History YMMV / TheOrderOfTheStick

* WeirdAlEffect: The comic lampoons the 3.5 rules of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', but has remained popular for years past when that ruleset was retired. It even outlasted the ruleset that replaced it![[note]]Or ''both'' rulesets that replaced it, if we consider [[{{TabletopGame/Pathfinder}} Pathfinder 1e]] to be 3.5e's unofficial successor.[[/note]]

** The Oracle is read by the majority fans as a simple {{Chessmaster}}, but a subset of fanfic writers have taken to a rather tricky interpretation of the whole [[spoiler: "Lickmyorangeballshalfling"]] thing. [[spoiler: The theory goes that the Oracle, being totally omniscient and thus unable to be surprised by ''anything'', is some kind of sociopath who manipulates people just to have some form of entertainment. After all, Belkar's prophecy was entirely self-fulfilling: he ''did'' end up "causing the death of" the Oracle (by, y'know... ''directly murdering him''), but only after being goaded into doing so by the Oracle, who claimed that Miko's and Windstriker's deaths were indirectly his fault. The cyclic nature of the prophecy has been extrapolated by some to create a truly terrifying character that.... frankly doesn't really appear in the comic as such]].

'''Belkar:''' Well, I just figured we'd wander around, kill some sentient creatures [[FantasticRacism because they had green skin and fangs and we don't]], and then [[KleptomaniacHero take their stuff]]. ''[everyone else in the party glares at him]'' [[DefensiveWhat What?]][[note]]It's also a reference to ''On the Origin of [=PCs=]'', in that the entire reason Durkon joined Roy was that Roy refused to kill green-skinned fanged sentient creatures and take their stuff for no reason.[[/note]]

** Malack. Exactly how evil he really is has been up for debate since the very beginning. How much he cared for his children, how much he does or does not genuinely respects Durkon, and a lot of other parts of his personality are up for debate. It was partly settled when Malack was revealed to be [[spoiler:a vampire who planned an endless campaign of human sacrifice when he took over the kingdom, perhaFps employing a [[Film/SoylentGreen special chamber]]]]. [[OddFriendship Then again, it was also made clear he did genuinely respect Durkon.]] [[spoiler: He raised him as a vampire after all, and honored his last request to protect the Order of the Stick.]]

** Malack. Exactly how evil he really is has been up for debate since the very beginning. How much he cared for his children, how much he does or does not genuinely respects Durkon, and a lot of other parts of his personality are up for debate. It was partly settled when Malack was revealed to be [[spoiler:a vampire who planned an endless campaign of human sacrifice when he took over the kingdom, perhaps employing a [[Film/SoylentGreen special chamber]]]]. [[OddFriendship Then again, it was also made clear he did genuinely respect Durkon.]] [[spoiler: He raised him as a vampire after all, and honored his last request to protect the Order of the Stick.]]

** There is a bit of a divide among fans regarding how [[WordOfGod Word of the Giant]] states that Tarquin is not necessarily a {{Chessmaster}}, and is more of a high-functioning / extremely lucky BigBadWannabe. Specifically the Giant's claim that [[UnreliableExpositor we only had Tarquin's word]] for [[MilesGloriosus how awesome Tarquin was]] and that he hoped GenreSavvy fans would have picked up on this. For some, this was a welcome bit of canon and substantiated the implications they perceived that he was WrongGenreSavvy, whereas others appreciated it because they viewed him as a borderline Villain Sue who needed to be knocked down a peg. Still others view this as spoiling one of their favorite villains, and claim it makes no sense with what Tarquin actually achieves in-story, citing how various unbiased characters have commented on how powerful and dangerous he is (Geoff and Ian mention how he took over a good chunk of the continent in less than a year through sheer strategic prowess, and was only defeated by a ***federation of*** ***twenty-six enemy nations***), the successful long-con on the Western Continent was his idea (unless that was a result of UnreliableExpositor too), and his demonstrable battle prowess against the Order. Another minor split along these lines is whether or not his tendency to adhere to story tropes means he's a strategic genius on a meta level, as he really is in a story, or whether it means he's severely hampered for when the story doesn't go the way he thinks it will, as the plot has outright defied several of these tropes in the past.

** There is a bit of a divide among fans regarding how [[WordOfGod Word of the Giant]] states that Tarquin is not necessarily a {{Chessmaster}}, and is more of a high-functioning / extremely lucky BigBadWannabe. Specifically the Giant's claim that [[UnreliableExpositor we only had Tarquin's word]] for [[MilesGloriosus how awesome Tarquin was]] and that he hoped GenreSavvy fans would have picked up on this. For some, this was a welcome bit of canon and substantiated the implications they perceived that he was WrongGenreSavvy, whereas others appreciated it because they viewed him as a borderline Villain Sue who needed to be knocked down a peg. Still others view this as spoiling one of their favorite villains, and claim it makes no sense with what Tarquin actually achieves in-story, citing how various unbiased characters have commented on how powerful and dangerous he is, the successful long-con on the Western Continent was his idea (unless that was a result of UnreliableExpositor too), and his demonstrable battle prowess against the Order. Another minor split along these lines is whether or not his tendency to adhere to story tropes means he's a strategic genius on a meta level, as he really is in a story, or whether it means he's severely hampered for when the story doesn't go the way he thinks it will, as the plot has outright defied several of these tropes in the past.

%%%** Tsukiko and Samantha get this as well.

%%%* FoeYay: [[spoiler:Malack and Durkon.]]

%%% When adding examples, please remmeber that "Love to Hate" is different from "Evil is Cool".
** Xykon's completely unsympathetic and [[LaughablyEvil highly entertaining]]. His misdeeds are the worst in the comic, but he also makes some of the best jokes in the comic. He is also highly entertaining whenever something rattles his smug cage. He makes priceless faces for someone with only a skull.
** Tarquin's savviness, collected nature, and intelligence make him the ideal villain to contrast a meta-humor TheFool-style hero like Elan because he does such outlandishly evil things like ''burn people alive'' to spell out his son's name.

*** Also, any possible claim Tarquin might have had to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans be a force for good in the Western Continent]] evaporated when it was revealed that he was cognizant of and okay with [[spoiler:Malack's]] plan to [[spoiler:inherit the Empire and institute [[IndustrializedEvil industrial-scale sentient sacrifice]]]] after his death. It was having a bigger statue than won him over.

** Belkar has a canon attraction to [[AmbiguousGender Vaarsuvius]], as confirmed in the print version of ''Don't Split the Party''.

** Thog. His mass-murder aside, the half-orc is little more than a child mentally and it's up for debate whether he even ''realizes'' he's evil. He thinks that he and the rest of the Linear Guild are friends having a big adventure, when really Nale and Sabine only keep him around because they need a frontline fighter. They consider him a burden and an annoyance that needs to be pacified with ice cream. The only mutually respectful relationship he has, not coincidentally, is with [[TheHeart Elan]]. Even his final fate is left deliberately ambiguous.

* CrazyAwesome: Thog [[DavidVersusGoliath solo-killed a Stone Giant]] -- a Stone Giant with class levels, no less. Plus, watch out when he starts raging.

** Inverted, so many people considered [[spoiler:Malack being a vampire]] to be too obvious to actually be true that they were surprised when it turned out that way.

** On the flip side, Miko is a paladin who is a complete "jerk", but is shown to be a WellIntentionedExtremist who has [[FamousLastWords touching last words]] before dying.

** How ignorant Elan was of Haley's attraction to him and how much was ContractualGenreBlindness. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0246.html These]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0316.html strips]] seem to indicate the later as well as the fact that he generally seems to care a lot about her in general before they hook up.

* NotSoCrazyAnymore: Vaarsuvius's AmbiguousGender was originally just a gag that originated from reader confusion about the art. Come 5th edition, non-binary elves have appeared in official D&D material, said to be reflections of the elven god Corellon, who is now described as ambiguously gendered (due to not being tied to humanoid form at all).

** Zz'dtri [[spoiler:escapes from infringement prison and returns to the main cast by declaring himself [[ParodyRetcon to be a parody of Drizzt]] rather than a rip-off]]. The ''VideoGame/{{Bravoman}}'' webcomic would later do the exact same thing with the character Brave Man, 3 years later.

* ValuesResonance: Vaarsuvius predates the increased visibility of non-binary people in TheNewTens.

** Zz'dtri [[spoiler:returns to the main cast by declaring himself [[ParodyRetcon to be a parody of Drizzt]] rather than a rip-off]]. The ''VideoGame/{{Bravoman}}'' webcomic would later do the exact same thing with the character Brave Man, 3 years later.

** Tarquin is an ArcVillain at best, one step above Kurbota, but was being compared favorably to ''Xykon'' before his first featured arc was even over. Again, possibly because he looks like [[spoiler:an older Elan]].

* WeirdAlEffect: The comic lampoons the 3.5 rules of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', but has remained popular for years past when that ruleset was retired. It even outlasted the ruleset that replaced it!

** "Start of Darkness", as a gag, portrays Sorcerers as being like the ''ComicBook/XMen'''s Mutants. Then ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' comes along and does just that, using the Sorcerers' bloodlines to give them actual powers outside their spellcasting and even some mutations.