History YMMV / Goblins

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Dies Horribly is supposed to be viewed as TheWoobie because he's destined to... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin die horribly]]. Except, in the world of Goblins ''most'' of the characters who die do so quite horribly, including most of the goblin war camp being slaughtered by adventurers, and K'Sellis (who was part of Dies's party) having one of the most [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Family Unfriendly Deaths]] in the comic. Moreover, most monstrous characters know full well they will probably die horribly one day, especially if they willingly engage player characters, and are still able to act brave and noble and lead rich lives, while Dies Horribly constantly acts like a coward and moans about his fate (even though at one point he tries to convince Fox he's accepted his fate already). It sometimes comes to the point where you really wish someone would just smack Dies across the head and tell him "just because you're going to die horribly, doesn't mean you have to ''live'' horribly!" [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/comics/20160715.jpg This guest comic]] actually sort of does just that (although without the smacking). On the other hand, there's horrible and there's ''horrible'', and everyone else at least had hope. InUniverse, he is called out by the aforementioned K'Seliss when Dies decides to whine during his companion's gruesome death.
--->'''K'Seliss:''' My arms [[spoiler:are literally melting right now]] and I am complaining less than you are!

* ArchiveBinge: Not a huge one, but definitely worthwhile.

* HarsherInHindsight: [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04162007/ This page.]] [[spoiler:This is ''exactly'' how Chief dies.]]

* {{Narm}}: Quite common, particularly in earlier comics, and the loose, exaggerated artstyle doesn't help.

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: K'Sellis]], whose death is both upsetting and rather nauseating.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Both incidents mentioned in TooBleakStoppedCaring seem to have been mitigated somewhat, and the tone of the comic has lightened a bit since then. [[spoiler:Chief's soul is revealed to have been trapped by Kore and they get to speak with the [=G.A.P.=] again, and even moreso, Kin returned to the main reality to find Minmax for reasons that have yet to be discerned but are likely benevolent.]]

** Evil Klik is also called Junior by the forumgoers, because it calls Dies-Horrib

** LesYay and FoeYay between [[spoiler:our Kin and Scorpion Kin in [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic//09092011/ this]] comic and the next]].

* CrazyAwesome: Tempts Fate. He gets off on danger and excitement.

** [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/comic/07252013 Symun]], the friendly giant spider, ''really'' likes Forgath.
-->'''Forgath:''' Ew ew '''ew!''' He's licking my face! Wait, do spiders even have tongues?\\

:: Forgath would probably be happier not knowing that a spider's pedipalps are used for taste, smell, and [[{{Squick}} insemination]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Dies Horribly is supposed to be viewed as TheWoobie because he's destined to... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin die horribly]]. Except, in the world of Goblins ''most'' of the characters who die do so quite horribly, including most of the goblin war camp being slaughtered by adventurers, and K'Sellis (who was part of Dies's party) having one of the most [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Family Unfriendly Deaths]] in the comic. Moreover, most monstrous characters know full well they will probably die horribly one day, especially if they willingly engage player characters, and are still able to act brave and noble and lead rich lives, while Dies Horribly constantly acts like a coward and moans about his fate (even though at one point he tries to convince Fox he's accepted his fate already). It sometimes comes to the point where you really wish someone would just smack Dies across the head and tell him "just because you're going to die horribly, doesn't mean you have to ''live'' horribly!" [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/comics/20160715.jpg This guest comic]] actually sort of does just that (although without the smacking). On the other hand, there's horrible and there's ''horrible'', and everyone else at least had hope.
** InUniverse, he is called out by the aforementioned K'Seliss when Dies decides to whine during his companion's gruesome death.
--> K'Seliss: My arms [[spoiler: are literally melting right now]] and I am complaining less than you are!

* HarsherInHindsight:
** [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04162007/ This page.]] [[spoiler:This is ''exactly'' how Chief dies.]]
** And [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04052011/ this]] one.

* {{Narm}}: Quite common, and the loose, exaggerated artstyle doesn't help.

** [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04162007/ This page.]]

%%* HarsherInHindsight:
%%** [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04162007/ This page.]]
%%** And [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04052011/ this]] one.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Starts to creep in after [[spoiler:Kore kills Chief]]. That arc was grim enough, but the following horrors happening to Dies Horribly's party and to Minmax's party in their respective dungeon crawls take the strip into full grimdark territory that makes it hard to care. Also [[spoiler:Minmax and Kin's relationship is destroyed by giving it a reset through the actions of a third party, [[CosmicRetcon retconning]] away loads of character development, with a rape allegory during their "break up" as a bonus.]]

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Starting to creep in after [[spoiler:Kore kills Chief]]. That arc was grim enough, but the following horrors happening to Dies Horribly's party and to Minmax's party in their respective dungeon crawls have taken the strip into full grimdark territory that's making it hard to care. The author herself seems to have noticed this, since she's had Saves-a-Fox, Dies Horribly, Kin, and Forgath all survive situations that would have potentially killed them, but she also destroys [[spoiler:Minmax and Kin's relationship by giving it a reset through the actions of a third party, [[CosmicRetcon retconning]] away loads of character development, with a rape allegory during their "break up" as a bonus.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/comics/20160617.jpg This comic]] finally sheds some light on the mythos of [[ThePaladin Paladins]] in this setting, more specifically, how ObviouslyEvil Kore can keep his Paladin powers, despite Paladins generally having to be AlwaysLawfulGood. Basically, Ears describes it that although Kore may be a villain and even "evil", that's not the way he views himself; at no point does Kore ever feel he has committed an evil act or gone against his Paladin's oath, it's just his nature to be quick to condemn and believe he is in the right for doing so. This explains how Ears can be penalized for attacking Kore despite Kore having tortured and killed their chief; it's because he attacked someone he knew was a paladin from behind, an act he knew was against his oath yet he committed it anyways.
** Elli appears to have realized that Minmax and Kin's split has added to the DarknessInducedAudienceApathy and [[spoiler:Kin has come back looking for Minmax again]].

** The final panel of [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] comic uses a classic [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_fallacy#Division_by_zero mathematical fallacy]] to prove that 1=0.

%%** [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/04162007/ This page.]]
%%** And [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/04052011/ this]] one.

** LesYay and FoeYay between [[spoiler:our Kin and Scorpion Kin in [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/09092011/ this]] comic and the next]].

** [[http://www.goblins-comic.com/04262011/ The]] [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/04292011/ way]] Mr. Fingers moves and that sound it makes. According to [[AllThereInTheManual its stats]] Mr. Fingers ''does not have joints''. It moves by constantly breaking and growing bone. Oh, also it eats by causing people it touches to slowly and painfully melt into goo.

** Until the end of the Well of Darkness arc, Duv comes off as a KnightTemplar, but a really tame one compared to [[CompleteMonster Kore and Dellyn]] -- sure, using slaves to access the Well of Darkness and knowingly sending Dies-Horribly and K'sellis to a certain death is unsavory, but her actions are at least always justifiable from a practical standpoint. That is until she [[ReleasedToElsewhere feeds the slaves she had promised to free to the Switchbeast]] for no real reason other than that [[FantasticRacism they weren't goblins]], and attempts to have Saves-a-Fox and Dies-Horribly executed for refusing to [[PuppetKing become her puppet chieftains]], despite the fact that they '''were''' goblins, [[TheFarmerAndTheViper and had put their lives at risk to retrieve the Blue Orb of Bloodlight for her]].

* CompleteMonster: [[TortureTechnician Dellyn Goblinslayer]], ranger and captain of Brassmoon city's Elite Guard, is a highly sadistic [[FantasticRacist bigot]] whose hobby was capturing live monsters, then vivisecting them in order to learn their weaknesses. Some of Dellyn's preferred tortures were carving insults into their skin using knives specially designed to cause certain monsters excruciating pain; amputating limbs; and flaying the skin off of a monster's back down to her spine. Dellyn arranged a public execution for the goblin [[spoiler:Fumbles]], [[EmptyShell whose mind had already been shattered by Dellyn's tortures]], in order to lure the other goblins out of hiding. Once they did so, Dellyn planned on his guards annihilating the "invading forces", as well as innocent bystanders who would surely be caught in the crossfire. Dellyn also had a Yuan-Ti slave named Kin, who he abducted then [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped]] and beaten on a nightly basis, repeatedly reducing her to her last hitpoint before reviving her with healing potions. Ultimately Dellyn was nothing more than a petty sadist whose greatest desire was to be [[GloryHound worshiped as a heroic savior]] by the very people he'd sacrifice without a second thought.

* GeniusBonus: The final panel of [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/12062011/ this]] comic uses a classic [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_fallacy#Division_by_zero mathematical fallacy]] to prove that 1=0.

** Thunt appears to have realized that Minmax and Kin's split has added to the DarknessInducedAudienceApathy and [[spoiler:Kin has come back looking for Minmax again]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Starting to creep in after [[spoiler:Kore kills Chief]]. That arc was grim enough, but the following horrors happening to Dies Horribly's party and to Minmax's party in their respective dungeon crawls have taken the strip into full grimdark territory that's making it hard to care. The author himself seems to have noticed this, since he's had Saves-a-Fox, Dies Horribly, Kin, and Forgath all survive situations that would have potentially killed them, but he also destroys [[spoiler:Minmax and Kin's relationship by giving it a reset through the actions of a third party, [[CosmicRetcon retconning]] away loads of character development, with a rape allegory during their "break up" as a bonus.]]

** Perhaps the most infamous example was one unfortunate guard's complaint that "It hurts! ''It hurts like a sickness''!", which the author himself decided to change after realizing that it sounded a bit too silly.

** [[spoiler: [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/08202013/ Kin 201 has feelings for]] [[ScrewYourself Kin 80]], her alternate reality doppelganger, based at least partially on the fact 80 has what 201's dimension considers masculine TertiarySexualCharacteristics.]]

** [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/comics/20160617.jpg This comic]] finally sheds some light on the mythos of [[ThePaladin Paladins]] in this setting, more specifically, how ObviouslyEvil Kore can keep his Paladin powers, despite Paladins generally having to be AlwaysLawfulGood. Basically, Ears describes it that although Kore may be a villain and even 'evil' that's not the way he views himself, at no point does Kore ever feel he has committed an evil act or gone against his Paladin's oath, its just his nature to be quick to condemn and believe he is in the right for doing so. This explains how Ears can be penalized for attacking Kore despite Kore having tortured and killed their chief, it's because he attacked someone he knew was a paladin from behind, an act he knew was against his oath yet he committed it anyways.
** Thunt appears to have realized that Minimax and Kin's split has added to the DarknessInducedAudienceApathy and [[spoiler:Kin has come back looking for Minmax again]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy:
** Starting to creep in after [[spoiler:Kore kills Chief]]. That arc was grim enough, but the following horrors happening to Dies Horribly's party and to Minmax's party in their respective dungeon crawls have taken the strip into full grimdark territory that's making it hard to care. The author himself seems to have noticed this, since he's had Saves-A-Fox, Dies Horribly, Kin, and Forgath all survive situations that would have potentially killed them, but he also destroys [[spoiler:Minmax and Kin's relationship by giving it a reset through the actions of a third party, [[CosmicRetcon retconning]] away loads of character development, with a rape allegory during their "break up" as a bonus.]]

** LesYay and FoeYay between [[spoiler: our Kin and Scorpion Kin in [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/09092011/ this]] comic and the next]].

** [[KnightTemplar Kore]] manages to cross this in the first scene he appears in, [[spoiler:by murdering an orphaned dwarf child just because he had been taken in by an orc that took him in after killing his father. An orc who used his dying breaths to beg Kore to spare the innocent kid, no less.]]
*** It's also quite likely that Kore has tracked down the Goblin Adventuring Party's village and killed every woman and child there.

** Until the end of the Well of Darkness arc, Duv comes off as a KnightTemplar, but a really tame one compared to [[CompleteMonster Kore and Dellyn]] - sure, using slaves to access the Well of Darkness and knowingly sending Dies-Horribly and K'sellis to a certain death is unsavory, but her actions are at least always justifiable from a practical standpoint. That is until she [[ReleasedToElsewhere feeds the slaves she had promised to free to the Switchbeast]] for no real reason other than that [[FantasticRacism they weren't goblins]], and attempts to have Saves-A-Fox and Dies-Horribly executed for refusing to [[PuppetKing become her puppet chieftains]], despite the fact that they '''were''' goblins, [[TheFarmerAndTheViper and had put their lives at risk to retrieve the Blue Orb of Bloodlight for her]].
* {{Narm}}: Quite common, and the loose, exaggerated artstyle doesn't help. Perhaps the most infamous example was one unfortunate guard's complaint that "It hurts! ''It hurts like a sickness''!", which the author himself decided to change after realising that it sounded a bit too silly.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Minmax was never ''quite'' TheScrappy, but initially he was just seen as a rather amusing and entertaining JerkAss - you liked watching him, even though you didn't like ''him'' all that much. But after the ''massive'' amounts of CharacterDevelopment he got after [[spoiler:his meeting with Goblinslayer and Kin showed that he [[EveryoneHasStandards DID have standards]]]], he rapidly became one of the most popular characters in the strip, possibly even overshadowing the G.A.P.

* CompleteMonster: [[TortureTechnician Dellyn Goblinslayer]], ranger and captain of Brassmoon city's Elite Guard, is a highly sadistic [[FantasticRacist bigot]] whose hobby was capturing live monsters, then vivisecting them in order to learn their weaknesses. One of Dellyn's preferred tortures was using knives specially designed to cause certain monsters the most excruciating pain imaginable in order to permanently mutilate them by carving insults into their skin. Other tortures included amputating limbs and, in one instance, flaying the skin off of a monster's back so that her spine was clearly visible. Planning on having his Elite Guards supplant Brassmoon's current guard to increase his political power, and mistakenly believing that a goblin army was ready to attack the city, Dellyn arranged a public execution for the goblin [[spoiler:Fumbles]], [[EmptyShell whose mind had already been shattered by Dellyn's tortures]], in order to lure the other goblins out of hiding. Once they did so, Dellyn planned on his guards annihilating the "invading forces" so that the citizens of the city would back his political play. When one of his men told him that a lot of innocent bystanders would surely be caught in the crossfire, [[LackOfEmpathy Dellyn was happy]], noting that this would only make the rest of the citizens more grateful for having him around by showing them what's at risk. Dellyn also had a Yuan-Ti slave named Kin, who he abducted then [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped]] and beaten on a nightly basis, repeatedly reducing her to her last hitpoint before reviving her with healing potions. Ultimately Dellyn was nothing more than a petty sadist whose greatest desire was to be [[GloryHound worshiped as a heroic savior]] by the very people he'd sacrifice without a second thought.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBadWannabe Dellyn Goblinslayer]], ranger and captain of Brassmoon city's Elite Guard, is a highly sadistic TortureTechnician and {{Fantastic Racis|m}}t whose hobby was capturing live monsters, vivisecting them to learn their weaknesses, and slowly torturing them to death. One of Dellyn's preferred tortures was using knives designed to cause certain monsters the most agony imaginable in order to permanently mutilate them by carving insults into their skin. Other tortures included amputating limbs and, in one instance, flaying the skin off of a monster's back so that her spine was clearly visible. Planning on having his Elite Guards supplant Brassmoon's current guard to increase his political power, and mistakenly believing that a goblin army was ready to attack the city, Dellyn arranged a public execution for the goblin [[spoiler:Fumbles]], who he had mutilated earlier, in order to lure the other goblins out of hiding. Once they did so, Dellyn planned on his guards annihilating the "invading forces" so that the city would back his political play. When one of his men told him that many innocent bystanders would be caught in the crossfire, [[LackOfEmpathy Dellyn was happy]], noting that this would only make the rest of the citizens more grateful for showing them what's at risk. Dellyn also had a Yuan-Ti slave named Kin, who he abducted then raped and beat on a nightly basis, repeatedly reducing her to her last hitpoint before reviving her with healing potions. Ultimately Dellyn was nothing more than a petty {{sadist}} whose desire was to be [[GloryHound worshipped as a heroic savior]] by the people he'd sacrifice without a second thought.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/comics/20160617.jpg This comic]] finally sheds some light on the mythos of [[ThePaladin Paladins]] in this setting, more specifically, how ObviouslyEvil Kore can keep his Paladin powers, despite Paladins generally having to be AlwaysLawfulGood. Basically, Ears describes it that although Kore may be a villain and even 'evil' that's not the way he views himself, at no point does Kore ever feel he has committed an evil act or gone against his Paladin's oath, its just his nature to be quick to condemn and believe he is in the right for doing so. This explains how Ears can be penalized for attacking Kore despite Kore having tortured and killed their chief, it's because he attacked someone he knew was a paladin from behind, an act he knew was against his oath yet he committed it anyways.
** See DarknessInducedAudienceApathy below; Thunt appears to have realised it and [[spoiler:Kin has come back looking for Minmax again]].