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
Xykon
"I think I just had an evilgasm." |
Race: Lich (formerly human) |
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.
- 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. His reaction to the loss of his phylactery, which resulted from the fact that he was messing around with "harmless" prisoners who proceeded to completely humiliate him, is a perfect example -- especially considering his haste to hang all the blame on Redcloak.
- 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:
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! |
- 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...?
MiTD: You killed more than one guy named Fyron in Cliffport? |
- 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.
- 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 Lirian inflicts him with a magical disease which saps his spellcasting power while he remains alive.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted in the prequel comic. When Redcloak approached with the possibility of becoming a Lich so they could break out of Lirian's prison, he tells Redcloak that for all his horrible actions in life, he could never stoop to that level of depravity. Five seconds later, Xykon admits he was just screwing with Redcloak. At the end of the comic, he pretty much states that having standards is for pussies. 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, forces/tricks him into killing his own brother, and tops it off with a speech whose end is that trope's current page quote. Since Redcloak never told him that the gate ritual doesn't work the way he advertised, however, he's had a piece of leverage Xykon is unaware of all along.
- 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 Undeath: 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. But he seems to be coping with it.
- Grammar Nazi: And not just about his name.
Tsukiko: We need a new Head Executioner, you know. Xykon killed the last one for spelling "guillotine" wrong on his daily reports. |
- 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; in fact, the very first spell he cast (at four years old) was necromantic. 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", to remind him of his brother Right-Eye, whom he killed.
- 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 when V and O-Chul nearly destroy his phylactery, causing it to fall into the sewers, he reacts by blowing up a huge part of the tower, attempting to execute the two of them by firing a Meteor Swarm directly into their mouths, and then punishing Redcloak for the incident by refusing to let him regenerate the eye he just lost.
- 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 by murdering them all.
- 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 having the zombies of his grandmother and the parody of Professor Xavier he just killed eat his parents.
- 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:
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. |
- 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 Lirian, 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 make her watch an ogre eating her zombified body, to lure out Dorukan.
- 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."
- Unwitting Pawn: The IFCC want him to gain control of a gate, for some unspecified reason, and made their deal with Vaarsuvius as part of a Batman Gambit to "knock him out of his comfort zone". Meanwhile, it appears Redcloak has been pulling his strings for years. However, those who have read Start Of Darkness know he's a lot more cunning than people give him credit for, and has at least one known on-screen contingency for if and when Redcloak betrays him -- the Monster in the Darkness is programmed to eat Redcloak if that ever happens.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Averted. He was evil since he was around four and killed his own parents and a handicapped man (albeit a very condescending one) when he was twelve.
- 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.
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. |
- Of course it's possible to feel that this has been averted so hard that it goes the other way and into making him a Villain Sue. Xykon gets his way far more often than most cackling card-carrying villains do, and even his temporary setbacks tend to lead to him gaining even more of an advantage after a brief period of eating not-so-humble pie.
- 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
Redcloak
(to his reflection in the mirror) |
Race: Goblin |
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.
- 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: 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! |
- 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 the fact he killed Tsukiko, Redcloak outright reveals to Xykon that he murdered her, brutally.
- 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, following the loss of his right eye, Redcloak seems to have become more focused, actively working in order to create his goblin/hobgoblin utopia, and overall acts more collected... and deadly:
Redcloak: What I have lost in depth perception, I have gained in perspective. |
- The Chessmaster: Strips #825-830 have him crushing the Azure City Underground, recovering Xykon's phylactery, and destroying his largest rival for the position of Xykon's Dragon. He follows this up by calmly admitting he's been playing Xykon since the beginning.
- 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. Finally, he uses La Résistance to get his boss' Soul Jar, before ambushing them with a group of summoned devils and giving them a Total Party Kill, and simply orders one of his aforementioned elementals to kill a Paladin trying to goad him into a duel. He even points out he's not taking stupid risks any more in doing so. He also kills everyone who knows that he has possession of the phylactery to ensure the success of his Batman Gambit.
- Dark Messiah: Serves an evil god who wishes to bring equality to the Exclusively Evil creatures.
- Dead Little Sister: Most of his family was killed by the Sapphire Guard, and Xykon tricked him into killing his little brother, Right-Eye, to ensure his loyalty.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Disintegrator Ray
- The Dragon: To Xykon, although the epic sorcerer is considerably more powerful than he is. Ironically, their relationship was reversed before Xykon became a lich, and now he's a Dragon with an Agenda. Although #830 has him claim to Tsukiko that he's still pulling Xykon's strings; he's just doing so in a very subtle, complex fashion...
- Dragon with an Agenda: And how!
- Even Evil Has Standards: One of the reasons that Xykon considers him a spineless wimp.
- Eviler Than Thou: When it comes down to it, he proves to Tsukiko that he's worse than she ever could be.
- Evil Genius
- Exact Words: Uses this to convince Xykon that Tsukiko was planning to betray them.
- Eyepatch of Power: After the below encounter with O-Chul. Xykon, at least, seems to approve of this development:
Xykon: I like you this way. It's like we have a grumpy pirate on the team. |
- 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 Exclusively 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
- The Goblin Behind the Lich: All that kowtowing and submissiveness to Xykon? Redcloak's just manipulating the lich in his own way by subtly guiding Xykon in the direction he wants.
- 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 why he killed Tsukiko, 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: Crushes the Resistance by planting a goblin infiltrator, disguised as a human with a polymorph spell. When the spy manages to recover Xykon's phylactery, instead of receiving the promised reward, he is sent to his death to cover up the details behind the battle. He then did it again, with Tsukiko.
- High Priest: As Xykon's quote at the top of the page states, Redcloak is the high priest of the Dark One.
- Ignored Epiphany: Pride and stubbornness kept him from ending his deal with Xykon before turning Xykon into a lich, or leaving The Plan behind during Xykon's disappearance, or helping his brother take Xykon out after Right-Eye tried to show Redcloak just how out of touch Redcloak is. May be more of a delayed epiphany than an ignored one considering later events. He admitted that's he's pulling Xykon's strings and seems to be taking steps to backstab him, such as killing Tsukiko and choosing to hide the fact that he's recovered Xykon's phylactery.
- I Lied: Slightly more verbose one from Redcloak when he tells his real plan for the Snarl.
Tsukiko: That... that doesn't help Xykon at all!! |
- 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 Tsukiko.
- Kick the Dog: Taken Up to Eleven when he slaughters the entire Azurite Resistance... minus one survivor.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Redcloak losing an eye -- and being forbidden to regenerate it -- just so he could remember his brother every time he looks at a mirror.
- 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.
- Must Make Amends: Redcloak ordered thousands of hobgoblins that he was in command of into certain death without thinking or feeling anything because of the ancient grudges between goblins and hobgoblins. After a hobgoblin saved his life during the battle, however, Redcloak reacted with horror to everything he he had done and become, and promptly led the hobgoblins to a smashing victory, even sometimes putting his own life at risk in order to save those of his men.
- 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 lost his eye. 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. His Mission from the Dark One is a plan to blackmail or kill the other gods into making the goblinoid races something other than XP fodder.
- 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 not only has he become more powerful thanks to his 17th level, he also became wiser, refusing to let Thanh duel him, for very sound reasons:
Redcloak: Stupid risks are just that: Stupid. |
- 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 he kills her.
Redcloak: Because, let's be clear: if I tolerated your humiliating attemps to undercut my authority before, it was only because killing you would've upset the delicate puppet strings upon which "Lord Xykon" unknowingly dances. But if you're going to stand here, and tell me that you'll expose one of those strings to him? If you're going to be THAT stupid? There can only be one rational response to that. |
- 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
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 |
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.
- 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; if strip #700 is anything to go by, then whilst he may be The Ditz most of the time, he has the potential to be pretty damn brilliant beneath it.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: The Monster rehearsing his lines in "Practice Makes Perfect":
MitD: Order of the Stick! Your broken corpses will taste delicious lightly seasoned with nutmeg! |
- 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:
MitD: I don't wanna go! There might be something scary in there! |
- Make Me Wanna Shout: His voice can be extremely powerful.
- Manchurian Agent: Xykon embedded a command in his mind in Start of Darkness to devour Redcloak and spit out his amulet if he ever betrays Xykon.
- Minion with an F In Evil:
Xykon: Look, there's nothing in there any scarier than you are. |
- Monster Child
- Morality Pet: O-Chul, which is why he helps him escape.
- 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. As well as unknown magical powers that even he may be unaware of.
- 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: After Tsukiko is killed, he laments that it's sad: What she wanted (to be loved) wasn't that terrible, and not one of his companions actually cares that she's gone. Which is the real sad part for him.
- 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
Demon-Roaches
Right-Eye: The real problem is the structural damage they do. |
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: While Xykon, Redcloak and the Monster teleport out of the Goblin City, one roach comments that now is the time to whip the place in shape now that the distractions are gone... enters Jirix stomping the roach with one foot.
- No Body Left Behind
- Pungeon Masters
- Snarky Non-Human Sidekicks
- Talking Animals
- Team Pets
Tsukiko
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 |
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. She discovers Redcloak's deception, and is unceremoniously executed via Redcloak turning her beloved wights against her.
- 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. Needless to say, it didn't end well for her. Also see Too Dumb to Live and Underestimating Badassery. Though Redcloak had been cultivating that image for decades.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Life drained completely by the wights she loved so much. And then devoured.
- 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 by killing her with her own beloved minions.
- Dark Magical Girl: She did turn against Azure City because she thinks Humans Are the Real Monsters, because she was being persecuted and because she loves Xykon. On the other hand, she thinks Humans Are the Real Monsters 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.
- Death by Irony: In two ways: First because she is drained to death and eaten by her beloved wights, and she is killed by Redcloak (who she considered a spineless wimp) using nothing more than his Command Undead class feature and a Dispel Magic to counterspell her Shout.
- Dragon Wannabe: She thinks she has what it takes to be Xykon's Dragon. Unfortunately, the spot's already taken by Redcloak. When the two throw down, he shows her exactly how badly outclassed she is.
- 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
- Famous Last Words: "I love you all! I love you! I love you! Why don't... you love... me?"
- Flight
- Fluffy Tamer:
Tsukiko: (to a newly-created undead) Hello, little one. I'm your mommy. |
- Girlish Pigtails
- Goth
- Grave Robbing: Two years experience as an intern graverobber on her résumé.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: When she realizes that the Ritual doesn't do anything Redcloak says it's supposed to, she goes to confront (and taunt) Redcloak about it before telling Xykon her suspicions. She believes that she'd be able to bully him into silence again or teleport to Xykon if things went bad. That... didn't exactly work.
- Healing Hands
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Her own wights drain her to death (and eat her corpse) after Redcloak steals control of them. Also a Death by Irony since it's a combination of her arrogance, lack of character judgement and belief that her undead "children" are people who won't hurt her that kills her.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Which leads to her undoing.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: 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. Later on, Redcloak does the same to her in order to destroy her once and for all.
- Just Desserts: Ended up being eaten by the wights she created.
- Karmic Death: She betrays Azure City for the reasons outlined under Dark Is Not Evil, and later tries to do the same to Redcloak, and eventually the latter commands her own undead minions to kill her, while explaining how deluded she was to think they were anything more than tools. She dies begging them to stop and wondering why they don't love her.
- Killed Off for Real
- 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:
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. |
- 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.
Thanh: You have sold out our entire civilization to outsiders! |
- 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 Redcloak's ritual doesn't have the intended purpose that he led them to believe it had (although with some unexpected help from the MitD).
Tsukiko: I was expelled from some of the best wizard academies in the South, you know. |
- 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... and her attempt at taking his position backfires spectacularly. Too bad for her that Redcloak doesn't have much tolerance for betrayal.
- 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. Suffice to say, she's incredibly wrong about this, and finds out the hard way.
- Too Dumb to Live: Really, Tsukiko? You really thought for one moment that Redcloak would stay idle while you crush his decades-long plan? You really thought that gloating about how you were going to usurp his place in front of him was a smart move? Really?! Sorry my girl, but you got what you deserved. Redcloak himself lampshades it:
Redcloak: Because, let's be clear: if I tolerated your humiliating attempts to undercut my authority before, it was only because killing you would've upset the delicate puppet strings upon which "Lord Xykon" unknowingly dances. But if you're going to stand here, and tell me that you'll expose one of those strings to him? If you're going to be THAT stupid? There can only be one rational response to that. |
- Underestimating Badassery: She probably thought, if nothing else, that between her wights, her ability to teleport and her huge spell selection, she could escape Redcloak before he could do anything to stop her -- which is why she spent so much time taunting Redcloak and spelling out her plans. Unfortunately, Redcloak nullified all her advantages in short order (warding his sanctum against teleportation, controlling her wights, having them grapple her, and counterspelling the few spells that she could cast while grappled) and Tsukiko soon found herself way over her head.
- 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
Xykon Decoys
Xykon Decoys
MitD: How did you get them to look exactly like Xykon? |
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.
- 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. He cuts his way through three giant Soldiers, blasts through several normal soldiers, kills General Chang, and nearly defeats a weakened V.
- 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 getting crushed by a falling dragon head, from Vaarsuvius' viewpoint.
- Dirty Coward: Skullsy—ahem, the "Eye of Fear and Flame".
Redcloak: I think I got a little too much "fear" and not enough "flame" on that one. |
- Fate Worse Than Death: Belkar intimidates Skullsy to serve him, and fight off Hobgoblins. Skullsy continues to do so, until Belkar mentions keeping him and using him for many different things. When he mentions a chamber pot, Skullsy snaps and says that he's finally found something worse then death, and promptly attacks them. Heley smashes him on a rock and they run from the guards that were attracted by the commotion.
- 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 Undeath
- Ignored Enemy: The Huecuva being distracted from killing Hinjo by a pair of ninjas.
Huecuva: Well, you got your contract killing in my hatred of all that's good and pure! |
- 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.
Death Knight: Choose you doom, then, chicken-mage: Original Recipe, or Extra Crispy? |
- 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.
Skullsy: Stay back! I can shoot Fireballs and Fear beams out of my magical eye gems! |
- 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
Hobgoblin General
"Truly, there has never been a more impressive display of magic." |
Race: Hobgoblin |
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.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: When Miko destroys the gate, a hobgoblin reports that the General was in the Courtyard, and presumably died.
- 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, and leads them to a smash victory.
- The Watson: Redcloak explains his plans to the General. After his death, Jirix takes this role.
Jirix
Jirix
"Thank you, thank you. And thank you, Supreme Leader, for those kind words. I didn't mind the Resurrection spell, either." |
Race: Hobgoblin |
Redcloak's hobgoblin second-in-command, following the conquest of Azure City, and now Prime Minister of the newly-formed state of Gobbotopia.
- Back from the Dead: At least twice by this point.
- It Is Not Your Time: Jirix is sent back from the afterlife by the goblinoid god, The Dark One.
- 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:
Jirix: Trust me, we're a LOT safer staying right-- *POW!* |
- 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: Jirix steps on one of the Demon-roaches once Xykon, Redcloak and the Monster teleport out of the city. Probably to strengthen the Goblins' hold over the city.
- 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
The Booted Wight
"...Can I have his shoes?" |
Race: Wight (formerly human or goblinoid) |
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 Redcloak orders it and Tsukiko's other wights to self-destruct after killing and eating her.
- 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 dominated[1] Thanh's shoes, hence the name.
- Turned Against Its Mistress
- The Undead
- Zombie Mooks
Right-Eye
Right-Eye
"You know what your problem is, Big Brother? You never seize the moment." |
Race: Goblin |
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.
- 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:
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. |
- 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. Ironically, the first well-formulated plan he we see him make kills him.
- I Have No Son: Right-Eye's last words aren't a sad farewell to his brother or anything like that. It's his rejection that Redcloak is his brother at all.
- 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.