The Order of the Stick/Characters/Greysky City
Greysky City
Haley: It's a dangerous place where people get killed for having gold in their pockets. Not everywhere on this plane is Happy Sunshine Land, you know. |
Ian Starshine
"'Not dying' is one of my best skills!" |
Race: Human |
Haley's father. Former high-ranking member of Greysky City's Thieves' Guild before being supplanted by Bozzok. As a result, has spent three years imprisoned in former Tyrinaria, a.k.a. the Empire of Blood with his brother-in-law Geoff, following a call for help from his sister Ivy.
- Believing His Own Lies: Not quite as bad as Miko Miyazaki, but bad enough to think his daughter single-handedly manipulated the whole party into rescuing him while being on an unrelated mission, and Roy into believing he's the leader. He also accuses Elan of being a mole working for his father General Tarquin.
- Chekhov's Rogue: He's seen in a few flashbacks before appearing in the storyline proper, though at the time there was no indication that the old, white-haired gladiator could be him. But by the time Haley reunites with him, it's pretty much already clear that he is indeed her father, what with Tarquin's revelation that the Empire of Blood was called Tyrinaria before and the fact that Ian was red-haired.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: While he's fully capable of telling the difference between Nale and Elan, he still refuses to believe that Haley and Elan's relationship is anything more than one of Tarquin's ploys.
- Disease Bleach: "They used to call me 'Red', but three years of malnutrition will do a number on your hair color."
- Dude in Distress
- Greed: Well, yes, he is Haley's father, alright.
Ian: Would it be crass to bill him extra for a single-use improvised weapon? |
- Horrible Judge of Character: He trusts no-one but his own family and considers everyone else a potential enemy, raising Haley with this in mind. Although he's beginning to accept that somebody outside his family might yet have some good in them. Given that the person is Belkar, this trope is still very much in effect.
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time: He let himself get caught in an attempt to stir up a rebellion against General Tarquin. However, those capable of following him were few in number and ended up dying in the gladiator arena, and he's been stuck in jail ever since.
- It Tastes Like Feet: "Mmmm! These ones taste like neck!"
- Just Like Robin Hood: Rob from the rich, give 40% to the poor. After reasonable expenses.
- Luke Nounverber
- Made a Slave
- The Old Convict: Fills this role at the gladiator camp; his reference to being nicknamed "Red" is a shout-out to a well-known example of this trope in The Shawshank Redemption.
- Properly Paranoid: Living in Greysky City, no wonder he taught Haley to never trust anyone but family. His patronizing attitude towards Elan for being General Tarquin's son is also understandable given how much more favored he is compared to Nale.
- So Proud of You: See Believing His Own Lies.
- Unknown Rival: To Tarquin.
Bozzok
"You have to understand, our entire business model relies on exclusivity. If we allow non-Guild thieves to come and go from the city as they please, we lose our leverage over those who buy into our protection rackets." |
Race: Half-orc |
The head of Greysky City's Thieves' Guild. Tries to kill Haley for defecting from the organization. Responsible for Ian Starshine's imprisonment on the Western continent.
- Back Stab
- The Don
- Genius Bruiser
- Half-Human Hybrid
- Resignations Not Accepted: You can run off (or get shanked), but the official paperwork always states that every rogue is in the guild until death. It's bad PR to have people quitting on them.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Spelled "Bozzak" in On the Origin of PCs.
- Weapon of Choice: A bastard sword and shield.
Crystal
"♪ I get to kill Ha-ley! I get to kill Ha-ley! ♪" |
Race: Human |
The Rival of Haley and a Goth assassin of the Thieves' Guild. She met Haley when they were both 19 and they've hated each other ever since. Word of the Giant states that she has no levels in rogue -- she steals from people after she kills them.
- Badass Normal: She kicks ass without relying on magic -- despite the fact that the assassin Prestige Class in D&D 3.5 is a spellcaster. But she certainly has too low Intelligence to cast even a cantrip, so (just like Belkar) she's an example of awful character build.
- Bare Your Midriff
- Dark Action Girl
- Disproportionate Retribution: The original cause of her and Haley's feud: Haley insulted her haircut and she insulted Haley's boots.
- The Ditz
- Dumb Muscle: Rich mentions that she's an inversion of the trope. The hulking, cunning half-orc has his dumb-as-rocks, lithe, petite girl as his deadliest enforcer.
- Goth
- I'll Kill You!
- Kick the Dog
- Knife Nut
- The Rival: To Haley. She even gets levels for free as Haley does.
Crystal: (*ding*) Sweet! Haley must have gone up a level! |
- Though Belkar claims that Sabine is Haley's true nemesis (and is much hotter).
- Too Dumb to Live: The Giant mentions in the commentaries that Crystal is too dumb to live, but has Bozzok to think for her.
- Weapon of Choice: A wicked-looking +4 dagger.
Hank
"I mean, I'd prefer nobody got killed here, but what can you do? The Guild needs to keep its reputation. Nobody leaves, except in a casket." |
Race: Halfling |
The second-in-command of Greysky City's Thieves Guild. More reasonable than Bozzok, he's shown sympathy for Haley's plight, but still enforces strictly the Guild's rules.
- Conservation of Competence: He's smart enough to arrange his underlings for flank beatdowns, but they've still got a lot to learn about execution.
- The Consigliere
- Contractual Genre Blindness: Finishing off the target is one thing, but profit is profit.
- Does Not Like Shoes
- Get Out!: When Haley quit the Thieves' Guild in the prequel, Bozzok accepted it with a smile. Hank took it upon himself to warn her she had an hour to make tracks before the order to kill her went out.
- Go Look At the Distraction: Or in this case, listen to it.
- Halfling
- Pragmatic Villainy: He's the go-to guy for verifying the Guild's laws, including the Guild's obligations, and he's willing to talk if the other side wants to renegotiate those terms. But he's not a pushover -- his memory is especially good regarding any loot that's owed to the Guild.
- This Is Reality: Tells off Yor (a fighter) for calling his attacks, despite how often all classes do that in the OotS world.
Jenny
"My name is Jenny, by the way! ... Just in case you ever... you know..." |
Race: Human |
A bard employed by the Thieves' Guild; one of the few people Haley got along with at the time. Has a fling with Belkar during his stay in Greysky City.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys
- Ambiguously Brown
- Come Back to Bed, Honey
- Master of None: Her multiclass (specified in On the Origin of PCs) means plenty redundant abilities and no strong point.
Haley: Third level and you've already got three classes. So what kind of Base Attack Bonus are you sporting there now? |
Hieronymus Grubwiggler
"And indeed, he is not undead -- he's a construct, bones animated by an earth elemental spirit bound under my control. |
Race: Unsure |
A wizard specialized in the creation of flesh golems, whom Celia hires to raise Roy's corpse, mistakenly thinking he's a cleric. Has a deal with the Greysky City Thieves' Guild to avoid further looting of his estate, Haley having done so already twice in the past.
- All There in the Manual: In Don't Split the Party, Giro and Grubwiggler are killed by Crystal.
- Bald of Evil
- Dr. Genericius
- Even Evil Has Standards: He won't create undead. Bone or flesh golems are fine, though.
- Evil Makes You Ugly
- Exact Words: "I promise, no undead. Vile, loathsome things. I would never create or use them." Fortunately, golems are constructs and not undead.
- Frankenstein's Monster: What he creates, complete with the obligatory statement, "It's alive! ALIVE!!!"
- Grave Robbing: He doesn't do the dirty job himself, but he pays for corpses.
- The Igor: Hieronymus has Giro, though the latter isn't a real hunchback.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: His attitude toward Celia when she refuses to pay him, though his interest in her body is explicitely for "spare parts".
- Killed Mid-Sentence
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Including animating golems.
- Luke Nounverber
- Mad Scientist: The quintessential one, to the point of parody.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory
- Necromancer: Though he doesn't create undead, he's still animating dead bodies.
- Obviously Evil: Not just him, but his hideout too. Even Celia notices.
Celia: Oh my gods! Looks at this place! It's like you got your furnishings from Hate & Barrel! |
- Sickly Green Glow: The color of his magic aura.
Old Blind Pete
"A word of advice: If you're going to do business with criminals, don't pick a nickname based on any body part you can't afford to lose." |
Race: Human |
An old blind man who was Haley's friend when she was still in the Thieves' guild. Used to be called "Eagle-Eyed Pete" before he had his eyes removed after doing some illegal work behind the Guild's back.
- The Archer: Was one in his youth.
- Blind Black Guy
- Childhood Friends: With the Cleric of Loki -- but Pete betrays him.
- Face Heel Turn: Betrays Haley, Celia, Belkar, and his Cleric friend to the Thieves' Guild, so he could get his vision back.
- Not in the Face: "Please don't stab my eyes out, please don't stab my eyes out, please don't stab my eyes out..."
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: The betrayal bites him in the ass when Belkar defeats him, and the Cleric kills him.
Cleric of Loki
"Look, I'm happy to help out a friend of Pete's, but you have to make it worth the huge risk I'm taking." |
Race: Human |
A nameless Cleric of Loki that Pete hires to heal Belkar and send a message to Haley's friends.
- Childhood Friends: With Pete. He's dismayed when Pete betrays them, and accepts Belkar's advice to kill him.
- Combat Medic: He un-curses Belkar, and assists Mr. Scruffy and him in escaping, by killing some enemies and healing Belkar.
- Dark Is Not Evil: With the black armor, red cape, and worship of Loki he looks bad, but he's really more neutral.
- Healing Hands
- Mauve Shirt: "I don't want to die, I've only been in one strip so far!"
- No Name Given: He keeps his name untold, as he doesn't want to be identified by the Thieves' Guild.
- Properly Paranoid: Believes that a panel cutaway means that people are planning on killing him. They are.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Skips town after the whole ordeal; he offers Belkar a job as a bodyguard, but Belkar declines, and the Cleric leaves on his own.
- Back to The Order of the Stick