Characters of the Order of the Stick
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This is a list of characters from the webcomic The Order of the Stick.
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[edit] The Order of the Stick
The Order is said by Rich Burlew, the author of the strip, to be roughly 7th to 9th level (though fans have confirmed through comic evidence that the party is around 12th level), and seem to be mostly book-legal Dungeons & Dragons version 3.5 characters. Burlew, however, has stated that he does not wish to limit the characters by making concrete character sheets for them. The characters in the strip have occasionally mentioned feats, spells, skills and templates which do not exist in the default D&D rules, usually for comedic purposes, such as Summon Plot Exposition (Elan), Craft Disturbing Mental Image (Belkar), Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion (Vaarsuvius), Cure Itchy Wounds (Durkon), Ride (My Ass) (Chief of CPPD), a Half-Moron (Chief of CPPD), Knowledge (What The Hell You're Talking About) (Redcloak), and Xykon's Moderately-Escapable Forcecage (Xykon).
Many characters in the story relate to common stereotypes in fantasy literature and role-playing games, but as opposites- Roy Greenhilt, for example, may be a fighter, but he is extremely intelligent, especially compared to other members of the Order.
[edit] Roy Greenhilt
[edit] Belkar Bitterleaf
[edit] Durkon Thundershield
[edit] Elan
[edit] Haley Starshine
[edit] Vaarsuvius
[edit] Recurring characters
[edit] Xykon
[edit] Redcloak
Goblin high priest and chief minion of Xykon, his (un)holy symbol is Xykon's phylactery. Redcloak presently holds the position of honorary hobgoblin leader, after defeating their alleged leader in ritual combat (a single 'slay living' spell). He is loyal to Xykon, enduring a lot of the lich's insults, but resents him for ordering goblins to their death indiscriminately, although his attitude has changed due to his mastery over hobgoblins, whom he despises. Also, Redcloak criticized his master after the latter was temporarily bodiless and confined to his phylactery, calling him on his hypocrisy when Xykon insisted on good teamwork only because he was weak at the time. Redcloak usually plays the straight man to the rest of his team's antics.
Redcloak is the current bearer of the Crimson Mantle (from which his name is obviously derived), which is well-known to the paladins of Azure City and considered an abomination, to the extent that Redcloak was attacked on sight by Miko Miyazaki. Despite her acknowledged combat prowess, Redcloak proved to be surprisingly effective against her, although she finally got the better of him. Xykon saved him at the last minute (though he was spending the time gambling with the Demon Cockroaches on what round Redcloak was about to be knocked out), enclosing Miko in a forcecage.
Redcloak returns the loathing Miko feels towards him as bearer of the Crimson Mantle for her being a paladin of the Sapphire Guard; the activities of the Sapphire Guard have cost him several family members and friends, plus his mentor, who bore the cloak before him. Redcloak's unnamed deity apparently has an agenda of its own which brought its servant and his predecessors up against the Sapphire Guard before.
[edit] Monster in the Dark
Every evil overlord needs a big vicious monster to reveal at the last moment to thwart the heroes. Since Xykon never had the chance to call the monster out of the darkness in his first battle with the heroes, it remains hidden - and by all accounts, isn't really that vicious (Redcloak said it's as scary as musty styrofoam). When outside, the monster hides under a Hello Goblin umbrella that spreads magical darkness. However, it desires to come out of the shadow, or be otherwise illuminated, even going as far as to beg a group of lantern archons to attack it with their damaging light rays in order to light it up. It also was unable to recognize Dorukan's Gate, even though it was in front of it. It is fond of parsley and popcorn. Xykon has implied that it is very powerful, and that was verified in his "battle" against Miko Myazaki which was supposed to test who can hit the lightest after her attacking him and saying that it tickles. He lost that game, knocking Miko clear through the wall of the tower they were "playing" in, with her landing an unknown distance away. It promptly attempted to return her "purse", which had fallen from her possession, but she rode Windstriker away before it could reach her. Smelling a faint hint of beer, it opened the pouch and, despite its disappointment that it only contained a "stupid letter" (the reply to Durkon's note), promptly ate the contents.
[edit] The Linear Guild
[edit] Miko Miyazaki
A Paladin of the Sapphire Guard in the employ of Lord Shojo, Miko Miyazaki was originally sent to capture the Order of the Stick on accusation of weakening the fabric of the universe. She also has a few levels of Monk, to get the Evasion ability and improve her saving throws. Also, despite calling herself a Samurai (her title), Miko has no levels in that class, a joke about titles and class in the D&D game.
She searched for the party after the destruction of Dorukan's Gate and took them as prisoners. She is a stereotypical detect-and-smite paladin, adhering to the letter of her alignment at the expense of her social abilities and Charisma score, and isn't shy about ordering the rest of the party around- as the party states, all paladins may have "a stick in their ass" (a class feature, according to Miko), but Miko has an entire tree in her ass. A fellow paladin, Hinjo, has remarked that this is the reason she is often sent on missions far abroad that keep her away from home for long periods of time- even other paladins find Miko annoying. Roy has led the party to follow her back to Lord Shojo and explain the circumstances (the gate was accidentally destroyed by Elan, along with the dungeon in which it was located). Roy originally had potential romantic interest in Miko, but has since been exposed to her personality for long enough to find her repulsive.
Miko has earned the enmity of Vaarsuvius for ordering him/her around and the enmity of Haley for insulting her greedy nature, while her mount Windstriker has earned Belkar's enmity for grappling him in their first encounter. She also later earned Roy's enmity for, as he puts it, following the letter of the Lawful Good alignment and not the intent. She suspects that Belkar is evil, but his skill with a lead sheet keeps her Detect Evil from confirming this hypothesis.
Her mount, Windstriker, remains loyal to her as well as aids her in battle and various situations. Although being a horse, he seems to use the same facial expression to show worry and Miko occasionally talks to him, meaning he probably has higher intelligence than the usual horse. Windstriker lives in the "celestial realms", he is summoned by Miko via a Poké Ball and is also is known to eat "heavenly oats" brand horse feed.
She was hit with a class action lawsuit by Belkar on behalf of both himself and all of the (currently dead) creatures she has used her Detect Evil ability upon, and has since ignored a restraining order from Belkar to prevent her from using the spell on him anymore.
In fact, Belkar is the member of the party whom Miko hates most; beyond being the only party member who is actually Evil (all other members being some variation of Good or Neutral), Belkar has taunted, baited, and generally annoyed Miko every time he's had a chance. This culminated in a long, protracted fight that saw both of them utilizing every skill in their arsenal. She eventually beat him; however, after preparing to kill him and being thwarted by both the party loyalty of the Order of the Stick and Lord Shojo, Belkar revealed that he wanted Miko to kill him; beyond believing (mistakenly, as it turned out) that Durkon could simply cast Raise Dead on him, he wanted Miko to break her personal code and lose her paladin skills. This level of deviousness- not wanting to beat an opponent physically but spiritually- is an indication of the utter disdain the Chaotic Evil Belkar holds for Miko.
She has vowed that the Order of the Stick will suffer for their defiance, and prays their demise will be at her hands, for allowing party loyalty to stand between her and finishing Belkar. These actions have led some to argue that her alignment is getting more and more towards Lawful Neutral or Lawful Evil, and/or that she should have lost her paladin powers long ago.
Her most recent assignment was to carry a message from Durkon Thundershield north into the dwarven homelands and to return with a response from his high priest. She was on the return leg of her journey and arrived at a watchtower in Azure City's territory, just as it was attacked by Xykon and Redcloak. She attacked Redcloak on sight, acknowledging him as the bearer of the 'Crimson Mantle', whose previous wearer was slain by her Paladin order, and calling him an abomination. She defeated him, but was imprisoned in a forcecage by Xykon before she could finish the goblin off, something that caused her enormous frustration. She managed to escape by weakening the floor with an explosion and pushing the forcecage off. She later faced off against the Monster in the Dark in a game of "Who Can Hit the Lightest", a game that he lost when he managed to knock Miko far away through the wall of the tower (with Windstriker following and landing on Miko). Learning the identity of her captor, she has come to the conclusion that the Order of the Stick lied about defeating Xykon, believing that they are aligned with him and has sworn to bring them to justice for their duplicity. The letter she had received for Durkon from the new High Priest of Thor was found in her dropped purse and eaten by the Monster in the Dark.
[edit] Celia
Celia, a sylph, was first seen guarding the air sigil in Dorukan's tower. Celia lost all loyalty to her job when her old boss "disappeared" and Xykon moved in (at which point she started "stealing office supplies and making personal phone calls"). She was transformed to stone by the Linear Guild but cured by Vaarsuvius, and repaid the OoTS by taking Nale and Thog to jail and opening a magical portal to skip two levels of the dungeon. In an attempt to move on to a more satisfying career, she then started attending night classes in law, and has recently appeared representing the Order of the Stick as a paralegal. She apparently dislikes Belkar, whom she thinks is "obnoxious". She recently successfully defended the Order of the Stick in their trial for weakening the fabric of the universe. Elan hints at an attraction between Roy and Celia in strip #296, and Celia is seen shopping for clothes to "get his attention" (presumably referring to Roy) in strip #298. In strip #308, she asks Roy to join her at a dinner for two in one of the nicer dining establishments (ironically following a conversation between Roy and Durkon as to whether the phallic nature of his sword in any way causes women to develop stronger physical attractions to him), and strip #310 consists primarily of a series of rules-related puns on a rising physical intimacy between the two. They enjoy a candlelit dinner and a romantic walk/flight, leading up to a kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. The next morning, we find Celia in Roy's hotel room, presumably after having slept with him. She has also given Roy a talisman to summon her should their battles get too rough, though warning him that it's not a 'Booty Talisman'.
[edit] Minor characters
[edit] Bandit Clan of the Wooden Forest
The Order of the Stick encountered an unnamed clan of bandits in the Wooden Forest during their "sidequest" for starmetal. The clan consisted of mostly low-level adventurers (one admitted he was 2nd level) who used bows. The leader of the clan when the Order showed up was a girl named Samantha, a sorceress who defeated her father (whom has only been referred to as "The Bandit King") in solo combat to claim leadership. Her sole use of the bandits was to kidnap adventurers she found attractive, and hence, Elan became the object of her lust (much to Haley's chagrin).
After two botched rescue missions, the Order finally clashed with the bandit clan in battle. The bandits were soundly defeated except Samantha, who was able to defeat the heroes, albeit severely wounded and without spell slots at battle's end. Her father took advantage of this and knocked her out to reclaim leadership of the bandits again. However, he was inadvertedly knocked out by Durkon, who hence became the clan leader. After healing up his party members, Durkon disbanded the clan, telling the kids to return to their families.
Samantha and her father were tied up together and left in the forest, forced to endure the "cruel and unusual punishment" of being physically compelled to spend time with each other. They stayed this way until Miko Miyazaki discovered them and freed them, seeking information on the Order. Samantha instead attempted to magically force Miko into servitude, and was subsequently killed. Her father was killed next after pulling out his swords, intent on avenging his daughter's death.
[edit] Cliffport Police Department
The Cliffport Police Department or CPPD are a parody of a real-world police department, or perhaps more accurately, of a real-life police department as depicted in TV-series. These characters protect the city of Cliffport to the best of their ability, which is difficult when clever, strong, and/or magical beings (such as the Linear Guild) show up to cause trouble. The CPPD Chief was the most-commonly seen member, while his unnamed squad members include a man with ginger hair, who the chief called "Rookie" and regarded as the one member of the team with any sense, a female with light brown hair, a bearded blonde man who's losing his hair and a dark-skinned, dark-haired man. The last of these was charged with delivering Pompey to prison, but it turns out that the real officer had been knocked out and replaced by a shapeshifted Sabine. The Chief was recently decapitated by Nale in a surprise attack - the rookie appears to have taken charge of the group since his demise; it's been implied that he may not be as inexperienced as his nickname would suggest. At least one other member has subsequently been slain trying to subdue Thog.
The CPPD had Elan, who they believe to be Nale, and Thog under arrest for 417 charges of murder and one charge of intent to summon a demon (this last offense was made up by Nale after he was "freed" by Rookie). Leeky Windstaff, who was subdued by the Order, is also probably in custody. The local laws forbid the use of magic to determine guilt, due to the fact that the result can readily be faked using illusions. As such, the CPPD expect their investigation into these crimes to take at least six months.
[edit] Demon Cockroaches
Brought out by the Monster in the Dark leaving a bowl of popcorn out in the living room as opposed to taking it back to the kitchen like he was supposed to, these tiny red cockroaches follow Redcloak and Xykon around. They enjoy watching the carnage and destruction that Xykon brings with him, though neither Xykon nor Redcloak really acknowledge their existence (beyond Redcloak's annoyance and setting of Roach Motels, and Xykon betting with one). They often make sarcastic comments at the seemingly absurd actions of Xykon and Redcloak a la Mystery Science Theater 3000. In one strip, their good counterparts, the Angel Cockroaches, appeared. Most recently, one of the Roaches was used by Miko to escape the forcecage Xykon imprisoned her in (by making it breathe fire to light a molotov Miko made out of dwarf brandy).
[edit] Eugene Greenhilt
Despite having died three years before the Order of the Stick was created, Roy's dad, Eugene Greenhilt, visits him from time to time to give foreshadowing clues. Eugene's currently dating the ghost of Violet, since his wedding vows were only "till death do us part." He has often expressed disappointment in Roy's chosen career path, wishing his son had become a wizard instead. Eugene trained under Fyron the wizard of Cliffport, who was slain by Xykon in front of Eugene (who was trapped in a magical bubble and forced to watch). Eugene vowed vengeance against Xykon for this, a vow that was transferred to Roy as eldest child when he died.
Eugene also seems to have the ability to prophesy future events, and made one prediction that aided Roy and Haley in defeating Nale. In On the Origin of PCs we learn that Roy's father has no confidence in Roy's ability to defeat Xykon - he's counting on Roy's sister Julia for that. Roy has confronted his father after discovering that Eugene (who was apparently an Illusionist in life) was responsible for the phony charge that the Sapphire Guard brought the party in on. Roy said that he would still go after Xykon because of the great threat he poses to the world, but if it weren't for that he'd tell his father to stick his blood oath against Xykon up his "wrinkled, incorporeal ass".
One of the common running gags of the comic is that whenever Roy mentions his dad, another member of the Order of the Stick (only Haley, Belkar, and Durkon have done it thus far) will say "Isn't your father dead?" or some similar phrase, which may or may not show their ignorance of ghosts in the world of OOTS.
[edit] Flumphs
Two representatives of the only lawful good monster in the original Fiend Folio were introduced as inhabitants of Dorukan's Pit, which was full of monsters that were never updated to 3rd Edition. They have since broken the falls of characters on several occasions. Most recently, one was seeking counselling for the feeling that it was just a minor character in someone else's story, when Haley landed on it.
[edit] Julia Greenhilt
Julia Greenhilt, Roy's 16-year-old sister, first seen in a flashback comic as a toddler at which point it was assumed she was a boy, has since become a recurring character. Following her father's wish for his children to become wizards (unlike Roy, who took his own path), she attended Warthog's School of Wizardry and Sorcery, the same school attended by Pompey of the Linear Guild, where she is considered to be the most popular girl in school. She was recently kidnapped by the Linear Guild as a pawn to lure the Order of the Stick to Cliffport so that Nale could carry out his plan to replace Elan. Freed by the Order, she has returned to her studies.
It was hinted in On the Origin of PCs that Roy may harbor feelings of jealousy against her because he thought of her as being their father's favorite child. ("I can tell because you almost never use the phrase, 'crushing depression' when talking about her.") She does seem to be her father's favorite child (probably because she became a wizard while Roy went to Fighter College) due to the fact that her father is counting on her to finish off Xykon.
So far, Julia is portrayed as the stereotypical Valley Girl i.e. an unapologetically spoiled, superficial brat much more concerned with her kidnappers' lack of coolness than with the mortal peril she and her brother were in. She has revealed herself to be of True Neutral alignment, as opposed to Roy's Lawful Good. She is also a flirt who uses her natural endowments to get the attention of her teachers. When this is tried on Durkon it doesn't work. She actually ends up a bit in awe of Durkon, dropping the "cool girl"-attitude, boasting about knowing him, insisting (correctly) that he did most of the fighting in this encounter with the linear guild and just replying "yes, sir" when he lectures her for immodesty twice. It seems highly unlikely that she will actually heed his advice, but not talking back is a big step for this girl. Though she and her brother squabble a lot, which is normal considering their differences, they do actually love each other, something that the disguised Nale finds hard to comprehend.
[edit] Lawyers
Mr. Jones and Mr. Phil Rodriguez are the only lawyers that appear in the world of the Order of the Stick. Their main purpose is ensure that no copyright infringements occur. Mr. Jones is highly professional and educated, though arrogant, while Mr. Rodriguez has a relatively childish demeanour, prefers to role-play when around the adventurers, and is prone to odd tricks such as producing a giant boot as a distraction. They were sent by the Spooky Wizard who lives on the Coast. They have appeared several times, once to drag away the "Squid-Thingy" (or Mind Flayer), and once when Vaarsuvius called them out against Zz'dtri for being a copyright infringement on Drizz't Do'Urden.
Mr. Jones appeared at Belkar's request, claiming that Miko's use of Detect Evil "clearly constitutes an illegal search" employing "harmful radiation" (on the basis that many of the creatures Miko has scanned are currently dead, and that the scan is blocked by a lead sheet in a manner consistent with the properties of electromagnetic radiation). Miko's horse Windstriker then attempted to hire Mr. Rodriguez to put a restraining order on Belkar, but Belkar simply informed Mr. Rodriguez that he was of Chaotic Alignment and chased him out of the stables (Windstriker having been returned to the Celestial Realms so Miko didn't have to pay for him as well). Most recently they were summoned to Azure City by Lord Shojo to act as the prosecution at the Order's trial on the charge of 'weakening the fabric of the universe', though they lost the case due to the whole thing being a sham perpetuated by Shojo and Eugene Greenhilt. Due to Jones' skill at converting trial transcripts, his record is 5-0 while Mr. Rodriguez shoulders the defeats at 0-147.
[edit] Lord Shojo
Lord Shojo is the leader of the Sapphire Guard of Paladins and secular ruler of Azure City. As his father was given the position by Soon Kim, this makes him the third leader in its history. He has admitted to being a 14th level Aristocrat (an NPC class) and to be of a non-Lawful alignment. To avoid assassination attempts by the nobles of Azure City, he pretends to be senile and easily swayed (especially by his cat, Mr. Scruffy) to make them feel that all his policies are due to other nobles' manipulations.
In return for Roy's cooperation in defeating Xykon, Lord Shojo has promised all of the Order of the Stick (except Belkar) one favour, as well as general aid. He is also the uncle of Hinjo, who is heir apparent to Azure City. He does not appreciate Roy insulting or otherwise criticizing his paladins and wizards, such as the one who accidentally sent the OOTS (and Nale) to a Roc's nest instead of back to Azure City due to the fact that the wizard was drunk at the time.
[edit] "The Order of the Rift"
Nicknamed The Order of the Rift (or OotR) by fans, this group does not have an official name (though the title of the strip in which they were introduced was "The Order of the Scribble" - referring to the crayon-drawn style of that arc). They are old adventurers (some now deceased, some perhaps still alive) who created 'Gates' to keep The Snarl, a god-killing universe-destroying monster locked inside the Earth. After arguments between them, they each chose to guard one gate closest to their homeland. The Order consists of;
- Soon Kim, the apparent leader, a Paladin from Azure City. He was the founder of the Sapphire Guard, which he created to guard the gate in the city. He passed on the leadership of the Guard to the current Lord Shojo's father shortly before his death. His gate is next on Xykon's list, and Xykon's army is now marching to it.
- Lirian, an elven druid and apparently the second in command. As an elf (and as a Druid who cease to age once they reach high levels), there is a good chance she is still alive, though the forest gate that she guards, according to Xykon, was destroyed by Redcloak. Shojo's paladins were unable to locate her following the fire.
- Serini Toormuck, a halfling rogue and a wellmeaning woman. Her gate is a homage to Kraagor, a tomb filled with the strongest monsters in creation located in a snowy region. Her gate, if things get that bad, will be the last.
- Kraagor, a male dwarf barbarian. His death precipitated the group's dissolution.
- Dorukan, a male human wizard who worked alongside Lirian to lock the gates and guarded one in the Redmountain Hills. Years later, Xykon killed him in a duel and seized his castle. His gate was accidentally destroyed by Elan.
- Girard Draketooth, a rogueish illusionist and tracker with high charisma, he is often speculated to be connected to Elan (due to having a similar hair style to both him and Nale, along with Nale's goatee) or Haley (due to hair colour and similar attitude and role). His gate, located in the desert, is hidden behind a series of magical illusions. After storming Azure City, if Xykon survives, Xykon will go to this gate. The Order of the Stick intend to go there after they leave Azure City.
[edit] The Snarl
The aforementioned god-killing universe-destroying monster, the Snarl is literally an embodiment of deific frustration and wrath. It was created when the first world was created by the gods, as the Gods of the West, East, North, and South, analogues to historical pantheons, argued about how to create the world. It slew the Gods of the East, but was trapped when the remaining three pantheons retaliated by sealing it away in a prison made out of the world itself.
The Snarl nearly escaped sixty six years ago through holes in its prison, but was defeated and resealed behind five gates by the Order of the Rift. The recent destruction of two of these gates, and apparent interest in the remaining three by Xykon for unclear motives, has lead to a fear that the Snarl would be released. In response Lord Shojo has sent the Order of the Stick to investigate and protect the remaining gates.
[edit] Thor
Durkon's patron deity and member of the Gods of the North, Thor is roughly equivalent to the real Thor in Norse mythology. However, in the strip Thor acts as comic relief, a drunken buffoon but with a good heart. His less wise acts have included taunting the Snarl, abandoning a village to the fire giant Surt while being hassled by Durkon, and creating a portentous storm while drunk. W.W.T.D?, or What Would Thor Do? is a running joke, as Durkon occasionally considers what Thor would do for guidance. (Unfortunately, since Thor would simply shatter the dungeon with his divine power, return to Asgard, woo women, and drink, the W.W.T.D. is never as applicable to Durkon's situation as it's supposed to be.) He most recently appeared to grant Durkon a spontaneous casting of Control Weather, which Durkon used to generate a thunderclap of such force that Leeky Windstaff's animated trees (and staff) were blown to pieces (as the Druid had failed to protect them against Sonic damage). After intimidating a Celestial who tried to point out the Control Weather spell couldn't be used like that, Thor wandered off to "get tanked and paw Sif", telling the Celestial to report on whether Durkon lived or died.
[edit] Loki
Loki is Thor's evil half-brother and the patron of Hilgya, who was once the cleric for the Linear Guild. While Thor and Loki have been shown to be enemies in recent OotS history, they cooperated in the distant past when the gods created a new world to contain the Snarl. Loki is apparently more sensitive than Thor to bizarre events occurring in the mortal world, as he noticed the liaison between Durkon and Hilgya first (the discovery made both deities ill). He also seems to have more common sense than Thor, as he is renowned for saying, "Dude, don't taunt the god-killing abomination."
[edit] The Oracle of Sunken Valley
An oracle who was sought out by Roy and Durkon to locate Xykon's lair prior to the formation of the Order of the Stick, then subsequently in order to determine where the lich is headed next. In order to keep out pesky adventurers, the Oracle hired QuestGuard to establish a series of moderately challenging tests, including a heart test to prevent him from getting sued for health reasons. Once the Order actually encountered the Oracle, it turned out to be a sarcastic, rambling, and irritating kobold, who proceeded to give the group a series of prophecies laden heavily with multiple meanings and ambiguous language. However, when Roy worded his question carefully to keep the Oracle from being too ambiguous, he ended up making it too precise, eliminating Xykon's actual next target from consideration. Despite the kobold's attempts to hint that the question was too specific, Roy insisted that the Oracle had to answer the question as stated, and thus the Order are currently heading towards the wrong location. They do intend to stop at Xykon's actual next destination, Azure City, for a rest however, so there may stil be hope.
While Roy did figure out where he went wrong before leaving the valley, the magic associated with the Oracle causes all visitors to forget everything about their visit except the answer to their question, so his realisation of the truth was quickly lost. This magic effect means that nobody is able to remember the nature of the Oracle, so Roy was surprised to find out that he was a kobold, despite his previous visit.
The Oracle worships Tiamat and uses her powers to grant him his visions of the future.
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| Characters: | Roy Greenhilt | Durkon Thundershield | Haley Starshine | Elan | Vaarsuvius | Belkar Bitterleaf | Xykon |
| Character lists: | General list | Linear Guild |
| Locations: | General list |
| Miscellaneous: | Haley's pseudo-language |
