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The Order of the Stick/WMG: Difference between revisions
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== The MiTD is the Snarl's creation. ==
* Yeah, I went there. The Snarl grabbed Loki randomly because he wanted a new plaything, and after somehow performing divine autopsy on Loki without killing him, the Snarl figured out how to make things so he's something that can use those reality threads.
* After collaborating to make Hilgya, the Snarl made the overpowered Monster In The Darkness, an extension of itself although a seperate entity, but lost him after the MiTD walked through a dimension door in the Astral Plane into that jungle and hit its head as a newborn. This explains the "daddy ate a lot" comment, because what in the world could possibly eat more than the entire existence except a few outer planes? Also explains the shock and awe of the audience in that circus because really, if seeing a practically non-Euclidean deity child doesn't drive you insane, it's quite scary looking. The MiTD favors telekinesis over using its reality threads and claws, because there's less chance of accidentally making way too many more rifts in reality by accidentally clawing the air wrong. It has insanely extreme magical powers reserved for deities and ridiculously epic-level casters, because it IS a deity. With a very high divine rank as it was made as the embodiment of [[Continuity Snarl]] itself. As the MiTD is basically a very young child at this point, if anyone infuriates the MiTD too badly, it will become enraged just like daddy Snarl and blow reality up like they just don't care. The Azure City gate, which used to be the smallest, is incredibly huge and swallowing up the sky. Whatever wards Dorukan used which lasted beyond his death which destroyed the gate prevented the MiTD's presence from expanding as the Snarl was trying to find his kid. Girard's Gate will probably explode in volume too.
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The fact it can talk has been called odd, and it seems to be childlike. We have evidence that it is not evil; O-Chul hasn't fallen for dealing with it, for example. Plus, many of the Tarrasque's abilities fit.
* This also fits for a variety of other reasons. To be that small, it must be a very young Tarrasque indeed, which explains a lot about its personality - it has the mentality and tastes of a six-year old, which would be about equivalent. Also, since only one Tarrasque can exist on a plane at a time, it has no parents, so it's with Xykon and Redcloak so it can have parental figures in its life.
* The Tarrasque is traditionally the strongest non-setting, non-divine monster in D&D, anything less would be a disappointment.
== The Monster in the Darkness is a Zodar. ==
Original post here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/257742-speculation-monster-darkness-oots.html (posted by Pojo)
Zodar are six-foot-tall, smooth-black suits of armor with 2 eye slits as their only distinguishing feature. They are seemingly designed as the ultimate brawlers: their entire interior is muscle, they have an incredibly high strength score, can only be harmed by bludgeoning damage, and they ''never'' have less than 16 Hit Dice.
Already, it's sounding like the ridiculously strong and somewhat featureless Monster in the Darkness, but it gets even better. 3 times in their life, Zodar can cause any spell to manifest as if they case. Once in their lives, they can cast a limited Wish effect {{spoiler|,even "Escape"}}.
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** You're both wrong, even though one of you is me! After SoD, there's no way it's not about the Sapphire Guard!
*** All wrong! It will be about [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86816 that Guy with a Halberd!]
**** Well, since the Sapphire Guard were founded by a member of the Order of the Scribble, there's no reason it can't be about both of them. I predict that at one point, the Order of the Scribble will face their evil duplicates, the Doodle Guild! And the Guy with the Halberd can have a cameo.
***** Their rivals are the Holey Order.
****** What about Baron Pineapple?
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== Belkar will kill Vaarsuvius. ==
In [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0331.html this strip], the Belkster is prophesied to cause the death of one of the following: Miko, Miko's horse, Roy, or Vaarsuvius. Miko is dead not by Belkar's hand, and we know she's not coming back, and as long as she's dead her celestial horse isn't coming back either. Roy died, again not by Belkar's hand, and while his resurrection is almost a given, it's reasonable to believe that Burlew wouldn't kill him off twice -- that'd be overkill. (Heh.) That leaves only the elf. Since V may potentially turn to the dark side upon achieving ultimate power, that would give Belkar a damn good reason to do it, too. EDIT: As of 6/15/08, I may imminently be proved wrong. * sits and waits*
* Sorry for cutting to the top and everything, but remember the triple Soul Splice deal hinges on the fact that Vaarsuvius need to die to give up his soul to help the demon/devil/daemon alliance thing.
* Don't forget that Belkar also specified "or you (the oracle)." We may only get to see another kobold with a few dozen stab wounds. Not that it wouldn't be as satisfying.
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== The Dark One isn't quite on the up and up. ==
Redcloak claims that goblins and the other monster races were created for the sole reason of rinding XP for the hero races. But then we have Kobolds and Lizardmen who have deific patrons (and the Kobold's deific patron is Tiamat, one of the original deities), which makes me wonder if the Dark One is conveniently ignoring things like, say, human bandits and roleplaying as sources of XP.
* Depends on your house rules as to whether "Good Acting" applies. Besides, it's not saying that the monster races are the only source of XP -- just that the only reason they EXIST is as one of the many sources of XP.
** Roleplaying XP clearly exists in the [[Order of the Stick]] universe.
** I kinda get the whole ''[[The Matrix|Animatrix]]'' "Second Renaissance" vibe where, despite being presented as fact, it just sounds too... propagandized, to really seem true. There's probably a good deal of truth, but a lot was exaggerated, and some details omitted.
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== Belkar will turn into a WOMAN. ==
Note the lines the Kobold uses to avoid stating that Belkar will die: That he should savor HIS next birthday cake. That HE's not long for this world. That Belkar will draw HIS last breath before the end of the year. Turning into a woman (a new Girdle, perhaps?) would not only be a useful workaround to him dying (which almost every other assumed workaround requires), but would likely also serve to make Belkar(ina?) ever more pissed off. This said, like he needs to be any scarier...
* If V turns out to be female and Belkar turns into a woman, the [[Order of the Stick]] will match the Order of the Scribble in both race(s) AND gender(s). Take from that what you will.
** Um, no. The Order of the Scribble was composed of four males and two females.
** So, if V is male and Belkar turns into a woman, the adventuring parties will match.
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== Redcloak is, or will eventually become, [[The Starscream]] ==
Redcloak is clearly unhappy with Xykon's leadership skills, as clearly evidenced by Redcloak's [[My God, What Have I Done?|"My God what have I done"]] moment. [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0451.html\] In that same strip, he admits that he hates all humans equally. Perhaps that also applies to former humans?
* Unlikely, given the prequel comic.
* I think Tsukikko is a more likely contender for [[The Starscream]] position.
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== Guessing at Vaarsuvius' alignment. ==
I was going to make this about the entire [[Order of the Stick]], but their alignments have all been confirmed except Durkon's and V's and Durkon's is almost certainly Lawful Good anyway. So on to V it is.
I'd guess he's Lawful Neutral. He passed Miko's Detect Evil spell back near the beginning, and he REALLY seems to be Lawful, but also a bit amoral. I really doubt he's Good, so he's probably Neutral.
* Never mind, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0206.html True Neutral]
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Based entirely on the look on his/her/its face in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0328.html this comic.]
* S/he's hiding the fact that {{spoiler|Belkar kissed him/her.}} Remember?
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0203.html This comic] suggests that V "tampers with the fundamental natural order when bored".
** Hir children are clones!!!
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== Redcloak will betray Xykon and the Order Of The Stick will join The Plan ==
In Xykon's [[Moral Event Horizon]] moment at the end of ''Start of Darkness,'' he breaks Redcloak; however, it is quite possible that he will eventually push Redcloak too far, causing him to come out of his denial and decide to get rid of Xykon. The Order may join in this fight, possibly leading to the death of Belkar. The Order may learn the full details of The Plan and come to the conclusion that it is, sort of, fair. Rather than allowing Redcloak to find another chaotic evil wizard, Redcloak and V will end up performing the plane shift of the last gate. Then things will somehow go horribly wrong, allowing the adventure to continue; possibly against the Dark One who abuses his power as soon as he's handed a gate and maybe a corrupt/controlled V and Redcloak. Roy will die and go to LG heaven, however since it was somebody outside the family that actually defeated Xykon, Eugene will not. Haley and Elan will somehow survive this ordeal, and get the happy ending, though it will not be what the think. Durkon's body will be returned to his homeland after having been killed by trees suffering from epilepsy.
* Bear in mind that Redcloak is a negative energy cleric, and sooner or later is going to be high enough level to rebuke/command Xykon...
** It's mentioned in the [[Continuity Lock Out|only sourcebook that ever went into any real detail about liches]] that one of the advantages of lichdom is fast level gain. Liches never have to sleep, never have to eat, they can just sit in their studies perfecting arcane arts...forever. Or fly across the countryside sweeping towns with Cloudkill for the XP. Xykon could quite easily get even further ahead of Redcloak whenever he feels like it.
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== Daigo will, letter by letter, reveal his last name. Then, he will die. ==
Compare [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0501.html 501] to [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0589.html 589]. Like an cosmic game of H-O-R-S-E, he'll continue this joke until he runs out of letters and thus dies. And, giving the fact that Daigo is saving his last name to use as an emergency death-prevention, it'd be deliciously tragic if the reason he became a [[Mauve Shirt]] ends up being the [[Hoist by His Own Petard|impetus for his death]].
* Additionally, his last name will be [[Overly Long Name|excruciatingly long]]. Perhaps so long that he'll be an old man dying at his wife's side surrounded by his grandchildren by the time he completes it.
* Alternately, his name will be Daigo Daigo.
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== The Shojo in Belkar's hallucination wasn't actually a hallucination - it was Shojo himself. ==
Shojo's spirit returned to Belkar's mind to give him advice at the right moment to recover properly. It has to be a spirit, as the Shojo in Belkar's head talks about things that happened after he died. To do this, he would need a focus to return to the material world as a ghost-spirit, and that focus is quite clearly Mr. Scruffy.
== Redcloak and Xykon are PCs ==
Redcloak is smarter than the average villain, uses knowledge that shouldn't be available in the setting (or at least, nobody else seems to know about), and seems to be on the same level of meta-awareness as the regular PCs. Xykon is so card-carryingly evil he's practically a parody of himself, and overall seems analogous to someone playing a villain just to screw around. The two of them aren't just NPC villains, they're a rival party playing the villainous campaign in the same setting.
* Or they could be played by The Antagonist - the GM's assistant who controls significant opposition NPCs during a campaign.
* At one point, they get to go on a PC-like dungeon crawl in which they clear out an infestation of Good-aligned creatures.
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== V and his mate are the same (unidentifiable) sex. ==
That's why their kids are adopted and why they're drawn with the same body type. Of course, we the readers will never know the difference anyway.
== Julia (Roy's sister) will get married to Redcloak ==
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== After having his epiphany, Belkar is now [[Neutral Evil]]. ==
This [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0616.html\] practically states it outright.
* Nah, he's still Chaotic Evil, but he's faking Ethical Neutrality.
* He's Chaotic Evil now, but he was likely to become Stupid Evil if Shojo hadn't intervened. As evidenced by [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0435.html strip 435], the [[Order of the Stick]] alignment system has a third dimension.
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== Elan is going to have to find a prestige class that lets him keep his bardic abilities no matter what his alignment. ==
Let's face it, our favourite [[Cloudcuckoolander]] has been growing steadily more Lawful under Hinjo's influence; so much so he seems to be at least [[Neutral Good]] instead of his previous [[Chaotic Good]]. Remember how reluctant he was to accept Kubota's obliteration, despite this following the distinctly Chaotic tendency to just cut the crap and do what needs to be done? (Sure, V. didn't care, but still...) Elan is gradually losing his Chaoticness, and if he moves to [[Lawful Good]] he can't maintain his bardic powers. Either he's going to realise this and just do something batshit insane to keep his alignment from shifting too far (like running away from Hinjo, leaving a note, to try and find Haley), or he's going to have to roll with it, take a level in paladin, and grab whatever that prestige class in ''Complete Adventurer'' for bard/paladins was.
* Remember that line about Elan being sad he won't be able to see Roy in the afterlife due to his alignment in "Oh Buddy Roy"? Yeah. Then again, I don't imagine Haley would be too pleased if she found out Elan's going Lawful.
** "Oh Buddy Roy" came before Elan began spending his time baby-sitting a Paladin.
* He doesn't need one, being lawful just prevents Bards from gaining more levels in Bard (opposed to say, Barbarian, where they lose rage), and he has a prestige class he can advance anyways.
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* Hinjo
* The Cleric they want to raise Roy
* Aarindarius- Bit of a [[Contrived Coincidence]], but I can easily see him/her joining up with the Order of The Stick to stop V if s/he should [[Face Heel Turn]]. It'd also maintain the parallels to the Order of the Scribble's "Three humans, one elf, one dwarf, and one halfling" status quo.
* Roy's sister, Julia (She got too much screen time to be completely forgotten)
* Right Eye's Daughter. (see a previous WMG)
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== V's gender will be anti-climactically revealed in either the penultimate or final strip ==
Knowing Richard Burlew, it'll either be mentioned in passing or someone will casually refer to V with a male or female pronoun. No one will make too much of a comment because there will be much more important things going on or they will have already known.
* One of the fiends has already referred to V as "he". These are ageless beings of immortal evil; they should know what gender an elf is. And because V. was racking up the [[The Order of the Stick/Awesome|Crowning Moments of Awesome]], nobody friggin' noticed.
** And one of the other fiends added, "She? It?" Even they're not sure. V's been referred to as both male and female within the strip by various characters, which just reflects what they ''think'' s/he is.
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* Alternatively, using something that already exists in D&D canon (if not, granted, ''this'' canon necessarily): the Elemental Plane of Mineral.
== Haerta will find a host and join Xykon. ==
And inevitably betray him when it becomes necessary.
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* Isn't "Elan" meaningful enough already? Élan is a French-derived word meaning "enthusiastic vigor and liveliness; distinctive style or flair." Now whom does that remind one of?
== Vaarsuvius is [[8-Bit Theater
Rather than the two of them being married, as guessed above, V is one of Thief's grandkids. Imagine: V's children grow up with deep set emotional scars because their caster Other Parent left them. They then pull a Greenhilt, and return to ''their'' grandparent's career: Being a Rogue. So Thief grows up hating casters, and takes up the family trade (or a variant thereof).
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== Vaarsuvius and Inkyrius are both male. ==
I know that The Giant will probably never confirm/deny it, but dangit, -ius is a masculine ending.
* In some languages; maybe not in others (especially fictional ones). For example, in Spanish and Italian, "-o" is a masculine ending (as in the names Mario and Diego); however, some feminine Greek names end in "-o" (such as Hero or Calypso). My guess is that ''both'' V and Inkyrius are ''neither'' male nor female.
* And the surname in Japanese comes before the first name. Gentlemen - consider Miko Miyazaki. Basically, applying real-world linguistics to [[Order of the Stick]] is begging for trouble.
** And yet there are no other females with masculine-sounding names, or vice versa, regardless of race. I really think that if The Giant had intended on making V's gender ambiguous from the start, he would have given him a more androgynous name.
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== V and Belkar will hook up. ==
V is now evil, and has left their mate. The two remaining souls seem to like Belkar, and V seems to think that they have an influence on their actions. Plus, there was the [[Kissing Under the Influence|"event"]] on New Year's, which indicates ''something'' between them. I also think in the latest strip (648) Belkar seems to be giving V a rather fond look. And I'm surely not the only one who would love to see this ship.
* I'd like to see this ship!
** It's in the Fanfic Recs.
* And according to Don't Split the Party's cast page, Belkar is interested in V.
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*** Considering Celia ''is'' one of the other (good) characters who won't appreciate it, the two aren't mutually exclusive.
*** Yes, but there's a difference between, say, Roy not appreciating it ("Haley, you didn't have to do that, but considering everything else, we'll just talk about it later.") and Celia not appreciating it ("OH MY GOD! YOU KILLED SOMEONE! I HAVE TO TELL HER BOSS AND HAVE HER RAISED AND SPEND YOUR MONEY TO DO IT!")
** Part of the decoded text of strip #393 reads "Of course not! This is absurd! I'm Chaotic Good! Ish!" Source [[wikipedia:User:NeoAC/Translations for Haley in Order of the Stick|here]]. The only question is whether the "ish" means that she's Good with neutral tendencies, which would still mean here alignment is Chaotic Good, or if she's only kidding herself.
** Also, she was immobilized by Unholy Blight, and Neutral characters only take damage from it.
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== Xykon will fuse with the Snarl ==
So O-Chul is about to throw the phylactery into the tear in reality (or V's familiar carries it in, whatever). When it enters the rip, the phylactery will shatter and Xykon's soul will be released. What happens when a creature that is a tangle of reality encounters a soul? Nothing good, to be sure. But I imagine that either: Xykon will fuse with it somehow, or his soul will cause the snarl to at least get more powerful/irritable.
* The Snarl destroys anything created by the pantheon of gods. Souls of beings that inhabit creation had to have been created by the gods, therefore, the Snarl would destroy Xykon's soul if O-Chul manages to throw the phylactery into the spacial rip. This is why the people who were killed by the Snarl before it was sealed [[Deader Than Dead|cannot be rezzed or enter the afterlife.]]
** Xykon's soul is not currently inside the Phylactery. Until he gets destroyed, Xykon's soul is in him (speculation based on SoD).
** But he also completely flipped a shit when Soon's ghost said he would instruct the next human to destroy it during the siege. I think Xykon was probably just blowing smoke to manipulate Redcloak.
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... And given by Elan to Haley. Possibly as an engagement ring, assuming we ignore that fact it's black and the size of Xykon's whole hand. I don't know why it would be mentioned in [[Start of Darkness]] at all if it didn't make an appearance eventually. Plus it would be a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] for all involved.
* I assumed it was blown up with the rest of the castle.
* Putting the stone that {{spoiler|imprisons two people's souls}} into jewelery for a gift is a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]]? Maybe if {{spoiler|Lirian and Dorukon were freed first, but if they're still there,}} then no.
== Mr. Scruffy is Belkar's ranger animal companion ==
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== Even if/when Roy defeats Xykon, Eugene will not get into [[Lawful Good]] heaven ==
Even in life, Eugene seemed like a self-centered jerk, but in death he's even more so, possibly slipping into [[Lawful Neutral]] or even [[True Neutral]] territory. The most recent strip, where he indicates that {{spoiler|He wouldn't care if Roy sold his soul or fell to evil, provided he defeated Xykon}} kind of clinches it for me. When Roy kills Xykon, Eugene will indeed move on, but to the LN or TN afterlife.
* My judgment may be skewed, but it seems Eugene was saying that if Roy had been willing to do whatever needed to be done to ensure Xykon's destruction, we'd all be in a lot better shape. I can't say I disagree.
** Whatever needed to be done up to and including making a deal with demons for power. I'd say that disqualifies him as good, even if it might have worked (the moment you're ready to make a proverbial deal with the devil for power you're not qualified as good anymore, no matter your intentions)
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== Xykon will turn out to be the [[Big Bad]] ==
* He is "the Consequential", after all.
** Maybe he lost weight and became one of the three fiends.
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<span id="havenscopypasta"></span>== When the oracle said that Belkar should savor his next birthday cake, shouldn't fund his IRA, and that he'll draw his last breath before the end of the year, ''he meant that Belkar will die''. ==
Radical theory, I know, but bear with me. You see, birthday cakes are enjoyed through being consumed, which is an action that requires chemical activity in the brain (producing the delicious sensation) as well as motor activity of the muscles around the mouth and jaw. In other words, ''life''.
Birthdays themselves are also celebrations of life. So therefore, if Belkar is told to savor his next birthday cake, that hints--rather subtly, to be sure--that he may not receive another one, which symbolizes death in this comic (as Roy failed to notice or celebrate his birthday when he was dead).
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== The Other Planet is [[Planet of the Apes Ending|earth]]. ==
That's why people killed by the Snarl can't be resurrected. They're not dead; they're now living out ordinary lives in modern earth.
* will it be a fishoutofwater kind of living ot colorofmagic style
* When this is revealed, someone, probably V, will complain about what a cliche it is.
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== The Monster in the Darkness is a young [[Cthulhu Mythos|Star-Spawn of Cthulhu]] ==
It was cribbed from the ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' d20 variant and modified for the fact that it's not hundreds of thousands of years old. Its durability and strength would still be through the roof, and Dread Cthulhu is nothing if not a [[Big Eater]] (to the tune of 1d6 investigators per round). Great Old Ones possess reality-warping abilities, and anyone who's read the proper sourcebook would recognize one with such an iconic design, but would be surprised to see it in a medieval knights-and-wizards setting. A young Star-Spawn would be far less likely than its father to drive men mad just by seeing it, and people who live in a setting where squid-headed man-things are no big deal would be even less likely to react with utter terror - although vomit-inducing disgust certainly isn't out of the question.
== V will make peace with his/her mate by giving him/her his/her spell book. ==
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== If and when Belkar dies and stays dead for longer than three strips, something will happen to make sure he'll never be revived ==
* The phrasing above is very specific, because I don't think Burlew wants to render him [[Deader Than Dead]] just yet. Rather, his death will be faked for drama, and his fans will [[Fan Dumb|whine so hard]] that Burlew will get sick of making them happy and kill the character off permanently just to spite them (kind of like the "Now shut up" strip of ''[[8-Bit Theater
== Serini Toormuck or Girard Draketooth going to get the Order to Girard's Gate. ==
In #695, the illusion of Girard says that the spell is set to inform himself, Serini, and (presumably) the rest of the Order that it's been triggered. Dorukan and Lirian are sealed, and Kraagor and Soon are dead, so the only people affected by the spell would be Serini and Girard himself; being that Serini is probably too good-natured to have been happy with the idea of Girard ''also'' setting it to blow Soon up, Girard probably didn't tell her about that part of the spell in the first place. Since Serini's a Rogue, she'd know to use this as an opportunity to see Soon Kim while she knows for a fact that he's away from his Gate and thus avoid breaking her promise not to interfere. Alternatively, Girard will teleport there himself, either to make sure Soon is actually dead, or to finish him off.
Either way, once they realize that the Order of the Stick has very good reasons for being there, whoever shows up will give them the proper coordinates.
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Girard was an illusionist who had a personal grudge against Soon Kim; anyone who knew about the Gates would have to know about it. It's just a very cunning deception, designed to deter anyone from searching for the Gate any further; the spell to blow up Soon Kim is for authenticity and probably a bit of vindictiveness on Girard's part. After all, Roy survived it just fine, and Soon was likely higher-level then than Roy is now, and would have more HP to burn on what amounts to a very nasty prank-- especially since Soon would be traveling with a bunch of paladins who could probably heal the inflicted damage with not much effort.
* So what about those quite-possibly low-level paladins or others you are talking about? Would they all be fine?
** Who would bring low-level ''anybody'' into a part of the world with Purple Worms in it? It's been some time since I took a flip through the Monster Manual, but as I recall, Desert and Undersea were some of the worst terrain types in terms of typical monster habitats.
*** Because they don't HAVE all that many high-level people like the order of the stick in thier ranks, and you notice there's 'normal' people who go through the desert all the time, the spell was clrearly meant to be as lethal as possible.
**** Girard put it specifically in the middle of nowhere, possibly for several reasons, but the stated one is ''because'' it's the middle of featureless desert, with nothing in it of value to anyone. Since the Order had to split off from the route the common folk were taking, normal people probably ''don't'' go through that part of the desert. And the Sapphire Guard did have some fairly impressive paladins in their roster; evidently this is especially the case for the ones they send out on long missions away from home (ie, Miko.)
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== V will kill Girard ==
At the behest of the IFCC. He will teleport in, explain to them that he's got everything under control, Xykon will never find his gate ("Not while I'm alive!") and that they can just all go on their merry way, and right before he leaves, "Disintegrate." Cue V standing around with a blank look in his eyes for the next five minutes while the Order tries to knock some common sense into him, followed by him pretending that he has no idea what's happening.
* Except the IFCC will get his ''soul'', not his ''body''. Plus, the Order wouldn't just "go on their merry way" just because Girard made a boast.
** Except the IFCC grafted three ''souls'' onto V and he got to completely control their actions. "Having control of someone's soul" seems to equal "complete domination" in this comic. Additionally, I didn't suggest that the Order would actually go away, just that Girard would tell them to shortly before getting ganked.
** He got to use their powers, not control their actions. Also, the agreement stated they'd get V's soul ''after his death'' anyway.
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The fact that sylphs can't be raised from the dead sounds suspiciously like a Chekhov's Gun, or Chekhov's Boomerang if you consider her explanation for why she's reluctant to kill the first use. It would also be a good way for Burlew to pull an [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]].
* Realted theory: when sylphs die, they go to the planet inside the planet. It is also where you go in the Lawful Good afterlife if you climb to the top of the mountain. It is a world similar to this one, but without death or injury.
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** Vaarsuvius, an elven sorceror from another dimension who has travelled to the Sqaud's home dimension in search of new magic, and whose gender ambiguity is a running joke amongst the media.
** Ben Belkar, AKA War-God. Bestial [[Nineties Anti-Hero]], whom Star-Fist keeps on the team because it's better to have him pointed at the bad guys than at the civillian population. In addition to animalistic powers, such as [[Super Strength]] and [[Super Senses]], is certifiable [[Knife Nut]].
*** Everyone's basic characterisation and behaviour is the same, just slightly modified for the new, modern day setting. Similarly, the story progresses differently where appropriate, either due to the modern setting (for example, the Saphire Guard are a secret organisation a la SHIELD, rather than a group of paladins, with Miko as their top operative- she's just consumed with [[Patriotic Fervour]] rather than being [[Holier Than Thou]]) or changes in character (obviously, Roy can't die from falling now). The villains are also modified to be more approrpriate to a [[Superhero]] setting (as mentioned, Xykon is now a Darksied alike, while Redcloak is now a superhuman supremast a la Magneto).
** Show of hands, who wants to help make this happen?
*** ... Dammit, fine. ''Yes''. Although I'm not too sure about Charmer - It's to the point and matches Dominater, but seems a little plain for a supername. Also, rather than vaguely psychic mind-control, I think pheremone-type powers would work better. Like a non-Evil [[Marvel Universe|Purple Man]]. I kind of love the idea of Haley as a [[Distaff Counterparty]] Hawkeye-meets-Catwoman, though.
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* She would get over all over her issues, be exceedingly nice and merry, and skip happily from place to place with birds and butterflies following in her wake.
* She would switch from [[Lawful Stupid]] to [[Stupid Good]].
* It wouldn't change her personality much, but it would awaken her sexuality. Which she would be very confused about since she's kept it repressed so long. Say, she'd try to give Haley an angry lecture about greed, only to trail off when she learns she wants to bath in a pile of gold, and concludes, "I'll be in my bunk." I'd write up dialouge if I wasn't so tired.
== Xykon is a [[Kingdom Hearts|Nobody]]. ==
We have a near emotionless being with [[Elemental Powers]]. [[Significant Anagram|He has an]] [[Let X Be the Unknown|X]] in his name. He lost his heart at a very young age (pre [[Start of Darkness]]) which is why he doesn't care about getting his heart back. And [[Haruhi Suzumiya|I know where will is go.]]
* "Near-emotionless?" He sure seems to have the "enjoys the hell out of seeing others suffer" and "really, really pissed off" emotions pretty well covered.
** I said "near" emotionless. And the above gives him the exact same emotional range as Larxene.
* Wait, does this mean his name before he became a Nobody was [[Haruhi Suzumiya|Kyon]]?
** He and Haruhi wee playing D&D and then he wanted to play [[Kingdom Hearts]] and [[It Got Worse]].
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== Burlew isn't using the standard alignment restrictions. ==
I thought of this when considering an alignment for Thog, who's both a Barbarian and almost certainly evil. He can't be lawful by standard rules, but he's acted [[Lawful Evil]] far more often than [[Chaotic Evil]] or [[Neutral Evil]]. His only chaotic acts that I can recall are killing a sylph, which he did under orders and in a dungeon where there was no law-enforcement authority, and dressing as a leprechaun, which he apparently did out of stupidity rather than whimsy. Furthering this, Miko Miyazaki acted so crazy because she was never ''precisely'' good--she was lawful, so she could be trusted to follow orders, and she was close enough to good that the Sapphire Guard could make use of her in a similar way to how Roy makes use of Belkar, but she didn't fit the alignment because she didn't need to in order to be a Paladin in this universe. This would also tie in to how the evil races seem to be [[Noble Demon|Noble Demons]] as often as true villains.
* When has Thog acted lawful? And also, don't forget "yay, resisting arrest is fun!" as well as hacking to death several hundred people within city limits.
** I figured "lawful" was the best term for someone who looks for a leader (usually Nale, in his case) and follows that leader's orders without thinking for himself. I guess you could call that [[Neutral Evil]] with pathetically low Charisma--I'm a bit confused about the alignments at this point.
* Burlew sets out his view of alignment vs emotions quite well in [http://www.giantitp.com/articles/XbsQgS9YYu9g3HZBAGE.html this article].
{{quote|'''Rich Burlew:''' First, remember that alignment is a guide, not a strait-jacket. Not even for NPCs. Evil characters can love, good characters can hate.}}
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== Niu, a new character, will be important to the storyline. ==
Think about it. Why bother NAMING a character when he/she won't serve a supporting role to the heroes at the very least? In fact, I'll bet my money she was a relative to [[The Scrappy]] Miko. (I have ten.)
* Niu has been around since the beginning of the Resistance Arc, helping Haley freeing slaves and even before. And also, tell that to Solty Lurkyurg. And/or Buggy Lou. Or Trigak. Oh, wait, you can't, because they're all dead. I would expext Niu & Thanh to stay at this same supporting character level, maybe eventually show up in a big battle to take back Azure City.
== The Dancing Knights will return. ==
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* Create a distraction at an important time.
* Be intentionally summoned as a distraction.
* "[[Dance Battler|And kick, and kick, and]] [[Monty Python and
* Be the new, much more painful-to-land-on flumphs.
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== At least one of the NPC leveled prisoners is well optimized ==
Such as an iaijutsu focus expert,
== Xykon is planning to get rid of Redcloak ==
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== Alternatively, Xykon genuinely cares about Redcloak. ==
Hey, I've seen less likely WMGs on this page. Sure there was the whole "eye" thing, and [[Start of Darkness]] showed Xykon as just plain sadistic towards Redcloak, but there was [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0462.html this strip].
* Also, Xykon often makes comment's about having to show off something to Redcloak. Two prominent examples are when he noted having to tell Redcloak the symbol of insanity worked, and when he specifically sent a note to Redcloak about how he conducted an interview in the middle of a battle. Plus, Redcloak gets away with alot of things Xykon would kill a minion for without a second thought. In general, he's probably the closest thing to a friend Xykon has.
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== Shojo is attempting to change Belkar's fate. ==
According to Shojo, if Belkar keeps playing the sociopathic Jerkass, chances are someone, possibly an ally, would kill him. That's why Shojo came to Belkar in the dream: He knows Belkar is going to die, but needs him to live for some unspecified reason. Belkar's "fake" character development could end up with him making a choice he wouldn't before, something that will save his life.
== The Other Planet is [[Eberron]]. ==
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== In the [[Order of the Stick]] universe, the term "PC" refers to a hereditary immunity to Diplomacy. ==
* There are no players. What else could it mean?
** My interpretation was that PCs were individuals with killing skills far beyond normal people--in our terms, people capable of taking combat-oriented classes like "Fighter" or "Sorceror" rather than NPC ones like "Aristocrat." Basically, they're [[Graceling|Gracelings]]. (Also of note is that whatever it is, it's apparently hereditary.)
** Edit from second poster: just realized that some members of the Sapphire Guard are NPCs, and apparently so was Krystal (that line about how one's rival is always equal to or higher than your level wouldn't need the "higher than" if the rivalry worked the same way both ways, and Haley's a PC, right?) Still, maybe PCs level faster, or maybe they're people who're forced into adventure by fate (''[[The Wheel of Time|ta'veren]]'' rather than gracelings.)
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== All the characters are really characters from other webcomics. ==
V is [[8-Bit Theater
* Belkar is Black Mage after some re-constructive facial surgery and losing his magic.
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Hence, Haley's imprisonment will lead to her reuniting with him.
* "[[Bilingual Bonus|Tyrinar]] [[Theme Naming|the Red]] [[Suspiciously Specific Tense|was]] ''[[Royal Blood|my]] [[Self-Made Orphan|fa]][[You Kill It, You Bought It|th]][[Little Miss Badass|er]]''. I don't see why ''I'' should have to keep track of his prisoners." "[[The Order of the Stick/WMG|...or any of my bastard stepbrothers]]."
** Well, the Empress isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but she did rise to power two years ago -- the same time when Tyrinar decided to ransom Ian Starshine for a crapload of GP. Desperately trying to get money for troops during the war with the [[Eo B]]? Or trying to line his pockets before fleeing the kingdom? Either one is believable.
** Wait, when was that quote said?
*** It wasn't. The troper was speaking hypothetically.
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== Thog is Elan & Nale's half-brother. ==
Tarquin referred to Elan & Nale's mother as his first wife. That wouldn't have been in there if it wasn't important somehow, and it's already been established that inter-species hookups are more common, and attitudes to them more tolerant, on the Western Continent than they are elsewhere. This would also make yet another parallel between Elan/Roy & Nale/Thog, given that Roy & Elan have a surrogate big brother/little brother relationship.
== Pompey and Leeky Windstaff will return. ==
Do we have this already?
== The Monster In The Darkness will be extremely cute. ==
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== The oracle leads one of the factions that haven't been revealed yet. ==
His followers are the inhabitants of Lickmyorangeballshalfingville, and he's been manipulating several other sides for his own mysterious goals.
== Belkar will die after the plot is resolved. ==
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== Kyrie, Vaarsuvius, or both (?) are transgendered or otherwise genderqueer / in-universe equivalent. ==
Just to add another layer to the gender uncertainty. If it's not universal for elves, that could explain why we have seen some with established gender identities, and in V's case it could also account for the general "don't ask me" sort of thing re: sex/gender.
Or, y'know, I could be talking out of my hat...
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== Girard Draketooth will be a Deconstruction of [[Chaotic Good]] and [[Chaotic Neutral]] characters. ==
While the exact details behind why he was sure Soon would break his oath
are still not known (pretty much any theory is valid right now until we learn more), it's clear that he completely misunderstood what kind of man Soon was, and took the distrust of authority common to such characters way too far. He will be to Chaotic character types (including [[Chaotic Stupid]]) what Miko was to Lawful character types: Mainly a good guy who opposes the heroes anyway.
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== All remaining Black Dragons will join Xykon ==
This is the best way to V's [[Deal with the Devil]] to bite him/her.
== Tarquin had his nine or so wives killed for the worst possible reasons. ==
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== Vaarsuvius is female and that [[Ambiguous Gender]] thing is because of Belkar ==
Her ateps to make Belkar feel hate insted lust to her proof this, She could always tell him true if she was male.
* V presents a theory that Belkar can only feel hatred or lust for ''anyone''. There's no third option of him simply losing interest because of finding out someone was male.
** Belkar hate every male character, or V think that Belkar hates every male.
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** Does Girard Draketooth count? He seems a bit Chaotic, but he is incredibly paranoid, doesn't trust Soon as far as he can throw him, and he's been hiding in the desert since he started guarding his gate. Plus, we've never been given his explicit alignment.
== Belkar is going to turn into an Eldritch Abomination ==
Or something else that doesn't need to breathe to survive.
== Banjo will be Elan's Ace in the Hole ==
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== Belkar has longer to live than Roy thinks ==
Yes, he'll die before the end of the year-but which year? We've already seen at least two calenders with different new years(northern and southern), who's to say the oracle wasn't using a kobald calender? I think Roy will do some things that he wouldn't do if he didn't know belkar was going to die very soon, and it will bite him in the ass when belkar doesn't die as soon as he thought.
* It could also be 'one year from this point' meaning that Belkar will die within a year since the Oracle made that prophecy.
== Belkar will die, and [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|someone exactly like him]] will appear to fight alongside the party. ==
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== Tarquin will be defeated, and Elan will make sure nobody knows what he was up to behind the scenes ==
Tarquin's whole gambit for becoming famous even after death revolves around him getting the credit for ruling all these kingdoms, even in the midst of all the political upheaval. However, the average person on the street wouldn't know that Tarquin was the real ruler each time and would just assume that the empires were being ruled by their respective rulers. When Elan finally gets around to defeating Tarquin, he's going to make sure that he knows that this story is going to stay untold. That way, he will rob him of the satisfaction of becoming legendary upon defeat.
Tarquin's allies won't be able to spread the truth either because nobody will believe them, or the Order will get them too.
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== Trigak the Chimera will return as a recurring villain. ==
As Hayley pointed out, Trigak was in the middle of escaping and swearing to come back and get the Order when they least expect it. All Trigak needs is some [[Offscreen Villain Dark Matter]] and a plausible reason to bring Trigak back and *BAM*! Resurrection.
** I will note that everything I know about D&D comes from this comic, so I don't know if monsters can be raised or not.
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== The IFCC identities ==
Judging on their colors and the colors of the summoned wizards (and knowing there's one for each evil alignement), it's highly probable that:
** 1: Lee ([[Lawful Evil]]) is the Orange one.
** 2: Nero ([[Neutral Evil]]) is the Purple one.
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== Monster in the Darkness, possible 8-bit image. ==
I wish I could remember where I read it, but I remember hearing that Rich himself stated that the go board in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0651.html strip 651] was more than a symbolic image of MitD, but included a reference to his physical appearance. The slightly off-set go pieces, the tilt, I always had trouble looking at it until today. It hit me to convert the board into an 8-bit image. This is what you get [[media:MonsterintheDarkness-GoBoard_3414.png|:Linky!]]. The top row is as the go-board is with yellow eyes added for clarification's sake (explained below). The bottom row is inverting the colors just for a different perspective.
Keep in mind that this is a black and white image of a creature that could be easily purple and green so some imagination still is needed. Also, there are two ways of looking at this. First, the holes in the darkness are MitD's eyes left blank. This would turn the entire go board into the MitD's full body or upper body. The second possibility when you note the consistent use of perspective is the eye sockets are encased in white. This means that the Go-board, if my memory about what it is supposed to be is right, is only of the MitD's head.
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Elan would have one because I've heard a LOT of people saying that they think British accents are ''adorable''. You can picture it, right?
Nale and Tarquin... well, it'd RULE if they were [[Evil Brit|Evil Brits]]. You can imagine them detailing their plans in suave, refined, RP accents.
The mother needs one so that Elan could get his from somewhere. He uses American/Northern slang, but he has a British accent because he's copying his beloved mumsie!
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== Malack is Tarquin's [[Token Good Teammate]] ==
He became fast friends with [[Lawful Good|Durkon]], even helping him with his new spell. It's also possible Tarquin is paired up with him for the same reason Roy keeps Belkar around; to keep him from doing something against the party's alignment.
* Malack casts Harm and Inflict Critical Wounds in one comic, something only Evil Clerics get, if I'm not mistaken. That doesn't mean he can't be a nice dude though, he's very pleasant for an evil mastermind with a large role in the oppression of an entire continent.
** Good clerics can cast Inflict spells but they'd have to prepare them in advance, unlike evil clerics who can spontaneously cast them. However, quickened spells can't be spontaneously cast without some serious feat preparation and Harm needs to be prepared either way. However, I'm part of the "Malack is neutral" camp myself.
** Neutral clerics can choose whether they get the good or evil bonuses, so he could still be neutral as he implied.
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We already know Elan gets a happy ending. That practically guarantees that Haley is there with him, as otherwise he wouldn't be fully happy, if happy at all. They are an official couple. So, by the end, Elan and Haley are together and living peacefully. [[Babies Ever After]] is not illogical as a conclusion.
== Redcloak will ''try'' to abandon the Plan, but will have a [[Heel Face Door Slam]]. ==
This is related to the "Redcloak will give up on the Plan" one further up the page. The sequence of events described there will probably play out, but then something will happen that prevents him from completing the [[Heel Face Turn]]. Perhaps:
* Tsukiko kills him for turning on Xykon
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The IFCC will eventually need V brought to them so they can cash in on their deal (without wasting any time on it), so they'll dispatch these three to retrieve V. Perhaps it'll even be Qarr's suggestion, as he'll point out that they can't really trust Sabine to properly manipulate the Guild in their favor anymore because of her feelings for Nale, thus making it necessary to get some new minions in the field. As for why this is a feasible idea:
1) These souls were specifically chosen for the Soul Splice because they were the strongest, most evil souls the Directors had at their disposal. And don't forget the ghost-martyrs of the Sapphire Guard -- we ''know'' that spirits can physically interact with the living world, so why wouldn't you send the most powerful ones at your disposal when you need something important done?
2) From a thematic viewpoint, this would be a great redemptive step for V, complete with [[Hannibal Lecture|Hannibal Lectures]] from the souls (Haerta seems like she might be the most prone to it), and V [[Shut UP, Hannibal|shutting them up]], with help from the Order.
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== Soon and Girard blame each other for Kraagor's death. ==
We pretty much know Girard's side of the story, he blames Soon for ordering the sealing of the Rift which cost Kraagor his life, but what if it went both ways? Girard is pretty anti-authoritarian so he might have disobeyed an order that knocked him out of the fight (we don't see him in the final fight), but Girard finds it easier to blame Soon then acknowledge that if he followed Soon's order, Kraagor might have lived. Soon just doesn't dwell on it anymore (being dead does that to you).
* Perhaps he also blames Dorukon because the Rift sealing spell could have been fine-tuned, but Dorukon went on to his next spell rather than making it safer.
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** Allies: Serini (liked by all), Girard (arcane spellcaster, mutual dislike of Soon), Lirian (lover).
** Enemies: Soon (feels he negligently sacrificed Kraagor). Occasionally Girard but only when he's trash-talking Lirian within earshot.
* Girard:
** Allies: Serini (liked by all), Dorukon (arcane spellcaster, mutual dislike of Soon).
** Enemies: Soon (fascist prick, feels he negligently sacrificed Kraagor), Lirian (antagonistic toward divine spellcasters, wishy-washy hippie druid chick).
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== V will (somehow) become a [[Horny Devils|succubus.]] ==
When the IFCC are almost done with the time V owes hir soul to them, they'll decide to turn hir into a succubus just for kicks and giggles. (C'mon, turning the ambiguously gendered elf into a personification of illicit sex would be freaking hilarious.) At the end of the year, Belkar will for some reason be low on hit points. (Perhaps he'll be sick? And he'll have irritated Durkon enough to not get healed?) When they count down to the new year, V will decide to give Belkar a kiss -- which will drain the last of Belkar's energy. He'll die, and the Afterlife will be so great, he won't want to come back.
(Yes, I know it's not so much a "Wild Mass Guess" as a [[Epileptic Trees|"Totally Insane Mass Guess."]]
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