Critical Role Grog Strongjaw / Characters

Grog Strongjaw

Played by: Travis Willingham

"I would like to rage!"

Race: Goliath

Class: Barbarian (Path of the Berserker) / Fighter (Battle Master)

Grog is a brawny goliath Barbarian with a heart of partially gold and partially smashing things. He was beaten and exiled from his nomad tribe after intervening to save the life of Pike's grandfather, and has been best friends with Pike ever since she helped nurse him back to health. Grog is not very intelligent but is by far the strongest (melee) fighter in the group.

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Tropes A - H

Admiring the Abomination: Grog definitely admires really killy things when he's not on the receiving end. For instance, he thought Percy going all smoky when he got mad was awesome, and he's always pleased when the party encounters something gigantic and vicious.
The Alcoholic: Always carries a cask of ale in the Bag of Holding. Just don't drink it all or crush it.
Amazon Chaser: The quickest way to turn Grog's head (and probably get splashed with a few flecks of drool) is to kick ass in his presence, as evidenced by his instant infatuation with Lady Kima and The Siren.
The Atoner: During the Chroma Conclave arc, after defeating Kevdak and briefly allying with Zanror, Grog makes it clear to Vox Machina he has zero desire to work with his former herd, as they're murderers, pillagers, rapists, and child killers, which he knows personally because he used to be one of them and is clearly uncomfortable with this fact. He expresses that, when he was younger, he didn't understand the concept of right and wrong, and is still adjusting to this, but is clearly disturbed by the behaviours he used to partake in.
Authority in Name Only: Percy offered him - Mostly as a joke, really - the title of Grand Poobah de Doink of All Of This And That. It comes with no land and no responsibilities, but it is an official title. Grog likes to use it to boss around the kitchen staff.
Tal'dorei Campaign Guide: No one knows if [it] is a real title at all, or if Percy was just joking when he gave it to him. Grog likes it, and that's good enough for most people.
Back from the Dead: Twice. The first time against K'Varn the Mad, the second time due to Craven Edge. Both times his soul was sucked from his body, but both times Pike brought him back.
Bad Powers, Good People: Berserker Rage! But he's a friendly and reliable guy outside of that.
Badass in Distress: Even with his ability to take hits and dish them out, there have been times where even Grog found himself on the receiving end of an ass-kicking.
- The first time he got his intelligence drained by a monster, bringing it down to zero and leaving him in a vegetative state. Thankfully Keyleth knew Greater Restoration.
- The second time, he got kidnapped by the duergar queen while mind-controlled and the group spends the next two episodes trying to find him.
- The third time, Grog gets dropped to zero HP in the battle against K'varn (twice), forcing Pike to heal him before he's gone for good.
- A fourth time in episode 50 when fully powering up Craven Edge leads to the sword temporarily absorbing his soul.
- A fifth time in Episode 51 and 52 when he found himself outmatched and nearly overwhelmed by Kevdak and the Herd of Storms.
- A sixth time in Episode 54 and 55 as he found himself dangling from Umbrasyl with the Bloodaxe embedded in its hide attached to the Chain of Returning.
Bald Head of Toughness: He's the strongest member of Vox Machina and is bald because as a member of the Goliath race he cannot grow any hair. While he later is able to grow a beard due to a magical object, he remains bald throughout the series.
Bar Brawl: With two of his three favourite things are fighting and drinking, it's no surprise he'll happily get into one at the drop of a hat. Vex goads him into starting one towards the end of Episode 58, and a good time is had by all.
Batman Gambit: Pulls an impressive one (considering his Intelligence of 6) on Vex and Percy in episode 40 in an attempt to take the skull for a wish. His plan only failed when Travis rolled a natural one at the last second.
Becoming the Mask: Played for laughs. When Scanlan turns Grog into a cow, he makes mention that he eats some grass.
Berserk Button:
- As Travis put it, "You don't fuck with Grog's cask of ale!" Tiny the Fomorian learned this the hard way: drinking all its contents made Grog mad enough, but destroying it when it was done made him snap, run forward, and headbutt the giant.
- Shaving off any newly grown beards of his is also a fine way to piss him off. Also applies to Travis, who once broke a mechanical pencil in anger when Liam announced that he was going to make Vax shave off Grog's beard.
The Berserker: Always prefaced by his request to the DM: "I would like to rage."
BFS: Craven Edge is a large sword even by his goliath sized stature.
The Big Guy: As a goliath barbarian, he is perfectly suited for the role of smashing obstacles in the party's way and dealing the most physical damage. In Episode 11, he reveals he is 8 feet, 7 inches.
Bishie Sparkle: Believe it or not. Keyleth gives him this magically in episode 13, helping play wingwoman for Grog with Kima.
Blood Knight: As straight of an example of this trope there can be, as can be expected by his Chaotic Neutral alignment. Loving the thrill of the fight? Check. Looking for people to fight? Check. Being as brutal as he can be with his attacks? Check. He always prefers a straight fight as opposed to forming a plan. Also the least likely to be merciful to a fallen foe.
Boisterous Bruiser: Grog is a seven foot tall man-child who shifts from comic relief to murderous rage with ease. He spends a lot of his free time in bars and whorehouses and buys things like a silly hat he thinks makes him look dignified, but he also loves to fight and in his frequent fits of rage is capable of tearing a persons jaw off his skull.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Given that he isn't the most mentally fortuitous of the gang, Grog has an unfortunate tendency to be overpowered by enemies that can manipulate minds.
Break the Haughty: Kurn the Hammer did a number on Grog's pride after their first pit fight. The rest of that session was a massive roller coaster of suck for Grog.
Butt-Monkey: The target of Vax'ildan's pranks. But also, save for perhaps Pike and Keyleth, there have been comments about his less-than-stellar intelligence. It's okay though, he has an intelligence of six, he knows what he's doing.
Calling Your Attacks: Jokingly played with, when Grog called one of his attacks against Kern The Hammer. An Elbow drop is named after the great legendary woodsman fighter known as "Mah Choman Rand Savage."
Call to Agriculture: In Tal'Dorei Reborn, we see a barrel stamped with "Strongjaw Ale", which implies that he starts a brewery and/or a vineyard.
Character Catchphrase: When battle ensues, "I would like to rage" is his. So polite! And it's not just to satisfy Rule of Cool, either. "Rage" is actually a Barbarian character trait which grants increases to damage, advantage on strength checks and saves, resistance to most common damage, and outright immunity to fear or enchantment.
Character Development: As the campaign progressed, while still being the reckless Blood Knight he usually is, Grog has been showing more restraint in his approach to things, even going as far as sparing his cousin Zanror and making him the new Thunderlord of the Herd of Storms. In fact, throughout the Chroma Conclave arc, he's shown that even he is capable of change, including calling Vox Machina his new family and that his strength comes from his friendship with them, being a lot more clever regarding tactics and strategy, and even managing to convince a vengeful Keyleth that she needed to exercise patience, that despite her desire to kill Raishan, they would benefit more from their temporary truce compared to making an enemy of her right away. He's still the same lovable barbarian with plenty of heart and lacking in smarts, but it's clear that he's not the same man he used to be. In Episode 85, after fighting Earthbreaker Groon, Grog declares that he intends to work with Vox Machina to make the world a better place.
Childhood Friends: He grew up with Pike after he was kicked out of the Herd of Storms, and so the two are especially close. Wilhand is basically his great-great grandfather.
Comically Missing the Point: A mainstay of Grog-related gags. If there's a way he can possibly misinterpret an instruction or statement in such a way that inconvenient (at worst) hilarity will ensue, it'll happen.
Vax: Do you know what math is?
Grog: Mathis?
Crutch Character: Served this role early on, being incredibly powerful early on, and contributed to the victories of the group for a while because he was just really hard to kill. Once the others leveled up more, Grog was still a powerful member, but the others managed to become very powerful in their own ways. That being said, Grog is still very, very strong, and is acknowledged in the Battle Royale as being one of the most dangerous adversaries by everyone involved, to the point where he is often the one they target first.
Cutting the Knot: One at least one occasion, Matt describes his motives with hilariously painful accuracy as "a simple mind looking for a simple solution to a complex problem".
Damage-Sponge Boss: In the battle royal episodes. Due to his high Constitution stat, Grog has an unholy amount of HP, and when raging, all physical damage to him is halved anyway. Add the resistances granted by his various gear and Grog can take a ridiculous amount of punishment.
Damage Reduction: When raging, Grog only takes half damage from physical attacks. With the Titanstone Knuckles, he gains Elemental resistance against fire, cold, and lightning damage.
Did They or Didn't They?: With a Nymph pre-stream. Only Matt and Travis knew this until the post-campaign wrap-up, but... they didn't.
Disappointed in You: Pike's disappointed face will always make Grog question his current course of action, which is normally almost impossible once he's got an idea in his head.
Discard and Draw: Fittingly, Grog changes weapons more than anyone else in the party.
- He starts out wielding a greataxe, then acquires the Firebrand Warhammer in the Kraghammer arc;
- He acquires the Moonhammer from Zahra in the Slayer's Take arc, although he never uses it;
- He acquires Craven's Edge in the Whitestone arc, and later discards it after it nearly kills Pike;
- He loses the Firebrand Warhammer when Vox Machina confronts the Herd of Storms during the Chroma Conclave arc, but acquires the Bloodaxe;
- He acquires the Dwarven Throwing Hammer from Raishan's hoard during the Chroma Conclave arc;
- During the Vecna arc, he acquires the Sword of Kas, but it's taken away from him after Vecna is defeated.
Disproportionate Retribution: Episode 11, Grog headbutts a fomorian giant after it drinks all of Grog's ale. To Grog's credit, the fomorian did essentially take what was a friendly gesture from Grog's cask and ruin it without a care in the world.
Do You Want to Haggle?: Attempts twice, once with Tremaine in Kraghammer and once with a peddler in Vasselheim. Both end in failure, especially regarding the instance in Vasselheim, where he ended up trading even more items than what the peddler was asking for. This leads to Vex becoming shell-shocked to the point of drowning her sorrows in ale.
Dreaming of Things to Come: Two episodes after having a nightmare in which he murders Pike, he accidentally injures Pike as he's trying to escape from a portal.
The Dragonslayer: Delivers the final blow against Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer, member of the Chroma Conclave, in Episode 55.
The Dreaded: A downplayed case, in that Grog himself isn't really feared by Vecna, but upon realizing Grog has the Sword of Kas, Vecna specifically focuses a lot of his attention on making sure Grog cannot fight him. Given that the Sword of Kas not only gives Grog bonuses against him, but also specifically wants Vecna dead, Vecna choses to not only banish him, but also use two Legendary Resistances to ensure he can't get back to avoid the possibility of Grog getting close to him. If not for that, the fight would have turned against Vecna quickly.
Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Grog prefers to wield massive hammers and axes that get the most out of his brute force. Even when facing enemies flying above him or dueling a martial arts master, Grog will always just try to smash them with his big sticks rather than wrestle them down or pincushion them with bows or guns.
- He picked up the Firebrand Warhammer in the Underdark. As opposed to many of the magical weapons Vox Machina has, it doesn't have powerful "once per day" abilities to give its wielder some tactical prowess, it simply is a hammer that lights itself on fire. It is perfect for an unintelligent brute like Grog and serves as his primary weapon for the first fifty episodes of the show.
- He later acquires a Dwarven Thrower (which he was allowed to wield due to the Belt of Dwarvenkind despite not being a dwarf) which allows him to just chuck his hammer like a madman sixty feet away rather than having to think about closing the distance with enemies, using magical items to fly towards them, or even aiming with the precision required of a ranged weapon.
Dumbass Has a Point: Despite claiming to hate thinking, Grog sometimes makes some very insightful observations.
Dumb Muscle: Played entirely for laughs. He hates thinking with his head, but he loves thinking with his axe. Made funnier by the fact that Travis Willingham is quite built, but unlike his character is also quite intelligent. The episode 10 Q&A highlights this when it's pointed out that Grog's intelligence is only two points higher than Trinket's. Even considering Trinket's boosted intelligence... wow. That's not to say Grog hasn't had his rare moments of genius, such as bringing up the idea of using the terrain to their advantage or identifying at a glance a stone giant fortress, or using a stone giant strength potion to give him an edge against Kurn the Hammer. Sometimes a straightforward idea is precisely what's necessary, and it's hard to get more straightforward than Grog.
Grog: I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
Easily Forgiven: Because of the strong bond between Pike and Grog she easily forgives him after Grog accidentally stabs Pike.
Elemental Weapon: In addition to the aforementioned Firebrand Warhammer, Grog has the Javelin of Lightning (which is activated by whispering the magic word "Penelope"). Said weapon is lost in Episode 66 when combating a cobalt golem summoned by J'Mon Sa Ord due to him throwing the javelin, the weapon bouncing off with no effect and flying out the window into the cityscape below.
Evil Weapon: He gets two rather malicious swords through out his journey. First Craven Edge and then the sword of Kas. Due to his lack of intelligence, this is often played for laughs, much to the swords' frustration, though the former ends up sucking out his soul and the latter dominates his mind. As a result both are taken from him for his own good.
Face Palm: His reaction for when Lyra does or says pretty much anything is a shameful hand over his eyes.
The Fettered: As he himself admits to Keyleth, before Pike and Wilhand took him in, he was willing to let his rage loose on anyone at anytime. But because of his love for his family (Wilhand and Vox Machina), he learned to control his rage and only let it out when needed.
"Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: Played for Laughs in Episode 75, when Grog tries to learn to read after drinking an intelligence-boosting potion. He gets as far as the first two letters in his own name before the potion wears off. Liam even alludes to the Trope Namer.
Liam: Awww... it's "Flowers for Grogernon!"
Funny Background Event: In the comic that describes the pre-stream campaign, Vax is captured and held prisoner on a ship. While the rest of the party is debating the best way to sneak onto the ship and rescue Vax without alerting the guards, Grog gets bored and simply goes to attack them. Most of one page consists of the other party members arguing while Grog is slaughtering the guards in the background. By the time the rest of the party realize Grog is missing, he comes back and proudly tells them the guards aren't a problem anymore.
Gag Penis: Grog being a goliath, it's assumed his is probably bigger than the rest of the party's, but when Kashaw wakes up in Episode 44, and goes to pee near where Grog is. He gets a little scared, and decides not to pee next to him. Then there's the time Doty drew a portrait of him:
Tary: ...Doty, I thought she [Pike] said realism. [Doty nods] Really? [Doty nods again] How does he walk?!
Gentle Giant: Despite everything else about him, Grog has a surprisingly sweet side. After all, he refused to kill a defenceless old gnome, which led to him meeting Pike. He's fiercely loyal to the rest of the party. This side is perhaps best demonstrated when he rescued Amelia from the Iron Stockade. The normally tactless and socially unaware Grog was incredibly gentle and protective of her once he found her.
Gold Fever: Before Critical Role, Grog once "rage looted." He does it again looking for Vorugal's hoard.
Good Cop/Bad Cop: Was typically the bad cop during interrogations, because he is a big scary goliath. After the acquisition of "Craven Edge", the evil sword gives him advantage on intimidation checks.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Bears a large, gnarled scar on his chest after a phylactery was removed from his body pre-stream.
Heroic BSoD:
- A relatively short one when Grog loses to Kern in the Crucible during Episode 17. He was in a funk for the rest of that session.
- Suffers from a far more serious one near the end of Episode 49 after accidentally impaling Pike with Craven Edge while trying to save himself from being lost in an elemental plane. It's hard to say who felt worse about it, Grog or Travis.
Heroic Rematch:
- Grog returns to fight Kern in Episode 23 after their first match went down to the wire. Thanks to the newly learned Relentless Rage, Grog wins this round.
- He has a solo rematch with Earthbreaker Groon in Episode 85, after Grog lost to him even with help from Vax and Scanlan. This time, he bests the Dawn Marshal in single combat.
Hidden Depths:
- Episode 11 reveals that Grog apparently speaks the language of giants (though it should be noted this is a racial trait of all PC goliaths). Considering his intelligence is six and he probably barely speaks Common, this is noteworthy.
- He also tends to roll really well on stealth checks. He's overshadowed by stealth experts like Vex and Vax, but despite being eight feet tall his track record at staying hidden is considerably better than, say, Scanlan.
- Because, as aforementioned, Travis Willingham is much smarter than Grog, he occasionally can't resist coming up with clever battle plans or advice, which he will then share with the group until they start running with it.
- He tends to be able to beat Vex'ahlia sometimes when it comes to calculating numbers, but it's mostly Played for Laughs because she really doesn't want him to.
  Matt: (As a shopkeep) That's impressive for a Goliath.
  Grog: It's Professor Grog, actually.
- Thanks to some really damn good rolls for intelligence checks, Grog can sometimes offer surprising details that, since they come from him, shock everyone in the party, from remembering the design of a stone giant fortress to pointing out the purpose of anti-scrying glyphs even before the other party members with arcane experience (and much higher intelligence) could do so. He phrased it as "this room doesn't like bein' looked at".
- Despite his violent tendencies, he's also shown that he can offer occasional pearls of wisdom. That, and he has a lot of patience, only channeling his rage when it is needed. Moreover, he views Vox Machina, his family, as the source of his strength.
- Whether or not Narrative Telephone is canon, you'd think that an experienced physical warrior like Grog should at least be familiar with muscle groups and exercise and other healthy lifestyle techniques - and you'd be right.
- Even though he's typically the most aggressive member of Vox Machina, Grog's shown on several occasions that he's actually very kind. From defending Wilhand from his own herd, to refusing to take money from the people of Whitestone after spending weeks doing hard labor to help them rebuild, to giving Kima a sword that he really liked when he found out that it had religious engravings and thought she might like it too.
- Though it never came up in the series, Travis mentioned at a convention that one of Grog's hobbies is cobbling boots.
- Even though he doesn't like 'fruity drinks', Grog has an absurdly refined wine palate.
Honor Before Reason: Less a matter for Grog, but it does impact Travis's playstyle where he will honor debuffs even if he forgets them in the moment. Episode 50 has a case of this backfiring where Grog needs to make a save to avoid his sword Craven Edge hurting him in backlash damage. Travis crits the save, but remembers a few minutes later that he has a pre-existing debuff that should have marked him down. He re-rolls to be fair, and it gets Grog killed.
Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: While this would be the case with a Goliath bedding any non-Goliaths, a Noodle Incident revealed when discussing Craven's Edge reveal Grog and Scanlan once performed an Eiffel Tower with a girl (a threeway sex act that would be very difficult to perform easily with a size different as big as a gnome and a goliath).

Tropes I - P

I Need a Freaking Drink: Almost word for word when losing an argument with Vex'ahlia about the platinum. Complete with a storming off screen moment.
Ignored Epiphany: When Grog tries to take some of Percy's instruments, he feels his hands burning, and placing them in water only made it worse. Instead of learning the lesson that he should not touch his friends' stuff without permission, especially stuff belonging to the friend who frequently handles explosives and sulphuric acid, he only learns that water burns.
In Love with Your Carnage: As evidenced when he sees Kima use a weapon for the first time, Grog is turned on by violence.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Grog's big, strong, loud, straightforward, and understands violence better than anything else, especially emotions. Travis has talked about playing him as essentially too big and strong to suit the world he's in - thus, he's often blunt to the point of being an asshole or recklessly violent and "breaks" things and people where a lighter touch would have served. He cares deeply about his friends, especially Pike and Scanlan, and he always wants to help out Vox Machina, but by no means will he go about it in the most sensitive or sensible way. He undergoes a realization of how much his friends mean to him in Episode 43 while fighting Earthbreaker Groon in Vasselheim. More specifically, the ones he asks for to aid him in the fight are Pike (who is not there), Scanlan, and ...Vax, who was afraid that Grog hated him.
The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Grog may be a badass, but even he admires Earthbreaker Groon. Groon is the only person Grog shows respect to without the others making him.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Despite his limited intellect, he's quick to give dissertations on subjects he either knows nothing about or has the facts totally wrong and is often dismissive and even derisive of attempts to correct him. See his definition of "oasis" in the The Search for Bob one-shot.
Large Ham: Travis Willingham goes full Boisterous Bruiser when he plays Grog.
Last Chance Hit Point: Relentless Rage allows for surviving a fatal blow with a single hit point.
Leeroy Jenkins:
- His preferred method of attack is to dash forward in a RAGE and hack everything to pieces even if it means leaving his allies behind. Whether or not it actually works depends on the whims of the dice and the Dungeon Master. During the Kraghammer arc, it got him ambushed by duergar crossbowmen and an intellect devourer, which rendered him brain dead for a while.
- His tendency to use Reckless Attack against numerous enemies also gets him into trouble.
Let's Get Dangerous!: Grog is a fearsome warrior, but he's normally pretty laid back and treats combat like an exciting hobby. During the Westrun Arc, in which he faces his old herd, he becomes deadly serious.
Lightning Bruiser: Grog can move when he wants to. He's got the highest natural movement speed in the party (50 feet per round) and advantage on initiative rolls thanks to the Barbarian's "Feral Instinct" ability. On top of that, he can make three attacks per turn while in a Frenzied Rage, which gives him an impressive overall ability to cover a lot of ground and dish out the pain.
Like Brother and Sister: He and Pike have lived together for most of their lives, and it really shows in how they interact.
Made of Iron: Grog is, in Travis's words, a "big bag of hit points". He can also reduce the damage he takes while he's raging.
Manly Facial Hair/Magic Hair: Despite his massive size and incredible physique, the thing this warrior is most proud of is his beard; he's the only member of his kind known to have grown one, and he was able to do it thanks to the magic of his Belt of Dwarvenkind. Since goliaths normally don't have them, Grog's beard freaks out his old herd when he meets them again in Westruun; they just don't say anything until after Grog kills their leader Kevdak.
Manly Tears: When he reunites with Pike, and when the giant crushes his cask of ale.
Misery Builds Character: In Episode 17, Grog loses to Kern "The Hammer" and became totally miserable until Episode 23, when he demanded a rematch and won.
Morality Pet: The whole rest of Vox Machina, really, but especially Pike (his best friend) bring out the gentle in this chaotic neutral giant.
- Comes to a head in episode 40 when Grog attempts to smash the skull containing an unknown evil entity in order to grant a wish that might vanquish the Chroma Conclave but risks making matters worse. The in-story explanation for what prevents Grog shattering the skull is that as he's rearing back to spike the skull against a surface, he catches a glimpse of the look of disappointment on Pike's face, which is enough to suck all the wind out of his sails and let the skull fall harmlessly out of his grip.
My God, What Have I Done?: When he realises that he accidentally injures Pike, he spends the rest of the fight paralyzed in horror that he hurt his best friend.
Named Weapons: Grog takes Sylas Briarwood's sword after Vox Machina liberates Whitestone; it turns out to be an intelligent, telepathic, and sinister-sounding sword called Craven Edge. It's audibly frustrated by Grog's stupidity.
Never Learned to Read: A consequence of his Barbarian upbringing and his Intelligence being six. He's still good with shapes and colours though. He tries to learn how to read with Pike's help in Episode 75, even trying to use a potion of Fox's Cunning to enhance his intelligence, but when the potion fades, his efforts are forgotten, leaving him thoroughly depressed.
Travis: I have the Belt of Dwarvenkind that lets me speak and read Dwarven!
Matt: If... you could read.
(Travis looks downcast)
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: His backstory contains a subversion of this trope: his uncle beat him bloody and disowned him for showing mercy to Wilhand Trickfoot, but then Wilhand's great-great-granddaughter healed him and became his best friend. After that, Vox Machina became his new family.
No-Sell: A berserker barbarian's Mindless Rage feature negates fear and charm spells. This was very useful when a vampire tried to charm him, and Travis remembered this feature.
Noodle Incident: His first encounter with Nahla the nymph in the Feywild. His fellow party members (and players) are curious, but he's not saying anything.
Travis: A goliath never kisses and tells.
- Another instance was when Scanlan and Grog discuss keeping the details of Craven's Edge between themselves, comparing it to a time where they had a threeway together with a woman.
Odd Friendship: Grog, the boisterous giant Goliath, is best friends with Pike, the kindly cleric gnome. To a lesser extent, him and Scanlan, another gnome and a bard at that, have a pretty close friendship, with Scanlan once informing Pike that he (Scanlan) cares as much about Grog as Pike herself does.
Off with His Head!: When he's wielding an axe, Grog sometimes chops the heads off opponents. When he's swinging a hammer, he sometimes squashes enemies' heads to a pulp.
Platonic Life-Partners: Again, with Pike. He adores her as his dearest friend and any time they meet again he greets her with an enormous hug.
Playing with Fire: The Firebrand Warhammer deals additional fire damage.
Power Fist: The Titanstone Knuckles. They're artifacts of the god Kord, and boost Grog's strength to a whopping 24 and later 26 (when the normal maximum is 20!).
Psychic Nosebleed: Many times when Travis makes an observation that's too intelligent for Grog, it's explained away as Grog suddenly getting a nosebleed from the overexertion.
Psychopathic Manchild: It's strangely adorable. He views fights as "play time" and enemies as "play-mates", imitates the abilities of other party members he admires (check out his pride at doing "magic" like Tiberius or rolling around in a hole he dug to pretend he was Keyleth as an Earth Elemental), enjoys bright colours and shiny things, touches stuff that he probably shouldn't, acts on impulse, gets easily bored, and generally has to be prevented from wandering off and getting into trouble by the rest of the party as though he's a toddler.

Tropes Q - Z

Red Baron:
- First, as Phillip "The Terrible"
- Then as Grog "The Vengeful."
- Finally, as Grog "The Victorious"
- Now he's becoming known to his herd as "The Bearded King".
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Definitely the Red to best friend/surrogate sister Pike's Blue because he is impulsive and bloodthirsty.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: When Vox Machina exposes the traitor who betrayed Tal'Dorei, Sovereign Uriel appoints Grog as a temporary royal executioner. Grog is more than happy to comply.
The Rival: Definitely has one in Kern the Hammer. They've begun trading a "2nd place" medal as a traveling trophy of shame.
Sand In My Eyes: Has happened a few times. Notable times include (but may not be limited to):
- Episode 36, after losing to "Trish the Dish" in the arm wrestling contest, he splashes ale on his face to hide he's crying, played for laughs.
- Episode 48, after speaking with Pike about their adventures in Westrun, letting her know that his family has taken over, and that the fate of Wilhand, Pike's great-great-grandfather who was in the city is unknown. He claims it's pollen, and later that it's raining.
"Shut Up" Kiss: Totally played for laughs in episode 22 when Grog complains about not getting kissed during the Rimefang bounty hunt whereas Keyleth got her first from Kashaw, and then suddenly Vex simply cuts him off with a surprise kiss. Made even funnier considering Laura and Travis are married.
Simpleminded Wisdom: The general result any time he rolls a Natural 20 on an Intelligence check, given that he still has only six intelligence points, is profound insight in plain words. A couple gems include:
- How does he hold his rage in check? If he raged at the wrong time, he'd cause trouble for his Family of Choice.
- Why doesn't he plan for anything beyond the current fight or moment? As he puts it, "You don't need to see all the way to the horizon. You just need to see what's under your own feet. You'll get there."
Squee: Probably something blood or badassery related, right? Nope. It's more Travis's reaction than Grog's, but when two of his friends kiss in Episode 72, he lets out a tiny high-pitched squeal.
The Smart Guy: His introduction is a parody of this trope. In the words of "Professor Grog" himself, he is, "easily the brains of the group, and often consulted for his vast knowledge of shapes, colors and shiny things... also, ale."
Spontaneous Mustache: Thanks to a magical object, he can grow a beard. Notably, Goliaths are biologically unable to grow any hair, so the fact he did means his biology has been permanently altered by the magic.
Status Buff:
- Rage, what else? When raging, he gains benefits such as an extra modifier for his attacks, resistance to physical damage, and more. When he goes into a FRENZIED RAGE, he can do 3 attacks per action!
- With the Titanstone Knuckles, he can enlarge himself to become bigger in battle, much like how Kevdak did in their battle. In their Exalted form, he gains resistance to fire, cold, and lightning damage.
Stone Wall: Grog has the highest HP of the party and as the party's levelled up his defensive capabilities have only increased.
The Strategist: While unintelligent, Grog still has an eye for strategy and knows when he needs to call in back-up. This becomes more pronounced when he becomes a Battle Master at level 18, allowing him to simultaneously knock enemies off their feet and disarm them whenever he deems it most advantageous.
Taken for Granite: Was petrified by pixies while in the Feywild and was almost claimed by them as punishment towards Vox Machina in Episode 61.
That Man Is Dead: He uses an alias Phillip when he first enters into Vasselheim's fighting pit, but after that ends with Grog being humiliated, he decides to return under his real name in a dramatic re-branding.
Grog: NO! Phillip is dead. There is no Phillip. There is only... GROG, THE VENGEFUL!
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Grog's specialty!
- Kills the Bulette in Episode 4 by biting its tongue out and executing a Jawbreaker.
- Kills the duergar interrogator in Episode 6 by impaling him on a rack of his own torture implements, pulling a Jawbreaker again, and pummelling the body with its own jawbone.
- He gets the killing blow on the Behir in Episode 28, and basically pummels it into jelly.
- He's very fond of impaling enemies once he picks up Craven Edge, and pulls a couple of particularly brutal examples on a Goliath mook named Horace and an Orc war-chief in Episodes 48 and 49, respectively.
- Gets his revenge against Kevdak , and finishes him by falling 50 feet through the air and splitting him in half.
- Delivers the final blow against Umbrasyl in Episode 55 by cleaving apart the wyrm's throat.
- As part of a deadly team up with Lady Kima, he finishes off a demon by grabbing the demon's legs and wishboning him.
- He actually uses Pike as a weapon to finish off an ember roc in Episode 77.
- When the party tracks Hotis down respawning in the Nine Hells, he's in a defenseless fetus-like form. Grog splatters him with the dwarven throwing hammer.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works:
- Can throw his melee weapons at a distant enemy and retrieve it thanks to the weapon being connected to a magic item known as the "Chain of Returning" that was crafted by Tiberius.
- The Dwarven Thrower, by default. It can be thrown and subsequently teleported back to him, allowing for multiple attacks.
Too Dumb to Fool: Why Craven Edge is marginally safer in his hands than in anyone else's - his simple-minded nature prevents the sword from being able to manipulate him with anything other than offerings of increased strength, since he already is The Big Guy of the team and lacks the ambition or cunning to betray or trick his comrades - mostly. Travis has said during a Q&A that Grog doesn't even realize Craven Edge is trying to corrupt him, he just thinks it's a cool sword that happens to talk. (He treats it like a kid would treat a battle-effects Lightsaber toy.)
- Zigzagged when they procure the skull of a Githyanki from the former home of General Krieg, which whispers to Grog the promise of a wish if he releases the soul from the skull. With the arrival of the Chroma Conclave, Grog becomes convinced that this is the most expedient means of resolving the situation and becomes increasingly intransigent, even going as far as to attack Vex and Percy to get the skull, almost succeeding in breaking it before a chance dice-roll fail (and a look from Pike) stay his hand; when Pike tried to Insight check on Grog, Matt describes his motives as "a simple mind looking for a simple solution to a complex problem".
Toilet Humor: Travis is a guy who likes his fart jokes, so Grog will often fart when other players start talking in circles.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Ioun gave him supernatural blacksmithing knowledge, letting him make the Divine Trammels out of fragments of the gods themselves. In this scene, Matt compares him to Moradin, the Allhammer himself!
Undying Loyalty: He values his friendship with all of Vox Machina, but his relationship to Pike as his best friend, adoptive sister and conscience is the one he cherishes the most.
Unstoppable Rage: It wouldn't be Grog without Rage. He can get so furious that almost nothing can kill him, best exemplified in the level 17 One-shot Battle Royales where he survives for turn after turn on 1 HP despite being riddled with bullets, arrows, dragon breath, and "what modern day people would call napalm."
Victory by Endurance: Grog's Relentless Rage ability allows him to continue fighting with one hit point even when he suffers a hit that would take him to zero. Relentless Rage is the key to Grog winning his rematches against both Kurn and Earthhbreaker Groon, letting him hang on long enough to finish them off.
Voice of Reason:
- Jokingly played with, after watching Lady Kima use a weapon for the first time. He asks if she wanted to touch his axe. She responds only if he wants to part with it. Grog's response: "...Maybe we should get out of here."
- A much more serious case occurs in regards to Keyleth and her wanting to kill Raishan right away. It's Grog that calms her down twice, showcasing a surprising level of patience, assuring her that she would get her chance one day.
Walking Armory: Carries a war hammer, greataxe, greatsword, javelin and several full sets of armour in his Bag of Holding.
Walking Shirtless Scene: In his official character design and most of his fanart, he's shirtless except for a single furred pauldron.
What Would X Do?: The others ask him what Vex would do when trying to get a potion from the peddler in episode 22. The natural answer would be, of course, to haggle...but he does it completely the wrong way.
The Worf Effect: Grog is one-hundred percent pure unadulterated Badass and a general hit-point sponge. At times, he is the measure in which villains are compared to, so when Grog gets downed, Vox Machina knows they're up against something pretty nasty.
World's Strongest Man: As a Barbarian and a Goliath, Grog is already kinda expected to be strong, but a number of his actions make a case for his most notable trait, and the biggest skill he brings to the table, being his unequal martial strength. By the end of the campaign, his strength stat is 26, six points higher than the base maximum for a player stat (its enhanced via several magic items he's attuned to as well as feats he's achieved), and has many times demonstrated his crazy high strength when it comes to both checks and HYWDT.
Worthy Opponent:
- Is considered this by Kurn and several others after his fight in the Crucible. It's little consolation. Apparently, Kurn and the Crucible were impressed enough to send Grog/Travis a consolation prize upon his return to Vasselheim after Vox Machina visited the home of the Fire Ashari. The Barbarian was not amused, and by extension, neither was Travis. Taken further after the rematch where Kurn truly acknowledges Grog's strength and declares that he will have another rematch with him one day.
- Pointedly averted with Goran Vedmeyer, another Goliath and one of the "New Nobles" of Whitestone (who are dethroned by Vox Machina). After Vedmeyer is eliminated from the arm-wrestling contest at the Winter's Crest festival:
  Vedmeyer: A shame, really. I had looked forward to our contest.
  Grog: Yeah? Well, get used to disappointment, shithead.
- Earthbreaker Groon. Grog would never bow in respect after a battle with anyone else. Worthy Opponent, indeed.
- Used as a Bait-and-Switch in his fight with Kevdak. Realizing that the fight is going south, Grog lowers his arms and admits that his uncle is the superior fighter... right before shouting to the rest of the team to spring their ambush.
Wrestler in All of Us: Employs several wrestling moves against Kurn the Hammer.
Your Soul Is Mine!:
- K'varn sucks his soul out during the climactic battle of the first arc, killing him... temporarily, before Pike casts Revivify and brings him back.
- Happens again in Episode 50 when Craven Edge steals Grog's soul and kills him before Pike revives him again.
- Again in Episode 115 when he draws the Void card from the Deck of Many Things. It takes the party two weeks of travel through Pandemonium in order to reclaim it.
You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: Pretty much a given as a barbarian, but special props go to Episode 10, when he frightened a Cloaker which had frightened more than half the current party. Just an episode later he headbutts a giant who he's dwarfed by into submission out of vengeance for the giant drinking all his ale and destroying the cask.

Characters / Critical Role Grog Strongjaw

Grog Strongjaw

Played by: Travis Willingham

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Characters / Critical Role Grog Strongjaw

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Grog Strongjaw

Played by: Travis Willingham

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