The Order of the Stick/Tropes A-F: Difference between revisions

* [[And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt]]: The hobgoblin horde gets shirts that say "I killed a PC and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt!" when they kill {{spoiler|the illusion of the Order of the Stick and Hinjo}}.

* [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]]: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0145.html Spoofed].

'''Vaarsuvius:''' [[Shout-Out|And knowing is half the battle.]]<br />

'''[[G.I. Joe]]:''' G.I. Joe! }}

* [[Anticlimax]]: Done intentionally and hilariously in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0600.html #600 ("Headed Down")] [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93806&page=3 (forum)]. (Read the previous comic immediately beforehand for the full effect.)

* [[Anticlimax Cut]]: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0328.html "The Test of the Heart"]: After having passed the Tests of the Body and Mind, one guarded by a hydra and the other a riddle, the Order finds themselves face-to-face with the guardian of the final Test of the Heart.

"Pulse rate is 60... blood pressure is 85 over 60... You pass. Next!" }}

* [[Anti-Human Alliance]]: The forces under Redcloak.

** Turns out the gladiatorial champion of the Empire of Blood, who is built up as some kind of insane monster who mercilessly slaughtered dozens of fighters and guards, was originally locked up for peeing on the sidewalk. And then it turns out that ''that's'' because he's none other than {{spoiler|Thog}}.

** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0813.html Belkar's cover story]:

* [[Art Evolution]]: [[Lampshaded]]. "Psst! Elan! It's an art upgrade, we're supposed to pretend we've always been drawn this way."

* [[Art Shift]]

** Roy even says it in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0318.html "The Move Action of Shame"].

* [[Atop a Mountain of Corpses]]:

* [[Attack! Attack! Attack!]]

** The paladins have an aversion to retreat because of their honor combined with their inability to feel fear, which, obviously, lands them up in trouble quite a bit.

** Roy takes Xykon's crown and wears it on a string around his neck after "setting him back a bit". This turns out to be a problem when the residual evil on it causes [[Knight Templar|Miko]] to try and smite him. Xykon takes it back in their next encounter.

** Later, Gannji concocts a plan that requires his partner Enor to kill him, cut of his tail, and keep it so that Gannji can be resurrected later. He tells Enor:

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: So you want to protect yourself and your family from a vendetta by [[Would Be Rude to Say Genocide|obliterating the whole adverse lineage]]? [[Sarcasm Mode|Why not]]? Just be sure {{spoiler|some part of it doesn't guard a place critical for the survival of the world you and your companions are trying to save}}. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]], indeed.

* [[Beastly Bloodsports]]: The Thieves Guild runs a dogfighting ring.

* [[Be Quiet Nudge]]: Happens a few times to Belkar.

** In [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0247.html strip #247], Haley is struck with aphasia and so can't talk Belkar into shutting it as he's about to tell Elan her feelings. However, a boot to the face is enough to convey the message more clearly.

** Also in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0379.html strip #379], Roy kicks Belkar so that the halfling doesn't join the already-embarrassing conversation.

* [[Berserk Button]]

** Durkon does this in the prequel ''On the Origin of PCs'' the first time he tastes [[A Tankard of Moose Urine|beer brewed in human lands]].

* [[Big "What?"]]: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0490.html From Eugene].

'''Roy:''' In lieu of Paradise, can I just get a picture of the exact expression on his face? }}

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Sort of. Haley's aphasic gibberish is a cipher; solving it reveals a few good lines. On occasion, the encryption key, too, will reveal a secret message.

* [[Brown Note]]: Certain magical spells are perfectly capable of this -- for example, Xykon used a "Symbol of Insanity" (on a super-bouncy ball) to turn an ''entire squad'' of paladin warriors against each other.

* [[Buffy-Speak]]:

'''Haley:''' My brain feels like a psion... did some psiony stuff. }}

* [[Buried Alive]]: Lirian seals Xykon and his forces in an airtight cave following their defeat in her forest.

* [[But for Me It Was Tuesday]]

** Xykon only remembers the day he killed Roy's dad's mentor as a really bad Laundry Night.

'''Roy:''' Oh, that is IT!! }}

** Or, as Xykon puts it later:

** He is definitely trying to get a rise out of someone in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0459.html "Negative Feelings"]:

** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0788.html Apparently,] {{spoiler|Thog}} also doesn't care much about the people he kills, although that might be simple stupidity on his part.

* [[But He Sounds Handsome]]: Belkar, disguised as a fellow medium-sized, and Nale, disguised as Elan, both indulge into this.

** Redcloak's confrontation with Tsukiko in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0830.html #830] is similar to {{spoiler|Xykon's confrontation with Dorukan in ''Start of Darkness'', with a one character exploiting a seemingly powerful one's weaknesses, giving a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] to them, and then killing them ignominiously.}}

** From [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0841.html #841] all the way back to [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0012.html #12]:

'''Roy:''' Don't start with that. }}

** From [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0535.html #535] to [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0226.html #226] and [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0229.html #229]. Apparently the inn's employees and the assassins had a good reason to assume that Roy was the King of Nowhere.

* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Almost every combat ability other than moving and basic attacks. Spoofed often, especially in a [[Running Gag]] where anybody who uses a sneak attack actually ''yells'' [[With Catlike Tread|"Sneak Attack!"]] when they do it.

** Which is subverted and lampshaded when Nale kills the CPPD Chief.

** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0615.html "Oh my gods, Yor, I swear, you do NOT need to keep shouting out your attacks! This isn't manga!"]

** Also subverted in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0345.html "He Invented the Magic System"], where Vaarsuvius calls the name of a spell that he doesn't actually have to no effect.

** And Roy has some ''great'' [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0102.html cleavage]...

** As a corollary, The ''only'' thing you have to say when you cast a spell is the name of the spell, leading to the incantation for Resurrection, which has a ten-minute casting time, being the word "resurrection!" repeated over and over for ten minutes.

* [[Canis Latinicus]]

** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0635.html "Bunkus! Nonsuch! Gibberos! Gobbleygoos!"]

** Everything related to Azure City. The city itself is completely blue, including most of the buildings, the town wall and even the ships in the port. The regulars in the army wear silver and blue armor, and the paladins, white and blue. Many characters, e.g. Hinjo, even have blue hair. And anything related to Kubota is purple.

** It's to the point where if a paladin falls from grace, his or her clothes immediately change color from blue to brown, due to them being magical items that lose power when not on a paladin in good standing.

** Additionally, all spellcasters have a distinctive colored aura when casting spells:

*** Vaarsuvius -- pink;

** Crystal attempts to do one to an unconscious Haley, but she's interrupted.

* [[Covers Always Lie]]: The cover for ''Start of Darkness'' shows Xykon as a lich killing a paladin before his first encounter with Redcloak -- while in the story proper, he wasn't yet undead when this happened. Lampshaded on the last page of the book:

'''Demon-Roach:''' Welcome to show business, kid. }}

* [[Crack Fic]]: [[Lampshaded]] by Xykon in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0833.html "Villainy Afoot"].