Although a bit character near the start, Boulder the Ogre is decapitated by Kore. Before keeling over for good, he proceeds to get back up and pose defiantly.
Complains cheating to defeat Minmax, who was the toughest of the advanturers who invaded their home. He gets to the poorly locked chest first and takes the treasure. He breaks the rules for that, and replies in a badass tone that the rules have changed.
Also credit to Minmax for forcing Complains to do that. In the alternate universes where Minmax gets first, he defeats and kills Complains. He also manages to fight back even after he loses the advantage using a statue.
Most of what Ears does after he gets his armor. Most notably, clearing out an entire crowd during the rescue of Fumbles. He's a paladin, and one of the finest examples of that class you'll ever find. So the way he lies to get people to flee is a strong moment of characterization that proves Good doesn't have to be Stupid.
While the previous is, indeed, awesome, Thaco shows that Complains has only inherited a bit of his awesome in this strip.
Here, Thaco shows off his monk skills by catching an arrow, jumping across the pipes in a sewer, and impaling Dellyn Goblinslayer on a broken pipe. Then, he finds the knife Dellyn used to torture him with and calmly walks up to him, all while Dellyn desperately struggles to get up.
While Dellyn is preparing his men to charge Complains and Ears, he spots Thaco by the dungeons and realizes too late what he's been doing: freeing all the prisoners. As Thaco brandishes a stolen key ring and lets it drop to the ground, there's a distant rumbling, and every single monster from the dungeons pours out into the streets in a unified charge.
The escaped monsters, following Thaco's plan, cover up the sewer grates after Thaco lures him into the sewers, plunging him into darkness.
Thaco: I've got bad news for you, human. You forgot to bring a torch.
There is also Tempts Fate, whose existence is a never-ending series of Crowning Moments of Awesome.
Fox is hanging precariously over the side of a cliff, held up only by a long blade from Dies' arm piercing through her leg. So what does she do? Start pulling herself up the blade with her bare hands.
The demon Noe appears every time you say his name (assuming the correct setup). He will be summoned three times and answer a question each time truthfully. Summoned a fourth time, however, and he'll kill you all horribly. Because he also will be summoned when homonyms of his name are said, it's pretty easy to summon him accidentally. The three goblins realize their predicament and are shitting themselves, when K'sleliss decides that he's not going to have this hang over their heads like the sword of Damocles, summons the demon, asks him a question about his positioning when summoned, summons him again, asks about how well he can withstand having his throat torn out, and summons him for the killing spree summon, and tears out Noe's throat while materializing. The three goblins stand there in shock.
The author gets one, although it may have been unintentional. She released the stats◊ for the creature known as "Mr. Fingers". And as any D and D player knows, if you can stat it, then you can kill it. That's right, she made it possible to KILL the monster that had haunted her nightmares as a child, and not just by herself, but by D and D players everywhere, anytime anyone wants to. Payback, bitch.
K'Sellis has been all but crippled lately. His arms and legs have all but rotted off, and his tail is about to join him. So what does he do when Grem is in serious trouble fighting Mr. Fingers? Leaps through the air and BITES HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF. Once that proves lethal, K'Sellis taunts Mr. Fingers as he dies.
K'Sellis: I told ya... I do... the eating.
Real life example when Elli's house was in danger of being foreclosed on. She put out a tempts fate where the goal was $30,000 in a little over a month. Fans hit that goal three days in.
Kin gets one in a different way. An alternative Minmax has a demon as an unwilling servant and they don't have any holy weapons. So what does she do? She gets the demon to tell her his True Name in order to release him from the servitude.
Two minor ones in rapid succession, although they are done while Forgath is stalling Kore, which is a CMOA by itself; first, Fumbles, AKA Senor Vorpal, does something smart, maybe starting to recover; then, in the next comic, Forgath defeats Kore's shield by grabbing on it and making Kore fall on his face.
For as much as we all want him to die horribly, you have to give it to Kore. Performing a flip move after falling on his face, armor and all, to get on his back, and then rasing himself up with levers he had in his shield just for such an occasion is pretty darn awesome. You can now truly believe that this bastard took on whole armies by himself.
Forgath actually choosing to give time for Minmax and the Goblins to solve the puzzle by battling Kore is definitely this. Remember, Forgath is perfectly aware who Kore is and what he's capable of. He knows he's been prophesized to be killed (horribly) by another dwarf. He knows he's fighting a losing battle, but is willing to give it his all for the sake of his allies. Even when he's being sliced up he continues to battle the insane Knight Templar with little trepidation on his face, just grim determination. In the following page, Forgath pierces Kore's hand..
Kore has Forgath cornered, all alone, and proclaims he's going to kill him handily, telling him he's "reached [his] end". Forgath's rebuttal?
Thaco gets two in succession in the creepy dungeon he, the rest of the GAP and Minmax have been stranded in: first, he manages to escape the magical ropes/vines entangling them all with an awesome escape check. Then, he manages to singlehandedly take down the golems that activated to try and kill him after doing so.
Flea Demon:The Sacred will never speak to creatures as insignificant as you. You will scream for mercy as many souls in this realm will. In this way, you will speak to The Sacred. But he will not answer you.
(after Ears' awesome analysis moment)
Flea Demon: You insult The Sacred with your words! He will rip off your skin and replace it with your childhood nightmares! He will scream your name in a language so old, that... Big Ears: Yes, he will. He will scream my name. In this way, he will speak to me. But I will not answer him.
Building on from that, a couple of comics later, after Complains and Minmax are at each other's throats, Fumbles stops them by giving them both an epic "The Reason You Suck" Speech, pointing out that Minmax can't complain about the Teller ceremony just because it's unlike anything done in human society, and likewise pointing out that Complains has no right to throw Minmax's lost comrades in his face and accuse the human of "using" them.
Complains and Minmax actually working togther for once, using their Rage Modes. It's the page image, and they manage to easily beat two Flea Demons this way.
When the Teller ceremony goes to hell after Complains' prayer attracts more flea demons, an absolute horde of soul imprints of former goblin fortune tellers gather seeking Fumbles. Earlier the other goblins had insisted that Fumbles doesn't attempt to embrace more than one imprint, because if he even tried for two there was a chance he might accidentally encounter three, which would likely kill him. When Fumbles mentioned a legendary teller who'd once absorbed six imprints, Big Ears dismisses even that much as a myth. When the out-of-control imprints all descend on Fumbles, he absorbs fifteen of them. And lives.
Kin: Because if you are [a paladin], then surely you cast "Detect Evil" on that dwarf before you killed him. Is that what you did? How evil was that dwarf? He must've been very evil, otherwise it's just murder. Making you a murderer who killed a good dwarf. Kore: ...kk... Did you know this dwarf? Kin: Of course not. I just find the virtues of Paladinhood fascinating.
Not to mention using her own tail and its (unbeknownst to Kore) invulnerability to distract, disarm and fry him with a Lightning spell.
And one more for Kin: in the very next comic, she actually manages to beat him by exploiting the mechanics of the room.
The GAP fights Kore while they are controlling a golem and actually manage to get the upper hand, using their abilities to keep up with the Paladin. They even manage to knock his helmet off and piss him off quickly.
But Kore exploits the fact that the Goblins have a limited time and then have to switch control over the Golem to spot Complains and Thaco and easily overpower them in a fair fight.
The end result of all this? Kore is forced to use the Chief's soul as a distraction so he can run away. That's right, the up until now completelyunstoppableKore is made to run with his tail between his legs for the first time in the comic from a party of goblins. Redefining 1/3rd challenge rating indeed.
Said Chief returns and finally reveals the source of Kore's powers, as well as how to remove them. His death may not be so in vain after all.
Forgath, Idle and Bowst take on a Warped Klik, which is able to corrupt everything it touches. They all use their talents and win as a team.
Fumbles proudly announces in front of an Angel that he is Senor Vorpal Kickass'o, defining himself instead of letting others do so. But the Angel has to kill him because it's not his real name...
However, he defies her judgement, manages to levitate himself to safety and escape death, surprising the immortal. The Angel actually looks happy about this outcome.
Complains, now a chief, actually fights the Angel when she reluctantly attempts to kill him after he gets his Secret Test of Character riddle wrong, makes a speech against the injustices Goblins face, survives and even cuts off the tip of her horn!
Even better, he brought back said Angel Horn tip! Thaco then remarks that myth claims Angel blood to have healing properties, and deduces (rightly!) that the horn tip may heal Big-Ears. Way to use that Wisdom score, old one.
Even better, Big Ears is now partially an angel.
And, as a feather on top, Thaco then goes to face the Angel's riddle, gives her a pre-emptive answer before she has even told him the riddle, tells her that he's not playing her stupid game; he is too old and has things to do, practically dares her to tell him that his answer is wrong, turning it into a Test of Character for her and, when she concedes that his answer just so happened to be correct, he commands her to send him back with the smuggest little grin, calling her by the same derisive Affectionate Nickname that she had been using for all of the other goblins so far: "Little one." The Angel is, of course, outraged, yelling at him "YOU DARE TO COMMAND ME, YOU INSIGNIFICANT MORTAL?!" Thaco's reply is a blunt "I do." He gets away with it.
Big Ears saves Complains from a demon, which has mouths in its tentacles.
Biscuit is probably the only character living who could beat Kore one on one. He defeats the Viper Clan, the strongest Goblins in the area, by siccing a nearly unkillable beast on them after going a few rounds with it himself. Then he goes full One-Man Army, against the clan... and decimates it. The only real challenge is Prince Grem, and Biscuit still beats him. Even when Grem uses Finger's finger, first Biscuit bats it away with his axe, and when he accidentally steps on it he almost cuts Grem in half... after severing his leg to prevent the spread of the decay. Then he takes a mouth full of healing potions, bites one and then jumps off the cliff...and lands on the Viper Queen who had just fatally wounded Fox despite Fox outfighting her earlier. Then Biscuit offers her a healing potionfrom his mouth.
When he, upon finding and saving the defeated Duv (who not long ago had tried to kill him), goes badass Warrior Therapist on her. To help her get over the loss of her wing, the source of her White Terror "kill everything but goblins" obsession, he rips the other one clean off and explains that when young, a Roak orc has his prized possession taken from him to teach him not to dwell too much on loss.
Minmax:
In the first fight we see in action, the Dungeon Master purposefully puts the characters against enemies too strong to be defeated. An army of actual demons, led by Not-Walter. Everyone runs for their lives... except Minmax, who fights them alone. They gang up on him, but he still manages to kill two minions, make their leader interfere and escape, even though he is outmatched. Not bad for first level.
While he did well against the minions, Not-Walter still humiliated him with no effort once he joined the fight himself. However, they have a rematch in the Maze of Many. Minmax still can't actually deal damage to the demon, though not for lack of skills. He eventually stalemates his former tormentor, even gaining some respect from him.
Later, when Kin mentions she could use Not-Walter's help to stop the Sacred, Minmax has forgotten him. Meaning any fear he once had of his former nemesis is gone.
Kin is being crushed by magically growing trees, whose presence is making her re-live all of the pain she endured at the hands of Dellyn, basically crushing her mentally and physically. So what happens? Minmax SHOULDER TACKLES the tree/mental image right the Hell off of her. Rock on Minmax.
Barbarian... Minmax (Also doubles as a crowning moment of heartwarming, considering what he says later).
Minmax discovering there is more to life than XP, treasure and an unbeatable character build. Specifically, when he found out that Dellyn Goblinslayer, who was previously everything Minmax wanted to be, raped and beat Kin the Yuan-Ti every night, he threw Dellyn out a window.
The best part of it being that this is the first of Minmax's actions that make him somewhat likeable, even if it's only just because he punched out a rapist psychopath.
Not to mention that when Dellyn breaks the sword, Minmax just grabs him, headbutts him, and then slams him in the face. Which is immediately followed by Forgath using a seemingly useless joke item to set the aforementioned enemy on fire.
As a combo with Heartwarming Moment, the fact that Minmax is putting aside his racism of monsters to make Kin the Yuan-Ti as normal as possible, and going to extreme lengths to give her a proper birthday party, complete with gift and mice is one hell of a Moment of Awesome.
Our Minmax, pinned to the wall with a metal collar, actually uses his head in a fight. The last thing his opponents see? "I AM GREAT". Yes, Minmax. Yes you are.
To make this perfectly clear how awesome this is, Minmax is pinned to the wall by a magic ring's power. He pulls off his belt buckle, tosses it into the magic hole-thingy, all while completely silent. The alt-Minmax even drops his ridiculously cool pipe as he tries to run away.
Another Awesome/Heartwarming overlapping moment; thanks to their Dungeon Bypass, the team have failed to get the key they need to open the final door. Down the hallway is the room they were supposed to go, but it looks like whoever leaps down to get the keys will be trapped with a lot of hostile alt-teams. It leads to this, followed by a series of fight scenes that are just... well, see for yourself.
Minmax knows 38 ways to kill someone using only his thumb. Here's # 23. Over seven years in the making, but hell if that isn't a Chekhov's Gun.
Psion!Minmax: So you see, no matter what you do, I will win eventually. Minmax: No. You win now.
Made all the more powerful when you realize that the Psion's big plan was to negate all of existence, so he could escape the Zero Sum Game that he believes life to be. Now he is stuck in an immortal, indestructible body. Even if he could die, with everything he has done, he'd end up going to hell, and reentry of the dungeon is simply fatal, instead of existence eradicating, so he is literally at a point where he can no longer attain his goal. He's stuck in the zero sum game of life, and the eventual afterlife, for all of eternity.
Another subtle moment: Minmax is dumb and his only bright moments are battle tactics. So, puzzles are his weakest point. He tries to solve a puzzle alone just to save Kin. The equivalent of Superman going through Kryptonite to save Lois. Even though MM struggles and Parchment helps a little (but is mute), still props for figuring out the premise, at least. In the end, Minmax actually succeeds at saving Kin by putting Oblivious through the wall!
In the brief skirmish he has with Bowst, who was strong enough to damage a world-destroying Warped Klik by brute force, he proves to be the superior fighter by far.
.
