The Order of the Stick/Characters/Team Evil

Team Evil
"Xykon: (to the MitD) We're seriously evil badasses here. I'm a mighty lich sorcerer, Redcloak is high priest of his evil goblin deity, and you--well, we all know how powerful you are."


 * Five-Bad Band: Sort of. They're missing an obvious Evil Genius character, but Xykon and Redcloak take it in turns to fill that role.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Xykon is Choleric, Redcloak is Melancholic, Monster in the Darkness is Phlegmatic, Tsukiko is Sanguine.
 * In-Series Nickname: No, "Team Evil" isn't just a Fan Nickname; it's used in the webcomic.
 * The Necrocracy (Type III)

Xykon
""I think I just had an evilgasm.""

"Race: Lich (formerly human)

Gender: Male

Class: Sorcerer

Alignment: Chaotic Evil"

An epic-level Chaotic Evil lich sorcerer with dire plans for the world and a serious lack of empathy for living things. He has a constant need for amusement, and often kills people or generally does evil acts to fulfill it, as he can't enjoy coffee (which he loved as a human) any more now that he is a lich. Don't let how at-ease he is fool you: he's stone-cold evil.

"Xykon: All you need is power, in as great a concentration as you can muster, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. ENERGY DRAIN!"
 * The Ageless: As an undead lich he's unaging and immune to most attacks affecting living beings.
 * Amulet of Concentrated Awesome / Artifact of Doom: Both subverted; Roy and Eugene originally thought Xykon killed Fyron Pucebuckle and stole a crown Fyron possessed because it was a powerful magical artifact. But it turns out Xykon stole it solely for a fashion accessory.
 * Animate Dead
 * Bad Boss: "Sacrificing minions... is there any problem it can't solve?"
 * Berserk Button: Xykon is big on being in control, so completely in control that he doesn't even need to bother to take things seriously. As a result, nothing infuriates him more than his control of things slipping away, especially due to an actual mistake.
 * He didn't react well in the backstory when he discovered becoming a lich meant he couldn't taste coffee anymore. Here it was more a Tranquil Fury button, making it all the more unnerving.
 * Big Bad: The whole purpose of the Order of the Stick is trying to take him down.
 * Black Comedy: Just how he manages to be both the most evil character in the series and one of the funniest.
 * Boring but Practical: Big fan of Energy Drain. As he says to a hapless Dorukan:

"MiTD: You killed more than one guy named Fyron in Cliffport?
 * Break Them By Talking: Occasionally tries to do this, sometimes almost playfully, other times not so much.
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Is by all means an actual threat, but prefers to faff about until he's given proper motivation (or his Berserk Button is pushed).
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday: Why was that Bluepommel guy so mad at him, again...?

Xykon: Five, actually."


 * Card-Carrying Villain: He's out to be as evil as possible and thinks that anybody with standards is nothing short of a pussy.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Averted while he's toying with his opponents. If for whatever reason he gets fed up with screwing around, he plays this deadly straight.


 * Contemplative Boss: Once.
 * Contractual Genre Blindness: He's well aware of the genres of being an Evil Overlord, but goes along with it anyway because he thinks it makes it more challenging for him to win, and thus more fun.

"Tsukiko: We need a new Head Executioner, you know. Xykon killed the last one for spelling "guillotine" wrong on his daily reports."
 * Crystal Ball: Xykon's crystal ball has a wide-screen and gets picture-in-picture.
 * Dem Bones: He's a walking, talking skeleton. Occasionally Lampshaded.
 * Despotism Justifies the Means: Xykon is only interested in world domination because that's what villains are supposed to do.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: In-universe; Tsukiko seems to think he's Not Evil, Just Misunderstood sex-symbol just waiting for the right woman (who would, of course, be her) to fall in love with so he can sweep her away in his arms. Words cannot even begin to explain how misguided this belief is.
 * Emergency Transformation: He undergoes the tranformation to lichdom willingly, because.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted in the prequel comic. See also Pragmatic Villainy.
 * Eviler Than Thou: Start of Darkness ends up as something of a struggle between Redcloak and Xykon over who's the Big Bad and who's The Dragon. Xykon was the dragon while alive, but once Redcloak gives him lichdom, things change: Xykon overpowers him, outmaneuvers him,, and tops it off with a speech whose end is that trope's current page quote.
 * Evil Is Petty: In addition to the various horrific atrocities he's racked up, Xykon is also quite simply a complete prick. Invoked intentionally by the author; not only is it funny, but it's also an attempt to prevent the fact that he's also very charming and charismatic let people forget that he's a very bad guy, since he's clearly evil in big, apocalyptic "E" and little, petty "e" fashions alike.
 * Evil Is Stylish: But in a pinch, style can slide.
 * Evil Laugh: Averted. He decided to opt out of it because he can't do this decently without actual lungs.
 * Evil Old Folks: Before becoming undead. Reminiscent of the Badass Grandpa when you consider that Xykon has no problem killing, maiming, or traumatizing anyone he meets, and yet the good guys never stopped him from racking up 80 years of age before his transformation.
 * Evil Overlord
 * Evil Plan: Getting control over the Gates and use the threat of the Snarl to take over the world.
 * Evil Sorcerer
 * Excuse Me While I Multitask: "Redcloak: Check it out, I totally conducted a job interview in the middle of a battle. -- Xykon"
 * Faux Affably Evil: Xykon is not only totally evil, but a complete tool, lording his power over all and continually acting like a massive prick. But he's also got boatloads of style and is funny as hell.
 * Finger Poke of Doom: He often makes his spellcasting look like that. Also literally: he's a big fan of the spell Finger of Death. Plus, his paralyzing touch.
 * Flight: With the Overland Flight spell.
 * Flipping the Bird: "Oh look, I regrew a finger. Guess which one."
 * For the Evulz: Honestly, this seems to be Xykon's main motivation. Sure, he wants to Take Over the World, but that seems to be more like a long-term goal. In the here and now, he just wants you to suffer for his own amusement. Since he is pretty much immortal, he has a rather long time to take over the world, so why rush when you can plan everything out and make sure it works? Not like he has a set schedule or anything.
 * From a Single Cell: Xykon, as long as his phylactery is intact, can regenerate from nothing but his soul. (This is standard Dungeons & Dragons behavior for liches.)
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: Started off as just a Creepy Child with sorcerous powers in an "one-horse town" over a hundred years before the start of the series. Is now the prime threat to the continued existence of the planet.
 * Genius Ditz
 * Glowing Eyelights of Un Death: Xykon's are red.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong: One of Redcloak's hopes in turning Xykon into a lich was an attempt to gain additional leverage on him. It backfired and left him with less.
 * Grammar Nazi: And not just about his name.

"Xykon: I should point out three factors that I think you failed to fully consider, though. Factor one: I can fly under my own power, thanks to the Overland Flight spell I cast this morning. Factor two: a zombie dragon that lacks a bite attack isn't especially valuable to me. Factor three: Meteor Swarm."
 * Hilarity Ensues: Though he likes to say this, he's usually the only one laughing.
 * Immortal Immaturity: He's basically that creepy kid who amuses himself by tearing the wings off of flies and burning ants with a magnifying glass... except in the body of a 100-year-old skeleton.
 * Immortality Inducer / Soul Jar: His phylactery, which happens to be Redcloak's (un)holy symbol.
 * I Need You Stronger: To Roy, during the Battle of Azure City.
 * Jerkass: Not content with being evil on a truly grandiose scale, Xykon is also an unbelievable dick.
 * Kick the Dog: Xykon has a habit of torturing or killing people just because he's bored.
 * Large Ham / Evil Is Hammy: Xykon just loves his dramatic flairs.
 * Laughably Evil: Xykon gets some of the best lines and great comedic moments, which despite making him very entertaining does not detract from the very real and horrifically evil threat he presents.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: A rare villainous example. Xykon seems very like any other crazed megalomaniac, who doesn't understand tactics and is in it all For the Evulz. And then he gets serious.
 * Must Have Caffeine: He was incredibly fond of coffee when he was living. He actually had a speech on why he liked bad coffee. When he became a lich and thus unable to taste, this left him with the suffering of others as the only thing he could enjoy.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: He thinks Roy's name is Bluepommel, Redblade, or Orangescabbard, when he can remember who he is at all.
 * Neck Lift: He's done it when pissed off (notably, to Vaarsuvius and Jirix). And don't try to change the subject with trivial concerns, like breathing.
 * Necromancer: It's his forte; . Though he also uses Evocation spells and others as the situation requires.
 * Nice Hat: He considers his crown this; in fact, the reason he originally killed Fyron Pucebuckle and caused the whole blood oath of vengeance business wasn't because the crown was a source of magical power, but just because it upgraded his look from "Badass", to "Really Badass". However, he's now worn the crown for so long some of his evil has rubbed off on it, causing anyone else who wears it to register as evil regardless of their actual alignment when Detect Evil is used on them.
 * The Nicknamer: He does this regularly because he rarely bothers to remember people's real names. Or just to be demeaning, which he does very well. For example, by calling Redcloak "Wrong-Eye" or "Red-Eye",.
 * Not So Harmless: Underestimating Xykon because of his laid-back attitude would be a terrible mistake. Roy's first victory over him at Dorukan's Gate was a massive stroke of luck. One arc in particular provides a perfect example of this: he delivers a No Holds Barred Beatdown to Vaarsuvius, and then
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Xykon acts the way he does because he's got a short attention span, is much more interested in satiating his whims than indulging in long-term planning, and because he is so damn powerful that he is (justifiably) confident that no-one is really a threat to him, and therefore he is willing to let tactics slide for the sake of style. However, he is far more clever than people give him credit for.
 * Only Known by His Nickname: "Xykon" isn't his real name; he chose it because it sounded cool as a teenager after cutting every link to his family.
 * Orcus On His Throne: So long as he has something to entertain or occupy him, he's content to just lounge around.
 * Our Liches Are Different
 * The Paralyzer: Lich touch.
 * Pet the Dog: Subverted in Xykon's first appearance in Start of Darkness. We first see him as a four-year-old crying over his dead dog Barky; when his sorcery powers activate and resurrect Barky, he is completely overjoyed. The subversion comes when the newly zombified Barky eats a bird, which entertains the kid and makes him want to find more birds to feed to Barky.
 * Pragmatic Villainy: When he was alive, Xykon had no interest in kidnapping virgins: it's much more interesting with someone who's had experience. He was also willing to let Roy walk away from their fight, because of how obvious the level difference was, so he could do some level grinding and come back later... but of course, Roy rejected that offer.
 * Psmith Psyndrome: Don't call him "Zykon". He can tell the difference.
 * Resurrective Immortality: He can respawn if his body is destroyed as long as his phylactery is intact.
 * Screw You Elves: His response to every arrogant wizard who belittled his intellect and his sorcerous powers (compared to their wizardry) was to kill the jackass. Culminated in a "The Reason You Suck" Speech as he took out Dorukan.
 * Seen It All
 * Self Made Orphan: He got his career as a villain started by.
 * Sense Loss Sadness: He was already pretty bad before being turned into a lich, but he became much worse after discovering he couldn't taste coffee anymore.
 * Shut Up, Kirk: When facing off against Lirian, or the soul-spliced Vaarsuvius. And then there's how he ended his second battle with Roy after the latter delivered a World of Cardboard Speech:

"Writing a story centered around your main antagonist is sort of difficult, because you risk "devillainifying" them. Yes, I just made that word up. What I mean though, is that once an audience has read all about a character's life, with all of their personal struggles and trials and tribulations and such, it's more difficult to see the character as the Big Bad. My challenge here was to tell the story of Xykon's life without making Xykon even slightly sympathetic. I mean, he's wholly and unapologetically Evil, but more to the point, he's kind of a dick."
 * So Long Suckers: He very nearly gets defeated by the ghost-martyr of Soon Kim, but makes his escape as Miko intervenes.
 * Sorcerous Overlord
 * Start of Darkness: The prequel book containing his and Redcloak's is the Trope Namer.
 * Take Over the World: His end goal.
 * To the Pain: After defeating, he traps her soul inside a gem, so she won't be resurrected, and then turns her body into a zombie, knowing how much she despises undead. He later plans to.
 * The Undead
 * Un Equal Rites: When he was alive, people tended to insult him in two ways: referring to him as a tactically inept dimwit far more concerned with self-gratification than forethinking (which was, admittedly, somewhat accurate), or... by proclaiming that, as a sorcerer, he was naturally inferior to wizards, due to the fact he has magic "in the bone" instead of needing to study and learn in order to acquire his powers.
 * The Unfettered: Believes that along with overwhelming force, a good villain should be able to go as far as they need to go to achieve their goals, no matter how depraved.
 * Unskilled but Strong: To Xykon, all one needs are "Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide."
 * Used to Be A Sweet Kid: Averted. He was evil since he was around four and.
 * Victory Is Boring: Elements of this show up in Xykon's character, especially how he offered to give Roy a chance to level up and actually have the fight be a challenge. And imagine what might happen if he actually took over the world. Just look at the games he invented with O-Chul to keep himself entertained.
 * Villain Decay: Conspicuously averted by the author, who wrote his origin story, Start of Darkness, with the intent that the audience would not gain any sympathy for him.
 * Villain Decay: Conspicuously averted by the author, who wrote his origin story, Start of Darkness, with the intent that the audience would not gain any sympathy for him.


 * Villainous Breakdown: Xykon loses his cool in a major way each time his phylactery is threatened. He drops what he is doing and goes into a dead rush for the darn thing if there's a chance it will be damaged, eyes wide and shouting all the way. If it is ever destroyed, we're probably going to get a shining example of a villainous breakdown in the style that only OotS can deliver.
 * Villain Protagonist: In Start of Darkness.
 * Villains Out Shopping: Xykon's caught doing this multiple times.
 * Voice of the Legion
 * We Have Reserves: See Bad Boss.
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Due to being evil since childhood, Xykon never really understood any kind of intimacy outside of a purely sexual relationship.
 * When All You Have Is a Hammer: As a sorcerer, Xykon has a relatively small selection of spells, but can cast those he does know as often as he needs them (more or less), and so he goes for an approach of blasting an enemy until they are crushed under the sheer volume of his spells. This "blunt force" approach is why wizards look down on him, but Xykon sees it as a strength -- his whole credo is that there is always a level of force against which no amount of skill or tactics can stand.
 * Xtreme Kool Letterz: Yes, that's why he's called "Xykon". Zs are for pussies, though.
 * You Meddling Kids: He references it in "The Diary".
 * Your Normal Is Our Taboo: Xykon refers to people sexually attracted to living humans as "disgusting biophiliacs".

Redcloak
"(to his reflection in the mirror)

"It'll all be worth it. You'll see.""

"Race: Goblin

Gender: Male

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Lawful Evil"

A goblin cleric with a bone to pick with human society and a sympathetic backstory. Xykon's right hand man, and the guy who keeps the evil trains running on time. He is far more organized, but not as evil, as Xykon. He is presently the supreme leader of a large army of hobgoblins and undead. He is confirmed as newly level 17 in strip #826.

"Redcloak: Your city? Oh, I'm sorry, I thought someone would have told you by now. See, this is MY city now, paladin! I figure you owe me one village plus 35 years interest, so this is a good start!"
 * The Ageless: Thanks to the Crimson Mantle, he's immune to aging and disease.
 * Amulet of Concentrated Awesome / Artifact of Doom: The Crimson Mantle.
 * Animate Dead
 * Anti-Villain: Combination of Type I, II and III at different points. He has a very good reason to hate the gods -- which does not necessarily excuse setting up a scheme that might destroy the entire planet, but it makes it understandable.
 * Badass Boast: To Hinjo after the battle of Azure city.

"Redcloak:"
 * Badass Cape: The Crimson Mantle, again.
 * Beleaguered Assistant / Hypercompetent Sidekick: More the former, in spirit anyway. If Xykon didn't have Redcloak around, the world would be a lot safer simply by virtue of Xykon being tactically stupid and having a hard time getting anything done.
 * Brutal Honesty: Instead of lying about, Redcloak outright reveals to Xykon that.
 * Byronic Hero
 * Character Development: Went from being racist against hobgoblins and humans alike to being speciesist against humans when he realizes that he was acting more and more like Xykon (a thought that visibly terrified him). Also,

"Xykon: I like you this way. It's like we have a grumpy pirate on the team."
 * The Chessmaster: Strips #825-830 have him
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: A very good example. Unlike Xykon, he actually uses military tactics instead of relying on brute strength; he refuses to rely on classic elementals as Giant Mooks, and instead uses stronger and rarer ones; after some Character Development, he refrains from using the We Have Reserves tactic. He even points out he's not taking stupid risks any more in doing so.
 * Dark Messiah: Serves an evil god who wishes to bring equality to the Always Chaotic Evil creatures.
 * Dead Little Sister:
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Disintegrator Ray
 * The Dragon: To Xykon, although the epic sorcerer is considerably more powerful than he is.
 * Dragon With an Agenda: And how!
 * Even Evil Has Standards: One of the reasons that Xykon considers him a spineless wimp.
 * Eviler Than Thou:
 * Evil Genius
 * Exact Words:
 * Eyepatch of Power: After the below encounter with O-Chul. Xykon, at least, seems to approve of this development:

"Tsukiko: That... that doesn't help Xykon at all!!
 * Eye Scream: O-Chul did this to him in #655.
 * Eyes of Gold
 * Fakin' MacGuffin
 * Fantastic Racism: As a goblin, he's a victim of it by humans, who assume his people to be Always Chaotic Evil Neutral Evil. (Although, going by the backstory, Goblins are Always Neutral Evil by definition and cruel destiny.) He also despises humanity, which he considers not racist but speciesist, since he hates all races of humans equally (an ironic statement, given he seems to have a particular hatred of Azure City). He himself was racist against the more warlike hobgoblins until halfway through the battle of Azure City (see My God, What Have I Done?).
 * Fatal Flaw: Refusal to turn back, because otherwise, everything he's sacrificed will have been in vain.
 * Freudian Excuse
 * Foil: To Xykon, naturally.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare
 * Good Powers, Bad People: As a cleric, he can cast healing spells. Most of the time, he just does this to heal his minions (or uses reversed versions to "heal" Xykon), but later on, he puts it to an evil use in performing Cold-Blooded Torture on O-Chul, as he can heal him after each session.
 * Half Truth: When he explains, strictly speaking everything he says is true -- it's just that he skips a few details along the way.
 * Healing Hands
 * He Knows Too Much: He then did it again, with
 * High Priest: As Xykon's quote at the top of the page states, Redcloak is the high priest of the Dark One.
 * Ignored Epiphany: May be more of a
 * I Lied: Slightly more verbose one from Redcloak when he tells.
 * I Lied: Slightly more verbose one from Redcloak when he tells.

Redcloak: Yes, I know. That's why I kept it from him from more than 30 years."


 * Immortal Immaturity: Right-Eye calls him out on a variant of this, claiming that since he hasn't aged in decades, he's basically frozen in the past and refuses to move on like he (Right-Eye) was forced to do.
 * Kick the Bitch: Hands up everyone who broke out into uncontrollable evil laughter when he took out.
 * Kick the Dog: Taken Up to Eleven when he slaughters the entire Azurite Resistance... minus one survivor.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Redcloak
 * Line-of-Sight Name: To avoid Xykon blasting him for giving him a long, complicated name, he uses "Redcloak" to introduce himself to the sorcerer when they first met.


 * Manipulative Bastard: If his statement in comic #830 is true, he is this on an incredible scale.
 * Mission from the Dark One
 * Moral Myopia: Redcloak really gets angry when people try to reanimate those he cares about as undead. But he has no problem when it gets done (or indeed, doing it himself) to those he doesn't care about. Sadly, Xykon knows how to play him in such a way that he is unable to bring himself to defy it when it happens.

"Redcloak:"
 * Must Make Amends: After a hobgoblin saved his life during the battle, however, Redcloak reacted with horror to everything he he had done and become, and promptly.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: This happens after a hobgoblin sacrifices his life to save Redcloak from a catapult during the battle for Azure City. At this point, he becomes significantly more considerate for his hobgoblin army and personally leads them through the attack.
 * Non-Action Guy: Sorta; aside from epic characters like Xykon, the Order of the Scribble, and possibly Tarquin he's probably the most powerful character in the story. But he is never shown engaging in physical combat even when drawn in melee by another character, relying entirely on magic despite the fact that his class has decent melee abilities.
 * Older than He Looks: The Crimson Mantle stops him from aging. He's only 50ish, but by goblin standards that's like 120, and he still looks like a teenager.
 * Only Known by His Nickname: He adopted the name of "Redcloak" after seeing Xykon kill a lizardman because of his long, hard-to-pronounce name. His real name is never given.
 * Only Sane Goblin
 * Pointy Ears
 * Pragmatic Villainy: He has leaned more and more this direction as the comic goes on, especially since . He doesn't rise to the bait when he's taunted, doesn't take unnecessary risks, is thorough and methodical when executing his plans, and more or less abandons his Honor Before Reason tendencies. He's clearly been reading the Evil Overlord List.
 * Rage Against the Heavens: The Plan.
 * The Reliable One: Which he lampshades, saying that while everyone else is out having fun he's making sure the trains run on time.
 * Scars Are Forever: Although clerical magic could have fixed his eye with ease, Xykon orders Redcloak to keep that particular wound as a reminder of what happens when they "sit on their lazy asses".
 * Start of Darkness: The comic book containing his and Xykon's is the Trope Namer.
 * Storm of Blades: The Blade Barrier spell.
 * The Strategist: Unfortunately for the good guys.
 * Then Let Me Be Evil
 * Throat Light: The first time he put on the Crimson Mantle, in Start of Darkness.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Redcloak was always a powerful character, ever since he took the famous Crimson Mantle, but strips #824 to #827 demonstrate that

"Redcloak:"
 * Tragic Villain
 * Utopia Justifies the Means
 * Villain Protagonist: In Start of Darkness.
 * Visionary Villain
 * We Have Reserves: His initial attitude toward his hobgoblin armies. He becomes more considerate during the battle of Azure City, though it's still applicable. Redcloak's still Evil, and sacrificing minions is still okay -- wasting them is where it gets racist.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Xykon mocks him for his need of a justification for his acts, something that Xykon himself won't even bother with.
 * World of Cardboard Speech: To Tsukiko, right before


 * Your Head Asplode: Now has the power to inflict this on enemies with the Implosion spell, probably the most Squick-tastic form of death yet seen in this comic.

The Monster in the Darkness
""So... can I have some stew? [...] Can I get toys? [...] Can I be let out of the box?""

"Race: Unknown

Gender: Male (presumably)

Class: Unknown

Alignment: True Neutral"

Exactly What It Says On the Tin, a creature perpetually surrounded by darkness because Xykon wants to dramatically reveal it as his trump card. So far, that hasn't happened. He isn't actually evil and has a childlike personality, but has incredible strength and can laugh off most attacks.

"MitD: Wanna play a game? It's called "Who Can Hit the Lightest?""
 * And Call Him Mr. Stiffly:

"MitD: Order of the Stick! Your broken corpses will taste delicious lightly seasoned with nutmeg!
 * Big Eater
 * The Brute
 * Buffy-Speak
 * By the Lights of Their Eyes: His glowing yellow eyes are all that is ever seen of him.
 * Clap Your Hands If You Believe: His mysterious magic powers seem to work that way.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Likes tea parties, Power Rangers, My Little Pony, and watching dwarf porn.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: And it's not just his incredible strength;
 * Cut His Heart Out With a Spoon: The Monster rehearsing his lines in "Practice Makes Perfect":

MitD: Order of the Stick! I will bathe in your blood with lavender bath gel and a good loofa!"

"MitD: I don't wanna go! There might be something scary in there!"
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * The Ditz: He doesn't have to be, though -- when O-Chul challenges him to really and truly think for four seconds straight, he admits that he doesn't mostly because it's hard.
 * Does Not Know His Own Strength: Demonstrated when he plays "Who Can Hit the Lightest?" with Miko.
 * Earthquake Monster
 * Eats Babies: Subverted; Xykon tries to make the MitD more evil by feeding him small children and babies, but the MitD just hides them and throws them out.
 * Emerging From the Shadows: Actually under orders to first reveal himself this way, and has to stay in shadows until then.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
 * Extreme Omnivore: Likes gruel and stew, but doesn't eat live babies. Has been known to eat other random objects, including popcorn, important letters, Scrabble tiles, and months-old cheeseburgers found behind a goblin's sock drawer.
 * The Faceless
 * Fartillery: Not seen, but implied.
 * Finger Poke of Doom: Him "trying to hit the lightest" or "stomping his foot" can cause devastating damage.
 * Glowing Eyes
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Subverted; you could think this trope applies on his very first appearance, but he gets much less threatening very fast.
 * He Who Must Not Be Seen
 * Lovable Coward:

"Xykon: Look, there's nothing in there any scarier than you are.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: His voice can be extremely powerful.
 * Minion With an F In Evil:
 * Minion With an F In Evil:

Redcloak: Sir, he's about as scary as musty styrofoam.

Xykon: Correction: any scarier than you SHOULD be."


 * Monster Child
 * Morality Pet: O-Chul, which is why
 * Nigh Invulnerability
 * No, Mr. Stiffly, I Expect You to Dine
 * No Name Given: Even he doesn't know what could be his name, or even what species he belongs to.
 * Not So Harmless: The Monster in the Darkness may be playful and childish, but he's Nigh Invulnerable and has devastating strength.
 * Odd Friendship: With O-Chul.
 * Ostentatious Secret: His identity.
 * Parasol of Prettiness: More to show his gentle nature than actually being feminine, the parasol is also to keep his true form hidden from sight until the right moment.
 * Pass the Popcorn: "Oh, I'm watching two dwarves having sex on Level Fourteen."
 * Poke the Poodle: His attempted acts of villainy tend to be more like this than anything.
 * Running Gag: "Gate? What Gate?"
 * Stock Yuck: Babies
 * Super Strength
 * Sympathy for The Devil:
 * Token Good Teammate
 * The Un-Reveal: He's constantly waiting to get out of the darkness, but he hasn't had any luck so far.
 * The Watson
 * You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious: He calls O-Chul "Mr. Stiffly" most of the time; when he finally addresses O-Chul by his real name, it's a sign he's finally starting to listen to what O-Chul's been telling him and thinking.
 * Your Other Left

Demon-Roaches
"Right-Eye: The real problem is the structural damage they do.

Redcloak: Yeah, they really rip up the walls. Especially the fourth wall.

Demon-Roach: That joke is dedicated to all you fans out there!"

A group of fiendish insects who follow the villains around, making sarcastic comments and pop culture references along the way.


 * Affably Evil
 * Breath Weapon
 * Character Alignment: Being fiendish creatures from the Abyss, most definitely Chaotic Evil.
 * Fourth Wall Observers: Even moreso than the Oracle, if only because they get more screen time.
 * Greek Chorus
 * Irony:
 * No Body Left Behind
 * Pungeon Masters
 * Snarky Non-Human Sidekicks
 * Talking Animals
 * Team Pets

Tsukiko
""Besides, they were the ones who threw ME into prison for being different -- for understanding that a pulse is not a prerequisite for being loved! They all got exactly what they deserved!""

"Race: Human

Gender: Female

Class: Wizard (necromancer)/Cleric/Mystic Theurge

Alignment: Neutral Evil"

A young mystic theurge recruited during the battle of Azure City to create undead Mooks. Her love of the undead (yes, in that way) and impressive spellcasting ability led her to become Xykon's top enforcer, much to the annoyance of Redcloak. .

"Tsukiko: (to a newly-created undead) Hello, little one. I'm your mommy."
 * Animate Dead
 * Anti-Villain: Subverted Type II. She's on Team Evil because she was persecuted... for acts that are already evil to begin with.
 * Better Living Through Evil
 * Black Bra and Panties: She wears this under her nightie when Dark-V attacks Xykon.
 * Bullying a Dragon: Despite him being a more powerful cleric than her, she still treats Redcloak like shit, seeing him as a spineless coward squirming under Xykon's heel.
 * Dark Action Girl
 * Dark Chick
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Parodied. Since she thinks that death is the opposite of life and the Living Are Bastards, the undead are therefore caring and misunderstood -- and Xykon will eventually grow to love her. Even the Monster in the Darkness tries to tell her that it doesn't work that way. Eventually Redcloak proves her wrong in a particularly cruel way
 * Dark Magical Girl: She did turn against Azure City because she thinks Humans Are Bastards, because she was being persecuted and because she loves Xykon. On the other hand, she thinks Humans Are Bastards because she's basically insane, she was persecuted for things like reanimating corpses to have sex with them, and her love for Xykon is a sexual attraction for him, due to being an animated skeleton, that makes even Xykon feel sick to think about it.
 * Dragon Wannabe: She thinks she has what it takes to be Xykon's Dragon. Unfortunately, the spot's already taken by Redcloak.
 * Energy Ball: She uses a number of non-core "orb" spells (Electric Orb, Fire Orb, Lesser Acid Orb, Cold Orb) in order to counter Haley's evasion skill.
 * Everything's Better With Plushies: Tsukiko sleeps with a Xykon plushy. And yes, the fans started begging for one as soon as they saw it.
 * Evil Sorceress
 * Flight
 * Fluffy Tamer:
 * Flight
 * Fluffy Tamer:
 * Fluffy Tamer:

"Belkar: Oh, and hey, Tsukiko. On behalf of all the men in the city: Thanks for wearing a short skirt while flying. You've given me a lot to think about. Heh."
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Goth
 * Grave Robbing: Two years experience as an intern graverobber on her résumé.
 * Have You Told Anyone Else?:
 * Healing Hands
 * Horrible Judge of Character:
 * Humans Are Bastards: She believes this thoroughly and, in what may be an example of Insane Troll Logic, uses it to justify her belief that the Undead are really nice creatures, as they are "the antithesis of life". See "They Would Likely Both Disagree with That Sentiment" for the full conversation.
 * I Love the Undead: Yes, in that way.
 * Insane Troll Logic: Her "reasoning" behind preferring the undead to the living.
 * Ironic Echo: During her battle with Haley and Thanh, she uses both their weaknesses against them, causing her to nearly succeed in defeating them both. She also attempts to goad Belkar into performing a Face Heel Turn, which almost succeeds as well.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: The Shout spell.
 * Mismatched Eyes: One blue eye and one indigo eye. It reflects the color of her spellcasting aura (blue for divine magic, indigo for arcane spells).
 * Mistaken for Gay: Her... flustered reaction to an Accidental Innuendo by the Monster in the Darkness.
 * Naive Newcomer: At first.
 * Necromancer
 * Nightmare Fetishist: More literally than most.
 * Panty Shot:
 * Naive Newcomer: At first.
 * Necromancer
 * Nightmare Fetishist: More literally than most.
 * Panty Shot:

"Thanh: You have sold out our entire civilization to outsiders!
 * Parental Incest: She tells her undead creations that she's their mommy. She also sleeps with them.
 * Parody Sue: She has some definite Common Mary Sue Traits (heterochromatic eyes, great beauty, skimpy clothing, unusualy skilled for her young age, oppressed by a stuck-up society not understanding her greatness, etc.) and pretty much acts as if in her own self-insert fanfic. All to better point out how Wrong Genre Savvy she truly is.
 * Perky Female Minion
 * Pet the Dog: The motherly way she treats her creations. (Given her proclivities, that may be even squickier.)
 * The Quisling: She's wholly unapologetic about it too.

Tsukiko: Yeah, but at least I got a good price for it. What can I say? It was a seller's market."

"Tsukiko: I was expelled from some of the best wizard academies in the South, you know."
 * The Red Mage: Being multiclassed to allow her to cast both divine and arcane spells gives her a wider breadth of casting ability and spellcraft knowledge than a single-classed character would have, but neither of which are at the depth a single-classed caster has.
 * Smarter Than You Look: Don't let the pigtails, her love for the undead or her Xykon doll fool you: she's dangerous. She found some creative ways to counter Haley's evasion, and unlike Xykon she discovered that


 * Smug Snake
 * The Starscream: Not towards Xykon, but Redcloak. In fact, her behavior sometimes may resemble the Trope Namer -- despite that Redcloak is higher than her in the hierarchy, she constantly disrespects him, tries to undercut his authority and mocks him....
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel: When you think about it, she really acts like she's the heroine of one of those Twilight-esque books, where evil creatures are really Not Evil, Just Misunderstood and Xykon is this perfect guy whose heart she is destined to win at the end.


 * Vain Sorceress
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: She thinks she's the Mary Sue heroine of a Twilight-style supernatural romance. Oh, how wrong she is.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Probably not an example (it's impossible to tell for sure because of the art style -- though when sitting, the boots reach below the knees), but this is popular with fanarts depicting her in a more realistic style.
 * Zombie Advocate
 * Zombie Advocate

Xykon Decoys
"MitD: How did you get them to look exactly like Xykon?

Redcloak: I didn't. They're human skeletons. I put a blue robe on them and called it a night.

Heck, I had to put those colored pendants on them just to tell them apart."

Three skeletal undead -- a Death Knight, a Huecuva, and an Eye of Fear and Flame -- created by Redcloak for the battle of Azure City, to sow confusion within the enemy ranks by having them look identical to Xykon.

"Redcloak: I think I got a little too much "fear" and not enough "flame" on that one."
 * Anti-Magic: The Death Knight has some serious Spell Resistance, to Vaarsuvius' great annoyance.
 * Badass: All three to different extents, but the Death Knight in particular.
 * Battle Strip: The Death Knight rips his Xykon robe, revealing his heavy armor, before charging at the breach.
 * Blood Knight: The Death Knight
 * Body Doubles: Well, Skeleton Doubles at least.
 * Dem Bones
 * Deus Ex Machina: The Death Knight.
 * Dirty Coward: Skullsy-- ahem, the "Eye of Fear and Flame".

"Huecuva: Well, you got your contract killing in my hatred of all that's good and pure!"
 * Fate Worse Than Death:
 * Fearless Undead: Subverted by Skullsy, played straight by the two others.
 * Fireballs: One of Skullsy's two powers, to Belkar's delight.
 * For the Evulz: Both the Huecuva and Death Knight's main motivation.
 * Glowing Eyelights of Un Death
 * Ignored Enemy: The Huecuva being distracted from killing Hinjo by a pair of ninjas.

"Death Knight: Choose you doom, then, chicken-mage: Original Recipe, or Extra Crispy?"
 * In-Series Nickname: The Eye of Fear and Flame is soon called "Skullsy" by Belkar.
 * Kansas City Shuffle: Pretty much what they were created for in the first place.
 * Kill It With Fire: All three undead have fire powers used to lay waste on their enemies.

"Skullsy: Stay back! I can shoot Fireballs and Fear beams out of my magical eye gems!"
 * Large Ham / Evil Is Hammy: The Death Knight
 * Losing Your Head: Skullsy's fate two rounds after meeting Belkar.
 * Our Liches Are Different: Unfortunately, they are not visually different.
 * Power Crystal: The Eye of Fear and Flame's gemstones.


 * Pre-Mortem One-Liner: The Death Knight quips one to General Chang (and to V, almost).
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad
 * Sinister Scimitar: The Death Knight's weapon.
 * Touch of Death: The Huecuva
 * The Undead

Hobgoblin General
""Truly, there has never been a more impressive display of magic.""

"Race: Hobgoblin

Gender: Male

Class: Unknown (probably Warrior)

Alignment: Lawful Evil"

The General of the hobgoblin Forces, and loyal second-in-command of Redcloak.


 * Beard of Evil
 * Deadpan Snarker: The above quote was his reaction to the underwhelming battle between the head Azure Cleric and Redcloak.
 * Evil Counterpart: To General Chang (though they never meet). Chang questions detrimental orders, while The Hobgoblin General is continuously loyal.
 * Mook Lieutenant
 * My Master Right or Wrong: Goes along with Redcloak's careless slaughter of hobgoblins because he is the supreme leader.
 * Number Two: To Redcloak.
 * Pointy Ears
 * Undying Loyalty: To Redcloak, like all hobgoblins. Cemented when Redcloak stops wasting troops,
 * The Watson: Redcloak explains his plans to the General.
 * The Watson: Redcloak explains his plans to the General.

Jirix
""Thank you, thank you. And thank you, Supreme Leader, for those kind words. I didn't mind the Resurrection spell, either.""

"Race: Hobgoblin

Gender: Male

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Lawful Evil"

Redcloak's hobgoblin second-in-command, following the conquest of Azure City, and now Prime Minister of the newly-formed state of Gobbotopia.

"Jirix: Trust me, we're a LOT safer staying right-- *POW!*
 * Back From the Dead: At least twice by this point.
 * It Is Not Your Time:
 * Killed Mid-Sentence: Happened twice already, and each time he was OHKO by a paladin (well, technically, an ex-paladin and Chuck Norris incarnate, but still -- it may become a Running Gag). While Tempting Fate, to boot, the first time:

(Miko beheads him with a kick)"


 * Roughly 200 strips later...

"Jirix: XYKO-- *splurnkth!*"


 * Mook Lieutenant
 * Mook Promotion: Word of the Giant states that Jirix was the nameless cleric who fought besides Redcloak in the Azure City throne room.
 * Number Two: To Redcloak.
 * Pointy Ears
 * Punch Clock Villain
 * Shoo Out the Clowns:
 * The Watson: Jirix serves largely for Redcloak's exposition on things he would not be able to talk about to the other members of Team Evil.

The Booted Wight
""...Can I have his shoes?""

"Race: Wight (formerly human or goblinoid)

Alignment: Lawful Evil"

Tsukiko's sidekick and the face of her undead army.


 * Infant Immortality: Probably the reason it was kept "alive" was because it has the personality of a child (and actually was only four weeks old when it was first introduced). Until.
 * Irony: Tsukiko gives a speech to her newly dominated paladin about having to walk a mile in her undead's shoes. Instead it takes the paladin's shoes and walks in his.
 * Literal Minded: Why it's wearing shoes in the first place -- from not understanding Tsukiko's metaphor.
 * Mook Promotion
 * No Name Given: Worth noting, it has the most appearances out of all unnamed characters.
 * Person With the Clothing: It took the dominatedNo, not that kind of domination. Thanh's shoes, hence the name.
 * The Undead
 * Zombie Mooks
 * Zombie Mooks

Right-Eye
""You know what your problem is, Big Brother? You never seize the moment.""

"Race: Goblin

Gender: Male

Class: Rogue

Alignment: Neutral Evil → True Neutral"

Redcloak's younger brother and conscience. While Right-Eye only appears in the Start of Darkness prequel and doesn't live through it, he's one of the original founders of Team Evil and very important to Redcloak's backstory.

"Right-Eye: Life is about growing -- growing older, growing wiser, growing closer to your loved ones. But you, you're frozen in time. You're still the same angry kid who took that artifact off of your master's corpse that day."
 * Anti-Villain: Moreso than his brother.
 * An Axe to Grind
 * The Brute: Though not stupid.
 * Character Development: Spells this out for Redcloak, who he thinks needs some in spades:


 * Defector From Decadence
 * Eyepatch of Power
 * Famous Last Words: "Goodbye... Redcloak."
 * Fatal Flaw: His impulsiveness, according to Redcloak. From what we see of him during the comic, it usually (with one very, very, VERY big exception) works out for the better for him.
 * I Have No Son:
 * In the Hood: To meet with Eugene.
 * Killed Off for Real: Due to being Doomed By Canon.
 * Know When to Fold Em: Unlike Redcloak. Especially noticeable with his refusal to keep investing in Xykon, even though he suggested allying with Xykon in the first place.
 * Only Known by His Nickname: Just like Redcloak, his real name is never revealed.
 * Pointy Ears
 * Posthumous Character
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Plays the role of the impulsive, emotional red oni to his brother's blue.