History Characters / TheOrderOfTheStickTheOrderOfTheStick

->'''Roy:''' Let my people handle this, we're trained professionals. Well, we're semi-trained, quasi-professionals, at any rate.

Led by Roy Greenhilt, the Order is a group of six [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] (plus a familiar, later two animal companions, and further later a cohort), out to destroy the evil lich Xykon and prevent him from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over]] (or worse, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroying]]) the world.

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* For Banjo, see [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickDivineBeings Divine Beings]].

[[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStick Main Character Index]] | '''The Order of the Stick''' – [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Human Party Members]] – [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Non-Human Party Members]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickTeamEvil Team Evil]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickTheLinearGuild The Linear Guild]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickTheOrderOfTheScribble The Order of the Scribble]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickAzureCity Azure City]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickGreyskyCity Greysky City]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickTheEmpireOfBlood The Empire of Blood]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNorthernLands Northern Lands]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickAnimalCompanions Animal Companions]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickDivineBeings Divine Beings]] | [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickOthers Others]]

* IntergenerationalFriendship: The team consists of three people in their twenties, a dwarf in his fifties, an elf who is over 130, and a halfling with an unknown age. They all form strong bonds with each other over the course of the comic.

->'''Roy:''' Let my people handle this, we're trained professionals. Well, we're [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits semi-trained, quasi-professionals, at any rate]].

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: All the guys are melee fighters (even Belkar, which makes no sense for a halfling ranger), except for Haley the archer. Downplayed somewhat in that Belkar can use his daggers as throwing knives, but [[BloodKnight he typically prefers]] the hands-on approach, [[MagicKnight Durkon mixing it up with divine magic]] and Vaarsuvius not identifying as female, but rather as genderqueer. Briefly inverted when Haley takes Roy's sword [[spoiler:(to change the target of a Silicon Elemental that was ordered to kill "[[ExactWords the human with the greatsword]]" first)]] and Roy takes up Haley's bow.

* PlayerCharacter: The Order's members are explicitly described as such in-universe, even though the distinction [=PCs/NPCs=] becomes increasingly unclear since there are no actual players behind the MainCharacters.

** Roy's high Intelligence and Wisdom scores don't transfer over in terms of arcane power for him as a fighter due to him wanting to be a BadassNormal to stick it to his {{Jerkass}} wizard father, to the point where it's not until the penultimate story arc that he becomes a MagicKnight through [[spoiler:his Weapon of Legacy]]. Furthermore, Roy has no real weapon proficiency in anything other than two-handed weapons, which results in him being a terrifyingly powerful force on the battlefield whenever he has his Ancestral Relic/[[spoiler:Weapon of Legacy]], but being mediocre at best when armed with anything else.

* CasualDangerDialog: The whole order gets up to this regularly, due to abuse of TalkingIsAFreeAction and the fact that they're {{Deadpan Snarker}}s. Vaarsuvius and Belkar, however, especially stand out, the former being generally unafraid (of combat), and the latter being a FearlessFool. Elan gets to do this whenever it's narratively appropriate, due to being a bard, and Roy gets quite a bit due to the fact that his sheer exasperation and/or frustration with the absurdity of the Order's circumstances overshadow his fears.

** '''The Apathetic:''' Belkar and Haley prior to her CharacterDevelopment. Belkar initially joined the Order only for an opportunity to further indulge his ComedicSociopathy, and has to be given a RestrainingBolt for several months in order for him to eventually learn how to "trick" everyone else into thinking he's become a legitimate team player (though he has ironically started to [[BecomingTheMask Become the Mask]]). Meanwhile, Haley is initially concerned with only getting enough money to pay for the bail to release her father from prison, but she eventually becomes more of a genuinely noble person thanks to her time spent with the Azure City Resistance and her FireForgedFriends relationship with both Roy and Durkon.

%%* SpeculativeFictionLGBT: [[invoked]] At least two of the Order's members are on the LGBT spectrum, with Haley being confirmed as bisexual per WordOfGod, and Vaarsuvius being genderqueer along with being AmbiguouslyGay due to the gender of their longtime partner Inkyrius being left intentionally ambiguous. Belkar, for his part, despite having [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero repeatedly made sexist and homophobic remarks]], is AmbiguouslyBi (supplemental materials claim that he wants to "[[UnusualEuphemism schtup]] Vaarsuvius"). Both Durkon and Elan are also AmbiguouslyBi; in ''Utterly Dwarfed'', Durkon claims to have considered every member of the Order as potential candidates, and Elan is visibly disappointed when [[spoiler:Vampire Durkon feeds on him and informs him that they don't now share a "mystical blood bond [[HomoeroticSubtext that draws [Elan and Durkula] into]] [[VampiresAreSexGods a mesmerizing web of erotic subtext]]"]]. Funnily enough, Roy is the ''only'' member of the Order to be explicitly straight.

** However, Elan explicitly does this when he starts branching into healing magic (a result of his experiences with Therkla), resulting in the ironic situation where [[TheDitz Elan]]'s build is the best optimized of the party given that his strongest stat (Charisma) is the primary stat used for both his base and prestige classes.

* TookALevelInBadass: Considering the RPGVerse nature of the comic, everyone in the Order gains literal levels in their respective classes as they overcome obstacles. Beyond that, they also function better as a team, with each of them going through sufficient CharacterDevelopment to make them all more competent and supportive in combat. As Roy puts it in #1063: "It's just the most probable outcome given how strong my party is these days. We're not the team that freaks out, fights among themselves and runs away anymore." In the same encounter, Haley also notes that they can easily handle enemies that they used to run-away from.

* NiceMeanAndInbetween:

* CasualDangerDialog: The whole order gets up to this regularly, due to abuse of TalkingIsAFreeAction and the fact that they're {{Deadpan Snarker}}s. Vaarsuvius and Belkar, however, especially stand out, the former being generally unafraid (of combat), and the latter being a FearlessFool. Elan gets to do this whenever it's narratively appropriate, due to being a bard, and Roy gets quite a bit due to the fact that his sheer exasperation and[=/=]or frustration with the absurdity of the Order's circumstances overshadow his fears.

* DysfunctionJunction: Literally ''every'' member of the Order has noteworthy mental issues of some shade or another, to the point where only Durkon and Elan can be said to not suffer from severe self-loathing. Roy has a hefty amount of SurvivorsGuilt thanks to his dead infant brother, Haley is both incredibly greedy and almost pathologically unable to trust anyone outside of her "family", Elan is a dimwitted {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and MetaGuy desperate for the affection of others, Vaarsuvius is an InsufferableGenius who usually resorts to [[StuffBlowingUp violently blowing up]] awkward social situations along with developing a hefty GuiltComplex following their DealWithTheDevil, Belkar is an enthusiastically homicidal maniac who uses violence and {{Jerkass}}ery to hide his emotional vulnerability, and Durkon is an incredibly [[HonorBeforeReason honor-bound]] and fervently religious [=stick-in-the-mud=]. Needless to say, before they became actual TrueCompanions [[FireForgedFriends over the course of the comic]], they initially got along like a bunch of wet cats. It's even lampshaded by Minrah in ''Utterly Dwarfed'':

* FixedRelativeStrength: The groups distribution of power is always constant, regardless of the battles that one misses. Justified due to their universe being based around [=RPG=] mechanics. As Belkar's fight with Crystal and Bozzok shows, a frontline fighter can deal with multiple higher-level Rogue-type-classed and overcoming LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards is nigh impossible.

** Roy's high Intelligence and Wisdom scores don't transfer over in terms of arcane power for him as a fighter due to him wanting to be a BadassNormal to stick it to his {{Jerkass}} wizard father, to the point where it's not until the penultimate story arc that he becomes a MagicKnight through [[spoiler:his Weapon of Legacy]]. Furthermore, Roy has no real weapon proficiency in anything other than two-handed weapons, which results in him being a terrifyingly powerful force on the battlefield whenever he has his Ancestral Relic[=/=][[spoiler:Weapon of Legacy]], but being mediocre at best when armed with anything else.

* DysfunctionJunction: Literally ''every'' member of the Order has noteworthy mental issues of some shade or another. Roy has a hefty amount of SurvivorsGuilt thanks to his dead infant brother, Haley is both incredibly greedy and almost pathologically unable to trust anyone outside of her "family", Elan is a dimwitted {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and MetaGuy, Vaarsuvius is an InsufferableGenius who usually resorts to [[StuffBlowingUp violently blowing up]] awkward social situations, Belkar is an enthusiastically homicidal maniac, and Durkon is an absurdly [[HonorBeforeReason honor-bound]] and fervently religious [=stick-in-the-mud=]. Needless to say, before they became actual TrueCompanions [[FireForgedFriends over the course of the comic]], they initially got along like a bunch of wet cats. It's even lampshaded by Minrah in ''Utterly Dwarfed'':

* FixedRelativeStrength: The groups distribution of power is always constant, regardless of the battles that one misses. Justified due to the verse. As Belkar's fight with Crystal and Bozzok shows, a frontline fighter can deal with multiple higher-level Rogue-type-classed and overcoming LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards is nigh impossible.

* JustifiedTitle: The team name (and the webcomic title) were originally just a reference to the drawing style, but it got a justification in the ''Recap/OnTheOriginOfPCs'' prequel. See Line-of-Sight Name below.

* MinMaxing: Averted. None of the characters have perfect builds, often making choices that fit their personalities rather than what makes them the most effective from a gameplay perspective.

** Vaarsuvius barred themselves from Conjuration and Necromancy (the two best schools for wizards) by only focusing on Evocation (the single ''worst'' school for wizards) due to their initial belief in the supreme might of arcane power being founded largely in StuffBlowingUp.

** And Belkar pretty much takes this trope UpToEleven (as detailed in his folder on the second linked page), to the point of having quite possibly the single worst build ''in the entire comic.''

* MirroringFactions: It eventually turns out that they're one to the Order of the Scribble, the {{Greater Scope Paragon}}s behind the creation of the [[CosmicKeystone Gates]]. The Order of the Stick's members do not have optimized character builds (with the ironic exception of Elan), but they're also TrueCompanions and able to kick tons of ass through working together to be stronger as a whole while making up for their individual weaknesses. In contrast, from what can be discerned, each of the members of the Order of the Scribble consisted of people with optimized builds to the point that each was a JackOfAllStats concerning their specific role on the team, but internal strife and drama resulted in virtually all of them hating each other and [[BreakingTheFellowship splitting up to defend their Gates individually]], resulting in CripplingOverspecialization issues and the current DividedWeFall situation facing the Gates.

** To quote ''Recap/OnTheOriginOfPCs'':

* TheSixthRanger: The Order occasionally has temporary members that travel with them whenever their goals align. Miko Miyazaki escorted them to Azure City and fought with them on the way there, and Celia is an honorary member due to dating its leader. Another is Yukyuk... [[{{Brainwashed}} kinda]]; [[spoiler:V sarcastically welcomes him to the Order after brainwashing him into fighting against the Linear Guild. And from the end of Book 6 onward, Minrah Shaleshoe is accompanying the Order as they head off to try and save the world.]]
%%* SpeculativeFictionLGBT: [[invoked]] At least two of the Order's members are on the LGBT spectrum, with Haley being confirmed as bisexual per WordOfGod, and Vaarsuvius being genderqueer along with being AmbiguouslyGay due to how the gender of their longtime partner Inkyrius is left intentionally ambiguous. Belkar, for his part, despite having [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero repeatedly made sexist and homophobic remarks]], is AmbiguouslyBi (supplemental materials claim that he wants to "[[UnusualEuphemism schtup]] Vaarsuvius"), and the other members of the Order (Roy, Elan, and Durkon) have all been explicitly shown to be straight.

** TheLeader: Roy Greenhilt calls the shots. He also has VetinariJobSecurity since he's the OnlySaneMan who can properly juggle all of the team's various neuroses and make sure they stay on track regarding their final goals.

*** Haley Starshine is the official second-in-command and [[TheLancer is a greedy thief to contrast the duty-bound warrior]]. She eventually becomes his adviser on devious lines of thought.

* TookALevelInBadass: Considering the RPGVerse nature of the comic, everyone in the Order gains literal levels in their respective classes as they overcome obstacles. Beyond that, they also function better as a team. As Roy puts it in #1063: "It's just the most probable outcome given how strong my party is these days. We're not the team that freaks out, fights among themselves and runs away anymore." In the same encounter, Haley also notes that they can easily handle enemies that they used to run-away from.

* {{Foil}}: It eventually turns out that they're one to the Order of the Scribble, the {{Greater Scope Paragon}}s behind the creation of the [[CosmicKeystone Gates]]. The Order of the Stick's members do not have optimized character builds (with the ironic exception of Elan), but they're also TrueCompanions and able to kick tons of ass through working together to be stronger as a whole while making up for their individual weaknesses. In contrast, from what can be discerned, each of the members of the Order of the Scribble consisted of people with optimized builds to the point that each was a JackOfAllStats concerning their specific role on the team, but internal strife and drama resulted in virtually all of them hating each other and [[BreakingTheFellowship splitting up to defend their Gates individually]], resulting in CripplingOverspecialization issues and the current DividedWeFall situation facing the Gates.

Led by Roy Greenhilt, the Order is a group of six [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] (plus a familiar and later two animal companions), out to destroy the evil lich Xykon and prevent him from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over]] (or worse, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroying]]) the world.

* GoodCounterpart: To the Linear Guild because the trope is being intentionally enforced by Elan's EvilTwin Nale.

** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and archery does not involve anything rogues can do in battle like Sneak Attacking (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon or from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the "Manyshot" feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' and all but completely useless to a rogue (you only get Sneak Attack once, instead of just attacking regularly and getting it with each arrow fired) -- though in at least two of the instances in which "Manyshot" has been used, it has ironically saved her life.

** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and archery does not involve anything rogues can do in battle like Sneak Attacking (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon or from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the ''Manyshot'' feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' and all but completely useless to a rogue (you only get Sneak Attack once, instead of just attacking regularly and getting it with each arrow fired) -- though in at least two of the instances in which ''Manyshot'' has been used, it has ironically saved her life.

** Haley is a rogue who specializes in archery, and archery does not involve anything rogues can do in battle like Sneak Attacking (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon or from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the Manyshot feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' and all but completely useless to a rogue (you only get Sneak Attack once, instead of just attacking regularly and getting it with each arrow fired) -- though in at least two of the instances in which Manyshot has been used, it has ironically saved her life.

* SixthRanger: The Order occasionally has temporary members that travel with them whenever their goals align. Miko Miyazaki escorted them to Azure City and fought with them on the way there, and Celia is an honorary member due to dating its leader. Another is Yukyuk... [[{{Brainwashed}} kinda]]; [[spoiler:V sarcastically welcomes him to the Order after brainwashing him into fighting against the Linear Guild. And from the end of Book 6 onward, Minrah Shaleshoe is accompanying the Order as they head off to try and save the world.]]

** TheLeader: Roy Greenhilt calls the shots.

** Blackwing's speech bubbles are a dark grey.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Late into the story, Vaarsuvius gains the ''telepathic bond'' spell, allowing the characters to silently communicate with each other. Everyone's speech bubbles are color-coded.

* DeadpanSnarker: ''All'' of them can be pretty snarky with both each other and anyone who crosses their path. While it's most apparent with Roy, Vaarsuvius, and Belkar, Haley also has her moments, and Durkon also becomes increasingly sarcastic thanks to his time [[spoiler:imprisoned in his own body with only [[EnemyWithin the High Priest of Hel]] to talk to]]. Furthermore, while Elan is typically SarcasmBlind, he usually becomes a {{Cuckoosnarker}} [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness whenever he gets sufficiently upset at someone]].

'''Durkon:''' [[DamnedByFaintPraise Eh, tha cat's prob'ly fine.]]

** '''The Cynic:''' Vaarsuvius and Haley post-CharacterDevelopment. V originally joined the Order just for the opportunity to use adventuring for spell research, but is set apart from Belkar below by being far more logical, cold-minded, and eager to harp on criticism/boast of their own intellect among their perceived lessers prior to them undergoing a lengthy BreakTheHaughty character arc in ''Don't Split the Party''. Haley, meanwhile, eventually evolves into a nobler person, but keeps her street-smart attitude from before and is ProperlyParanoid about whatever suspiciously positive opportunity falls into the Order's lap.
** '''The Optimist:''' Elan. Not only is he the kindest and most sincere member of the Order, but he goes out of his way to try and see the best in everyone and keep up everyone's hope even when things seem their bleakest. Part of his CharacterDevelopment in ''Blood Runs in the Family'' is him losing some of his former idealism, with him eventually losing any hope for [[spoiler:his family being reunited and even directly admitting that his TragicDream for his evil father and brother to be worthy of his love is painfully naïve]].

** '''The Apathetic:''' Belkar and Haley prior to her CharacterDevelopment. Belkar initially joined the Order only for an opportunity to further indulge his ComedicSociopathy, and has to be given a RestrainingBolt for several months in order for him to eventually learn how to "trick" everyone else into thinking he's become a legitimate team player (though he has ironically started to [[BecomingTheMask Become the Mask]]). Meanwhile, Haley is initially concerned with only getting enough money to pay for the bail to release her father from prison, but she eventually becomes more of a noble person

[[caption-width-right:350:From right to left: [[TheLeader Roy Greenhilt]], [[TheReliableOne Durkon Thundershield]], [[TheLancer Haley Starshine]], [[QuirkyBard Elan]], [[SquishyWizard Vaarsuvius]], [[TeamPet Mr. Scruffy]], [[NonHumanSidekick Blackwing]] and [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar Bitterleaf]].]]

-->'''Minrah:''' Does everyone in your group have weird emotional issues?\\
'''Durkon:''' Eh, tha cat's prob'ly fine.

* {{Foil}}: It eventually turns out that they're one to the Order of the Scribble, the {{Greater Scope Paragon}}s behind the creation of the [[CosmicKeystone Gates]]. The Order of the Stick's members do not have optimized character builds (with the ironic exception of Elan), but they're also TrueCompanions and able to kick tons of ass through working together to be stronger as a whole while making up for their individual weaknesses. In contrast, from what can be discerned, each of the members of the Order of the Scribble consisted of people with optimized builds to the point that each was a JackOfAllStats concerning their specific role on the team, but internal strife and drama resulted in them all hating each other and [[BreakingTheFellowship splitting up to defend their Gates individually]], resulting in CripplingOverspecialization issues and the current DividedWeFall situation facing the Gates.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: All the guys are melee fighters (even Belkar, which makes no sense for a halfling ranger), except for Haley the archer. Downplayed somewhat in that Belkar can use his daggers as throwing knives, but [[BloodKnight he typically prefers]] the hands-on approach, [[MagicKnight Durkon mixing it up with divine magic]] and Vaarsuvius not identifying as female, but rather as genderqueer. Briefly inverted when Haley takes Roy's sword [[spoiler:(to change the target of an elemental that was ordered to kill "[[ExactWords the human with the greatsword]]" first)]] and Roy takes up Haley's bow.

* MinMaxing: Averted. None of the characters have perfect builds, often making choices that fit their characters rather than what makes them the most effective from a gameplay perspective.
** Durkon's focus on healing as a cleric means that he can't make as good of a use of his dwarven traits. Furthermore, his low Charisma results in him having a consistently poor success rate at Turn Undead.
** Roy's high Intelligence and Wisdom scores don't transfer over in terms of arcane power for him as a fighter due to him wanting to be a BadassNormal to stick it to his {{Jerkass}} wizard father. Furthermore, Roy has no real weapon proficiency in anything other than two-handed weapons, which results in him being a terrifyingly powerful force on the battlefield whenever he has his Ancestral Relic[=/=][[spoiler:Weapon of Legacy]], but being mediocre at best when armed with anything else.

** Haley's a more downplayed case, but is a rogue who specializes in archery, and archery does not involve anything rogues can do in battle like Sneak Attacking (which requires flanking that cannot be done with a ranged weapon or from more than 30 feet away). Furthermore, at one point she mentions that she took the Manyshot feat, one of the weakest feats ever printed ''in any book'' and all but completely useless to a rogue (you only get Sneak Attack once, instead of just attacking regularly and getting it with each arrow fired) -- though in the instance in which Manyshot was used, it ironically saved Haley's life.

** In [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1230.html #1230]] Elan invoked the trope, describing the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness of the early comics, calling the order "a ragtag band of {{Unlikely Hero}}es with [[DarkAndTroubledPast unresolved issues]] who [[TeethClenchedTeamwork didn't see eye-to-eye]]".
* ReleasingFromThePromise: Originally they were held together by a contract until Xykon was destroyed. They continued after its condition was apparently fulfilled, though, and when Roy discovered that Xykon was still alive (well, not dead), he destroyed the contract, not wishing to hold them together by compulsion.
* SixthRanger: The Order occasionally has temporary members that travel with them whenever their goals align. Miko Miyazaki escorted them to Azure City and fought with them on the way there, and Celia is an honorary member due to dating its leader. Another is Yukyuk... [[{{Brainwashed}} kinda]]; V sarcastically welcomes him to the Order after brainwashing him into fighting against the Linear Guild. [[spoiler:From the end of Book 6 onward, Minrah is accompanying the Order as they head off to try and save the world.]]

** NumberTwo: Haley Starshine is the official second-in-command and [[TheLancer is a greedy thief to contrast the duty-bound warrior]]. She eventually becomes his adviser on devious lines of thought.

*** BloodKnight: Belkar is the bloodthirsty one who mainly contributes with physical prowess.

*** Roy, as the leader, is the strategic mastermind and has a mind as sharp as the Greenhilt sword.
*** Haley is cunning enough to analyze cons, tricks or schemes, which is what makes her an effective NumberTwo.

*** Elan is most definitely this, [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold being the sweetest, kindest and most empathetic member of the team.]] Durkon mentions he is the heart and soul of the team when planning to save him.

For the Order's animal companions (Mr. Scruffy, Blackwing, and Bloodfeast), see [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickAnimalCompanions Animal Companions]].

For Banjo, see [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickDivineBeings Divine Beings]].

For the cohort assisting the party from Book 6 and onwards, see [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNorthernLands Northern Lands]].

* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickHumanPartyMembers Roy Greenhilt, Haley Starshine, Elan]]

* [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStickNonHumanPartyMembers Vaarsuvius, Belkar Bitterleaf, Durkon Thundershield]]

** The Cynic: Vaarsuvius and Haley post-CharacterDevelopment. V originally joined the Order just for the opportunity to use adventuring for spell research, but is set apart from Belkar below by being far more logical, cold-minded, and eager to harp on criticism/boast of their own intellect among their perceived lessers prior to them undergoing a lengthy BreakTheHaughty character arc in ''Don't Split the Party''. Haley, meanwhile, eventually evolves into a nobler person, but keeps her street-smart attitude from before and is ProperlyParanoid about whatever suspiciously positive opportunity falls into the Order's lap.
** The Optimist: Elan. Not only is he the kindest and most sincere member of the Order, but he goes out of his way to try and see the best in everyone and keep up everyone's hope even when things seem their bleakest. Part of his CharacterDevelopment in ''Blood Runs in the Family'' is him losing some of his former idealism, with him eventually losing any hope for [[spoiler:his family being reunited and even directly admitting that his TragicDream for his evil father and brother to be worthy of his love is painfully naïve]].
** The Realist: Roy and Durkon. Roy obstinately ''tries'' to be [[invoked]] LawfulGood, but often finds himself engaging in far shadier and more chaotic-aligned means to ensure the greater good is achieved (i.e., him keeping Belkar as part of the Order for as long as he has). Durkon, for his part, does his best to be as honorable and considerate to others as possible, but is also fully aware of the world's cruelties and often agrees with Roy's more pragmatic stratagems.
** The Apathetic: Belkar and Haley prior to her CharacterDevelopment. Belkar initially joined the Order only for an opportunity to further indulge his ComedicSociopathy, and has to be given a RestrainingBolt for several months in order for him to eventually learn how to "trick" everyone else into thinking he's become a legitimate team player (though he has ironically started to [[BecomingTheMask Become the Mask]]). Meanwhile, Haley is initially concerned with only getting enough money to pay for the bail to release her father from prison, but she eventually becomes more of a noble person

** The Optimist: Elan. Not only is he the kindest and most sincere member of the Order, but he goes out of his way to try and see the best in everyone and keep up everyone's hope even when things seem their bleakest. Part of his CharacterDevelopment in ''Blood Runs in the Family'' is him losing some of his former idealism, with him eventually losing any hope for [[spoiler:his family being reunited and even directly admitting that his TragicDream for his evil father and brother to be worthy of his love is painfully naïve]].

* SixthRanger: The Order occasionally has temporary members that travel with them whenever their goals align. Miko Miyazaki escorted them to Azure City and fought with them on the way there, and Celia is an honorary member due to dating its leader. Another is Yukyuk... [[{{Brainwashed}} kinda];] V sarcastically welcomes him to the Order after brainwashing him into fighting against the Linear Guild. [[spoiler:From the end of Book 6 onward, Minrah is accompanying the Order as they head off to try and save the world.]]