#belkar bitterleaf

[canontypicalgoblins]

miko miyazaki they could never make me hate you

#order of the stick #the order of the stick #oots #ootsposting #miko miyazaki #belkar bitterleaf #roy greenhilt #hinjo oots #miko hate will not be tolerated here

[airinyourtires]

belkar, or as i like to call him,

#order of the stick #belkar bitterleaf #dungeon meshi

[trainwreckgenerator]

guess who still cares a lot about a bunch of stick figures in the year 2023. hi its me i care hello

#oots #order of the stick #greetings to the like 3 other order of the stick fans in the 16-24 demographic. how are we doing #my art #fuck you im tagging all their names. #roy greenhilt #haley starshine #belkar bitterleaf #vaarsuvius #elan oots #durkon thundershield

[inbarfink]

So although Order of the Stick is explicitly textually not an actual D&D game with actual players, it’s pretty cool how well Belkar’s character arc work not just as your usual ‘asshole character learns to care’ story but also mirrors the narrative of an asshole troll player learning to play the game seriously.

Like, while the whole Order kinda plays on standard D&D Class Stereotypes on some level, Belkar was always the one who played more into a Player Archetype than a Character Archetype. Maybe because that Player Archetype is often defined as lacking an interest in serious Roleplaying.

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to play a tabletop RPG just for dice-throwing and violence. The problem with That Kind Player is more when they attach themselves to a group that is otherwise interested in character and plot - and rather than finding some sort of compromise with the rest of the group or just looking for a new one more amicable to random violence - they keep hanging around while expressing just a total disinterest in the plot.

And caring for really nothing but scoring as many kills as possible, even if it gets in the way of the group’s general strategy...

And/or the DM trying to tell a compelling narrative...

And sometimes just being disruptive and causing conflict for the lols.

Also, Belkar has, like, objectively the worst build in the entire Order and he started out with no understanding of his Class outside the Two-Weapon Fighting. He really does act just like the One Guy who really wanted to play a double-wielding character because it’s badass, saw it’s a Free Ranger Feat and refused to read any of the other features or flavor text of the class.

So when he befriends Mr. Scruffy, it’s not just the ‘Mean Character Warms His Heart to a Cute Animal’ trope - it’s also figuratively about a player learning how to actually play and roleplay his Class and use other class features that are not directly related to just Stab the Enemies and They Fall Down.

And so much of his character arc is about the realization that he doesn’t really know himself. It is a character arc from an in-universe person but it also parallels a narrative of someone who is learning how to engage with his character for the first time and almost, like, retconning more connection between Belkar and his non-combat class features as the metaphorical Player becomes more invested in using them.

And it’s just… pretty interesting, in a stage where OOTS is really moving away from meta-D&D jokes - that the most meta-D&D part of the comic is the pretty-serious character arc of one of the main party members

And, I dunno…

#order of the stick #belkar #belkar bitterleaf

[cosmicsodacan-art]

ewww gross (original strip)

#finally onto the blog it goes #Everyone pretend I posted this for the new year ok? Ok #art by me #fan art #digital art #order of the stick #the order of the stick #oots #belkar bitterleaf #vaarsuvius #vaarsuvius oots #belvaar #durkon thundershield #panel redraw #screenshot redraw #screencap redraw #giant in the playground

[washed-up-wurmcoil]

I'm honestly so obsessed by Belkar Bitterleaf. Like he starts as a one-note joke character, then we get a prophecy that he's going to permanently die within the year (that's an in-universe year oracle fans) that he never hears. And then he has one of the most carefully plotted characters arcs ever where he grows into being a full person and looks like he's starting to swing to the side of the angels and the entire time we the reader know that he's not going to live to see the end of it. It makes me want to scream. How am I supposed to be normal about him?

#order of the stick #oots #belkar bitterleaf #rich burlew has been torturing me for over a decade now

[gozuforce]

This is still my favorite joke in all of Order of the Stick.

The simple but overwhelming putdown of Belkar's murder hobo shtick is so satisfying

#order of the stick #OOTS #belkar bitterleaf #sometimes a simple line can be a devastating insult

[slurmcore]

Sooo... there's this critically acclaimed webcomic 👉👈

#order of the stick #oots #jude.art #fanart #vaarsuvius #belkar bitterleaf #elan the bard #haley starshine #durkon thundershield #roy greenhilt #hazbin hotel #IMS ORRY FOR THIS ITS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS FOR MONTHS

[themightyhumanbroom]

The webcomic The Order of the Stick is a marvel for avoiding the flanderization of the main cast for two decades. I think this is because the the main cast starts out as one dimensional caricatures of their respective archetypes. Because of this they had a lot more avenues and opportunities for character growth and STILL haven't stagnated or relapsed after, again, two decades. Whereas characters that enter a story with a good amount of character depth are more prone to coming down with flanderization.

I'm really talking about this trope like it's a disease aren't I?

Hell, it's the only peice of media I can think of that actually reversed a case flanderization. I am talking about the case of Belkar Bitterleaf. Belkar is the sole evil member of the Order of the Stick. He's kept in line by Roy the leader of the party but despite this he still manages to cause trouble. While everyone else is slowly developing their characters, he stays the same and becomes a little one note. But at one point the party is split and Roy isn't around to keep him in check. He ends up activating a curse that was placed on him and proceeds to nearly vomit himself to death. But during this Belkar has a trippy vision quest guided by a hallucination of one of the very few people that earned his respect; a crafty politician that played an entire order of paladins for fools. An hallucination that proceeds to tell him how to stay in the game without truly changing themselves.

This is such a brilliant solution to reversing flanderization. A solution that maybe only a meta, fourth wall breaking dnd comic can do. Pretend to have character growth so the people around you don't kill you.

Funny thing about faking it though is that sometimes you make it without knowing it. In the process of faking character growth he is unknowingly undergoing ACTUAL character growth. Makes it all the more funny when he himself says this much later on.

Dead on like a punch to the nose.

#the order of the stick #webcomic #dnd #belkar bitterleaf #flanderization #writing

[bobauthorman]

The Saga of Lead Sheeting

#The Order of the Stick #Miko Miyazaki #Belkar Bitterleaf #Niu #Ho Thanh #Hobgoblin #cleric #Detect Evil #Detect Good #Lead sheet #Haley Starshine #Roy Greenhilt #Elan #Paladin #Fighter #Rogue #Bard #Ranger #202 #779 #895

[diiiptera]

HI OOTS FANS I hope u guys love him as much as I do >:D

#order of the stick #oots #belkar bitterleaf #love him I cant believe he's gonna die #hello oots ppl I joined tumblr to post fan art but I made None until now #but i love seeing everyone's interpretations of them :) #I wanted to add mr scruffy but tragically the paper ended </3 #fan art #the order of the stick

[canontypicalgoblins]

greetings to all 14 of the order of the stick fans

#order of the stick #oots #belkar bitterleaf #belkar oots #he’s such a little bastard man #love how his entire arc was just “if i pretend to have character development i can be an asshole to people and they won’t be as mad” #ootsposting

[saturniade]

love my men atrocious and doomed by the narrative

#order of the stick #oots #belkar bitterleaf #belkster is a lot of fun to sketch!! he is small but packs a punch yanno. my fave ball of hatred<3

[grassknotts]

I'm back at uni this week, but still managed to find the time to create something paying tribute to the 20th anniversary of The Order of the Stick! This comic has genuinely been so important to me over the years, so I needed to commemorate the occasion.

#the order of the stick #order of the stick #oots #roy greenhilt #haley starshine #elan the bard #vaarsuvius #durkon thundershield #belkar bitterleaf #blackwing #mr scruffy #bloodfeast the extremeinator #i think this is the first time I've drawn the whole order together #minus Minrah but I couldn't fit her in :(

[inbarfink]

#order of the stick #oots #Julio Scoundrel #Julio Scoundrél #Tarquin #General Tarquin #Jirix #Kilkil #elan #elan the bard #Thog #durkon thundershield #belkar bitterleaf #redcloak #vaarsuvius #Hinjo #O-Chul #o chul #Monster in the Darkness #mitd #crystal #nale #Haley Starshine #sunny #sunny the beholder #Roy Greenhilt #the oracle #the oracle of sunken valley

[cosmicsodacan-art]

so I got my hands on a copy of the oots board game

#forgive the shit photos ok i tried my best #theres some other really good card art that made me giggle so i might draw that too #idk. maybe. anyway #time for actual tags #vaarsuvius #v oots #vaarsuvius oots #art by me #fan art #digital art #artists on tumblr #oots #the order of the stick #order of the stick #belkar oots #belkar bitterleaf #giant in the playground #gitp #sketch page #colored sketch