nerd Son: Inverted with Roy Greenhilt and his father, Eugene. Roy chose a career as a fighter class as opposed to a wizard like his father, which are seen as a jock and nerd class at least in universe. Played straight with Eugene and his father, Horace, who had inspired Roy's career path. Interestingly, Roy was apparently a nerd compared to other fighters.

"Hobgoblin: (kills the guard Nale just disarmed) Hey thanks! I guess I'm lucky you really needed a katana! Nale: I prefer longswords, actually. (kills the hobgoblin and takes his sword)"
 * John Munch: Middle of the page.
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope:
 * Just Between You and Me: Redcloak to Tsukiko.
 * Just Eat Him
 * This happens to Haley (and lizard-V, shortly) thanks to the adolescent black dragon.
 * Then once or twice more to Vaarsuvius.
 * And to "Hors-D'oeuvre", but not through the scenic route.
 * Just Hit Him: The raging Thog's main tactic in his gladiatoral fight with Roy. Sure, being thrown into walls was damaging, but it also gave Roy enough breathing time to put together a strategy, and even put him in the perfect position to enable it when Thog threw him into the spectator rows.
 * Kansas City Shuffle
 * Xykon's strategy to enter Azure City, but luckily Haley is savvy enough to see it.
 * Also,
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Azure City is the Stick-verse's Wutai, so katanas are favored by many of the soldiers and members of the Sapphire Guard. Belkar and Nale have both subverted this trope, fighting with katanas they stole from Azurites, but switching to their preferred weapons at the first opportunity.

"Trigak: You may have won this round, Order of the Stick, but we swear our revenge on you! When you least expect--! GAK! GAK! GAK!"
 * Kick the Dog
 * Invoked posthumously in regard to Crystal. Elan says he's not mad at Haley for it, as long as she's sure Crystal was "really, REALLY bad." Haley responds that she once saw Crystal headbutt an elderly gnome woman into a coma, which makes Elan feel better about it.
 * Elves are mean.
 * Yukyuk in "Animal Instincts".
 * "A Touch of Death" Wow. Really, Nale?
 * Kick the Son of a Bitch
 * V's murder of Kubota certainly showed just how much more of an Anti-Hero V had become, but if there was any antagonist that deserved to be unceremoniously disintegrated and scattered to the winds, it was him.
 * Similarly, is commonly seen as this, though a few still found it a bit unsettling. At least until you buy the fourth book, then read the scenes where.
 * Also Miko pursuing Belkar, especially if you consider what Belkar's conduct looks like from inside the comic's world.
 * is thoroughly cold, callous and brutal and serves as a defining character moment for the former as a villain... and yet, given the latter is a really had it coming.
 * Kid with the Leash: Roy and Belkar, especially when Roy has the command word for Belkar's mark of justice. After, the leash passes to Haley. She isn't as good at keeping him under control.
 * Killed Mid-Sentence
 * When Belkar kills the Chimera at the very beginning.

"Belkar: When in doubt, set something on fire."
 * Xykon does this to a group of mercenary ogres who are complaining about not being paid very early in the comic's run, (and then he zombifies their corpses so he can still get some use out of them), perhaps giving the first hint that he's not a harmless cliché storm of a villain, despite appearances.
 * This is also how dies, mid-pondering in freefall.
 * And in Cliffport, "I'm getting too old for--"
 * Haley.
 * Killed Off for Real
 * It appears we can now add to this list as well.
 * He's not actually dead yet, but according to the Oracle, has a place on this list.
 * Kill It with Fire
 * Belkar's mantra.
 * Belkar's mantra.

"Vaarsuvius: Burn, you insufferably terse dullard."
 * Vaarsuvius is fond of it too through is spells.

"Durkon: (gagged) Mmph mrph mmmph mmf mrf mrrrph mrph! Roy: I'm going to choose to attribute that comment to stress and not hold it against you in the future."
 * The Death Knight, the Eye of Fear and Flame and the Huecuva.
 * Kind Restraints: Roy has to bound and gag Durkon in the Wooden Forest so that he'd stop freaking out about trees and risk alerting the bandits.

"Vaarsuvius: Heredity is a cruel mistress."
 * Kissing Under the Influence: Belkar to V. Not that s/he's about to say anything to him.
 * Kiss of Death: Succubi (such as Sabine) can energy-drain someone by kissing them. Sabine does that to Elan in "Critical Thinking".
 * Klingon Promotion
 * Parodied: Therkla gets to be the valedictorian of her ninja class by killing the original.
 * Also how Redcloak became supreme leader of the hobgoblins, by killing the one he assumes is their leader. The real leader wisely keeps his mouth shut and lets Red take over.
 * Knights and Knaves: The Test of the Mind in the Sunken Valley. Solved in a non-traditional manner.
 * La Résistance:
 * Lamarck Was Right

"Chief: Man, that brought back memories. Rookie: I don't get it. Chief: Before your time, kid. Before your time."
 * Ian seems to believe family members have everything in common, and refuses to admit that the son of Tarquin could be not as evil as his father.
 * Lampshaded the Obscure Reference
 * A comic ends with gladiators being torn apart by a giant Ollie of Kukla, Fran and Ollie fame. The comic's title is "Ask Your Grandparents".
 * Not as old nor as obscure, but the Sudden Videogame Moment featuring Video Game/Centipede is lampshaded too.
 * Not as old nor as obscure, but the Sudden Videogame Moment featuring Video Game/Centipede is lampshaded too.

"Elan: Nale! There's nowhere to go. Surrender! Nale: Surrender? Never, you moronic little twit. I'd rather die than-- (bridge crumbles underneath his feet, leaving him dangling by one hand) Nale: Help me, brother! Elan: Karma-riffic!"
 * Lampshade Hanging: The comic practically runs on this trope. (At one point we even see an actual lampshade during a lampshade hanging).
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia
 * The memory charm around the Oracle that makes you forget everything about your visit except your questions and their answers as soon as you leave.
 * The same thing is going for the afterlife. Roy can remember the time spent on the clouds with his father and the scrying they've done, but past the big gate his memories are fuzzy, though he remembers some bits.
 * Laser-Guided Karma
 * Also, Elan and Nale's first fight.
 * Also, Elan and Nale's first fight.

"Haley: Elan... I think I'm in love with y-- Durkon: Cure Critical Wounds! Haley: --ukuleles."
 * Vaarsuvius was already feeling guilty about, but even so he/she probably wasn't expecting it to bite them in the ass like in "All in the Family".
 * Last-Second Word Swap
 * "Hawaiian Love":

"Tarquin: ... she had the most magnificent set of perky round-- Haley: Eyes. Let's both pretend you were about to say, "eyes"."
 * Also "Mammals Can't Seem to Get Enough of Those Things":

"Belkar: I'm comedy gold! I'm the only funny thing left in this damn comic strip!"
 * Laughably Evil: Many villains (and one protagonist): Burlew is very good at writing characters who are both likeable (funny, awesome, etc.) and yet definitely villainous and unsympathetic. Examples include:
 * Xykon. All over the place.
 * Belkar. And he knows it.

"Xykon: Actually, ever since I became a lich, I haven't been able to get the same volume in my evil laughter. Since I technically don't have lungs."
 * General Tarquin, in his geekier moments.
 * Laughing Mad: "Patient seems to also be suffering from uncontrollable hideous laughter."
 * Laugh with Me: Inverted. When Xykon proclaims that his goals will be achieved soon, Redcoak and the MitD let out an Evil Laugh. Redcloak then asks why Xykon doesn't join them.

"Roy: You're not Good, at least not any definition of Good that I would want to follow. You follow the letter of the alignment description while ignoring its intent. Sure, you fight Evil, but when was the last time you showed a "concern for the dignity of sentient beings"? You're just a mean, socially inept bully who hides behind a badge and her holier-than-thou morality as excuses to treat other people like crap."
 * Lawful Stupid: Frequently subverted (especially with Good Is Not Nice) and often lampshaded.
 * Paladins are noted to have this reputation, but actually rarely show it... with one unfortunate exception. In general, Lawful Stupid, Stupid Good, Chaotic Stupid and Stupid Evil are all demonstrated by one character or another at different times. (Miko Miyazaki arguably demonstrates all four, sometimes all in the same comic.)
 * Roy does a good job of differentiating between himself (Lawful Good) and Miko (Lawful Stupid) in a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.

"Haley: A ruse that relies on the target's innate acceptance on the rules presented to him? Against a league of paladins? Easy money."
 * Played for laughs in this strip where Haley tries to explain the Shell Game to two Lawful Good characters.

"Redcloak: The exact details here need to stay between me and our god. I just thank the Dark One that I didn't need to execute you myself."
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Less common than Breaking the Fourth Wall moments, but in one strip, Tarquin comments about Thog "It's weird, no matter how many people he kills, the audience still thinks he's lovable". Meaning the audience in the arena, not the readers, obviously.
 * Leave No Witnesses: When Redcloak, he only uses summoned monsters (who he then dismisses) and lets the only other goblin involved stay dead.

"Roy: Where's Xykon? Oracle: In his throne room."
 * Leet Lingo: Elan writing "!!1!" in the sand.
 * Left for Dead: Durkon was, accidentally, in an early strip.
 * Left Justified Fantasy Map: A map of Azure City and its surroundings appears in the back of War and XPs with a sea along the left edge. However, the western continent should appear on the other side of the sea.
 * Lethal Joke Item: The bag of tricks, which summons random animals. Roy eventually finds creative uses for it, like making distracting kitties. It also has a compact rhino on it, but it kinda backfired.
 * Lethal Joke Spell
 * "Dancing Lights? That's like a 0th-level spell! Geez, what kind of low-level lame-ass spellcaster are you? You've got one chance before I perforate you, and you choose... Dancing... Lights."
 * On the other hand, "Dancing Knights" is indeed useless.
 * Lens Flare: Used in strip #430 for dramatic effect.
 * Let Us Never Speak of This Again
 * While being interviewed for the Lawful Good afterlife, Roy Greenhilt stops the bureaucratic deva interviewing him before she can mention the Gender Bender incident within earshot of his father, who is standing not ten feet away.
 * During Azure City's New Year, Belkar gets drunk and kisses Vaarsuvius full on the lips. Afterwards, Belkar forgets it entirely and Vaarsuvius insists that, if the one witness to the kiss (Durkon) ever has to discuss it again, it will be referred to it as "the Event". And they never talk about it again.
 * As seen in "A Dish Best Served Warm, After All", Vaarsuvius has this attitude regarding further recounting of his adventures in the Plane of Ranch Dressing.
 * Lightning Can Do Anything
 * Weather Control. Justified in that Thor bent the laws of reality because he thought the desired effect would be really cool.
 * Lightning can also animate golems.
 * Like Brother and Sister: Roy & Haley
 * Lipstick Lesbian: The "latent bisexuality" aspect of Haley's mind is among the more "girly" of the aspects.
 * Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards
 * In true 3.5 fashion, Durkon and Vaarsuvius are the most powerful members of the party.
 * Lampshaded and referenced here. That example might count as Hypocritical Humor though, as while Durkon and Vaarsuvius are agreeing with Malack's comments on the superiority of spellcasters, Malack is failing a spot check during that entire time.
 * As revealed in On the Origin of PCs, Roy took up the quest of destroying Xykon to prove this trope wrong.
 * Line-of-Sight Name
 * The Order itself, as revealed in On the Origin of PCs.
 * Also,.
 * Literal Genie: Subverted. Roy, wary of this happening, words his question to the Oracle in such a way that it works against him. His concern made sense, as this trope was played straight the first time he visited the oracle (offscreen):

"Sabine: It's hard, but sometimes, I need to make a sacrifice in order to maintain our love. Roy: Like dressing up for him? Sabine: No, I meant a literal sacrifice. I have a desecrated altar waiting for your corpse in the next room."
 * Literal Metaphor: A fairly common gag.
 * Celia's ex-boyfriend is caught "slipping the wood" to some dryad hussy. At least it was a potted wood.
 * The Test of the Heart.
 * Sabine makes one in "Every Couple Has Their Quirks":

"Roy: Hu... I always thought the "revolving door afterlife" was just a metaphor..."
 * "Their Concierge Service is Heavenly":

"Bureaucratic Deva: Mr. Greenhilt, we do things "by the book" around here -- and it just so happens that the book in question is 100 feet tall and alight with holy fire --"
 * And "Final Review":

"Nale: Oh really? Why don't you chase after him, then? Sabine: Nale, you know I love you. I didn't-- Nale: No, I mean literally. Go chase after him. He's escaping."
 * In "Something Blue", Tarquin mention that some of his previous wives got cold feet before the marriage. The flashback reveals that it is quite literal.
 * Sabine gets one turned on her in "We Recommend Tsukiko":

"Belkar: Also, everyone here could use a little less loin and a lot more cloth."
 * Living Crashpad
 * The two Flumphs. This becomes a Running Gag, but is then Subverted -- and Lampshaded -- when it fails to happen at a truly critical moment.
 * Another example, not involving the Flumphs.
 * Load-Bearing Boss: Subverted. Xykon's destruction did nothing to the Dungeon of Dorukan, but then Elan activated a self-destruct sigil so they could have a dramatic escape.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: The character sheets aren't exhaustive, not by a long shot. A constantly-updated list can be found in the forums.
 * Loin Cloth: Standard issue for gladiator convicts in the Empire of Blood -- even for lizardfolk, although they don't need them.


 * Long Speech Tea Time: The whole party, during the scribble-art backstory.
 * Look Behind You!: In "Good to the Last Drip", Vaarsuvius is so busy attempting to Disintegrate Qarr that only the small imp notices an ancient black dragon with a personal vendetta approaching from behind.
 * Loud of War: At one point, Thog suggests using a rather well-known Canadian singer as a torture device, but Nale thinks that particular choice is uncivilized.
 * Luckily, My Powers Will Protect Me: In Start of Darkness, the rematch between Lirian and just-turned-lich Xykon is basically Lirian using all the wrong spells and abilities so Xykon can explain why none of them work anymore. Admittedly, it isn't out of character for Xykon to taunt his opponent by pointing out why his opponent can't beat him, even if that essentially means giving tips on how he or she could.
 * Luke Nounverber: The Greenhilt family doesn't count since it's actually named from the ancestral sword, but we have plenty others: Haley & Ian Starshine; Belkar Bitterleaf; Durkon Thundershield; Hilgya Firehelm; Leeky Windstaff; Girard Draketooth; Fyron Pucebuckle; Miron Shewdanker; Hieronymus Grubwiggler; Reegon Mithrilspear; Hiran Sinkeye; Clang Killitchy; Deergar Bluehawk; Firuk Blackore; Darren Leafsword...

" I am your father! Gasp! ( removes his helmet) Oh MAN! I've always wanted to say that line! That was... that was a PERFECT delivery! I know, right? Wasn't it awesome? I've been waiting, like, FOREVER for that. Growing up without a father was totally worth it just for that reveal. Vaarsuvius: Heredity is a cruel mistress."
 * Luke, You Are My Father: The opportunity is used to spoof a well-known blood relation reveal.

"Tarquin: In any race for hidden treasure, it is always the protagonists who sweat and bleed and die to overcome the many challenges inherent in finding it, only for the antagonists to seize it from them at the last minute."
 * MacGuffin: The Gates. Xykon even refers to them as such. Redcloak discusses this trope here (spoilers!), noting that the MacGuffins aren't the only things that matter in a battle.
 * MacGuffin Delivery Service: Discussed.

"Tsukiko: (while blasting Thahn) You big bully! He's just a child! I only made him four weeks ago."
 * MacGuffin Guardian
 * The outdated monsters guarding Dorukan's Talisman. Justified, since it's the Talisman itself which lured them there.
 * The Black Dragon guarding the Starmetal fragment in the Wooden Forest.
 * Kraagor's Gate is said to be protected by a bunch of dangerous monsters.
 * Made From Real Girl Scouts: The "Kid's Meal" in "Delayed Gratification", hilariously revisited in "Grueling Ordeal".
 * Magic A Is Magic A: "Truly, more wizards have been laid low by the writings of Jack Vance than by any single villain."
 * Magic Feather: Enor, the blue ogre/dragon hybrid, is given a piece of lizardfolk Victory String by Gannji to give him courage in battle (it's just a piece of string, of course). Roy lampshades this trope when Belkar points it out. Belkar tries to give him a "halfling Courage Rock", but Roy won't take it, and instead suggests Belkar keep it someplace safe. And dark.
 * Magic Knight: Durkon, Miko, and the other paladins.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout
 * The "Shout" spell.
 * The MitD's voice can be quite powerful too, if he chooses to.
 * Make-Out Kids: Once they get together, Elan and Haley tend to have difficulty keeping their hands off of each other, so much so that announcing they are going to have sex is actually a quite believable excuse.
 * Making Love in All the Wrong Places
 * Well, first of all, we have
 * But then, this is easily topped in "Riders on the Worm", where
 * Mama Bear
 * Kazumi goes to town on some ninjas. Using two swords. She killed the first one with his own sword by disarming him with a pillow.
 * Tsukiko is a Mama to her wights.
 * Tsukiko is a Mama to her wights.
 * Tsukiko is a Mama to her wights.
 * Tsukiko is a Mama to her wights.

Characters are also explicitly aware that their setting operates on Dungeons & Dragons rules and mechanics; even the comic's first strip depicted their reactions to being upgraded from the 3rd to 3.5 edition ruleset mid-battle (Word of the Giant has it that the comic will not be upgraded to 4th edition rules). References to Hit Points, skill checks, dice rolls, experience and class levels, spell slots, etc. are ubiquitous throughout the comic. To combine the two above examples, a dwarven assassin points out to his Shadowdancer companion that his "shadow jump" ability is useless because this is a stick figure comic with no shadowing. "Roy: Isn't a "brontosaurus" really just an apatosaurus with the head of a different dinosaur? Tarquin: And a hippogriff is really just a horse with the head and wings of a bird, but I've still got eight squadrons mounted on the damn things. Roy: Hmm. Fair enough."
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * The Dark One is the goblin god behind the goblin high priest.
 * Malack and Tarquin are the ones truly in charge of the Empire of Blood -- which isn't too hard to guess after one glance at the Empress.
 * Man On Fire
 * Belkar douses Miko in sake and tosses a match at her.
 * Played for drama later on when Tarquin does this to a bunch of escaped slaves
 * Mass "Oh Crap": Strips 825 and 826,.
 * Matter of Life and Death
 * Mauve Shirt
 * Kazumi and Daigo were Red Herring Shirts until they revealed their names. Daigo still keeps his last name unknown, "in case of an emergency".
 * Jirix is a villainous Mauve Shirt. His name had been mentioned on multiple occasions before, and he was deemed important enough that Redcloak (at Xykon's demand). Redcloak then appointed Jirix the prime minister of the sovereign nation of Gobbotopia (built on the former site of Azure City).
 * Meaningful Background Event: Nobody notices Elan and Haley discussing something important in "Small Talk", and merely assume they ran off to make out somewhere.
 * Meaningful Echo: "What the heck is it going to take for you to see that your dad is bad news? Do you need, like, 200-foot-tall flaming letters or something??"
 * Meaningful Name
 * Of course, we have Roy Greenhilt with his signature ancestral sword -- which still doesn't help Xykon remember Roy's name.
 * Elan has a lot of élan
 * Blink and you'll miss the etymology behind the chimera Trigak's name. It is
 * The gladiator that Belkar fights in strip #780 gets eviscerated rather nastily. His name was Evisceratus. Along with the aptly-named Notseenicus and Offpanelo.
 * Tarquin is named after Lucius Tarquinius Priscus and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, two legendary kings of Rome. The former was a foreign commoner who charmed his way into power and ruled as a benevolent dictator, while the latter was a scheming and malevolent despot whose overthrowing heralded the beginning of the Roman Republic.
 * Argent the wolf is named after the French word for "silver", and he has silver-lined fangs that make his attacks more deadly towards devils. Lampshaded: the strip this fact is introduced in is called "His Name Probably Helps, Too".
 * Medium Awareness: Virtually every character in the strip is (to some extent) aware that this is a webcomic; they are able to notice cutaway panels, compare Webcomic Time to "real" time, and on one occasion, Haley even left the strip for one panel to steal a diamond from the website's cast page (leaving an I.O.U. behind in its place).
 * Medium Awareness: Virtually every character in the strip is (to some extent) aware that this is a webcomic; they are able to notice cutaway panels, compare Webcomic Time to "real" time, and on one occasion, Haley even left the strip for one panel to steal a diamond from the website's cast page (leaving an I.O.U. behind in its place).
 * Medium Awareness: Virtually every character in the strip is (to some extent) aware that this is a webcomic; they are able to notice cutaway panels, compare Webcomic Time to "real" time, and on one occasion, Haley even left the strip for one panel to steal a diamond from the website's cast page (leaving an I.O.U. behind in its place).
 * Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Inverted with Haley (who is physically capable) and Elan (who is pretty).
 * Men Are the Expendable Gender: The hobgoblin cannon fodder is exclusively male.
 * Mercury's Wings: One of the paladin guarding the Azure City throne room has winged boots.
 * Milholland Relationship Moment: Sort of played with in a villainous example in "Not Much Chance of That".
 * Million-to-One Chance: Spoofed in "The Longshot" and "Improbable Causes".
 * Mind Control Eyes: As seen in strips #183, #383, and #448. Lampshaded in the first example.
 * Minor Insult Meltdown: V to Elan.
 * Mismatched Eyes
 * Tsukiko has a blue eye and an indigo eye. This reflects her dual-caster prestige class, the color of her aura when casting spells being blue for divine magic and indigo for arcane. As a joke, it carries over as a theme to her slippers too.
 * Also Keith Baker in Start of Darkness.
 * Mission From God: Redcloak is on a mission from the Dark One to give goblins standing in the world.
 * Mix-and-Match Critters
 * The absurdity of the owlbear (a bear with the head of an owl) is discussed, as it was apparently created by mixing a bear with a less deadly creature, thus defeating the purpose.
 * Also discussed in "The Answer is Blowing in the Wind".

"Belkar: Stupid cat. A ranger is supposed to influence an animal's behavior. You're doing it backwards!"
 * The Mole:
 * Mood Whiplash
 * The prize goes to Start of Darkness: The well-executed switches are often cited as one of the comic's main sources of appeal.
 * Latest book alternate between
 * One small example: Miko and Redcloak are fighting in one of the towers at the Azure City borders. Redcloak has managed to hit Miko hard enough to make her drop her katana, and he asks for Xykon's help... upon which we see Xykon placing a bet on the fight's outcome with the Demon-Roaches -- he bets on Miko winning -- while the MitD has a popcorn bucket and a giant hand, supporting Redcloak as one would support his football team.
 * "PLANE SHIFT!"
 * The comic titled "Yes, Apparently" pulls off a rather jarring one. It takes five panels for Elan to go from in a heartwarming moment to realizing that.
 * After a while, one gets used to Xykon being an affable, lazy tyrant content to crack jokes and lounge about while Redcloak runs his army. Then The immediate change in attitude is jarring, to say the least.
 * Mook Chivalry: Subverted.
 * Mooks: One of the comic's themes seems to be to Deconstructed Trope the concept. Gods Need Prayer Badly, so goblins were explicitly created to be low-level fodder for their clerics to gain XP. The comic's main plot is driven by the goblins (especially their High Priest) rebelling against the gods who forced them into this role.
 * Moral Dissonance: Intentionally. Moments like the slaughter of Redcloak's village and the brutal execution of a hobgoblin prisoner from Azure City by the Elvish liberation forces remind us why Redcloak is on his crusade, and lead us to wonder if he might not have a bit of a point.
 * Morality Kitchen Sink
 * Morality Pet
 * Mr. Scruffy, for Belkar.

"Belkar: Hello, fellow Medium-sized creature! How are you enjoying being Medium-sized, like me, on this lovely day? Paladin: Just fine, thanks for asking!"
 * O-Chul for the Monster in the Darkness.
 * Blackwing invokes this. He now works as a sort of conscience for V.
 * Moral Myopia: A vicious cycle: the gods consider the goblins nothing more than XP fodder; this leads the goblins (and hence Redcloak) to decide that humans are fair game to kill also, leading to a Cycle of Revenge.
 * More Criminals Than Targets: Parodied with Greysky City, which is so crime-ridden as to seemingly consist of nothing but criminals.
 * Morphic Resonance: Shapeshifters keep their overall color scheme.
 * Seen with Leeky Windstaff.
 * Vaarsuvius, whether s/he shapechanges voluntarily or is victim of a Baleful Polymorph.
 * Also, thus far Sabine always kept her skin tone (except for facepaint) and her black hair color (with a couple exceptions) in human form.
 * Most Common Card Game: Check.
 * Most Definitely Not a Villain
 * Belkar gets on stilts to disguise himself as a human.

"Nale-as-Elan: I'm Elan! Vaarsuvius: Yes, so you have told me no less than seven times in the last hour."
 * Nale disguising himself as his twin brother Elan. Though his repeated statements of "I'm Elan" don't raise any eyebrows since that is deemed in character for Elan.

"Celia: My Dark power? Right! Right. Because I'm totally a necromancer, and not a sorcerer who didn't happen to take any necromancy spells..."
 * Celia as Darkblood Gloomgloom qualifies too.

"Vaarsuvius: As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of resolving approaches zero."
 * Haley pretending to be a Thor worshiper.
 * Motivational Lie: Elan uses one on Thog so that Thog will break them both out of jail.
 * Motivation on a Stick: Roy does this with a spice-infused Belkar to use a sandworm as transport.
 * Mr. Exposition
 * Lord Shojo, first and foremost.
 * Later the IFCC, lampshaded in "Moving the Pieces".
 * Munchkin: The half-ogre spiked-chain-wielding mook.
 * Mundane Utility: V mentions using the invisibility spell whenever going to the bathroom.
 * Murder Is the Best Solution
 * Belkar's modus operandi.
 * Vaarsuvius' has a few of these moments too, as illustrated by the following quote:

"Hilgya: And a halfing. Durkon: No, I left 'im out on purpose."
 * Miko would rather kill those she sees as evil rather than bring them to justice.
 * My Friends and Zoidberg: Belkar gets this treatment a few times.
 * In "The Heavens Moved", Durkon says that the rest of the Order is a fine enough group, for humans. And an elf.

"Roy: Hey, you know, we're all enjoying this luxury, but we should at least share it with the others. We should get Vaarsuvius and Belkar up here. (Beat Panel) Roy: We should get Vaarsuvius up here. Elan: Yeah, definitely! Haley: Sure, let's get V in here. Durkon: Aye."
 * In "From the Mouths of Babes", while Roy is mistaken for the King of Nowhere:

"Roy: You may not be out to destroy the physical planet, but living under the heel of a walking villain cliché like you will destroy its soul. If I don't beat you here and now, then soon this nonsensical screwed-up world won't exist anymore. There won't be any place left for introverted dwarves. Or androgynous elves. Or idiotic bards or greedy rogues... or sexy sylphs. Or hell, even raging narcissistic paladins. Bloodthirsty halflings will probably get along fine, though."
 * In "We Can Do This the Easy Way...", Roy talks to Xykon about why he has to take him down now, instead of taking the lich up on his offer to be released from the battle and level up for a few years to make it a better fight:

"Haley: Crap! We need to break Roy out of there! And then decide what to do about Belkar!"
 * In "The Great(ish) Escape", Durkon informs Haley that Roy and Belkar have been locked up in prison:

"Elan: ... Hey, did anyone else get that foreboding feeling just now?"
 * My God, What Have I Done?
 * Redcloak gets to do this twice: once when he realizes how stupid his bigotry towards hobgoblins is, and once in the prequel Start of Darkness, after he.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood
 * Xykon can't remember Roy's name. Really, he doesn't remember Roy at all.
 * Vaarsuvius also had trouble remembering about... "Bird-That-Miss-Starshine-Named"... that is, Blackwing. No wonder the familiar wasn't so keen on helping his/her master or even talking to him/her, until V made amends.
 * My Significance Sense Is Tingling
 * Elan sometimes, as a result of his Genre Savviness.
 * Elan sometimes, as a result of his Genre Savviness.

"Belkar: I sense a great disturbance... as if a thousand double entendres cried out, and were suddenly silenced..."
 * Spoofed by Belkar in Hinjo's Junk strip.

"Vaarsuvius: I have a plan. Blackwing: Does it involve selling your soul? Vaarsuvius: No. Blackwing: Really? Vaarsuvius: No! I mean, yes, really. It involves coordination. Blackwing: Coordinated soul-selling? Vaarsuvius: NO! Blackwing: Is that a "maybe"?"
 * Myth Arc: Roy and the Order's quest to destroy Xykon once and for all, secure the Gates, and restore Azure City. Villains other than Xykon (for example, Nale and Kubota) are actually referred to in dialogue as "side quests".
 * Narrator: Spoofed in the prologue to the print volume of the first arc.
 * Naughty Tentacles: Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion, a reference to Evard's Black Tentacles from Dungeons & Dragons.
 * Neck Lift
 * Roy Greenhilt seems to like this as an intimidation method for interrogating mooks. He does it to a goblin teen in "Man-to-Man Chat", and then to Pompey of the Linear Guild in "Knight Takes Pawn".
 * Xykon can do it too when pissed. And don't try to change the subject with trivial concerns, like breathing.
 * Neck Snap
 * Xykon does this to in Start of Darkness.
 * Miko does this to Sabine on her first day in jail as a fallen paladin. Of course, since Sabine is an Outsider, it just annoys her.
 * Necromancers: Xykon; Tsukiko; Haerta Bloodsoak
 * Celia as Darkblood Gloomgloom briefly pretends to be one.
 * Hieronymus Grubwiggler may protest that he isn't creating undead, but he's still animating dead bodies as flesh or bone golems.
 * Neglectful Precursors: The gods definitely come across as such in the creation story of the Snarl. Start of Darkness... really doesn't help their case.
 * Neutral No Longer: The Elvish war party.
 * Never a Self-Made Woman: Averted. Haley Starshine was trained by her father, the notorious Ian Starshine, who got her into the Rogue's Guild, and his ransom is the reason she joined an adventuring party. However, this is merely her backstory. He rarely comes up, never outshines her, and after their encounter in the story, she has decided that she has grown beyond him. Similarly, she hooks up with Elan, who is beneath her on the power/capability scale, and their relationship is considered a perk, but never supplants her primary reasons for being on the team.
 * Never Live It Down: In-universe examples.
 * Vaarsuvius over, uh, "time sharing" his/her soul.

"Redcloak: Look, it was an accident! OK? Let it drop already. Geez!"
 * Also, the destruction of Lirian's Gate in a forest fire seems to be this for Redcloak.

"Hinjo: I see. Then you were the one who made the decision to destroy the Gate rather than let it fall into Xykon's clutches. O-Chul: I did make that decision, and it was my blade that did the deed. (I shall say no more about it, lest I speak ill of the dead.)"
 * Never Speak Ill of the Dead: On "Or Mention That He's Getting Too Old for This", O-Chul takes partial responsibility for the destruction of the gate. He's not telling the whole story to avoid further dishonoring

"Even if you locate them, my friends will stop you from conquering the other four Gates. (Beat Panel) (beat panel) Xykon: Did you-- Did you just say, "the other four Gates"? (beat panel) Crap."
 * Never Split the Party
 * Basically, the whole point of the fourth completed arc. Some bad things happened. The compilation book, containing said arc, is titled Don't Split the Party.
 * And then they did it again, resulting in Vaarsuvius, Haley, and Elan getting captured by bounty hunters.
 * New Rules as the Plot Demands: Rich Burlew claims to follow this pattern, but he's usually actually very good about replicating D&D's rule system in a believable way. Some of the few straight examples are the fact that goblins and sprites are medium-sized and Always Chaotic Evil races are more Punch Clock Villains. As one might expect, it doesn't exactly hurt the comic.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
 * Miko actually does this twice. Once when she kills Shojo, resulting in her being stripped of her status as a paladin (and all the benefits that go along with it) and creating a power vacuum that results in Daimyo Kubota's forces spending more time trying to assassinate Hinjo than defend the city. And, again, by destroying the sapphire in the throne (and Soon's gate trapped within it) as Xykon is about to be re-killed by the ghosts of the Sapphire Guard, thus causing the ghosts to dissipate.
 * In Start of Darkness, when Xykon is confronting, he doesn't know that there are four other gates until...

"Elan: They were dire halfdragon bone-eating saltwater werepiranhas. OK???"
 * In "All in the Family", we get to see the ramification of
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Redcloak, after holding a group of Azurites hostage during one of his interrogations of O-Chul, decides to let them live, hoping that they'll spread word of how the (seemingly) last Sapphire Guard is a prisoner, which will break the will of the other prisoners. However, this backfires big time, as they instead interpret events as a Sapphire Guard having survived the battle and still heroically resisting the enemy's attempts to break him (which is true), which raises the hopes of the prisoners.
 * Ninja Log
 * Belkar to Miko.
 * Haley to Crystal, with bonus Psycho Strings.
 * Blackwing to Qarr.
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot
 * An allusion on the trope is found in "Meanwhile, His Teammate Was in Rhodes".
 * Also:

"Elan: Hooray! The people whose names I know are saved!"
 * Ninja Prop
 * The best example would probably be the diamond from the cast page, which Haley stole from herself in order to pay for a spell in the main comic.
 * In one strip, a mute Haley holds a mental argument with herself while on the road, drowning out Elan's Blah Blah Blah dialogue. In the final panel, it's revealed that he's literally been saying "blah blah blah" the entire time, hoping to set a new world record in consecutive use of the word.
 * In the comic book compendium of this webcomic, the party uses the narrator to distract the monster guarding the entrance to the dungeon.
 * Lien knew that Qarr was up to no good from his sinister-looking Speech Bubbles (red text on a black background).
 * It's possible to feign death by drawing X marks over one's eyes and lying very still.
 * Nobody Poops: Played with when Qarr the imp notices that V uses invisibility before going to piss. Also, humorously averted in "The Most Important Quest".
 * No Dialogue Episode: "Words Fail" and again in "Making Up for Lost Time" (except for the final panel).
 * No Fourth Wall
 * Most of the characters seem aware that their world works on RPG rules and occasionally refer to the fact that they're in a comic, but they still seem confused when the Oracle breaks the comic fourth wall more directly.
 * Reached new heights in "It's a Shame She Didn't Grab That Script While She Was There". Heck, even the cast page is on that joke.
 * And in "At Least It Wasn't the Fourth Wall Again", the third wall takes a beating, too.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown
 * And then there's the arena fight.
 * Nominal Importance
 * Mentioned as early as strip #21, where Haley complains that the fact that they killed a named chimera implied it should have become a recurring villain.
 * Lampshaded by Kazumi and Daigo, two Azurite soldiers, who go from Red Shirts to Mauve Shirts just by revealing their names. (Daigo, observing the power of this effect, wisely decides to save his last name for a future emergency.)
 * Lampshaded again.
 * Lampshaded again.

"Belkar: 'mfine. Halfings may only be able to advance to level 8, but I've got Attack Rank G. Guard: That boy got his ass knocked back to Basic!"
 * However, Rich Burlew is also quite willing to subvert the trope, by having characters introduced by name and then killed in the very same strip. Case in point: Kodrog the Slayer & Jim; those three barbarians; Shelby the Dragonslayer; Solt Lorkyurg; Buggy Lou... (Yeah, it happens a lot around Belkar or Xykon.)
 * And in the prequel book Start of Darkness, Nominal Importance is plain and simply inverted. Actually saying his name is really what gets a lizardman killed: it was too complex for Xykon to remember.
 * No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: The Monster in the Darkness's tea party.
 * No Name Given: The Monster in the Darkness; the Oracle; the Chief; the Rookie; the Cleric of Loki
 * Non-Mammal Mammaries: Lampshaded, of course.
 * Non Sequitur Thud
 * Haley sings "I'm Henry the 8th, I am, Henry the 8th, I am, I am..." after receiving a stunning kick from Miko in "The Confrontation".
 * "The wheels on the bus go round and round..." -- a black dragon after surviving one Disintegrate spell, before being vaporized by another.
 * Happens to Belkar in "Top of the List":

"Elan: Are--are you hitting on me? Because, whatever you heard about what happened at Summer Camp-- Mistress Shadowgale: Yeah, seriously, this is the dullest excuse for a date since you went with Darren Leafsword back in 8th grade. Hinjo: Unnhhh... I'm sorry, Uncle. I'll never swipe a drink for your private stash again... Roy: It was just a joke! We didn't know Mrs. McNulty was allergic to weasels! Elan: It's exciting being part of a family where they DON'T try to frame you for murder! Haley: Oooo, I probably shouldn't tell you about Cousin Sheila, then... MitD: Uh, hi. I know I'm not allowed in your room since the thing with the peanut butter... Tarquin: I still haven't figured out how [Thog] managed to flood the palace with lemon pudding that time... Ranch Dressing Elemental: Thank you, [Vaarsuvius]! You have restored Prince Oozalot to the throne of the Hidden Valley and rescued his true love, Gertrude, from the evil sauce dragon! Malack: You always have gone that extra mile for the punchline. Remember the Rajah? Tarquin: HA! And you said there was no way I'd hold that much creamed spinach in my mouth for the whole coronation!"
 * Noodle Implements: Elan and Thog's plan to get back into Azure City apparently involved a corkscrew, skis, a basketball, a box of soap, a traffic cone, a leprechaun costume, and a giant wooden alpaca full of potato salad. It should be mentioned that the costume was, for several comics, all we saw. The rest of it showed up in a comic titled "As Good an Explanation as is Forthcoming" which, of course, only raised further questions.
 * Noodle Incidents: Several.

"Sabine: It's, uh... that time of the century. You know... the Red Knight is requesting lodging. Haley: Think how testy I can get, and I'm only the "Empress of Blood" a few days each month."
 * No Periods, Period: Averted, though Sabine's example is an excuse.

"Rookie: What are those weird bumpy things between their eyes?"
 * No Peripheral Vision: Those three mooks; lampshaded by Tarquin.
 * The Noseless: All characters, due to the art style. With Lampshade Hanging, naturally:

"Lien: My parents were fishermen. When I was a little girl, I stood right here and learned how to clean the fish that they caught. I'm telling you this so that you know that when I say that if you take one more step, I will gut you like the catch of the day -- IT IS NOT HYPERBOLE!"
 * Not a Game: O-Chul to Haley before the Azure City battle.
 * Not Even Bothering with an Excuse: Sort of seen in #789 with Elan announcing that he and Haley are leaving to have sex, in contrast to previous occasions of them going to have sex, in which Unusual Euphemism or Is That What They're Calling It Now? was used by them or other character. "Sort of" because ironically, this time they aren't going to have sex and it's a Lame Excuse.
 * Not Hyperbole
 * Named for Lien's little speech:

"Belkar: DAMN IT! (sunder!)"
 * In "Rapier Wit", Balker states that he could sunder Elan's rapier by speeking too loudly.

"Tarquin: You sound like your mother. "Oh Tarquin, you jerk! When you said that you would liquefy every man in the tavern if one of them grabbed my butt again during my shift, I didn't think you meant it!""
 * In another strip, "On Friendship", when Belkar says, "I am going to rip off your stupid bug head and piss down your neck hole!", he happens to be serious.
 * It appears that one of these was the last straw in the marriage of Elan's parents.

"Nale: It's not what it looks like. Nale: (simultaneous) I was going to KILL her. Sabine: (simultaneous) YOU WERE GOING TO KILL HER!"
 * Not So Different: V and Belkar have always opted for a brute force style in facing their problems, but thanks to Character Development, they've also seen other ways of looking at the world. To drive the point even further, they both have dark fates in store.
 * Not That Kind of Mage
 * Xykon is mistaken for a wizard early in Start of Darkness's narrative. He doesn't take as much offense here as one might expect, given his distaste for wizards.
 * In a later strip, a bit character intentionally mislabels Vaarsuvius as a warlock to draw him/her into battle.
 * Not What It Looks Like
 * Played with in "A Familiar Face", when Celia recalls finding out her boyfriend "slipping the wood" to a dryad. He says it's not what it looks, but it's unclear what it looks like in the first place....
 * Subverted when Nale seduces Haley in order to betray and kill her, only to be stopped when his enraged girlfriend Sabine arrives. She realizes what's going on immediately, but wanted to kill Haley herself:

"Roy: Damnit! Not again! Celia: Darn it! Not again! Vaarsuvius: NOT AGAIN! Durkon: Och, not AGAIN!"
 * Number of the Beast
 * According to Qarr, the application form for a Deal with the Devil is 666 pages long.
 * "Inverted" with the IFCC's adress, which is "9 Hells Plaza, Lower Planes 00999".
 * Number Two: Haley is briefly mentioned as being Roy's second-in-command during the battle of Azure city. She's not too confident about her abilities in this regard, having suckered Roy into naming her second-in-command in the first place in On the Origins of PCs only for a bigger share of treasure.
 * Offhand Backhand: Xykon uses the magical equivalent on a nameless Azurite soldier, while taking a break in the middle of a battle to conduct a job interview.
 * Off with His Head
 * Nale to Cliffport Chief.
 * Belkar to Grand Larcenist.
 * Miko to Jirix.
 * Belkar to Buggy Lou.
 * Oh Crap: Several times.
 * Most notably "Land of the Rising...".
 * And the expression on Elan's face at the end of "Yes, Apparently".
 * Haley says it out loud in "A Vexation or Irritation".
 * When Nale finds out what magic item Tarquin recently got.
 * Redcloak when
 * Vaarsuvius
 * Oh My Gods
 * Oh, No, Not Again

"Elan: Awww, not again."
 * And in the prequel book On the Origin of PCs, when Sir Francois the paladin can't stand any longer his herald's stupidity and ditch him... guess what's the reaction.

On the other hand, it should be noted that Durkon is calm, introverted, mild-mannered, makes use of his spellcaster abilities as often as his weapons, and never swears. He takes his job as a healer very seriously, not limiting it to use of magic (he has significant medical knowledge, as seen when he's examining Haley and giving advice to a pregnant woman). All this sets him very much apart the usual drunken, axe-throwing and curse-spewing stereotype, making this more of a Zig-Zagging Trope instead.
 * Oh, the Humanity!: Surtur's victims.
 * Ominous Floating Castle: In "Villainy Afoot", Xykon is shown to have built a "fortress-tomb-thingy" in the Astral Plane as a safe hiding place for his phylactery.
 * Ominous Latin Chanting: Spoofed in "I See a Red Robe and I Want to Paint it Black". Apparently the IFCC has a ghostly choir composed entirely of freshly "snipped" dead pedophiles that sings fake Latin whenever they complete a deal. You can sing the fake Latin in place of the lyrics of Sephiroth's "One-Winged Angel" or "Ave Satani" from The Omen.
 * Only Sane Man: Most of the main characters are in this position vis-à-vis the others at one point or another, but the role most often falls to Roy, Hinjo, and, on the villains' side, Redcloak.
 * OOC Is Serious Business
 * The first time Elan proves he can actually be useful, it comes as a shock to his teammates. Belkar, naturally, also takes advantage of this to trick Roy.
 * Vaarsuvius passing on a perfect opportunity to say "I Told You So" can get Durkon really worried.
 * Belkar is a Heroic Comedic Sociopath and Blood Knight at all times, so when he suddenly starts advocating the most peaceful solution to a conflict to reduce the bloodshed... it seriously freaks out Haley and Celia. (Which was of course his intention all along.)
 * Operation Blank: Spoofed.
 * Opponent Switch: Done by the villains in the first Order-vs.-Linear Guild fight: Nale and Thog swap opponents (Elan and Roy). It doesn't work, since Elan's magic actually works on Thog and Roy's ecstatic at the chance to whale on someone who looks like Elan, since he was still The Load then.
 * Orcus on His Throne
 * One of the few cases in which it is satisfactorily explained. When the main characters first encounter Xykon, he is sitting around his throne room doing nothing much. We come to find out that this is purely because the Gate he wished to access can only be opened by "one who is pure of heart," so he has literally been held up by a lack of adventurers.
 * Later, after he, he spends the entire Don't Split the Party storyline sitting on his butt in his castle torturing a captured paladin. Turns out, this was all Redcloak's doing: he's been deceiving Xykon into not leaving until . Xykon lost patience with this when his phylactery got lost, taking Redcloak's eye (or rather forbidding him to regenerate it) and commanding that they leave immediately after finding the phylactery. Now Redcloak appears to have no intention of giving it back, using a substitute.
 * Ostentatious Secret
 * The gender of Vaarsuvius and Vaarsuvius' mate and (adopted) children.
 * The Monster in the Darkness' identity.
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Lampshaded in "Clerical Temp". Durkon Thundershield fits the stereotype perfectly, including the combination of Norse Mythology and Scottish accent. When the party is split and one half hires a cleric to magically contact Durkon, the cleric gets an accurate description and then asks what sets Durkon apart from every other dwarf in existence. However, they are known to have odd anatomical features such as two livers. (Though that may be just natural selection in action.)
 * Our Elves Are Better: Averted.
 * The most commonly seen elf, Vaarsuvius, is an Insufferable Genius . V, at least, appears to be getting better thanks to Character Development.
 * The elves aiding the Azurite resistance are, with their "the only good goblin is a dead one" policy, walking justifications for Redcloak's behavior.
 * Aarindarius, V's master, is apparently powerful enough to take on a full adult black dragon without looking away from the book s/he's reading, though this was according to Vaarsuvius in the middle of an arc throughout which V's judgement was severely impaired.
 * Our Founder
 * Redcloak's statue.
 * Tarquin has one too.
 * Our Orcs Are Different: They use Hulk Speak and All Lowercase Letters. On the Origin of PCs also features orc fans of Heavy Metal.
 * Outrun the Fireball: Spoofed.
 * Overused Copycat Character: Spoofed. Apparently, every drow in this land is like Drizzt now. This trope is soon subverted because both drow that have appeared in the main comic are evil.