History Characters / TheOrderOfTheStickTheOrderOfTheScribble

* TheClan: Due to sheer paranoia, [[spoiler:Girard doesn't trust anyone outside of his family and Serini with defense of the gate, and the Draketooths' definition of "family" doesn't count inlaws, as Penelope would attest]].

* GoneHorriblyRight: Her suggestion that the Scribblers each protect one Gate and promise to not get involved in the others ended up being detrimental in the long run as it lead to all the other Gates [[spoiler:except hers]] to being too specialized in one field which ultimately led to their destruction, as well as leaving the Sapphire Guild at a disadvantage due to the oath keeping them out of the loop with the other gates. [[spoiler:She eventually reveals that it was actually just a means to separate the others so they'd cool down until she could hopefully patch things up between them. Even ''she'' didn't keep the oath as she visited Dorukan, Lirian, and Girard for aid in setting up Kraggor's Tomb. Unfortunately, she had underestimated how seriously Soon Kim would keep his word, with her unable to even get an audience with him]].

** Serini Toormuck is probably the clearest example of this trope in regards to the Scribblers, being one to Belkar (as noted below in Serini's folder under the "{{Foil}}" section). Most obviously, both are the only halflings in their guilds, and have increasingly defined themselves by their animal companions/non-human friends. Serini is also a highly-optimized epic-level rogue, while Belkar is a horribly designed ranger-barbarian hybrid. However, while Belkar has slowly [[TookALevelInKindness Taken Levels in Kindness]] and become the beginnings of an actually better person, Serini has only [[TookALevelInCynic Taken Levels in Cynicism]] and become more embittered and apathetic regarding the CrapsackWorld she lives in.

* StoryBreakerPower: According to Rich Burlew, this is why of the six, only Serini survived long enough to actually meet and interact with the Order. Dorukan, Lirian, and Girard were simply so much more powerful than any of the Order's casters, who, bar Elan, already border on this trope, that they would completely overshadow them in any kind of teamup. Soon isn't as versatile as the primary casters, but he is shown to be the only character in the comic with enough strength and skill to to outright defeat Xykon when going toe-to-toe. Serini, as a rogue, is still mainly in the GuileHero category even at epic level (she'd be about as good in a straight head-to-head fight as Roy), not to mention age and injury taking off a lot of her old edge.

* TheResenter: Her hostility toward O-Chul and Lien mostly stems from Soon having kept his word to not talk to her unlike the rest of the group, it leads to Serini being really defensive to any perceived complaints from the paladins from how she handles thing because Soon ignored her when she asked for advice.

** Serini decided to make her gate a tomb for Kraagor, rather than guard it herself; since he believed in physical might, her gate is guarded by high-level monsters out the wazoo that regenerate after a few days. In theory, a death trap that can't have its secrets plumbed. In practice, it means that it's a gold mine of experience points for sufficiently powerful characters (it's one of the few places that Xykon, an epic-level lich, can get XP to become stronger) and grants provisions to anyone trying to get in, thus increasing the strength of those trying to get to the gate. Below a certain threshold, it's admittedly impossible, but above that threshold, finding the gate is ''utterly inevitable''. [[spoiler: That is, unless someone else were to game the system. In truth, it ultimately turns out that Serini's gate is the only one that at least partially ''avoids'' this, not only using Kraagor's belief in strength, but also using Kraagor's beliefs to mislead away from her own roguish belief in traps and tricks. The true test of the gate is to defeat all of the monsters and reach the end of each tunnel to get a stamp there, a gauntlet of monsters to test strength like Kraagor while using Serini's guile to misdirect those who believe there is an instant win button to getting in. She also expected to be able to turn to the others for help, that hers may be the last standing completely took her by surprise.]]

* AllLovingHero: Despite her cynical outlook in the present day, she has many friends and allies of monstrous races normally considered evil. The common thread seems to be that she treats everyone she meets with empathy, dealing with them as individuals rather than monsters or racial stereotypes. This is a more enlightened outlook than even most other Good characters have shown.

* {{Halfling}}: She is initially a much straighter example than Belkar; jolly! Although her good disposition soured a bit with old age and becoming half-troll.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Her suggestion that the Scribblers each protect one Gate and promise to not get involved in the others ended up being detrimental in the long run as it lead to all the other Gates [[spoiler:except hers]] to being too specialized in one field which ultimately led to their destruction, as well as leaving the Sapphire Guild at a disadvantage due to the oath keeping them out of the loop with the other gates. [[spoiler:She eventually reveals that it was actually just a means to separate the others so they'd cool down until she could hopefully patch things up between them. Even ''she'' didn't keep the oath as she visited Dorukan, Lien, and Girard for aid in setting up Kraggor's Tomb. Unfortunately, she had underestimated how seriously Soon Kim would keep his word, with her unable to even get an audience with him]].

** Girard lived his life in eternal paranoia that Soon would break his vow not to meddle with how any of the other members of the Order manage their Gates, and it's implied that some of the others had their suspicions as well. In fact, he's the only one who ''didn't'' meddle in the affairs of the others in some way or another; Lirian and Dorukan were lovers, and Serini built her dungeon with the help of Girard, Dorukan and Lirian (albeit without their knowledge of the contribution of the other two).

** Girard lives his life in eternal paranoia that Soon will break his vow not to meddle with how any of the other members of the Order manage their Gates, and it's implied that some of the others have their suspicions as well. In fact, it appears that he's the only one who ''doesn't'' meddle in the affairs of the others in some way or another; Lirian and Dorukan are lovers, and Serini stays in contact with Girard and poached monsters from Dorukan's dungeon.
** Soon tries to protect his gate by having the Sapphire Guard crusade against anyone who could threaten Azure City, including the local goblin villages. Years after his death, [[DarkMessiah Redcloak]] sacks Azure City with a hobgoblin army, which wouldn't have happened if [[SelfFulfillingProphecy the Sapphire Guard hadn't destroyed his village]].
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Uses a katana because he is a honor-bound nobleman warrior from [[FantasyCounterpartCulture a place that is totally not Japan.]]

* GuileHero: Instead of using raw force, she tricks Lien into surrendering to keep a poisoned O-Chul alive. She later reveals it was just a sleeping potion. She also gives the Order a lot of trouble by setting traps and using her animal companions to delay them.

* HonorBeforeReason: What his insistence on making "do not interfere with the other Gates" part of the official credo of the Sapphire Guard has ultimately turned out to be. Whilst well-meaning, the practical effects of it have included the Guard being unaware when two of the Gates were captured by evil forces (and being forbidden to offer assistance even if they had known), and the Guard not knowing that the coordinates for Girard's Gate in their possession are fake, both of which seriously screwed things up. On the other hand, the Oaths were created because of the irreconcilable differences between the Order that lasted beyond several of their deaths, meaning the Oaths weren't as much the problem as the people who made them.

* AllYourPowersCombined: Her gate is not only protected by her own Roguish ways and Kraagor's belief in might, but also elements from the other members. Soon's oath,[[note]]Mirroring Soon's oath to protect the gate and to prevent it from being used for evil, Serini swore to protect the world and would rather [[EvilVersusOblivion let the gate be used for evil than let the world be destroyed]][[/note]] Lirian's force of nature,[[note]]Her various monster allies[[/note]] Dorukan's arcane mastery,[[note]]Serini's traps are magical instead of mechanical, and the mountains have a curious property to block teleportations, just like Dorukan's ''Cloister'' spell[[/note]] and Girard's familial bond, labyrinthine defense, and misdirections.[[note]]Her monster allies are family to her; a primary defense of the gate is its magically labyrinthine tunnels; and like Girard, she lied about her gate's actual location, setting up a decoy to waste people's time instead.[[/note]] [[spoiler:It would eventually be clarified that this case goes deeper than thematics. Serini approached Dorukan, Lirian, and Girard independently and convinced them to help her with the Gate, none of whom were aware of the other's presence. The similarity in defenses are because they're the ''same'' defenses. Only Soon refused her--and even then, thanks to O-Chul and Lien, his defenses would be added to Kraagor's Gate as well.]]

* AllYourPowersCombined: Her gate is not only protected by her own Roguish ways and Kraagor's belief in might, but also elements from the other members. Soon's oath,[[note]]Mirroring Soon's oath to protect the gate and to prevent it from being used for evil, Serini swore to protect the world and would rather [[EvilVersusOblivion let the gate be used for evil than let the world be destroyed]][[/note]] Lirian's force of nature,[[note]]Her various monster allies[[/note]] Dorukan's arcane mastery,[[note]]Serini's traps are magical instead of mechanical, and the mountains have a curious property to block teleportations, just like Dorukan's ''Cloister'' spell[[/note]] and Girard's familial bond, labyrinthine defense, and misdirections.[[note]]Her monster allies are family to her; a primary defense of the gate is its magically labyrinthine tunnels; and like Girard, she lied about her gate's actual location, setting up a decoy to waste people's time instead.[[/note]]

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In ''Utterly Dwarfed'''s author commentary, The Giant spells her last name as "Moortuck".

[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right; [[ThePaladin Soon Kim]], [[ForestRanger Lirian]], [[TheHeart Serini Toormuck]], [[BarbarianHero Kraagor]], [[MasterOfIllusion Girard Draketooth]], [[TheArchmage Dorukan]]]]

* WorldsBestWarrior: Soon is the strongest character yet seen in the comic to be entirely in a "warrior" class, that being paladin, with most of the other epic characters being casters of some variety and the other warrior-types (i.e. Tarquin, Julio, Miko, Roy and Belkar by the later arcs, ''maybe'' Horace) seemingly topping out in the high teens at most. He's also suggested to be the strongest member of the Order of the Scribble in a straight fight, performing by far the best against Xykon, and the only one of the group to outright beat him. If there's a stronger warrior in the setting, we've yet to even hear about them.

* StoryBreakerPower: According to Rich Burlew, this is why of the six, only Serini survived long enough to actually meet and interact with the Order. Dorukan, Lirian, and Girard were simply so much more powerful than any of the Order's casters, who, bar Elan, already border on this trope, that they would completely overshadow them in any kind of teamup. Soon isn't as versatile as the primary caster, but he is shown to be the only character in the comic with enough strength and skill to to outright defeat Xykon when going toe-to-toe. Serini, as a rogue, is still mainly in the GuileHero category even at epic level (she'd be about as good in a straight head-to-head fight as Roy), not to mention age and injury taking off a lot of her old edge.

** Girard lives his life in eternal paranoia that Soon will break his vow not to meddle with how any of the other members of the Order manage their Gates, and it's implied that some of the others have their suspicions as well. In fact, it appears that he's the only one who ''doesn't'' meddle in the affairs of the others in some way or another; Lirian and Dorukan are lovers, and Serini at least stays in contact with Girard.

* TheArchmage: With Lirian's help, he developed epic-level magic to seal the Rifts and create the Gates. His most iconic home-created spell is ''cloister'', an epic-level abjuration that was designed specifically to guard his Gate.

* FluffyTheTerrible: She's also named them, giving the beholder the name "Sunny", the mimic "Mimi", and the [[Series/{{MASH}} piercer "Franklin"]].

* ProperlyParanoid: Subverted. He believed himself to be this, and he may or may not have had reasons to distrust Soon, but it's well established that Soon kept his promise not to interfere with the others' methods of guarding the other Gates, which Girard doubted he would. [[{{Irony}} It appears that Soon was the only one who never saw the other Scribblers again]].

* PowerOfTrust: Serini is so powerful in this, she manages to get a ''beholder'' to believe in it. Keep in mind, beholders are extreme xenophobes who trust ''no one'' as a philosophy. Ironically, her conflict with the Order and their paladin allies is born out of her absolute ''refusal'' to trust them, believing that they will inevitably spark another destructive conflict with Xykon over the gate that will lead to its destruction, and that they're not strong enough to beat him. So, despite her animosity for the lich, she chooses to fight them and wipe their memories of the location to allow Xykon to control the gate, believing that it's better for evil to win if it means preserving the planet... [[LockedOutOfTheLoop unaware]] that this actually threatens not only the Planet's survival, but the only chance the gods have to seal the Snarl for good.