The Order of the Stick/YMMV: Difference between revisions

* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]

** {{spoiler|It's ''really'' hard not to pity Tsukiko when Redcloak usurps control over her wights to prove that undead are little more then automatons for necromancers of any stripe. And then said minions ate her. She was a sick, twisted, self-confessed necrophiliac who was obsessed with ''[[Complete Monster|Xykon]]'' because [[Freudian Excuse|every living person she ever met in her entire life treated her like crap.]] What puts her solidly in Alas Poor Scrappy territory is that ''she really and truly loved him'', and only died because she discovered concrete proof that Redcloak is manipulating Xykon, and that the [[MacGuffin]] they're after won't get Xykon the power he wants.}} The point really gets hammered home when the only person to mourn is the Monster in the Darkness, who points out that in the end, {{spoiler|Tsukiko just wanted to be loved}}.

'''MitD:''' Exactly. That's why I'm sad. }}

*** Not really. {{spoiler|Firstly, we only have her word that everybody in her life treated her like crap, and based on what is known about her its likely that many of those people treated badly because she was an [[Evil Sorceress]] obsessed with [[Black Magic]] with a serious [[Lack of Empathy]] for living beings. Her "really and truly" loving Xykon also reads like a [[Shallow Love Interest]]- she only "loves" him because he's a powerful Lich, and no real other reason. Its almost like a [[Harley Quinn]] and [[The Joker]] [[Mad Love]]-type situation, except that Xykon didn't even ''pretend'' to be her boyfriend and couldn't even remember her ''name''. She qualifies for [[Alas, Poor Villain]], due to being deluded and seriously out of her league, but she is not ''that'' sympathetic.}}

** Given that she happily developed a spell that would kill ''every single member of a family'' (then every single member of ''those'' people's families), the necromancer Haerta Bloodsoak was probably like this during life.

** Xykon is an unusual [[Evilly Affable]] case. He enjoys a good joke, and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds because he finds it good fun. And sometimes he [[Dude, Not Funny|stops being funny]]. Particularly in the prequel ''Start of Darkness''. After reading Xykon's origin story, anyone who thinks that a narcissistic, megalomaniac sadist like Xykon might be redeemable is delusional. Note that while he's [[Laughably Evil]] a lot of the time, he and the devastation he causes are treated seriously, so he still fits the trope criteria.

** {{spoiler|Elan's father}} proves that you can demonstrate your love for your son ''and'' cause innocent people to die horribly painful deaths at the same time. After all, doing the two things separately is horribly inefficient. {{spoiler|Tarquin}} is The Giant's way of testing how far evil can go and still be likeable. He has proved his monster status over and over and over again. Whenever he mentions giving someone anything, you can expect something horrible to happen. Since he has the [[Pet the Dog|ability to love]] {{spoiler|his son (and presumably Elan's mother, since he didn't kill her either)}} and the extent his villainry is played for laughs, he falls ''just'' shy of the requisites to be a [[Complete Monster]].

*** Well, he ''says'' he can love- but his idea of "love" seems to be seriously screwed up- for instance, he tries to force a woman to marry him after conquering her city , and views the fact that she is married as a problem to be rectified by killing her husband. Bare in mind, as well, that his previous wife (wife number 9, no less) had only died a mere fortnight before, so he got over that pretty quick. {{spoiler|He doesn't mind manipulating both his sons for his own ends, thinks bloody gladiatorial fights to the death and crucifying and incinerating escaped slaves to spell out lighted messages are good presents for Elan without really caring if Elan himself would like them or not, and encourages both his sons to try and overthrow and kill them (provided they do it with style).}} He's...more than a little screwy.

** Redcloak;

** Thog: Kept in the comic because of his unexpected popularity with fans. Which is lampshaded in the comic, naturally.

** O-Chul;

** The Booted Wight; {{spoiler|who unfortunately won't be appearing in the comic anymore.}}

** Xykon may be immature and unfocused, but he can be this. The best example is in ''Start of Darkness'', when {{spoiler|he manipulates Redcloak into murdering and reanimating his own brother (and thereby removing any hope of the goblins being free from him in the process), all to protect Xykon from an attack he was aware of and immune to anyway, and then delivers what may be the best [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] in webcomic history to explain that now he has ''guaranteed'' that Redcloak will loyally serve him forever, protect his phylactery, and perform any atrocious deed he commands}}. Because otherwise his sacrifice would be for nothing.

** As of [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0830.html Strip #830], Redcloak solidified himself as this, by {{spoiler|revealing that he's been manipulating Xykon for as long as he's been in "service" to him}}, revealed spectacularly with the following lines.

'''Redcloak:''' Like I said: subtle. }}

* [[Memetic Badass]]

** While under the effects of the soul-splice, {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius brutally dispatches an Ancient Black Dragon threatening his/her family. Then s/he reanimates her head and, in order to protect his/her family, casts Familicide - an epic level spell that wipes out the targets entire family line. Vaarsuvius offhandedly mentions that s/he probably killed 1/4 of the black dragon population as a result.}} This is considered an ''extremely'' questionable act, despite the fact that {{spoiler|black dragons are [[Always Chaotic Evil]]}}. This moral quandary is definitively answered [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0843.html here].

** The end of ''Start of Darkness'' for Redcloak. Engineered by Xykon, who hapilly explains that he can now trust Redcloak to do any despicable action Xykon asks of Redcloak because otherwise he'd have to face that he crossed the horizon for nothing.

* [[Nightmare Fuel]]

** In-Universe, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0759.html the infamous ELAN scene].

** The [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0826.html Implosion] strip was enough for several GITP forum-goers to question the PG-13 rating of the comic.

** Tsukiko is a cute girl, [[Squick|loving dead people that she sees as her children]]... {{spoiler|But that couldn't last. When she says to Redcloak that she's going to reveal his big secret, Redcloak turns her undead creatures against her (the effect we saw him use when entering his room that looked like he was preparing his spells? Command Undead). He then orders said creatures to drain her (levels and [[Hit Points]]) to death, and to devour her corpse, which they do (offpanel thankfully, but it's quite unsettling).}} What we do see is pretty creepy in its own right: {{spoiler|Redcloak calmly watching, as Tsukiko begs for her wights to let her go, saying she loves them and finally showing she at least realizes (if not understand) that they didn't love her back.}}

** The last panel of [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0841.html page 841.] And it gets worse. The last panel of page 842 reveals that {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius killed them via Familicide.}}

* [[Painful Rhyme]]: Elan gets one in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0238.html the strip incidentally titled "You Try Rhyming 'Assassin'"].

[[Suspiciously Specific Denial|It's not so you can avoid the assassins]]''" }}

* [[Rewatch Bonus]]: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0113.html See that baby wearing orange, in the last panel on the second last row?] He'll come up again.