Favourite Character Tournament

[ti'esar]

Roy

Losers' Cup

Nale

[kxm]

Roy

and

Nale

[dps]

Malack

Still abstaining in the LC.

[martianmister]

Malack X Nale

[Rakoa]

Malack
Nale

[Bird]

Malack.

Roy, let's be honest, suffers a little bit from Designated Protagonist Syndrome. He lacks the endearing quirkiness of Elan, the grandly tragic flaw of Vaarsuvius, or the mad anarchy of Belkar. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a well-written character with a three-dimensional personality, but next to the others he's a little plain.

Further, as Belkar recently noted, he often has to play the straight man. True, Roy does get his share of punchlines, but his sarcasm/ranting/grumpiness aren't as conducive to funny as some of the other characters' personality traits are.

Roy's not quite as relateable to me as, say, Haley, partly because Haley's romantic subplot was full of pathos while Roy's was, by his own admission, one of "mutual lust." Again, this isn't bad writing -- I'm not sure it would have added anything to give Roy an involved romance when we already had our plates full with Haley/Elan. It's just something else which keeps me from being drawn to Roy as much as the rest of the Order.

Meanwhile, I delight in all the little details in Malack's character -- the whole affably evil schtick, the slightly formal & archaic dialogue, the juxtaposed violence and tenderness inherent in the "spawn" idea, the loneliness, the patience, his explosion at Tarquin, the gentle treatment of Mr. Scruffy. I admit that I was disappointed by the whole "mass sacrifice chamber" thing, which pushed him way into supervillain territory and spoiled a bit of the nuance in his characterization. Still, there's enough complexity to him for me to give him the nod over Roy.

LC

Nale

[rodneyAnonymous]

Malack
...and abstain, not voting for Nale

[Raineh Daze]

Malack

Roy just seems... dull. Necessary, but dull. Like air. Can't go on without it, but it's nothing to write home about when it's around.

Nale

Because watching his plans go wrong is hilarious.

[Cizak]

Roy Greenhilt. He's an all around likeable guy, enjoyably snarky, has had good amounts of character development and lately we've been seeing him under a whole new level of stress, which just adds even more to him.

I'll be honest, I probably would've voted for Malack if it wasn't for this strip. Up until that point, Malack pretty much had no flaw. He was evil on a nice level. Yes, he runs one of the most terrible empires in the world, but he's a nice guy to sit down and drink tea with. I like characters who are not totalt jerks just because they're eeeevil. The linked strip sorta put a hole in that, though... Don't get me wrong, I still love Malack. But the "I'm going to sacrifice 1000 people a day, mwahaha!" sucks (pun intended) a bit out of the thing I loved about him. Just a little bit.

[Caivs]

Malack

It's a hard one. I have to be honest, main characters in fiction really rarely are my favourite ones. Roy is a bit too normal for me, he has the same kind of personality most main protagonists usually have. Of course, his development over the course of the story is still very well done, and he definitely isn't as dull as some other heroes in other popular stories.

On the other hand, Malack is probably one of the characters who was the most interesting, enigmatic, shocking and yet somehow likeable, for the short time he's been around.

Characters like Roy are the backbone of a good story and allow it to go forward, while more particular support characters like Malack are what make it entertaining and make us enjoy not just the main plot, but also the whole universe. Malack did that job heroically, and that's why he gets my vote.

Nale

I don't think I need to really explain that one, while not being one of the best characters, he still gave us some interesting arcs.

[Hogwarts9876]

Roy

Nale

[isoriveil]

Malack, obviously.
As for LC, I'd abstain for now. None of them is at least as lovable as Booted Wight.

[Haleth]

Malack. One of my favorite characters and my favorite villain so far.

Nale. I love the dynamic between him and Elan. Tarquin thrown into the mix just makes it better.

[ChristianSt]

Roy Greenhilt VS Malack

Toughest decision so far. Roy is a really great character, but for me clearly the least favorite of the Order. Malack on the other hand is one of the interesting recent additions. I would have loved if he turned out to be Neutral, but nevertheless a really great character! (And not killing the sexy shoeless god of war is a plus)

Nale VS Old Blind Pete

I'm not really a fan of either one, so picking none seems fine.

[Rorrik]

Roy, Malack is extremely well written and a fun character, but I connect more with Roy, we've seen him through so much more, including death. Malack we've only seen in undeath.

Blind Pete Nale just drives me nuts. Blind Pete at least provided an interesting arena for a fun fight, also, Haley's bow.

[Fshy94]

Ah, actual tough ones!

I'm going to go with

Roy

and

Nale

[Torrasque]

Malack and Nale

Pretty much what Bird said about malack v roy

[Bluepaw]

Hoo boy. Getting tough. I didn't expect I'd vote against Malack this soon, but it's gotta be Roy. The humor, the intelligence, the flaws, the relationships, he's got them all in spades -- all in a main protagonist and straight man where, as everyone's acknowledged, it's hard for the character to be so more textured than his function in the story. But he does it, with the kudos to Rich as always!

And...Nale, I suppose. Substantially more interesting, love to hate him, etc. The arc where he was pretending to be Elan was pretty ace.

[Priceguy]

I didn't expect to vote against a protagonist, but it's Malack for me. Roy is the hero, but heroes tend to be boring. Roy is way less boring but most, but Malack is the kind of villain I love.

Blind Pete was fun but just a little side character. He has no chance against Nale.

[Meph]

Malack and Nale.

[theNater]

Roy Greenhilt for his snark.

Nale for his needless complications.

[oppyu]

Roy Greenhilt v. Malack is neck-and-neck, very dramatic. Closest match since the IFCC beat Gannji back in round 1.

Nale v. Old Blind Pete... not so much.

[Procyonpi]

Roy Greenhilt v. Malack is neck-and-neck, very dramatic. Closest match since the IFCC beat Gannji back in round 1.

Nale v. Old Blind Pete... not so much.

What about Enor vs. Zz'dtri?

[Kish]

What about Enor vs. Zz'dtri?

Doubly forgettable.

[theNater]

Roy Greenhilt v. Malack is neck-and-neck, very dramatic. Closest match since the IFCC beat Gannji back in round 1.

Nale v. Old Blind Pete... not so much.

Back during the 9 in 9, I missed a few rounds. Can I throw one of those unspent votes to Roy?

[oppyu]

What about Enor vs. Zz'dtri?

Well... um... you just lost your vote for correcting me

[GnomeGninjas]

Roy Greenhilt vs. Malack
Nale vs. Old Blind Pete

[Rakoa]

Roy Greenhilt v. Malack is neck-and-neck, very dramatic. Closest match since the IFCC beat Gannji back in round 1.

Nale v. Old Blind Pete... not so much.

I was just thinking that too. I've been keeping very close track of the votes for both Malack and Roy and they are insanely close to a degree I did not think possible.

[TRH]

I was just thinking that too. I've been keeping very close track of the votes for both Malack and Roy and they are insanely close to a degree I did not think possible.

Yeah, Malack's one vote ahead right now, right?

[Diamond Dragon]

Roy
and
Nale