History YMMV / TheOrderOfTheStick

** ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickGoodDeedsGoneUnpunished Good Deeds Gone Unpunished]]'''s ''How The Paladin Got His Scar'': [[NonActionGuy The unnamed hobgoblin cleric]] is, in spite of his seeming toadyism, a crafty goblinoid who strives for peace amongst his people. Intentionally hunching himself over three years to [[ObfuscatingDisability make himself look less threatening]], the cleric manages to talk down the war-hungry general from attacking O-Chul and his cohorts to grant them an audience with the Supreme Leader [[BriarPatching by careful use of his words]]. Later on, after [[KnightTemplar Gin-Jun]] has been stopped from raiding the outpost, the cleric enacts his plan to take over by poisoning the Supreme Leader and every other hobgoblin present. [[FrameUp Framing O-Chul and his allies for the assassination]] so that his takeover can go smoothly, the cleric is able to lead the hobgoblins into an age of peace, massively expanding their numbers in the process.

* MagnificentBastard: [[ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster Lord Shojo]] is the seemingly senile but secretly canny ruler of Azure City. He [[ObfuscatingInsanity poses as a senile old man]] to manipulate the nobles and prevent unrest by making them believe they are manipulating him into siding with their own choices. He introduces himself to the story by having the Order arrested under false pretenses and faking their trial so they can be found innocent. Having them released, he cooperates with Roy behind the Sapphire Guard's backs to take down Xykon, taking measures including releasing [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] and lying to the authorities about it, intentionally breaking Soon Kim's oath because he knows adhering to it would be much worse in the long run. Even in his final moments at the hands of Miko, he calmly accepts his arrest, and when she kills him, he manages to survive long enough to see her lose her Paladin abilities, [[DefiantToTheEnd getting in a snide remark at her expense before moving on]]. Calm, collected, affable and humorous to the end, he aids the heroes throughout his appearances, and manages to [[AmbiguousSituation potentially]] do so even posthumously for Belkar.

* ParodyDisplacement: 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. The theory goes that the Oracle, [[spoiler: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 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]]. However, he ''is'' perturbed by Roy thinking he's a JerkassGenie and feels the need to overspecify his question; the Oracle repeatedly asks if he's ''sure'' he wants to ask that way.

** Hel's petty, vindictive, ungrateful to the few friends she has, and is unspeakably cruel. However, from her VillainousBreakdown scene, it's clear that the way she gathers worship is taxing on her psyche. Was she different before the bet on worshippers? Or has she always been the way she is? Is the stress changing her personality, or just bringing it to the surface?

*** He crosses it yet again by killing [[spoiler:[[OffingTheOffspring Nale and disintegrating his body so he couldn't be resurrected.]] Right in front of a horrified Elan.]]

** In ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickOnTheOriginOfPCs On the Origin of PCs]]'', one of the party members Roy tries to recruit is Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer. As it turns out, one of their foes does turn out to be a vampire... and he ends up being slain by another blonde.

** Someone at Creator/SquareEnix must be a fan of the comic, because in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Locke Cole]] seemingly channels Elan by shouting "I'm a wizard!" for his only magical attack. The same Locke who Elan has been [[WholeCostumeReference cosplaying as]] for the better part of the strip.

** 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 latter, along with the fact that he generally seems to care a lot about her in general before they hook up.

* ArtistDisillusionment: Not total disillusionment, but interactions between the Giant and his fans can be rather surly, especially if he's being forced to explain himself to fans regarding plot holes, alignment concerns, and the creepy worship of certain characters. Even things that might bear discussion get rather blunt shutdowns from the author.

** Hilgya. There seemed to be a substantial portion of the readership who felt that she was justified in trying to poison her husband and then scam his family out of their fortune (all of which she admitted or was seen in flashbacks) in order to get out of an arranged marriage. They also get upset at the Lawful Good Durkon for not accepting her Chaotic ways, including her seducing him before revealing that she was already married.

** Miko is considered by many to be a knight in shining armor who is unfairly treated by everyone around her, despite her personal failings (such as NeverMyFault and self-righteousness) and [[spoiler: killing her liege lord because she's decided that he needs to be executed based on scant circumstantial evidence, and again, dooming Soon Kim's attempt at killing Xykon and Redcloak]].

** In ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickOnTheOriginOfPCs On the Origin of PCs]]'', one of the party members Roy tries to recruit is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As it turns out, one of their foes does turn out to be a vampire... and he ends up being slain by another blonde.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Sabine is sexy for a stick-figure. Considering she's a succubus, this applies both in and out of universe.
** Both Nale and Tarquin have this going too, considering they are evil equivalents of Elan and share his 18 Charisma.
** Tsukiko gets this as well, for her amusingly Sue-ishly cute design while also being an unhinged necrophile.

** For someone who originated as a ContestWinnerCameo, Veldrina has proven to be very popular.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Rich Burlew himself acknowledged this turned out to be a problem with Crystal after Haley killed her in ''Don't Split the Party'', owing to a very inopportune choice of a DeletedScene: that being, the mini-arc showing Haley and the Thieves Guild raiding Grubwiggler's home to retrieve Roy. Said mini-arc was cut (being restored in the collected edition) due to the fact that it would have broken up a rather crucial sequence (that being, Vaarsuvius's rampage), but it featured scenes of Crystal killing Grubwiggler after he had surrendered for no reason, deliberately setting off a trap so that it would blow up in Haley's face, and telling Haley outright that she still planned to kill her at some point in the future. With those scenes removed, it seemed like Haley had murdered Crystal in cold blood solely to not have to pay Guild dues, and that the worst thing Crystal was guilty of was being an idiot.

* JerkassDissonance: You could argue that Therkla was treated very sympathetically considering her actions. This is obviously meant as an example of LoveRedeems, but she didn't exactly know Elan to any depth and on a closer reading it comes across more like "Unrequited Lust Somehow Redeems". She was happy to kill other Azurites or members of the Order unless he asked her not to, out of loyalty for an ambitious and clearly evil aristocrat. Wanting Elan to leave Haley to be with her wasn't a particularly noble motivation; one wonders if her attraction would be seen as more romantic or creepy if the genders were reversed.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Celia and Haley have an argument over Belkar's murderous tendencies when he kills a nameless hobgoblin soldier and Solt Lorkyurg, an innocent gnome merchant. Celia feels that both murders were wrong and accuses Haley of falling under WhatMeasureIsANonHuman by justifying the hobgoblin's death over Solt's, whilst Haley argues that the hobgoblin was an enemy soldier and not comparable. It's supposed to be one of the times the comic deconstructs common fantasy tropes and gives a balanced argument, but most fans sided with Haley's pragmatism and thought Celia was just being naïve. Unlike other examples of WhatMeasureIsAMook or Non-Human, this hobgoblin was an armed enemy soldier and part of the occupation of a conquered city instead of some random monster Belkar decided to pick on.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Eugene arguing that the dwarves should throw themselves into mass suicidal charges against dragons or even each other seems to be a jab at the commenters that suggested that very thing. Except the proble is that many dwarves have been shown to do that exact thing. They are so dedicated to dying honorably that even one member of Durkon's family was seriously considering picking a fight with one of his elderly friends "so that he would at least die with an axe in his hands". Yes, dwarves are willing to kill their friends in a duel to ensure that they go to Valhalla. While a lot of people in and out of universe argue that the dwarves have a raw deal, it doesn't change the fact that they HAVE to die honorably and they've long ago accepted that and have it culturally ingrained. Thor can only do so much to argue their souls away from Hel who vents all her frustrations out on her captured souls.