History TheOrderOfTheStick / TropesPToR

* ThePuppetCutHisStrings: Lord Shojo, the supreme lord of Azure City, pretends to be an incompetent ruler who talks to his pet cat, but is quite privy to the machinations of the various nobles and political factions.

** Haley inexplicably dodging AreaOfEffect attacks.

* ProphecyTwist: After a twist with Belkar's prophecy of "drawing his last breath" was Jossed, we get a new twist for [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0877.html another prophecy]]: [[spoiler:How will Durkon go home? Posthumously. Now [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0878.html he's a vampire.]]]]

* RecursiveReality: Possibly. Inside the [[spoiler:rift, there is a planet. What is on the planet is unknown. Common theories are that it's the original world supposedly destroyed by the Snarl, it's the Snarl itself, it's a new planet created by the Snarl, and many other theories.]] In the fourth book's commentary, Rich Burlew {{Josse|d}}s the idea that it's our Earth.

** Subverted, as a [[{{Jossed}} jab at fan speculation]], with [[spoiler:Miko]]. Tsukiko gives a monologue about her intent to do this with the next body she finds... and then changes her mind when the first one she finds is [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in two pieces]].

** Grubwiggler gives [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0980.html a nasty one to Bozzok]] when Crystal turns on the latter, and finishes, "Farewell, Bozzok. You were never as clever as you through you were", teleporting away as Crystal pounds Bozzok into a smear on the floor.

* PrimitiveClubs: Dimwitted [[OurOgresAreHungrier ogres]] with wooden clubs and HulkSpeak make an [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0004.html early appearance]] in a {{Dungeon Crawl|ing}}. [[QuirkyBard Elan]] duplicates both when he magically [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0217.html disguises]] himself as an ogre later, even though he's among ogres who have more advanced weapons.

* {{Pride}}: Vaarsuvius; Daimyo Kubota; Nale to some degree, and a few others.

** Late into the story, Durkon has a heartfelt reunion with his mother Sigdi after being exiled from the Dwarven lands for years. The party assumes that Sigdi had no way of knowing of Durkon's whereabouts since he was immediately tossed out on short notice. However, it's then revealed that Durkon had been keeping contact with Sending (the magical equivalent of a video message), and had in fact talked with her last week.

** The (not-so) practical implications of Sending spells. Hey, ''you'' try getting everything across in exactly 25 words!

** Elan's dubiously helpful bard songs.
** V's creative application of explosive runes, ambiguous sex, and the frequent LampshadeHanging regarding them being non-binary.
** Durkon and all dwarves having a [[AbsurdPhobia fervent hatred/fear of trees]].

** Daigo "saving" his last name so as to make sure that he won't get KilledOffForReal due to being a MauveShirt.

** The (not-so) practical implications of Sending spells. Hey, you try getting everything across in exactly 25 words!
** Flumphs conveniently cushioning people's landings... or not.

** The title of the strip is a definition of a word prominent in the punchline.

** The two annoying lawyers. Furthermore, there was once even a rare Flumph/Lawyer ''reversal''.

** Twice already Roy got attacked and silenced with someone yelling at him ''"[[TalkToTheFist STOP TALKING]]"''. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0408.html First one]] was courtesy of Miko, the [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0796.html second one]] was from Thog.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Directly invoked by Elan in [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1230.html #1230]], as he describes the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness of the early comics, calling the order "a ragtag bunch of {{Unlikely Hero}}es with [[DarkAndTroubledPast unresolved issues]] who [[TeamClenchedTeamwork didn't see eye-to-eye]]".

* QueerColors: [[invoked]] One of the [[https://www.cafepress.com/orderofthestick CafePress T-shirt designs]] has Vaarsuvius (who is confirmed by WordOfGay to identify as genderqueer) attacking a {{troll}} with Prismatic Spray, which shows itself as various colors of the rainbow. The description has this to say:

* PreviouslyOn: All of the print versions of the story arcs (barring ''Dungeon Crawlin' Fools'', for the obvious reason of it being the very first book) contain a recap of the previous book's events, sometimes being a departure from the comic's usual narrative format. ''No Cure for the Paladin Blues'' has Elan recapping the events of the previous book with a finger puppet show, ''War and [=XPs=]'' has Vaarsuvius discussing the events of the last book with chalkboard drawings, ''Don't Split the Party'''s recap involves a parody of ''Series/MasterpieceTheatre'', ''Blood Runs in the Family'' involves Haley and Blackwing using watercolor-esque drawings to illustrate the happenings of the previous book, and [[spoiler:the High Priest of Hel]] starts off ''Utterly Dwarfed'' by explaining what happened last by portraying the characters as simplistically-drawn apparitions.

* QueerColors: [[invoked]] One of the [[https://www.cafepress.com/orderofthestick T-shirt designs]] has Vaarsuvius (who is confirmed by WordOfGay to identify as genderqueer) attacking a {{troll}} with Prismatic Spray, which shows itself as various colors of the rainbow. The description has this to say:

* QueerColors: [[invoked]] One of the [[https://www.cafepress.com/orderofthestick t-shirt designs]] has Vaarsuvius (who is confirmed by WordOfGay to identify as genderqueer) attacking a {{troll}} with Prismatic Spray, which shows itself as various colors of the rainbow. The description has this to say:
-->''Just an ordinary picture of a wizard defeating a monster with a high level spell. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything No additional symbolism here, nope.]]''

* QueerColors: One of the [[https://www.cafepress.com/orderofthestick t-shirt designs]] has Vaarsuvius (who is confirmed by WordOfGay to identify as genderqueer) attacking a {{troll}} with Prismatic Spray, which shows itself as various colors of the rainbow. The description has this to say:

* QueerColors: One of the [[https://www.cafepress.com/orderofthestick t-shirt designs]] has [[{{Transgender}} Vaarsuvius]] attacking a {{troll}} with Prismatic Spray, which shows itself as various colors of the rainbow. The description has this to say:

* QueerColors: The elven wizard Vaarsuvius, who has an AmbiguousGender and is confirmed non-binary through WordOfGay, is rather fond of the spell Prismatic Spray, which is visualized as a rainbow-colored ray of light. There's official artwork of V using this rainbow spell against a {{troll}}, with the caption "Just an ordinary picture of a wizard defeating a monster with a high level spell. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything No additional symbolism here, nope.]]" which hints at the character's LGBTQ affinity.

** [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1202.html #1102]]: This exchange takes on a whole new context after realizing both Durkon and Minrah had decided to defy Roy and speak to Redcloak on their own.

* RuleOfThree: The Empires of Blood, Sweat and Tears.