History Characters / TheOrderOfTheStickTeamEvil

** He's most explicitly shown as a mirror to Miko in their brief scuffle in the watchtower. Both are color-coded, stringently Lawful, divinely-empowered beings who serve as high-ranking figures in their respective religions. Both lost their parents at a young age, leaving them with nothing outside of their faith. Both are motivated by the same massacre: Redcloak was a direct survivor of it, and Miko was mentored by one of the paladins who carried it out, in both cases being left with an utter and uncompromising hatred for the other side. Both are arrogant, stubborn, frequently paranoid, very good at deluding themselves, and have a tendency to [[IgnoredEpiphany ignore clear indications that they're wrong and should stop]]. Both see themselves as the central chosen figure in a divine plan (Redcloak more correctly), and place the execution of that plan above all else. And both ultimately killed what little family they had left for the sake of seeing that plan accomplished--and after experiencing the consequences, [[DetrimentalDetermination redoubled their efforts in seeing it carried out]], losing any chance of redemption in the process. The fact that a strip where Redcloak spends half the panels insulting Miko in dehumanizing fashion is titled "[[{{Hypocrite}} Pot v. Kettle]]" really drives it home.

** He's most explicitly shown as a mirror to Miko in their brief scuffle in the watchtower. Both are color-coded, stringently Lawful, divinely-empowered beings who serve as high-ranking figures in their respective religions. Both lost their parents at a young age, leaving them with nothing outside of their faith. Both are motivated by the same massacre: Redcloak was a direct survivor of it, and Miko was mentored by one of the paladins who carried it out, in both cases being left with an utter and uncompromising hatred for the other side. Both are arrogant, stubborn, frequently paranoid, and have a tendency to [[IgnoredEpiphany ignore clear indications that they're wrong and should stop]]. Both see themselves as the central chosen figure in a divine plan (Redcloak more correctly), and place the execution of that plan above all else. And both ultimately killed what little family they had left for the sake of seeing that plan accomplished--and after experiencing the consequences, [[DetrimentalDetermination redoubled their efforts in seeing it carried out]], going BeyondRedemption in the process. The fact that a strip where Redcloak spends half the panels insulting Miko in dehumanizing fashion is titled "[[{{Hypocrite}} Pot v. Kettle]]" really drives it home.

** He's most explicitly shown as a mirror to Miko in their brief scuffle in the watchtower. Both are color-coded, stringently Lawful, divinely-empowered beings who serve as high-ranking figures in their respective religions. Both lost their parents at a young age, leaving them with nothing outside of their faith. Both are motivated by the same massacre: Redcloak was a direct survivor of it, and Miko was mentored by one of the paladins who carried it out, in both cases being left with an utter and uncompromising hatred for the other side. Both are supremely arrogant, see themselves as the central chosen figure in a divine plan (Redcloak more correctly), and place the execution of that plan above all else. And both ultimately killed what little family they had left for the sake of seeing that plan accomplished--and after experiencing the consequences, devoted the rest of their lives to seeing it carried out, going BeyondRedemption in the process. The fact that a strip where Redcloak spends half the panels insulting Miko in dehumanizing fashion is titled "[[{{Hypocrite}} Pot v. Kettle]]" really drives it home.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Monster in the Darkness notes that hardly any members of Team Evil use their real names.

* MirrorCharacter: To [[HeroWithAnFInGood Vaarsuvius]]. Both are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, both have a thing for [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide avenging their families]], both are {{Badass Bookworm}}s, both struggle with [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret]] over [[spoiler:the blood of innocents on their hands.]] Both are {{Deadpan Snarker}}s, with a fondness for {{Stealth Insult}}s. Both are the "smart guy" of their respective team, both are spellcasters, both were prone to [[IgnoredEpiphany Ignored Epiphanies]] before character development. Both have been subject to OnceDoneNeverForgotten, V over the whole [[spoiler:selling their soul and savagely murdering a quarter of an entire dragon subspecies]] thing and Redcloak [[spoiler:setting fire to Lirian's Glade and killing his brother.]] The key difference between them is that [[spoiler: V comes to admit they were wrong, gives up the harmful approach that wasn't working, and works as best as they can to make amends. Redcloak, however, is pathologically incapable of admitting that his Plan isn't worth it and that he's made a mistake, and just keeps doubling down on the flawed approach.]]

* AchievementsInIgnorance: He has no idea how his powers work, nor what most of them even are. The few times he's used them so far were either because he wanted something to happen hard enough, such as [[spoiler: teleporting O-Chul and Vaarsuvius to safety]] and causing an earthquake by lightly stomping on the ground.

* FluffyTamer:

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: A significant flaw of hers. She believes that the dead are better than the living [[InsaneTrollLogic because she thinks the living are all]] [[HumansAreBastards bastards]] [[InsaneTrollLogic and the dead are their exact opposites]]. She thinks that Xykon is an [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Edward Cullen-style]] paranormal romantic hero just waiting for the perfect girl (i.e. her) to "heal" him and she thinks that Redcloak is an ineffective spineless wimp who is just going to passively let her get away with absolutely everything [[spoiler:including outright informing Xykon of Redcloak's treachery. Redcloak brutally proves her wrong]] and Xykon doesn't really give a damn about her -- he can't even remember her name.

* MakeMeWannaShout: When he gets angry, his voice alone is powerful enough to throw others off-balance and blow away small objects, as observed in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0475.html this strip]].

* YoungerThanTheyLook: By the time of his death, he was in his 40s at most, despite having a grey beard and wrinkled skin. It's suggested in many settings that goblins have short lifespans.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: For all of his AntiVillain behavior, Redcloak's DetrimentalDetermination causes more problems for him and goblinkind as a whole than it solves. The narrative also uses these tendencies to show that all of Redcloak's justifications are little more than self-serving excuses, which is meant to highlight his moral cowardice rather than excuse him. For instance, [[spoiler:Redcloak inadvertenly causing the death of his brother Right-Eye is meant to show how far Redcloak is willing to go to ensure things are done ''his'' way. Also, when offered everything he could possibly want by Thor, Redcloak still won't do it, because it would mean he's not a hero and his acts of villainy have been AllForNothing]]. At one point, Xykon flat-out tells Xykon that Redcloak's excuses are how he's controlling Redcloak's behavior, and yet Redcloak still continues to hold onto the aforesaid excuses.

** He's also one for the {{Determinator}}. His sheer determination and will to ensure {{The Plan}}'s success is ultimately just another extension of his aforementioned moral cowardice, to the point where he eventually dooms the Plan's ultimate goals out of utter unwillingness to admit that he's wrong and everything he's sacrificed to get where he is was AllForNothing.

** Gets a particularly subtle one from Oona, when she explains her metaphor of Redcloak living in the two villages of [[GoodShepherd 'Doing the Best for Goblinkinds']] and [[{{Pride}} 'Right All Along']], and one day Redcloak might be forced to choose between the two.

** Delivers a nasty one to [[spoiler:Tsukiko, right before he kills her:]]
--->'''Redcloak:''' [[spoiler:Because, let's be clear: if I tolerated your humiliating attempts to undercut my authority before, it was only because killing you would've upset the delicate puppet strings upon which "Lord Xykon" unknowingly dances. But if you're going to stand here, and tell me that you'll expose one of those strings to him? [[TooDumbToLive If you're going to be THAT stupid?]] There can only be one rational response to that.]]\\
''[Addressing her Wights]''\\
[[spoiler:Hold her until you drain the life from her. Then devour her corpse.]]

** As a goblin, he's a victim of it by humans, who assume his people to be {{Always|ChaoticEvil}}[[invoked]] NeutralEvil. (Going by the backstory, Goblins ''are'' Always Neutral Evil by definition and cruel destiny.) He also despises humanity, which he considers not racist but ''speciesist'', since he hates all races of humans equally (an ironic statement, given he seems to have a particular hatred of Azure City). [[spoiler: During negotiations with Durkon as a representative of Thor, he's at least willing to ''in principle'' admit that he'd theoretically be okay with adopting a live-and-let-live approach to and take a more conciliatory tone with humans if, long-term, they stopped trying to exterminate his people and left their newly-minted goblinoid country alone; even if his myriad other flaws still tank negotiations his speciesism isn't shown to be a stumbling block there]].

** This all reinforces his last flaw: his complete inability to self reflect and adapt. He has had plenty of opportunities to settle down, start a new life, and even have kids. Yet out of a lifetime of fear, heartbreak, and hardship, he can't look in the mirror and think about what he's done and how he could have done things better. It's not just pride, but guilt and deep seated regrets that feed his need to live in the village of "right-all-along" as Oona puts it.

* DramaticIrony: Frequently occurs whenever people try to reason or negotiate with Redcloak to achieve his goals without completely following The Plan, believing that he's a safer bet than the [[ForTheEvulz murder-happy]] Xykon and being more sympathetic to his stated goal of Goblin equality in contrast to Xykon simply wanting to kill whomever he wants to. What none of them realise is that whilst Redcloak ''is'' more reasonable, his DarkAndTroubledPast and [[spoiler:SiblingMurder of Right-Eye]] have warped him to the point he [[DetrimentalDetermination isn't capable of accepting any other outcome that doesn't come from following through on the original plan]], despite any alternatives he's offered and how obvious it is that he's made a bad choice -- in fact it's ''because'' he knows on some level that's he's made a mistake partnering with Xykon that he's so determined to make it WorthIt despite the increasing risks, as accepting anything else would render all he's sacrificed AllForNothing, an outcome that is all but stated would break him from the guilt. Underscoring this is that apart from Xykon, ''nobody'' is aware of [[spoiler:Right-Eye's existence]] and how it motivates Redcloak to stick to The Plan.

* HypercompetentSidekick: If Xykon didn't have Redcloak around, the world would be a lot safer simply by virtue of Xykon being tactically stupid and having a hard time getting anything done.

--> '''Redcloak''': So you're worried that at some point, the goals I've been working toward might be incompatible with...what? My own ego? I don't know see how to take that as anything but an insult, given how much of my life I've devoted to—
--> '''Oona''': Oona never said she was worried. Oona is pretty sure she knows what little caped man would choose.

** As stated by Right-Eye, Redcloack is still the angry kid that saw his village slaughtered by paladins. He has much more control over it than his pride but it's part of why he is so eager to pick a fight with the heroes and gods.
--->'''Redcloack:''' I don't remember "peaceful" being on my list of demands.

** Similarly, while it's admittedly downplayed to an extent due to his own biases heavily obscuring how willing he is to listen to them in the first place, Redcloak pointing out how the information Durkon and Minrah are telling him regarding the Dark One, quiddities, and gods during their attempted negotiations with him at the start of the last story arc sounds ''incredibly'' suspicious and not entirely reliable (particularly since he's being told this by two champions of the gods he's basically sworn eternal vengeance against) isn't exactly wrong and not a totally irrational reason for him to ''not'' take them at face value. Minrah calls out Durkon on not starting with the consequences that will specifically target the Dark One and the goblins if the gods end the world because Redcloack is not gonna believe them in the middle of a fight.

** This all reenforces his last flaw: his complete inability to self reflect and adapt. He has had plenty of opportunities to settle down, start a new life, and even have kids. Yet out of a lifetime of fear, heartbreak, and hardship, he can't look in the mirror and think about what he's done and how he could have done things better. It's not just pride, but guilt and deep seated regrets that feed his need to live in the village of "right-all-along" as Oona puts it.

** Similarly, while it's admittedly downplayed to an extent due to his own biases heavily obscuring how willing he is to listen to them in the first place, Redcloak pointing out how the information Durkon and Minrah are telling him regarding the Dark One, quiddities, and gods during their attempted negotiations with him at the start of the last story arc sounds ''incredibly'' suspicious and not entirely reliable (particularly since he's being told this by two champions of the gods he's basically sworn eternal vengeance against) isn't exactly wrong and not a totally irrational reason for him to ''not'' take them at face value.

* VillainHasAPoint: Towards another villain, but still. Any insult Xykon throws at Redcloak about their individual capabilities as villains is true. Xykon thinks of himself as nothing more than a monster, and as such gets things done. Redcloak ''insists'' on telling himself he's a ''hero'', and as such will ''never'' get what he wants, because [[spoiler:he won't let himself admit he already ''has'' it because it means admitting he's ''not'']].

* LineOfSightName: To avoid Xykon blasting him for giving him a long, complicated name, he uses "Redcloak" to introduce himself to the sorcerer when they first met.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Thanks to the Crimson Mantle he has all the time in the world to carry out his sacred duty.

* VillainHasAPoint: When you look at the [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide slaughter]] of the goblinoid peoples, whom the gods literally [[AlwaysChaoticEvil made to be killed]] to give their followers XP, The Plan looks a lot more reasonable. Durkon directly acknowledges this, especially after learning [[spoiler:the goblins' plight was caused less by malice and more by neglect. In Durkon's own words, "Redcloak, 'e's right aboot wha's wrong, but wrong about how ta make it right."]]

* VillainProtagonist: Look at the amount of tropes. The story proper belongs to the Order, but it will follow Team Evil from time to time. You'll very quickly realize that [[BigBad Xykon]] isn't the "hero" of these plotlines- that title belongs to Redcloak, a WellIntentionedExtremist who is only prevented from being a true hero to his people by his own various [[TragicHero moral failures]].

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Once you've read his backstory in ''Start of Darkness''. [[spoiler:Family and village, except his brother, massacred by the supposedly LawfulGood Sapphire Guard. Teamed up with Xykon, who took over Redcloak's own team and demoted him to number two after Redcloak himself turned him into a lich. Forced to kill his brother by Xykon as a twisted loyalty test]]. He lost an eye to one of the Sapphire Guard and was forbidden by Xykon (again) from healing it. He remains in service to a potentially world-destroying evil plan which is the only part of his old life that remains.

* BeneathNotice: Because his coworkers think of him as a childish idiot, his [[CharacterDevelopment resolution to start thinking for himself]] and his resulting attempts to [[spoiler:subtly undermine their plans]] have gone not only unnoticed but ''un-looked-for''. Even when Redcloak starts to cotton on to his plan, he thinks it was just a screw-up instead of an act of rebellion.

* PragmaticVillainy: Though he's nearly as eager as his general to war with the humans, he's willing to pursue peace. This isn't because he's interested in peace at all, but merely to give his people time to gather their strength and prepare for a large-scale war.
* {{Warhawk}}: Really wants to attack the Azurites, although he's more measured than his general, who is looking for any excuse to start a war ''right now'', while the Supreme Leader is not. Although the main reason for that is because he believes that the hobgoblins need more time to build their army first.

* ChekhovsGunman: Originally appears in 3 panels as a punchline character with no importance to the plot. A full 12 real-world years later, we get him as a fairly major character in O-Chul's backstory.

* PragmaticVillainy: Doesn't want a war with the Azurites because it would divert too many resources away from building up the hobgoblin encampments.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He has no interest in war, and concentrates on building up his people's numbers and infrastructure. That means that when Xykon and Redcloak usurp control of the horde, they have many many more soldiers at their command.

* GeneralRipper: Eager to go to war with the Azurites.

* DarkChick: The only girl on Team Evil's roster of main characters, and her overall contribution to the plot, not to mention ThePlan, is fairly minimal.

* StartOfDarkness: The prequel book ''Recap/StartOfDarkness'' contains his and Redcloak's origins. He got his start when he was four, where while crying over his dead dog, he accidentally raised it as a zombie and was ecstatic when it killed and ate a passing bird.

* VillainousFriendship: With [[NumberTwo Jirix]]. The single normal, pleasant relationship with another person we have seen Redcloak ''have'' since his [[StartOfDarkness Trope Namer prequel]].

* MirrorCharacter: To [[HeroWithAnFInGood Vaarsuvius]]. Both are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, both have a thing for [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide avenging their families]], both are {{Badass Bookworm}}s, both struggle with [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret]] over [[spoiler:the blood of innocents on their hands.]] Both are {{Deadpan Snarker}}s, with a fondness for {{Stealth Insult}}s. Both are the "smart guy" of their respective team, both are spellcasters, both were prone to [[IgnoredEpiphany Ignored Epiphanies]] before character development. Both have been subject to OnceDoneNeverForgotten, V over the whole [[spoiler:selling their soul and savagely murdering a quarter of an entire dragon subspecies]] thing and Redcloak [[spoiler:setting fire to Lirian's Glade and killing his brother.]]