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.

Contents 1 The Order of the Stick 2 "Team Evil" 2.1 Xykon 2.2 Redcloak 2.3 Monster in the Dark 2.4 Tsukiko 2.5 Demon Cockroaches 3 Other antagonists 3.1 The Linear Guild 3.2 The Bandit Clan of Wooden Forest 3.3 Assassins 3.4 House Kubota 4 The Sapphire Guard 4.1 Miko Miyazaki 4.2 Hinjo 4.3 Lien 4.4 O-Chul 4.5 Shojo 4.6 Mr. Scruffy 4.7 Thanh 5 The Greenhilt family 5.1 Eric Greenhilt 5.2 Eugene Greenhilt 5.3 Horace Greenhilt 5.4 Julia Greenhilt 5.5 Sara Greenhilt 6 "The Order of the Scribble" 7 The Gods 7.1 Loki 7.2 Thor 7.3 Banjo the Clown 7.4 The Snarl 7.5 The Dark One 8 Miscellaneous characters 8.1 Roy's Archon 8.2 Azurites 8.3 Blackwing 8.4 Celia 8.5 Cliffport Police Department 8.6 Flumphs 8.7 Julio Scoundrél 8.8 Lawyers 8.9 The Oracle of the Sunken Valley 9 Greysky City 9.1 Guildmaster Bozzok 9.2 Crystal 9.3 Hank 9.4 Hieronymus Grubwiggler 9.5 Blind Old Pete 9.6 Jenny 9.7 The Loki Priest 10 References

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 noted, based on the capabilities they have displayed in the comic strip, that they seem to have advanced to around 13th level since he made that statement), 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, Craft Disturbing Mental Image, a paladin ability of Summon Conscience and Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion (a parody on the actual spell "Evard's Black Tentacles").

Many characters in the story relate to common stereotypes in fantasy literature and role-playing games, such as Haley being a sneaky, thieving, and secretive Rogue. However, some are opposites; Roy Greenhilt, for example, may be a fighter, but he is extremely intelligent (and thus counter to the "dumb fighter" stereotype), especially compared to other members of the Order.

Its members are:

• Roy Greenhilt: A 29-year-old^[1] veteran fighter, Roy assembled the Order and acted as party leader. Roy is a counterstereotype of the traditional dumb fighter cliché.
• Belkar Bitterleaf: A barefoot halfling ranger at the start of the Order's adventures, he has since taken at least three levels of barbarian.
• Durkon Thundershield: A 39-year-old dwarf, Durkon is the party's cleric, worshiping Thor as his patron deity.
• Elan: Originally a Bard, he has now taken levels as a Dashing Swordsman, an obscure prestige class (made up specifically for the webcomic).
• Haley Starshine: A 26^[2][3]-year-old red-haired human rogue.
• Vaarsuvius: A high-elven wizard, Vaarsuvius' gender is intentionally unclear.

"Team Evil"

Led by Xykon the lich, the self-described "Team Evil" play the role of the primary antagonists to the Order of the Stick. They are categorized by their willingness to embrace Evil as a label, living up to the stereotypes of villains from movies and literature.

Xykon

Xykon was born human, 107 years before the events of the comic. He had a natural talent for necromancy, which he developed in childhood by zombifying his dog and later (by his teenage years) his grandmother.

In his seventies he fell in with the goblin Redcloak, who told him of a plan to unlock one of the gates imprisoning the Snarl and use the monster to blackmail the gods themselves. However, the gate's defender, Lirian, defeated Xykon with a virus that neutralized his spellcasting powers. Redcloak restored Xykon's power by turning him into a lich, making him immune to the virus; Xykon then defeated Lirian and trapped her soul in a gem. An unexpected side effect of becoming a lich is that he can no longer enjoy coffee; only the death of others amuses him anymore.

Six months before the start of the webcomic, Xykon took over the Dungeon of Dorukan, defeating the wizard Dorukan (and trapping his soul in the same gem as Lirian), to gain access to Dorukan's gate (Lirian's having been destroyed when Redcloak fought her treant servants). Filling the dungeon with goblins, mercenaries and undead minions, he waited for his chance to unlock the gate.

Xykon is, in many ways, a stereotypical evil overlord as seen in many fantasy novels and roleplaying games; he does his best to live up to all the clichés associated with the role. However he is also genuinely cruel and sadistic, taking joy in the deaths of others. He is rarely surprised by anything, is normally guided by his whims and cannot remember the names of the Order (often butchering Roy Greenhilt's surname into Bluepommel, Redblade or some other variation, if he is able to remember at all who he is) and has to be reminded by Redcloak who they are, which hints at either a vast experience with adventurers and villains, or else his low intellect and chaotic nature. He is often shown to be rather casual about his evil deeds and is rarely in a serious mood. He finds tactical discussions tedious, apparently feeling that simply throwing his minions, who he generally regards as being completely expendable, into the fray in huge numbers will get the job done. Despite his lack of strategic abilities he is nonetheless shown to be capable of being quite clever and has come up with some great plans, like letting the paladin escape so he could spy on her and find out were the Sapphire gate was. The fact that he comes across as incapable of planning has worked to his advantage. His stated belief is that there is a level of force against which no tactics can be successful; he uses shock and awe technique as his primary means of victory, though he also believes that one of the keys to victory is how far one is willing to debase oneself until feeling remorse. He has used the gullibility of heroes against the Order of the Stick, and he knows the genre conventions of evil.

Xykon is at Epic Level (21+), at least 7 levels higher than Roy (who is level 13 minimum, probably 14)^{[citation needed]}, with Roy himself having stated that Xykon is at least 21st level and considering that he needs an epic feat to cast an epic spell such as Cloister. His phylactery, which is also Redcloak's unholy symbol, is currently lost somewhere in the sewers of Azure City or has washed out to sea.

Redcloak

The goblin who would later take the name of Redcloak started out as an acolyte of the previous bearer of the Crimson Mantle when his home was destroyed by the Sapphire Guard of Azure City, who believe the Crimson Mantle is a threat to "the very foundation of creation itself". When Redcloak put on the Mantle, he was able to communicate with the Dark One, and understood his Plan to improve the lot of the goblins by unleashing the Snarl and blackmailing the other gods. Redcloak needed the cooperation of an arcane caster, and recruited Xykon.

Intelligent, with a dry and somewhat sarcastic sense of humour, Redcloak usually plays the straight man to the rest of his team's antics. He appears to have a decent grasp of tactics and certainly considers them more important than his master does. He has a decent level of education, being familiar with chemistry to the extent that he can summon elementals based on specific chemical elements (to date, titanium and chlorine during the siege of Azure City and magnesium during a bonus comic featured in the second compilation, No Cure for the Paladin Blues) rather than the classical elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. Unlike Xykon, Redcloak seems to remember the names of Roy and his party and is also familiar with Soon Kim. Redcloak cast an Extended Summon Monster VII spell at the siege of Azure City, also, he is seen casting Blade Barrier, remarking that it would deliver 15d6 damage. Blade Barrier deals 1d6 per caster level. The high priest of the Twelve Gods failed his saving throw against Redcloak's destruction spell (by rolling a "21" against a 7th level spell (the priest's spirit seemingly noticed that he "had a 22" later in the line to the afterlife, though)). Belkar also mentioned that he believed Redcloak to be 17th level.

Redcloak's unholy symbol is Xykon's phylactery, indicating considerable trust of Redcloak on the lich's side and also that Redcloak must assign considerable value to the lich's prolonged existence. He is loyal to Xykon out of guilt for his actions and devotion to The Dark One's plan, enduring a lot of the lich's insults, but resents him for ordering goblins to their death indiscriminately, (although his attitude temporarily changed due to his mastery over the hobgoblins, whom he despised). However, loyalty notwithstanding, Redcloak was quite happy to criticize 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 as well as stating that he does not trust Xykon as an ally of the Goblin race.

In more recent comics it has shown that Redcloak has taken on a more important role in the leadership of team evil, mostly do to the fact their Hobgoblin solders see him as their leader rather than Xykon. He deals with most of the day to day things, and has even tricked Xykon into letting them stay at Azure city for months.

Redcloak recently lost his right eye during O-Chul's prison break. Because the prison break also resulted in the loss of Xykon's phylactery, Xykon has forbidden Redcloak from using magic to regenerate his lost eye calling the loss of Redcloak's eye his personal "idiot tax."

Monster in the Dark

The Monster in the Darkness is an as-yet unnamed creature of indeterminate species that is kept by Xykon as a big vicious monster to reveal at the last moment to thwart the heroes. Since Xykon never has the chance to call the monster out of the darkness in his first battle with the Order of the Stick, and refuses to reveal it until the climax, it remains hidden in darkness visible only as two glowing yellow eyes. When outside, the monster is forced by Xykon and Redcloak to hide under a pink Hello Kitty 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 to light it up. Exactly what type of creature the monster is still remains unknown.

The monster has not exhibited vicious behavior. Rather, it is timid, has low self-esteem, is prone to inane observations, displays childish behaviour (for example, throwing a tea party with a stuffed dragon, the dead Roy, and paralyzed O-Chul), seems to suffer from nyctophobia, and appears to be completely oblivious about most things around it. For example, it was unable to recognize Dorukan's Gate while looking at it. This has become a recurring joke in the strip — every time one of the evil characters mentions the gates, the monster is ignorant of what the gate means or even its existence.

Despite calling it a "bozo", Xykon has implied that it is powerful. Its power is verified in its "battle" against Miko Miyazaki where she hits the Monster with a full round of attacks. While both Roy and Hinjo were previously severely injured by such attacks, the Monster merely said it tickled. It then challenges her to a game of "Who Can Hit the Lightest", but subsequently loses said game by knocking Miko and her horse clear through a wall and several miles further. That the monster actually was trying to hit her lightly is confirmed by its disappointment at having "lost." When angered, its shout produces a shockwave loud enough to blow both Haley and Belkar off their feet, and intimidate them into making a trade of stew for the bodies of Roy and O-Chul instead of taking them away from the Monster's tea party. Shortly afterward, as Haley and Belkar escape with Roy's corpse and O-Chul, the Monster stomps the ground at the direction of one of the Demon Cockroaches, which results in a massive, ground-cracking earthquake. Despite the fact that the Monster causes the earthquake without any acknowledged effort on its part, it feels tired and hungry after having done so. The monster also seemingly teleports Vaarsuvius and O-Chul away from Xykon.

It is revealed during a conversation between the Monster and the imprisoned O-Chul that Xykon tries to feed the Monster live children in an attempt to make him scarier. This fails, however, as the Monster doesn't eat children and just dumps them in the trash whenever Xykon's attention is focused elsewhere. The Monster and O-Chul have come to regard each other as friends, going so far as to have O-Chul refer to it as Monster-san since the Monster does not know its own name.

According to the expansion book Start of Darkness, the Monster comes originally from the "deep rainforest," but is then caught by a pair of hunters (who comment how unusual it is that one of its species would be in a rainforest, and how strange it is that it can talk). It later found itself as an exhibition in a circus group. At least one member of the audience was absolutely horrified and disgusted by its appearance. Redcloak said he knew what the creature was and could escape easily if it wanted. Redcloak steals it away (without releasing it from its box) and Xykon afterwards takes charge of it, charming it to eat Redcloak and spit out the phylactery on the chance that Redcloak betrays him.

Tsukiko

A female native of Azure City with glowing heterochromatic blue and purple eyes, Tsukiko was first seen in the Azure City jail where she had been imprisoned for "unnatural acts of wizardry". Along with Belkar and a thief accused of grand larceny, she agreed to help defend Azure City against Xykon in exchange for a reduced sentence. During the fight, she sided^[4] with Xykon, healing him and attacking Azure City soldiers. She later attempted to drop off her paperwork with Redcloak, who rudely dismissed her, leaving her in the courtyard with a chlorine elemental who was ordered to kill all humans. However, she killed the elemental (as well as a prisoner who had been watching) with a Shout spell. She later rejoined Xykon and Redcloak in the ruins of the castle, where she attempted to blame Redcloak for trying to kill her - a fact Xykon simply found hilarious. She then came up upon Miko's remains and considered animating her as a free-willed, evil undead (mainly to get even with Redcloak), then dismissed the notion, thinking the creature wouldn't have been all that powerful anyway. (The fact that Miko's body was severed in two also put a crimp in those plans, as apparently Tsukiko needs a whole corpse.) She is later seen being dispatched with a group of wights as "Black Squadron" to take out Haley's resistance group and is later shown in direct battle with Haley.

She has levels as a mystic theurge, which means she has access to both a divine and arcane spellcasting class. She is assumed to be minimum of Level 12 (likely Cleric 3/Wizard 3/Mystic Theurge 6) to be able cast Teleport and Flame Strike (both 5th level Arcane and Cleric spells respectively; additionally, sorcerer as opposed to wizard is not possible due to her use of the Quickened Spell metamagic feat). She states that she is sexually attracted to undead, a fact which seemed to mildly disturb Xykon, who comments that he's not a "Biophiliac" and is uninterested in the living. She believes that Azure City is bigoted against her for being "different" and has shown motherly tendencies towards the wights that she created.

She had verbally expressed her desire to replace Redcloak as Xykon's second in command. However, she had been left totally in the dark about the Gates, or that it is the ultimate goal of Team Evil to capture one intact. Whether this is due to her being disposable or simply not trusted is unknown. She seems to share Xykon's bloodthirsty sense of humor however, and Redcloak's prejudice against paladins.

Demon Cockroaches

Brought out by the Monster in the Darkness by 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 shoe-sized red cockroaches follow Redcloak and Xykon around. They enjoy watching the carnage and destruction that Xykon brings with him, though Xykon and Redcloak usually ignore 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, perhaps a nod to the insect banter in the margins of Cricket Magazine. In one strip they use Vaarsuvius as a viewing stand during the first confrontation with Xykon after V was paralyzed, breathing fire on undead that are "blocking their view". In another strip, their good counterparts, the Angel Cockroaches, appear. In another strip^[5], Miko uses one of the roaches to escape a (moderately escapable) forcecage by forcing the roach to breathe fire and light a Molotov cocktail made from her cloak and a bottle of dwarven brandy. Another cockroach is seen riding on a raccoon as Redcloak gives the order for a final charge on the breach in Azure City's walls from atop a fiendish mammoth he summoned. More recently one has been used by Belkar to cook stew, who later got revenge by giving the Monster in the Darkness advice on how to beat Belkar and Haley. One also attempted to try and do damage control when a captured Paladin began convincing the Monster In The Dark to think for himself and realize Xykon and Redcloak had been only using him.

Start of Darkness shows that the Cockroaches traveled from the Spice Rack of the Damned in the Abyss to an evil-themed restaurant that Xykon, Redcloak and Right-Eye formerly frequented via a portal. They then chose to follow Xykon because he often visited the restaurant and thus eventually picked up the stench.

Other antagonists

The Linear Guild

The Bandit Clan of Wooden Forest

An otherwise-unnamed group of thieves and bandits living in Wooden Forest that the Order of the Stick encounter during their sidequest to find starmetal. The clan consists of mostly low-level adventurers (one admits^[6] he is 2nd level) who use bows, though it also has several guards, an executioner, a quartermaster, and a sandwich artisan. After Durkon gains control of the clan, he orders them to disperse and return to their homes, thus ending their threat to travelers. The key members of the bandit clan are:

• The Bandit King, a male human rogue or ranger who fights with two swords. The Bandit King has led the clan for many years, using his combat prowess to stay in power by establishing a standing law that any bandit who defeated him in solo battle could take his place. He comes to regret this decision when his daughter Samantha bests him. The Bandit King claims to have only preyed on the "wealthy and universally despised", and seems displeased with Samantha's evil actions. This does not keep him from helping to defeat the Order of the Stick, after which he is able to retake his position as leader from his exhausted daughter. He, in turn, is accidentally defeated by Durkon, at which time he and his offspring are tied up and left in the forest. He is later killed by Miko Miyazaki after he attacks her for killing his daughter.

First appearance: OOTS #152.

• Samantha, a female human sorceress. Described as "rotten to the core" by her own father, Samantha uses her sorcerous powers to seize control of the clan, which she then uses for her own selfish purposes—including kidnapping attractive male adventurers like Elan. After clashing with the Order, she is knocked out by the Bandit King and tied up by the Order of the Stick. She is released by a traveling Miko Miyazaki, whom she threatens to force into servitude with her magic; Miko then kills Samantha.

First appearance: OOTS #159.

Assassins

A pair of unnamed assassins encountered by the Order during their brief stay at an inn while being escorted by Miko back to Azure City. One of the assassins is an amorous dwarf, who is armed with an arquebus and has a penchant for explosives, while the other is a skilled Shadowdancer (referred to simply as The Shadowdancer), who only after spending many years in his prestige class realized that the world of the stick figure comic lacked any shadows in the first place.

Due to a misunderstanding with the hotel staff reminiscent of the "Who's on First?" routine, Roy is treated as the King of the country of "Nowhere," who is meeting with other nations (Somewhere and Anywhere) at the hotel to discuss a peace treaty. The two assassins mistake Roy for the King of Nowhere and attack him, wounding Elan in the process and forcing Roy to use the Girdle of Femininity/Masculinity to get the bard to safety. Once he escapes, Roy returns with Haley and Vaarsuvius to confront the assassins. In the chaos, a passing Belkar accidentally sets off one of the dwarven assassin's barrels of explosives, destroying the inn with much of the Order's treasure and inducing Haley's aphasia. In the resulting explosion, the Shadowdancer finally finds a shadow he can teleport through, and the assassins escape. They also appear in a flashback where they are spying on Thanh's meeting with the real King of Nowhere. Whether they will make another appearance later on in the course of the webcomic is unknown.

The pair of assassins also appear as monster cards in The Order of the Stick Adventure Game. "The Shadowdancer", as the game refers to him, remains anonymous, whereas the dwarf's card is titled: "Kaboom" Redaxe.

House Kubota

One of the noble houses of Azure City, House Kubota is actively engaged in a plot to kill Hinjo and seize control of the city (or at least its citizens). The house controls an unknown number of samurai and men-at-arms who escape the city prior to its occupation by Xykon. Key members (and former members) of the group are:

• Daimyo Kubota, a male human aristocrat and leader of House Kubota. He leads several noble houses in abandoning Azure City on the eve of invasion over a disagreement with Hinjo and Roy regarding how best to address the impending threat. On Kubota's orders, both a pair of ninja and a convict released to fight for the city try (and fail) to assassinate Hinjo during the chaos of the battle. Due to the ruling of the lone magistrate to escape the fall of the city, Hinjo has been unable to arrest Kubota for these actions. As Kubota's ships sail with the fleet of refugees leaving the city, he has made several more attempts on Lord Hinjo's life using charmed aquatic monsters and his own ninja, Therkla. Hinjo has described Kubota as the kind of man who would not care whether all of Azure City fell to the forces of evil, just so long as he came out of it with his power intact. However, Kubota actually seems more actively villainous than even Hinjo suspects, conspiring with devils to place himself on Azure City's throne. Kubota has an appreciation for the finer things in life, from caviar to imported rugs, which extends to a dim view of commoners like Kazumi and Daigo. While he surrenders to Elan following the death of Therkla, he seems infinitely confident of the aristocratic countermeasures he has plotted out, assuming that any trial will turn into a circus to make Hinjo look even worse. All his bragging is for naught; Kubota never even gets to trial, thanks to a Disintegrate spell from an annoyed and sleep-deprived Vaarsuvius. This was followed with Gust of Wind, which effectively sweeps Kubota's remains into the sea. Vaarsuvius then admits to not even knowing the man's name or precisely what he had done wrong, simply that a trial would distract from Vaarsuvius' research. This strained the friendship between Elan and Vaarsuvius to unprecedented levels.

First appearance: OOTS #414.

• Qarr is an imp working alongside Kubota and Therkla. His speech balloon, while red and ominous, belies the fact that he is small and unassuming. He has been seen helping to mastermind the plan for Kubota's eventual rule. He is capable of maintaining telepathic contact with Therkla while aboard another ship and is responsible for charming the aquatic monsters that attack Lord Hinjo's junk several times. He often comes to conflict with Therkla due to her crush on Elan interfering with Kubota's orders. After he and Therkla were trapped by Hinjo and the Order of the Stick, he cast a summoning spell to call a massive devil as reinforcements, and teleported away to act on a few "possibilities." He did not respond to Kubota's commands after Therkla's death, and his current location is a mystery, though he is later seen following Vaarsuvius after the latter has chosen to leave his/her group to find a better place for researching magic. He is later discovered on the island Vaarsuvius is on, and is promptly evicted from it by Vaarsuvius, despite offering him/her arcane assistance which Vaarsuvius instead sees as a Deal with the Devil. Vaarsuvius does accept his help however after a black dragon goes off to kill his/her family. After facilitating a meeting between Vaarsuvius and a trio of fiends who convince the elven wizard to bargain with them, he accompanies the fiends to the Lower Planes where they offer him a position with their organization. Qarr also correctly deduces that the fiends had been monitoring Vaarsuvius for some time.[2]

First appearance: OOTS #484 (as off-panel voice), OOTS #509 (full appearance).

• Therkla, a female half-orc ninja, described by Kubota as his "most trusted assassin". While a reasonably skilled ninja—she graduated valedictorian from her ninja school, after having slain the original—she develops a crush on the physically attractive but ever-oblivious Elan. She even switches sides in mid-battle to have a chance to fight alongside him as well as going to great lengths to save his life, a fact that makes Qarr rightly suspicious of her loyalty. Although Kubota forgives her acts for learning to manipulate his words to her advantage, he later tells her that she must kill Elan next time, stating that this time she cannot hide behind loopholes. Later arranging a meeting with Elan at night, she admits her feelings towards him and ask to be his girlfriend. When Elan responds that he is already seeing Haley, she asks to at the least be with him while she's gone. When Qarr appears and reveals to Elan that he set up the meeting to ambush him, he chooses not to believe the imp and ends up convincing Therkla to switch to Hinjo's side. The group however were later caught by an ambush set up by Lien, who promptly arrests Therkla, though Hinjo gives her the option of a reduced sentence for confirming that she works for Kubota to the Magistrate, an option she refuses out of loyalty to her mentor. Later Kubota poisons her and leaves her with Elan, who tells her that Durkon could raise her from the dead. She asks him if she came back from the dead that would they be together, which Elan does not answer. Understanding that Elan will not abandon Haley for her, Therkla chooses the afterlife over not being able to be with Elan and dies from the poison.

First appearance: OOTS #484.

The Sapphire Guard

An organization of paladins dedicated to defending Soon's Gate in Azure City.

Miko Miyazaki

Miko was a female paladin and a member of the Sapphire Guard. She was raised in a monastery and thus had some Monk skills in addition to her Paladin abilities. Miko was the most fanatical member of the Guard, to the point they would send her away on missions just to be rid of her. Miko was sent to capture the Order of the Stick and bring them to Azure City to be tried for having destroyed one of the five Secret Gates, which she does. She is baffled when they are cleared of all charges. Later, when she finds out that Xykon's armies are approaching Azure City, she tries to warn them only to stumble in on a conversation between Roy and Lord Shojo, which led her to conclude that Shojo was a traitor, and in her anger she killed him, which caused her to lose her paladinhood. Miko was then jailed but escaped during Xykon's attack on the city and, in an attempt to keep the Lich from taking over the magical gate, destroyed it, which caused an explosion that killed her. Whether she'll reappear later in the series(resurrected or as a spirit or undead) has not been revealed yet.

The series' author has admitted that Miko was an intentional take on the "fanatical paladin" RPG stereotype, in obvious contrast to the other, more rational Paladins of the Guard.

Hinjo

Lord Hinjo is the exiled Paladin ruler of Azure City. Hinjo first appeared when the Order of the Stick arrived at Azure City, helping Miko escort them to their trial. He was much more easy going than fellow paladin Miko Miyazaki, telling the Order jokes and generally getting on well with them. Miko's disapproval of this caused him to mock her to the Order, observing that her attitude is the reason she is generally sent on the long missions. During the trial, it is revealed that Hinjo is the nephew of Lord Shojo and heir to the throne.

Hinjo is a considerably more positive portrayal of a paladin than Miko Miyazaki, lacking her holier-than-thou attitude. As a paladin, however, like her, he does take his honor extremely seriously, refusing to break the oath he made, even if it might be a better long-term move. Knowing the tenuous nature of his position as ruler, he is also very politically savvy, and is careful to always have on the right air and manner when others are watching him. Nevertheless he is also attempts to project a firm stance against the nobles, and refuses to budge to their demands. Also, Hinjo has shown a very Lawful preference that people follow the orders given, conceding that the ship captain who disobeyed orders and sailed away too early may have indeed saved his life, and that of everyone aboard, but still taking the moment to reinforce that he expects people to obey orders.

He is a highly competent fighter, fighting with a single silver katana (he also possesses a cold iron katana) shows great skill fighting from his mount. His mount has shown himself to be able to harm devils with its bite due to having silver teeth fillings from a trip to the dentist after Shojo once fed it 20 pounds of strawberry cake frosting. Miko described him as the "second most powerful paladin" in the Sapphire Guard, with her as the most powerful; though this may have been her own arrogance, it may well be that she was right. He was beaten even though Miko had lost her Paladin powers, suggesting that she is a number of levels above him, although his initial reluctance to kill her may have given her something of an edge. He is perhaps not quite up to the level of the Order of the Stick and was nearly killed by a single disintegrate spell from Redcloak. He was briefly considered by some to be the successor of Roy after his demise. As heir and subsequently leader of the Sapphire Guard, he has considerable knowledge of their lore; he knows about the Snarl and had foreknowledge of the Guard's ability to rise as ghosts when slain by Xykon in the throne room.

Hinjo's rule is opposed by Azure City's noble class, which has tried several times to assassinate him in his short time on the throne. Hinjo is particularly loyal and protective of his dire wolf mount, Argent.

Lien

Lien is a paladin of Azure City. It is unclear what her official position is among the paladins, but it is hinted that she may be one of the leaders, as she was present at Hinjo's inauguration, was assigned to transport Miko to her prison alongside O-Chul^[7], and was placed in charge of the Azure City evacuation^[8], partially because her paladin mount (a shark named Razor^[9]) would be useful in defending the docks. In strip #473^[10], it is revealed that she is of common descent (her parents were fishermen) and that she and Hinjo are apparently the last living members of the Sapphire Guard (with the exception of the formerly paralyzed O-Chul and any paladins that might have been out of the city at that time or survived the battle, such as Thanh). She and O-Chul are currently on a reconnaissance mission to the Northern Gate to keep a lookout for Xykon and alert the Order of the Stick if he should arrive at the gate.

O-Chul

O-Chul is the leader of the paladins of Azure City. He is characterized by his bald head, full beard (as opposed to a goatee, the most common form of facial hair in the comic), and scar. O-Chul is first introduced when he is guarding^[11] the throne room just prior to Shojo's assassination. Along with Lien, he is charged with the duty of transporting Miko to her prison cell. During the planning for the defense of Azure City, he agrees to guard Soon's Gate with his life, stating that he and his paladins "will gladly lay down [their] lives in the defense of the tower." During a battle, O-Chul realized that to prevent Xykon from taking control of Soon's gate, he would have to destroy it. However, just as he raised his blade to strike, Xykon paralyzed him, although Miko used O-Chul's blade to shatter the sapphire afterward.

During the months of Team Evil's occupation of Azure City, O-Chul was tortured by Redcloak for information about Girard's Gate while often being put to life-threatening situations for Xykon's amusement. O-Chul has stated truthfully that he lacks any knowledge whatsoever of the other Gates. O-Chul's refusal to crumble under pressure has gained admiration from observing prisoners.

O-Chul had been kept in a cage beside the box containing the Monster in the Darkness who had originally found him paralyzed outside Azure City. The two have been regarding each other on a friendly level, have shared their daily food, and even played games together, such as the board game Go. When O-Chul escapes his cell, he confirms to the Monster in the Darkness that one must always do what they feel is right, even if it seems hopeless, and declares that the monster is "a good man." O-Chul then attempted to destroy Xykon's phylactery before escaping with Varsuvius (thanks to a little help from the Monster in the Darkness) to rejoin the exiled Azurites. Currently, he is on a reconnaissance mission with Lien to the Northern Gate.

A paladin similar in appearance to O-Chul (minus his scar) has appeared several times, once investigating the remnants of Lirian's Gate and once encountering a disguised Belkar on the street. It is unknown if this is O-Chul, and he got his scar later, or if this is a completely separate paladin.

Shojo

Lord Shojo was 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 was the uncle of Hinjo, who was heir apparent to Azure City prior to Shojo's death. He has admitted to being a 14th level Aristocrat (an NPC class) and to be of a non-Lawful alignment (Belkar believes it to be Chaotic Good). Because of this he had little problems with bending the laws if he sees fit, believing that the end justified the means. To avoid assassination attempts by the nobles of Azure City, he pretended to be senile and easily swayed (especially by his cat, Mr. Scruffy) to make them feel that all his policies were due to other nobles' manipulations.

In return for Roy's cooperation in defeating Xykon, Lord Shojo agreed to grant each member of the Order one favour (with the exception of Belkar Bitterleaf, who, having murdered his guard, was released on bail in lieu of specific assistance), as well as general aid. Although he is willing to lie to them, he does not appreciate Roy insulting or otherwise criticizing his paladins and wizards, such as the one who accidentally sent the Order (and Nale) to a Roc's nest instead of back to Azure City because the wizard was drunk at the time.

Lord Shojo does not consider himself bound by Soon Kim's edict that the other Gates must be left alone, believing that the morality of Soon Kim is obsolete. However he recognises that the oath is very important to the paladins of the Guard and, as such, outwardly does his best to follow the terms of that agreement. Covertly, however, he considers it extremely foolish to risk universal destruction on an oath made to people that he'd never met, and thus he does what he considers necessary to protect the world and the people of Azure City, even if this means lying to the paladins under his command, or recruiting others, like the Order, behind their backs. He was not remotely above threatening his paladins with mundane but unpleasant tasks, such as having to clean out Mr. Scruffy's litter box, to get his own way. This attitude made him one of the rare people that Belkar actually showed a degree of admiration for.

Unfortunately, during a conversation with Roy Greenhilt when his actions with regard to the Order and his opinions on the validity of the oath were discussed, Shojo was unaware that Hinjo and Miko Miyazaki were just outside the door and apparently heard the whole thing. Miko immediately jumped to the conclusion that Shojo was working with Xykon, as she considered the Order of the Stick to be the lich's minions. After summarily judging him guilty of treason, she drew her sword and executed him, though this action caused her to lose her paladinhood. Despite the Clerics casting Resurrect on his body, the spirit of Shojo is apparently unwilling to return to life, which Belkar reasons it being the fact that Shojo was close to natural death already and facing a trial for treason.

Mr. Scruffy

Mr. Scruffy was the pet house-cat and adviser of the late Lord Shojo. After the death of Shojo and the fall of Azure City, Belkar took on Mr. Scruffy as his friend and companion, even using him in battle against Tsukiko. Mr. Scruffy is one of the few creatures that Belkar genuinely cares for, defending him against others who would do him harm. Mr. Scruffy is also known as the "power behind the throne" of Azure City due to his relationship with Lord Shojo. It was this relationship with Lord Shojo that eventually led to the resistance of Azure City uniting against Xykon. While Mr. Scruffy is not, strictly speaking, a member of the Sapphire Guard, his association with them is quite tangible and unique. He is pure white.

Thanh

Thanh is a paladin of the Sapphire Guard who was in the kingdom of Nowhere on a diplomatic mission when Xykon invaded Azure City. Upon returning to Azure City, he joined the resistance and eventually became the de facto leader of it when Haley ceded control of it following her departure. Since the fall of Azure City, Thanh does not wear the traditional blue sapphire guard uniform, instead wearing black clothing because of the practicality of it in guerilla warfare.

The Greenhilt family

The immediate relatives of Roy Greenhilt have played a recurring role in the Order of the Stick story, particularly in how they shaped the life of young Roy to become the man he is today.

Eric Greenhilt

In Comic 496^[12], another character related to Roy is introduced while the latter is in the afterlife for Lawful Good people. The character is Roy's brother Eric^[13], who was born between Roy and his sister Julia, and died as a young child 18 years before the strip's taking place. It was repeatedly hinted and recently confirmed, that Eric died as a result (likely indirectly) of one of Eugene's experiments. This further strengthened the animosity between Roy and Eugene. After his death his parents attempted to resurrect him, but none of their efforts succeeded; Roy later speculates this was because the Afterlife was so enjoyable Eric's soul never thought about trying to go back. He was apparently found by Sara Greenhilt there when she eventually died, and now lives with her, still in a child's form.

Eric first appears in comic 113^[14] (panel 7) wearing the same orange shirt he wears in the Afterlife.

Eugene Greenhilt

Despite having died three years before the Order of the Stick was created, Roy's father, Eugene Greenhilt, visits him from time to time to give foreshadowing clues. Eugene had begun dating the ghost of a woman named Violet, since his wedding vows were only "till death do us part." This relationship ended rather abruptly when Violet's own family Blood Oath was fulfilled and she was allowed to proceed to the Celestial Realms. She even asked Eugene not to visit her if he ever made it in, so she would not have to explain about their relationship to her husband.

Eugene has often expressed disappointment in Roy's chosen career path, wishing his son had become a wizard instead and berates and insults him in every conversation they have. Eugene trained under Fyron the wizard of Cliffport, who was slain and zombified by Xykon in front of Eugene (who was trapped in an unspecified magic bubble spell and forced to watch). Learning of Xykon's name from the Oracle but not his location, Eugene attempted (and failed) to catch Xykon, who proved to be difficult to track. During a drunken evening, Eugene vowed a Blood Oath of Vengeance against Xykon for this, a vow that was transferred to Roy as eldest child when he died (and now transferred to Julia after Roy's death), since Eugene proved to be incapable of even finding the lich, let alone taking his revenge.

Eugene told Roy one prophecy^[15] 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 confronted his father after discovering that Eugene (who was 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". Eugene is later shown berating Roy in the afterlife for his failure to defeat Xykon, as well as blaming him for the destruction of Azure City. Eugene's Blood Oath prevents him from ascending to the afterlife as governed by the gods of the North; ever since his death, he has been stuck in an intermediate dimension from where he can see the Prime Material Plane, his only hope of release being that the Blood Oath will be fulfilled by his descendants. He is extremely upset when his son Roy is given permission to ascend to the true afterlife, the deva in charge of Roy's case assuring him that the Blood Oath poses no impediment to Roy at all. The Deva told Eugene that Roy earned permission to enter the Celestial Realms because while Eugene abandoned his oath years before his own death, Roy died attempting to fulfill the oath that Eugene burdened him with and thus Eugene's punishment is to wander the clouds until his descendants (in this case Julia or a resurrected Roy) fulfill the oath.

One of the common running gags of the comic is that whenever Roy mentions his father, another member of the Order of the Stick (Haley, Belkar, and Durkon have done it thus far) will say "Isn't your father dead?" or some similar phrase.

Eugene is a manipulative, self-righteous, selfish and unpleasant character. His continued attempts to have events go the way he wants, not to mention his acts of gross deceit (notably his impersonation of a being of pure Law and Good in Azure City) and his bad attitude, have apparently made him rather unpopular with at least one of the Celestials with which he interacts in his current plane of residence. Eugene's wife Sara claims that since people in the afterlife appear as the ideal versions of themselves, Eugene appears as an old man (despite Sara having the appearances she had at age nineteen) because he has always been an old man at heart. Sarah however also states that the curse also plays a part to his general irritability and unpleasantness.

Horace Greenhilt

Horace Greenhilt is Roy's grandfather, and Eugene's father. He makes his first appearance in strip number 497 ^[13] He is a fighter and was seemingly a great hero in his time (killing at least two dragons and saving one princess). It was because of stories about his deeds that Roy decided to become a fighter himself, a fact which Horace had to be told about by Sara due to the fact he died well before Roy was born. He still has a version of the sword which his family is named after, though this must be a Celestial Planes copy as Roy currently has the material sword. Horace seems to be a lot more like Roy than Roy's father, Horace's son Eugene. They both have taken the single fighter route (without multiclassing) and both look quite alike, with both appearing to wear the same armour and shoes - though the shoes and their shirts are different colours. Horace has stated that he tried to get close to Eugene when the latter was still young, but his son treated him much as he would later do to Roy, browbeating him about a perceived lack of intellect and being generally unpleasant.

Julia Greenhilt

Julia Greenhilt is Roy's 16-year-old sister and a third level Wizard according to Roy. 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, and Eugene Greenhilt (shown in Start of Darkness) where she is considered to be the most popular girl in school. She was 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^[16] 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) because 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 or Lawful Neutral (or even Chaotic Neutral) alignment, as opposed to Roy's Lawful Good. She is also a flirt who uses her natural endowments (which she seems to get from her mother) to get the attention of her teachers, a ploy that fails on Durkon. She actually ends up a bit in awe of him, dropping the "cool girl" attitude, boasting about knowing him, and insisting (correctly) that he did most of the fighting in this encounter with the Linear Guild. She replies "yes, sir" when he lectures her for immodesty twice. It seems highly unlikely that she will actually heed his advice, but not talking back or responding with a wisecrack is unusual for Julia, as evidenced by her behaviour towards both Roy and the Linear Guild. 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 found hard to comprehend due to his hatred of Elan. Sabine explains that "some families are just different." She is most decidedly her father's child.

Sara Greenhilt

Mother of Roy, Eric and Julia Greenhilt, wife of Eugene Greenhilt, who appears to have died three years before the formation of the Order of the Stick, while Roy was still at Bash University. During her life, Roy describes her as having a 'grey bun hairdo and osteoporosis,' however she appears to have had something of a wild side before her marriage---she met Eugene while drunk at a bar (not a library as they claim to their children), and apparently went home with each other that very night. After marrying and having her children, however, she seems to have fairly quickly settled herself down to become an attentive and caring mother, especially in comparison to Eugene.

Sara meets Roy in the Afterlife, where he was surprised to see that she had her nineteen-year-old, pre-Eugene body, and like her husband, Sara appears to have taken the "until death do us part" section of her vows seriously, as she has been dating other people, illustrated by the appearance of one of her flings during Roy's first day, the knight wearing nothing but a towel. Despite her own issues with Eugene, she notes that they had a good life together while he was focused on her, but that he was merely 'stuck with her because they'd had children' when his attention wandered back to other interests.

"The Order of the Scribble"

An adventuring group was founded by Soon Kim and Lirian after Kim's wife was killed by The Snarl through a rift in the fabric of reality. They adventured to defeat those that would release the Snarl, eventually constructing five magical Gates to seal it in its weakening prison. However, the battle to seal the final rift resulted in the death of one of their own, which lead to a breakdown in the group dynamic. To prevent outright bloodshed between them, they agreed to retire and each protect one of the five Gates in whatever manner they saw fit, foreswearing interference in each other's affairs.

The main plot of The Order of the Stick often revolves around these Gates and the fate of the members of the Order of the Scribble. However, as the strip is set more than 50 years after their retirement, the characters themselves take little direct part in the action of the comic. It should be noted that this group does not have an official name; the strip in which they were formally introduced was entitled "The Order of the Scribble", referring to the crayon-drawn style of that arc, and it is from this that the group's unofficial designation is drawn.

• Girard Draketooth, a male human with 2 levels of Ranger. He was also a powerful illusionist, although the specific spell-casting class is still unknown. His Gate, located in the desert on the Western Continent, is hidden behind a series of magical illusions. Acrimony between Girard and Soon Kim seems to have been the primary source of the group's dissolution. It is unknown whether Girard survives, however as a human he would be ancient in age if he is still alive.

First appearance: OOTS #196 (in diary illustration), OOTS #276 (flashback).

• Dorukan, a male human wizard. He designed and built the five Gates with Lirian, with whom he shared a romantic long-distance relationship afterwards (though he left an exception in the Cloister spell he cast upon his dungeon for summoning spells for liaisons with Lirian). His Gate was located in a dungeon in the Redmountain Hills which he filled with magical traps and wards, including a talisman that controlled monsters that had not been updated to the latest D&D rules. He was slain by Xykon in a magical duel in the skies above his dungeon and his soul trapped (along with that of his long-dead love, Lirian) in a black gemstone, accidentally allowing them to be together for the first time in decades. His castle was then seized by Xykon, and it served as the setting for the first 120 strips of The Order of the Stick. The Order of the Stick Adventure Game is subtitled The Dungeon of Dorukan as a result.

First appearance: OOTS #196 (both in diary illustration and flashback), Start of Darkness pg. 97 (alive).

• Soon Kim, a male human paladin from Azure City. Soon founded the Sapphire Guard to protect the Gate that bore his name, which was located in the skies above his native city. He died of unspecified causes shortly after transferring control of the Sapphire Guard to the lord of the city (Shojo's father), but his duty to protect the Gate persisted even past death. His spirit (along with those of other Sapphire Guard members) became bound to the Gate itself, rising as a ghost-martyr to defend it from Xykon and Redcloak. He passed from the plane of mortals after the Gate was shattered by fallen paladin Miko Miyazaki, his oath to defend the Gate rendered moot by its destruction.

First appearance: OOTS #196 (in diary illustration), OOTS #275 (flashback), OOTS #449 (as ghost-martyr).

• Kraagor, a male dwarf barbarian. He was slain by the Snarl itself when the Order of the Scribble was sealing the rift that would bear his name, and his death precipitated the group's dissolution. Since he was killed by the Snarl, he is effectively 'deader than dead' with his soul destroyed. The Gate that bears his name is in the north, protected by the most powerful monsters that Serini could find, to commemorate Kraagor's belief in physical prowess.

First appearance: OOTS #196 (in diary illustration), OOTS #276 (flashback).

• Lirian, a female elven druid. She was romantically involved with fellow member Dorukan, corresponding with him via letter for many years while they each guarded their respective Gates. She defeated and imprisoned Xykon when he tried to harness her Gate, but was subsequently slain by him following his transformation into a lich. Her soul was trapped by Xykon into a large black gem using necromancy. Her Gate was accidentally burned in a fire started by Redcloak during the same conflict.

First appearance: OOTS #196 (in diary illustration), OOTS #276 (flashback), Start of Darkness pg. 53 (alive).

• Serini Toormuck, a female halfling rogue. She seems to have served as the group's mediator; the compromise to have each member of the team guard a single Gate was her idea. However, she is the only member who does not have a Gate named after her. After the group's dissolution, she instead built a tomb for Kraagor to protect the one of the Gates in his memory. She encoded the locations of all five of the Gates in her diary, and it was by finding it that Xykon has managed to locate them. It is unknown whether Serini survives or not, but the fact that Xykon has her diary suggests that she is deceased. Additionally, since halflings have life spans comparable to humans, she would certainly be ancient in age by this time if she is still alive.

First appearance: OOTS #196 (in diary illustration), OOTS #276 (flashback).

The Gods

There are three main pantheons of gods in the OOTS world. The Northern Gods, worshipped by the dwarves and humans living in the Northern Lands, are based on the Norse gods, while the Southern Gods (often referred to by their worshippers as the "Twelve Gods") are revered by the people of the Southern Lands and are based on the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The third set of gods, called the Western Gods, are based on the deities of the ancient Near East, such as Marduk; only one of their worshippers, the Oracle of the Sunken Valley, has been depicted in the comic so far. A fourth pantheon, called the Eastern Gods and based on the Olympian gods of ancient Greece, was destroyed by the Snarl during the time of the previous world, and is thus unknown to most inhabitants of the world.

The elves and goblins have their own gods, as well, such as Vaarsuvius' God of Knowledge and Redcloak's Dark One. They are mentioned to have been "raised" to godhood rather than having existed before the universe; the Dark One is stated to have been raised through a yearlong slaughter in his name after his death while the Elven gods apparently gathered enough followers to gain godhood. As is usual in D&D, the gods are demonstrably real; Thor and others have appeared in the comic several times. It is stated in Start of Darkness that each pantheon has greater control over the geographical area after which it is named, as Tiger (one of the Southern Gods) prevents Thor from directly intervening in events transpiring in the Southern Lands.

Loki

Loki is Thor's evil half-brother and the patron deity 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". Loki is also an apparent ally of The Dark One.

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 crush his enemies with his divine power, return to Asgard, woo goddesses, and drink "an oceans worth of beer", the W.W.T.D. motto is never as applicable to Durkon's situation as it's supposed to be. He appeared to grant Durkon a casting of Control Weather via a scroll, 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^[17] 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. He later appeared telling Tiger of the 12 Gods of the South to relax after he had attempted to assist Durkon in Azure City. Thor is later shown having impregnated an unnamed fertility goddess, with Loki scolding him for not knowing that she is a goddess of fertility.

Banjo the Clown

Another god, "Banjo the Clown," (aka Banjulhu), was presumably created by Elan. Banjo was nothing more than a hand puppet when Elan used it to create small examples of divine power (apparently because any god in the OOTS world gets power based on the number of its worshippers.) Up to strip 553, Banjo had only had a handful of worshippers, and thus his powers were limited; however in that strip it was reveal Banjo had recently gained the following of an island tribe of orcs. Those orcs now worship Banjo's brother, Giggles the clown god of slap-stick.

Banjo had previously attempted to join the pantheon of the Northern Gods, who apparently gave his application serious consideration. Banjo was put off by the attitude of their clerics and abandoned this effort, disappointing Odin, who stated that he likes puppets.

The Snarl

The Snarl is 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. As they argued and pulled on the threads of reality in an attempt to get their way, snags began to develop in the fabric of the world. As the snags grew and combined, the Snarl was created, gradually growing ever more intelligent and malevolent. Finally, it revealed itself to its unwitting creators, slaying the entire pantheon of the Gods of the East with ease, then devouring every soul on the newly created world. It took just twenty-seven minutes to undo the entirety of creation.

Hidden away in their realms among the Outer Planes, the leaders of the three remaining pantheons met in secret and hatched a plan. Agreeing in advance which pantheons would be responsible for which parts of a new creation, they began to weave a new world out of the remaining threads of reality. With few arguments to slow them down, the gods wove the new world as quickly as possible. The Snarl, born of chaos and unable to comprehend things of order and purpose, failed to realise what the gods were attempting. Finally, the final threads were pulled into place and a new world formed around the Snarl, imprisoning it in a small demi-plane, with the world itself acting to keep the Snarl firmly in place.

Over a thousand years passed, until, sixty-six years prior to the start of the Order's adventures, the Snarl nearly escaped through holes in its prison, only to be defeated, with the rifts in reality sealed behind five gates by the Order of the Scribble. The recent destruction of three of these gates, and Xykon's apparent interest in the remaining two, has led to a fear that the Snarl would be released and serves as the plot hook for the protagonists' campaign.

The Dark One

The Dark One was originally a mortal goblin with superior abilities whose original name has been forgotten. Unlike the other goblins seen in the strip who have green or orange skin, he had violet skin, where his title came from. The Dark One unified many goblin tribes into a powerful force to build an independent goblin kingdom. He met with human leaders in an attempt to negotiate peaceful co-existence between goblins and humans, but he was betrayed and murdered, leading him to believe that humans are naturally untrustworthy creatures.

The Dark One's followers were angered by this betrayal and killed over a million humans in revenge. These deaths along with his followers' dedication to his memory caused the Dark One to become a God. Most of the existing Gods of the other pantheons shunned him but a few evil gods were sympathetic.

The Dark One later learned about the Snarl and sent his followers to find the gates. He also created the Crimson Mantle, an artifact with great power, for his senior cleric to wear. (Redcloak is its current owner.) The Dark One's plan is that by threatening to free the Snarl he can coerce the other Gods into giving the goblins better treatment, or, if the Snarl destroys all of the universe again, he can ensure that when it is recreated the goblins are given an equal share.

Miscellaneous characters

Roy's Archon

Roy's Archon is a lantern archon assigned to be Roy's guardian and guide while in Celestia. It seems to share some of Roy's personality, including some of his dislike for clueless people (calling some of the previous spirits it guided 'clueless petitioners', which may also be a reference to the Planescape setting, where "clueless" was the standard (if insulting) term for prime material natives and petitioners was the term for the souls of the dead). Due to this, Roy and his Archon get along rather well. Roy's Archon also briefly used its 'deadly light rays' when Roy, his Grandfather, and the Archon were fighting an evil adventuring party that had Plane Shifted to Celestia. It was last seen playing 1st Edition D&D with Roy and later Eugene, while Roy was on Earth trying to communicate with the Oracle of the Sunken Valley. It served the role of being Roy's (and Eugene's) Dungeon Master.

When referred to as 'Roy's Archon' by Roy's mother before introductions, Roy's Archon wondered how she knew his name (Roy's Archon). Also, he made a minor lament about no longer having limbs when Eugene left himself open for a kick in the rear. Also, realizing the full scale of the Snarl's threat, Roy's Archon willingly bent the rules to allow Roy a quick way back to the plane between the living and the spiritual world in preparation for Roy's (hopeful) resurrection: an indirect testament to Roy's Archon being Lawful -Good- rather than being Lawful Neutral.

Azurites

Not all citizens of Azure City belong to the Sapphire Guard. A number serve the army or secular government without apparent ties to the paladin organization.

• General Chang is the leader of the Azure City military. He conducts the tactical planning of the defense of Azure City and personally leads the defenders when the walls of the city are breached. He is subsequently killed by a death knight.

First appearance: OOTS #413.

• Kazumi Kato and Daigo are a pair of human Azure City soldiers (female and male, respectively) who fight alongside the Order of the Stick during the battle of Azure City. They meet each other when they become trapped in a tower with the Order, at which time Kazumi asks Daigo out on a date should they both survive the battle. While they were originally unnamed and undifferentiated members of the Azure City army, they reveal their names to each other to dodge the fate of all nameless redshirts (that is, to be killed horribly while the main characters survive), although Daigo's last name is still unknown as they are "saving it for an emergency". They then escape the city aboard Lord Hinjo's junk. During their time in exile, Kazumi and Daigo fall in love and conceive a child, leading them to ask Durkon to officiate at their wedding. Hinjo rewards their service with a noble title, forming House Kato. Daimyo Kubota, marked them for assassination as part of his plan to seize control of Azure City, hoping to remove their votes from the council of nobles who would choose the leader following Hinjo's death. Kazumi, though six months pregnant, was able to fight off the majority of the assassins and survived thanks to the intervention of Elan and Therkla.

First appearance: OOTS #455 (as unnamed soldiers), OOTS #472 (named).

• Sangwaan is a female human diviner or shugenja. Sangwaan wears a blindfold, but seems mostly unhampered by it due to her oracular magic—though she occasionally needs to be pointed in the direction of those to whom she is speaking. She is a top aide to Lord Hinjo, providing him with magical intelligence in the hours leading up to the battle of Azure City. She is crucial in detecting Xykon's attempt to bypass the city walls and attack the throne room directly, using a True Seeing spell to thwart his invisibility. Unfortunately, she is then immediately flung from the walls by Xykon's undead dragon steed, presumably killing her.

First appearance: OOTS #271 (as unnamed diviner), OOTS #413 (named).

Blackwing

Blackwing is the raven familiar of Vaarsuvius. While Blackwing was first introduced early in the series, he has only been seen on rare occasions for the first several hundred strips. This is a joke referencing the fact that within the game of Dungeons & Dragons, familiars are largely ignored except when they play an important role in the narrative of the story. With Vaarsuvius beginning to reevaluate how he/she treats others that he/she associates with, Vaarsuvius has made it a point to begin treating Blackwing as a partner rather than a resource. Since then, Blackwing has been in every strip that Vaarsuvius has been in, and has begun acting as a confidant and counselor to Vaarsuvius (except when Blackwing is distracted by baubles and dangly things.)

Celia

Celia, a sylph, was first seen guarding the air sigil in Dorukan's tower. Like any outsider, she can not be called back from death upon being killed and must fight cautiously in contrast in the 'back from the dead happy' world of Order of the Stick. Celia lost all loyalty to her job when her old boss "disappeared" and Xykon moved in (at which point she started "making personal calls and swiping office supplies"). She was transformed to stone by the Linear Guild but cured by Vaarsuvius, and repaid the Order by taking Nale and Thog to jail and opening a magical portal (service stairwell) to allow them 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 appeared representing the Order of the Stick as a paralegal, successfully defending them in their trial for weakening the fabric of the universe. Elan then hinted at an attraction^[18] between Roy and Celia, and Celia is subsequently seen shopping for clothes^[19] to "get his attention" (presumably referring to Roy). She then asked^[20] Roy to join her at a dinner for two in one of the nicer dining establishments (coincidentally 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). They enjoyed 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 ^[21], Celia was seen 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'. However, Roy did not know before that the talisman only broke for magical energy; Celia (having limited knowledge of humans) didn't know Roy couldn't shoot energy out of his fingers like herself. Haley recovered the talisman, which later broke due to being hit with an Electric Orb attack from Tsukiko. Celia gets on well with the members of the Order, with the exception of Belkar and Haley, mostly for their willingness to do questionable actions to get by. However, her arguments with Haley all seem to involve Belkar in one way or another, and the two get along when not discussing him. Nonetheless she chose to disobey Haley by entering Greysky City, unaware of the fact that it's full of criminals. She took Roy's body to a local spellcaster named Grubwiggler after hearing he had success dealing with the dead, unaware that he was reanimating them as golems. He proceeded to use his apparatus to transform Roy into a bone golem, and Celia had to be saved by Haley after he tried to claim her body as payment for the services.

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 (whom the chief called "Rookie" and regarded as the one member of the team with any sense), a female with light brown hair, a bearded blond 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 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 (whom they believed 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); their imprisonment lasted only forty minutes before they broke out. Leeky Windstaff, who was subdued by the Order, was also in custody before being freed by his friend Pompey. The local laws forbid the use of magic to determine guilt, because the result can readily be faked using illusions. As such, the CPPD expect their investigation into these crimes to take at least six months. With Elan, Thog and Leeky all now escaped, it remains to be seen whether the CPPD will attempt to track them down.

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. One of them sought counseling in Cliffport for the feeling that it was just a minor character in someone else's story, when Haley landed on it. Another got the feeling he was supposed to be somewhere while Roy was falling to his death outside Azure City. More recently, an evil Ghostly Flumph (the self-proclaimed "Ghost of Lame Monsters Past") succeeded in scaring the wits out of the two living Flumphs, until it was flattened by Roy Greenhilt's ghost.

Julio Scoundrél

The dashing sky pirate and captain of the airship Mechane, Julio Scoundrél is a famous action star and listed as the thirty-second out of the one hundred greatest swordsmen of the century. His proficiency is due to taking ten levels in the obscure prestige class Dashing Swordsman, allowing him to apply his incredibly high Charisma bonus to attacks with a rapier. Elan encountered^[22] Julio while attempting to get transport from Cliffport to Azure City; the air pirate agreed to help Elan because the bard reminded him of himself. While traveling to Azure City, Julio also agreed to train Elan in the ways of the Dashing Swordsman so he could defeat Nale once he arrived. Much like Elan, Julio is extremely well-versed in the ways of Genre Conventions and follows such rules. He is also a wanted criminal in Azure City, which is the reason that he is immediately attacked by the local militia upon approaching the city. Before parting ways he gave Elan^[23] the +3 Keen Rapier that he used when he was a Level 1 Dashing Swordsman (claiming that since he has managed to father children in every port on the continent he doesn't know whom to give it to). He also told him that he wished never to cross paths with Elan again because, due to genre conventions and the demands of stories, he would most likely be killed by a random enemy of Elan's the next time they meet so that Elan could swear vengeance on his killer.

Lawyers

Mr. Jones and Mr. Phil Rodriguez are two 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. Mr. Rodriguez once claimed that they were sent by the "Spooooky Wizard who lives by the Coast". They have appeared several times, once to drag away^[24] the "Squid-Thingy" (or Mind Flayer), and once when Vaarsuvius called them out against Zz'dtri for being a copyright infringement on Drizzt Do'Urden. They are also seen threatening the bandit clan leader with a restraining order after being captured as "universally despised"

Mr. Jones appeared at Belkar's request^[25], 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 ionizing 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 perpetrated 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.

Apart from the six members of the Order of the Stick themselves, Mr. Jones and Mr. Rodriguez are the only named characters from the webcomic version of The Order of the Stick to appear in the Dragon Magazine OOTS comics, appearing in the last panel of the comic that ran in Dragon #351.

The Oracle of the Sunken Valley

The Oracle of the Sunken Valley is a kobold 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 to determine where the lich is headed next.

Years before the events of the Order of the Stick, Eugene Greenhilt tracked down the Oracle of the Sunken Valley and asked the oracle who killed his (Greenhilt's father's) master. The oracle responded that Xykon killed Greenhilt's father's master and then refused to provide more details because of his one question per person per visit policy.

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 if a questioner with a weak heart had a heart attack induced by the awe of Tiamat. Once the Order actually encountered^[26] 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. (In fact, on Roy and Durkon's previous visit, the Oracle had answered the question 'Where is Xykon?' with the unhelpful answer, 'In his throne room,' prompting Roy and Durkon to dangle the Oracle out of the window until he agreed to give them a useful answer.) As a consequence, on his next visit Roy worded his question carefully to keep the Oracle from being too ambiguous; this had the unintended side effect of, by its precision, 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. Thus, the Order was mistakenly led to believe that Girard's Gate was Xykon's next destination. This mistake was corrected when Miko Miyazaki arrived in Azure City a day ahead of Xykon's army, informing them in an angry tirade of Xykon's impending invasion.

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 realization of the truth was quickly lost. This magic effect also means that nobody is able to remember the nature of the Oracle, so Roy was surprised to find out that the Oracle was a kobold, despite his previous visit.

Other questions asked of and answers given by the oracle include:

• "How will I return to my dwarven homeland?" asked Durkon Thundershield. "Posthumously."
• "How will I achieve complete and total ultimate arcane power?" asked Vaarsuvius. "By saying the right four words, to the right being, at the right time, for all the wrong reasons.' This is presumably predicting Vaarsuvius accepting the demons' offer for the Soul Splice to gain the power to save his/her family over the proposed alternative, motivated by his/her desire to avoid having to admit that his/her magic failed again, and said "I...I must succeed." while accepting.
• "Will I cause the death of any of the following: Miko, Miko's stupid horse, Roy, Vaarsuvius, or you?" asked Belkar Bitterleaf. "Yes." "Cool, which one?" "Next." (Belkar's second question was refused due to the Oracle's one-question-per-person-per-visit policy.)
  • On Belkar's next visit, he asks how that prophecy came true. The Oracle claims that Belkar is responsible for Roy, Miko and Windstriker's deaths in that: Belkar lent Roy his Ring of Jumping, after which Roy was killed by falling from a great height; Miko's fall as a Paladin and eventual death were fueled in part by her obsession with the Order of the Stick, and Belkar in particular; Miko's horse Windstriker is likely unable to reach the mortal realm without Miko; and the Oracle also hinted that Belkar's action will have a hand in Vaarsuvius' end. Belkar, upset that he himself does not kill any of them stabs the Oracle and kills him (but not for long). The Oracles last words are that he didn't believe his own explanation either, but that it was worth a shot.
• "Will this story have a happy ending?" asked Elan. "Yes, it will--for you, at least."
• "(How can I restore my speech?)" (in cryptogram) asked Haley Starshine. "When the gift horse comes calling, don't look it in the mouth." This presumably refers to Nale's (impersonating Elan) offer of a date; Haley's acceptance despite her suspicions led to the circumstances that broke her mental block, not to mention her declaration of love to Elan.
• "Caw caw CAW caw caw caw" asked Blackwing the Raven, Vaarsuvius' familiar. "Try using ginko bilboa [sic]" Presumably the raven was asking how to prevent Vaarsuvius from forgetting it existed.
• The Oracle gave the following unsolicited "answer" to Roy Greenhilt's ghost: "Belkar will draw his last breath - ever - before the end of the year".^[27]

The Oracle worships Tiamat and uses his powers to grant him his visions of the future. However the Oracle is not a cleric, merely having visions granted to him by Tiamat through the use of "Kobold Dust".

Prior to being killed by Belkar, the Oracle founded a kobold village around his tower, apparently for the specific purpose of activating Belkar's Mark of Justice. After the Oracle's death, Celia looked out a window and saw the village along with a sign identifying it as "the village of Lickmyorangeballshalfling" which is, if you put the spaces in: Lick my orange balls halfling, founded "last week" and with a population of "just enough". Immediately after Belkar realized the significance of the village, the Mark activated and caused him intense pain.^[28]

Upon the Order and Celia leaving two lizardmen teleport in to revive the Oracle, where it is revealed he is able to foresee his own death and pays them in advance to bring him back to life.

Greysky City

Greysky City is a city ruled by thieves. People are robbed for having money in their pockets and murder is very common. The most prominent organization the the Greysky City Thieves Guild, run by Bozzok.

Guildmaster Bozzok

Bozzok is a presumed half-orc (he resembles an orc, but he speaks without the speech-impediment that all orcs seen so far have) rogue who runs the Thieves' Guild in Greysky City. He rules his guild with an iron fist, running protection rackets on local businesses, charging excessive fees to his thieves for guild services and killing anyone who tries to leave the Guild. He attempted to have Haley, one of his best earners, killed after leaving the guild, but placed a moratorium on the order when she left the city. After Grubwiggler revealed she had robbed him, he sent his entire guild to have her killed. He is later confronted and defeated by Haley and Belkar, but before he can be finished off Celia stated that she had meanwhile organized a truce with the Guild, with a member stating that Bozzok's death would result in a violent free-for-all for succession as well as a massive power vacuum.

Crystal

Crystal is Bozzok's chief assassin. Despite being a terrible thief and not very intelligent (Haley calls her "dumber then a used tanglefoot bag") she is a very proficient killer and wields a wickedly curved dagger. She despises Haley and wanted to kill her even before Haley left the guild, and responded to Bozzok's order with almost childish glee. Due to their rivalry, Crystal gains a level every time Haley does, meaning they will always be the same level despite Haley's extensive adventuring. She is revealed to wield a +4 dagger in comic #607, and her low intelligence is highlighted here- due to Haley's dislike of pickles, she came to the conclusion that Haley was actually physically vulnerable to them, and persisted in this belief even though Bozzok made fun of her for it when she told him. She sundered Haley's +3 bow, rendering her defenceless, before Haley managed to trick her into looking inside the barrel of pickles to see what level of "enchantment" they had. Haley promptly ran off after Crystal fell in. With Bozzok's assistance, Crystal manages to overpower Haley, but loses to Belkar and is left at 0 HP. Belkar leaves her alive, believing that her only purpose is to be Haley's arch-nemesis, and that it is not his place to kill her. In comic #648^[29], Haley kills her in the shower and takes her dagger and magical items.

Hank

A halfling member of the Thieves' Guild. He gave Haley a warning to leave the city immediately after she quit the Guild, explaining Bozzok would only give her an hour before sending Crystal to kill her. After hearing of Haley's return, he expressed surprise she didn't have enough smarts to stay away. He later negotiated a truce with Celia and convinced Haley from finishing off Bozzok.

Hieronymus Grubwiggler

Hieronymus is a man who makes a living by taking corpses and reanimating them into golems. He has been robbed three times by Haley and has the Thieves Guild's five-star protection plan. He currently resides in a large castle in Greysky City.

Blind Old Pete

Previously Eagle Eyed Pete, Pete was part of the Greysky City Thieves Guild and formerly one of the best snipers until he was caught selling guild secrets to their rivals. As punishment, the guild master put out his eyes. He attempted to have his eyes regenerated and escape, but he was attacked by Crystal, another member of the guild. He currently resides in Greysky City, and has a soft spot for Haley. It is implied he knew both her parents as he identifies her as "Ian and Mia's girl." Nonetheless he is revealed to have been planning to betray Haley, Celia and a Cleric of Loki to the guild to have his eyes restored for free. Upon having his eyesight restored he is later disabled by Belkar and had his skull bashed in by the Cleric.

Jenny

Jenny is human female bard who belongs to the thieves' guild. She is the only survivor of Belkar's rampage. Their chemistry is evident from their first kiss. After the situation with the guild is resolved, the two begin sleeping together. It turns out, however, that Belkar does not return her love, failing to remember her name.

The Loki Priest

This unnamed character was a childhood friend of Pete, until Pete betrayed him. Originally, the Priest came in upon Pete's request, risking his own life (he asked Pete not to speak his name aloud). Haley asks him to cure Belkar's disease, though he reveals to her that Belkar is not diseased, but cursed by the Mark of Justice. Haley tells him to leave Belkar as he is, believing that he deserves it, and instead asks that the Priest cast Sending to get a message to Durkon (which proves difficult because he is a fantasy character stereotype and therefore hard to distinguish from any other dwarf). Eventually, the priest sends the message. When the Thieves Guild tries to attack him, he decides to remove Belkar's curse so that Belkar could help defend him. Belkar does so, and the two work together very well. The priest then asks Belkar if he could work for him as a bodyguard, which Belkar declines, because he insists that he must help the girls (Haley and Celia). As Belkar leaves, the Priest gets his revenge by killing Pete (at Belkar's suggestion).

References

v • d • e The Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew General list • Linear Guild • Xykon • Redcloak • Miko Miyazaki • Hinjo