Plot twists you thought would happen (but totally didn’t)

[zimmerwald1915]

I feel like we've moved past the point where "just leave Belkar dead" is something the Order would actually do.

I'm going to dance on your grave, you know.

[martianmister]

I was expecting Belkar's death at the desert.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the arena.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the pyramid.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the airship.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the godsmoot.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the restaurant.

[Fyraltari]

I was expecting Belkar's death at the desert.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the arena.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the pyramid.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the airship.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the godsmoot.
I was expecting Belkar's death at the restaurant.

You really thought he was going to die before the climax of the last book? He's one of the main characters.

[Peelee]

You really thought he was going to die before the climax of the last book? He's one of the main characters.

Even knowing that, the pyramid was one hell of a misdirect.

[Fyraltari]

Even knowing that, the pyramid was one hell of a misdirect.

I probably would have had my doubts as well if I had been reading the comic at the time to be honest.

[Peelee]

I probably would have had my doubts as well if I had been reading the comic at the time to be honest.

Huh. I thought you'd been around longer, just based on how often we interact.

[martianmister]

You really thought he was going to die before the climax of the last book?

Yes.

[Fyraltari]

Huh. I thought you'd been around longer, just based on how often we interact.

I started reading when the gang took the lift into Tinkertown, and started posting around #1090.

EDIT:

Yes.

Spoiler

Show

He's not going to.

[Peelee]

I started reading when the gang took the lift into Tinkertown, and started posting around #1090.

I found it at 808, IIRC. The join date on my profile is clearly wrong.

[Fyraltari]

I found it at 808, IIRC. The join date on my profile is clearly wrong.

Is that possible 'cause I got 1090 with the join date. I'm not sure when I actually tarted posting but I think it may have been before.

[Peelee]

Is that possible 'cause I got 1090 with the join date. I'm not sure when I actually tarted posting but I think it may have been before.

I guarantee it's possible, because I only found the comic shortly before I started dating my wife. That wasn't '09.

[XxXU2XxX]

I totally thought Elan's last name was Draketooth and the fact that Book 5 was centered around his family would reveal it.

[martianmister]

I thought that Starshines are a sub-branch of Draketooth family and they were descended from the god of tricksters Loki.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I feel like we've moved past the point where "just leave Belkar dead" is something the Order would actually do.

If Belkar died during the second vampire fight, he'd definitely be brought back ASAP. But you never know what might change between now and then.
(Or maybe he wants to stay dead. I doubt whatever afterlife he ends up in will be as nice as the CG one, but it's always possible that he'll get into a comfortable spot before the Order can scrape together the diamonds to bring him back. Or heck, maybe Shojo finds him and they start hanging out. Probably not—I doubt Shojo thinks as highly of Belkar as Belkar does of Shojo—but you never know.)

I'm going to dance on your grave, you know.

Both Roy and Belkar have matured since then.

I found it at 808, IIRC. The join date on my profile is clearly wrong.

While we're on the topic...I think I found OotS around 584, and caught up around 598, joining the forum sometime after that.

I thought that Starshines are a sub-branch of Draketooth family and they were descended from the god of tricksters Loki.

Plot twist: There is more than one family with red hair!

[Rrmcklin]

If Belkar died during the second vampire fight, he'd definitely be brought back ASAP. But you never know what might change between now and then.
(Or maybe he wants to stay dead. I doubt whatever afterlife he ends up in will be as nice as the CG one, but it's always possible that he'll get into a comfortable spot before the Order can scrape together the diamonds to bring him back. Or heck, maybe Shojo finds him and they start hanging out. Probably not—I doubt Shojo thinks as highly of Belkar as Belkar does of Shojo—but you never know.)

I mean, yes, we already know that Belkar isn't coming back, I wasn't arguing that he was so I'm not sure what the point of that first part.

But as for the rest of what you've said, no, I don't think "Belkar finding a comfortable spot" or "choosing to stay dead" would be in the cards at all for Belkar and where he would end up as he is now. And I don't know how he'd find Shojo since, Shojo was CG and you yourself admitted Belkar is unlikely (I'd say definitively impossible) not going to end up where those types go.

[martianmister]

Plot twist: There is more than one family with red hair!

Not just red hair but exact same shade of red hair.

[Sir_Norbert]

You really thought he was going to die before the climax of the last book? He's one of the main characters.

Lord of the Rings. Star Wars. Redwall. Final Fantasy VII. Just a few examples off the top of my head.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Lord of the Rings. Star Wars. Redwall. Final Fantasy VII. Just a few examples off the top of my head.

Never heard of Redwall, but all the others are examples of Mentor death (assuming that FF7 is the one that lifted the plot wholesale from Phantasy Star 4), and Belkar is many things, but mentor is not one of them.

Grey Wolf

[hamishspence]

Not just red hair but exact same shade of red hair.

Even if you stick to "living Draketooths seen in non-crayon, non-illusion strips prior to the Big Reveal" (Orrin):

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0816.html

his hair is slightly different than Haley's is in the same strip. His is a little more orange, hers is a little more pink.

Haley's hair color's evolved a bit since the first strips - in the most recent ones it's much pinker and less orange than in the earliest strips.

[martianmister]

Even if you stick to "living Draketooths seen in non-crayon, non-illusion strips prior to the Big Reveal" (Orrin):

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0816.html

his hair is slightly different than Haley's is in the same strip. His is a little more orange, hers is a little more pink.

Haley's hair color's evolved a bit since the first strips - in the most recent ones it's much pinker and less orange than in the earliest strips.

Still close enough.

[GreatWyrmGold]

And I don't know how he'd find Shojo since, Shojo was CG and you yourself admitted Belkar is unlikely (I'd say definitively impossible) not going to end up where those types go.

I don't know, either. That's why I said "maybe Shojo finds him," since it seems more likely that he'd be able to wander the cosmos and visit the CE/CN afterlife than vise versa. And also why I said "probably not".

Not just red hair but exact same shade of red hair.

Putting aside how this has always been wrong, how many shades of red do you expect from this artstyle?

[Emanick]

Putting aside how this has always been wrong, how many shades of red do you expect from this artstyle?

I don't think the artstyle does much to constrain how many shades of red Rich can use in choosing a hair color. I could be wrong.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I don't think the artstyle does much to constrain how many shades of red Rich can use in choosing a hair color. I could be wrong.

Fair point, I did kinda screw up the explanation there. But the comic does keep a pretty consistent color palette, which limits the number of shades which are easily-distinguishable while still looking like red hair.

[Rrmcklin]

I don't know, either. That's why I said "maybe Shojo finds him," since it seems more likely that he'd be able to wander the cosmos and visit the CE/CN afterlife than vise versa. And also why I said "probably not".

And Shojo would be wondering the CE/CN afterlives because...? It may sound like I'm harping on this, but none of that really strikes me as coherent.

It strikes me as trying to give Belkar a happy ending (or at least not a completely terrible one), despite him being the one least likely (and arguably least deserving) actually get one.

[Snails]

Never heard of Redwall, but all the others are examples of Mentor death (assuming that FF7 is the one that lifted the plot wholesale from Phantasy Star 4), and Belkar is many things, but mentor is not one of them.

Boromir looked like a main character, too, that would be both ally and antagonist to Aragorn. Until he wasn't. And the torch of conflict carried by Boromir would be taken up by his father with...someone who was dead at the time -- that one was a bit hard to see coming.

[Snails]

Even knowing that, the pyramid was one hell of a misdirect.

That is one hell of an understatement!

The wee sexy warrior had vampire fangs. Literally. In. His. Neck.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Boromir looked like a main character

Really? Shows up half way through, has barely any lines or development, and joins the team at the same time as a dwarf and an elf, explicitly because it is felt all races need to be represented, making him feel token-y in-story. Boromir has a lot to be recommended for - interesting antagonist, interesting parody of an actual main character in similar stories, interesting foil for Aragorn, but I never felt he was main character material.

Grey Wolf

[Resileaf]

Really? Shows up half way through, has barely any lines or development, and joins the team at the same time as a dwarf and an elf, explicitly because it is felt all races need to be represented, making him feel token-y in-story. Boromir has a lot to be recommended for - interesting antagonist, interesting parody of an actual main character in similar stories, interesting foil for Aragorn, but I never felt he was main character material.

Grey Wolf

Also he's played by Sean Bean, so it you don't know what's coming, it's really your own fault.

[Snails]

Really? Shows up half way through, has barely any lines or development, and joins the team at the same time as a dwarf and an elf, explicitly because it is felt all races need to be represented, making him feel token-y in-story. Boromir has a lot to be recommended for - interesting antagonist, interesting parody of an actual main character in similar stories, interesting foil for Aragorn, but I never felt he was main character material.

He looked like an important foil for Aragorn's arc. That Aragorn would take the long "king sming; let us three blue-blooded seasoned warriors look for the two hobbits of unknown value as the wolves gather at the door of all the civilized peoples of the west" way was not so obvious. Unless you read the book first.

Also he's played by Sean Bean, so it you don't know what's coming, it's really your own fault.

Cannot argue.

[Quebbster]

Also he's played by Sean Bean, so it you don't know what's coming, it's really your own fault.

Wasn't Boromir and Ned Stark the main basis for that joke anyway? Maybe Alec Trevelyan, but Bond villains don't have much of a life expectancy anyway.