Is Stanley Holy?

[kpenguin]

Is he? Or is his supposed holiness really the product of an inflated ego?

Did being chosen by the Titans make him arrogant or did being arrogant make him think he was chosen by the Titans?

[Jasdoif]

Could be both. Being capable of using the Arkenhammer might cause arrogance, and that arrogance inflated that into "being chosen by the Titans".


Really though, what's "holy" actually entail here? We know very little about the Titans, or their agenda/scripture. Apparently they look like Elvis, and there's some sort of scripture. Stanley's statement about "holy" and "unholy" is entirely rooted in the Arkentools and attunement, which says little-to-nothing about the Titans themselves.

[donkyhotay]

Personally I wouldn't consider stanley 'holy' in any way. Currently we don't know the reason why only certain people are attuned to the arkentools. It could be because they 'were chosen by the titans' as stanley *wants* people to think. But it could just be random luck, having a certain personality, or remembering to have 3 servings of dairy per day. Even if being attuned to an arkentool is chosen by the titans I personally see the titans as representing the authors (I mean just look at pclips avatar) and the titans could easily choose people who would be 'interesting' to see attuned to a mighty instrument of ultimate power, not necessarily the best ones from a mere mortals perspective.

[Hectonkhyres]

Is he holy? Possibly.

Gods don't have to be good and, in fact, usually aren't. Go through a list of polytheistic (and even monotheistic) gods and you will see that damn near all of them could be rat-bastards at least from time to time.

I wouldn't put it past a pantheon of divine Elvis impersonators to back Stanly in order to stir up the pot a bit. This is, after all, a universe seemingly built as a game. The current goings on are probably quite amusing.

[Aquillion]

Is he? Or is his supposed holiness really the product of an inflated ego?

Did being chosen by the Titans make him arrogant or did being arrogant make him think he was chosen by the Titans?

Stanley does not seem to be the main character. It is fairly difficult to imagine the rest of this comic being the story of "How Stanley collects the Arkentools and gains ultimate power, with Parson supporting him." My guess is that Stanley is just an egomaniac who happened to have the right genes or state of mind or whatever for the hammer to attune to him.

Of course, we don't really know enough about attunement or what it means to really discuss this... but I think Stanley's ranting on his being the chosen one was meant to be taken as just that, the insane ranting of a madman. He's convinced that the fact that Ansom is trying to kill him is proof that he's the chosen one, too. He probably interprets everything to mean that he's the Titans' chosen one.

[ShiningTed]

I'll just mention that Wanda was shocked Stanley was using the A-Hammer to crack walnuts because it was divine and "a tool of the Titans".

His mad ravings probably remain just that, but he is not the only one who sees the Arkentools as divine objects. (And he is attuned to his, where Ansom ain't).

[Arkenputtyknife]

Holy or not, the fact that Stanley is (as far as I know) the only Erfworld character to be named after a major manufacturer of tools is something to ponder.

[Querzis]

Holy or not, the fact that Stanley is (as far as I know) the only Erfworld character to be named after a major manufacturer of tools is something to ponder.

We dont know much about the Arkentool, Stanley could very well have been the first one to have touched the Arkenhammer, automatically got attuned to it and refused to give it to his king. As far as we know, the Arkenhammer could very well attune to absolutely anyone who touch it and the Arkenplyers are just more selective.

Anyway, if Stanley is holy then Miko is the chosen one of the 12 gods.

[Silverlocke980]

I'm arguing that Stanley aint' holy. In fact, I'm going to go a step further and say that it's partly a cruel joke: the Titans really are using him for something, but it's not what he thinks it is. He's meant to give the Arkenhammer to somebody else, which is why he rose from the ranks of not-nobility to being a warlord.

So, in a way, he really is a tool of the Titans- but literally, in this case, and no more important than a messenger boy.

Wouldn't that be a heck of a plot twist!

[Clertar]

For a second there I read "is Stanley hot?"

[Necrosis]

THe other thing to consider is that

holiness might equal been elvis like

Now is Kiss holy compared to Elvis? I suspect not, but the oppisition doesn't even come close, thus Stanley has far more in common with the titans than anyone else does right now!

Holy or Unholy-at least he is soemthing 'holish'

[plainsfox]

*riddles Stanley with arrows*

Does Holey count?

[jindra34]

*riddles Stanley with arrows*

Does Holey count?

Not for this test though it does count for something...

[SteveMB]

Does Holey count?

Jillian would certainly be satisfied with that....

[Caledonian]

I fail to see why 'holy' should be necessarily related to 'good', or even 'competent'. Stanley clearly isn't either of the latter two, but he may be the former.

Our opinions are ultimately irrelevant: the gods have their own. The Titans have their standards, and so do their Tools. But consider: the Arkenhammer is listed as having the weakness of personal taste in friends.

[2.72]

So, in a way, he really is a tool of the Titans- but literally, in this case, and no more important than a messenger boy.

That's a good point. Let's try to think of everything that, as far as we know, his Toolship accomplished.

• He summoned someone from outside the world. Someone, in fact, who has a reasonably shrewed idea how the world works, once again from the outside.
• It looks like he handed said person a city.

Seems like it could be very significant, no?

[Gaiwecoor]

There's something I find really interesting that I haven't seen mentioned in all of the debates about holiness and attunement and the like... on the Erf cast page, check out the Arkenhammer's current occupation. That's right. It says MacGuffin. Ultimately, the hammer doesn't matter. The story isn't about the Arkentools at all. They merely give a motivation for people do do something, but aren't really all that relevant.

That's just my 2 cp.. Take it or leave it.

[Lizard Lord]

No, Stanley, like many of histories dictators, believes, or at least claims, he is fighting for a holy cause when he is not. This I am convinced of and shall remain so unless the comic proves otherwise.

[Kish]

Stanley being unable to deal with Lord Hamster's name being Parson Gotti works on two levels. There's a basic one of him thinking it's a stupid horrible name (and, yes, being in grade school with the name Parson must have been...interesting), but also, he chokes on calling someone else an anagram of "Protagonist." Not consciously--he would certainly have disbanded Parson on the spot if he had realized what the in-joke was--but I don't think the writers meant him to only object to a non-Erf name.

[multilis]

Stanley may see himself as unholy... his world/terminology is sort of a mirror of our games and his side does un-croaking. He may not think unholy is more evil, the "holy" guys in his opinion do as much backstabbing and slaughter.

Discussion started with Parson thinking it was good verses evil and GK was evil, and Stanley "corrects" him that instead it is holy verses unholy.

Does holy mean tuned to the tools of the Makers, or against necromancy?