If you had to choose ONE major/semi major character to kill,who would it be?

[Hardcore]

Roy, I would probably hate his way to tell me what to do.

[Themrys]

I'd kill Belkar. I like the others too much, even Elan.

However, if I had to kill someone who'd come back anyways, then Elan. The OotS would be much more successful without him.

[Ancalagon]

Vaarsuvius. He had it coming.

After death, he'll also go to hell (permanently).

Note: Belkar will die of course as well. I bet he'll meet Xykon in the Abyss... and they will have a lot of fun together (between the ages they do not have fun due to being in Demonland).

[Cybertoy00]

The Empress of Blood. At the risk of sounding overly morbid, I go on to justify this kill with the phrase 'Her bloated corpse would feed all the children in the western lands.'
And personally, I'm surprised she's lasted this long. Her cholestoral count must be in the millions.

[Ancalagon]

She's far from being a "major" or "semi-major" character.

Sure, she's big, but that's all. From a narrative perspective she's on the same level of importance than some random background schmuck.

Semi-Major: Linear Guild and above.

[tcrudisi]

I couldn't possibly kill Elan or Belkar. Without them, the comic would be a story, not a comic.

I'd probably go with Durkon. He's just ... boring. I understand why he's there, it just feels that he sits in the backseat sleeping while everyone else is head-banging to some rock'n'roll. Except Roy, who is trying to change the channel to NPR. But hey - at least he's still awake.

(And I don't listen to music; I only listen to NPR. But I think that analogy makes the most sense to most people, so I went with it.)

[nihil8r]

Since Belkar is going to kick the bucket soon anyway, I'd chose Haley. She has become too much a Mary Sue.

you clearly have NO idea what a mary sue is

[fwiffo]

Miko. And then I would bring her back as undead and kill her again.

[ThePhantasm]

I guess a more harsh name for the thread would be "Who do you hate enough to kill?"

I don't really hate any of the characters, to be honest. They are all well-written characters. I like the role each plays in the story.

[Warren Dew]

Belkar. Hurry it up already!

I guess a more harsh name for the thread would be "Who do you hate enough to kill?"

Oh, in that case, Redcloak. Or maybe Inkyrius if Inkyrius qualifies as "semi major".

[Ancalagon]

Do not worry, it seems at the moment and to me like Belkar would not leave the arena...

[gooddragon1]

The Snarl. Xykon may be a problem, but I wouldn't want the Snarl threatening reality.

[PsychoticPanda]

Sabine, I just don't really care for her.....

[Souhiro]

I would torture Redcloack to death, then raise him, then torture him to death again, and keep doing it until he is a Lvl-1, with a CON of One. Then I would WISH that all his Strenght, Dexterity, Inteligence, Wisdom and Charisma will dissapear and strengenth his Constitution, so he could torture him to death many, many times more.

Then, when he has all his Atributes to 1, use another WISH, to know what is exactly the way in wich the Crimson Mantle can be utterly destroyed, what consecuences will carry that destruction and ways to prevent damage from that destruction.

And destroy the crimson mantle in front of Redcloak.

Then torture him to death for a last time.


Lastly, I would ask for Atonement and go to "Living la vida loca"

[aart lover]

I would torture Redcloack to death, then raise him, then torture him to death again, and keep doing it until he is a Lvl-1, with a CON of One. Then I would WISH that all his Strenght, Dexterity, Inteligence, Wisdom and Charisma will dissapear and strengenth his Constitution, so he could torture him to death many, many times more.

Then, when he has all his Atributes to 1, use another WISH, to know what is exactly the way in wich the Crimson Mantle can be utterly destroyed, what consecuences will carry that destruction and ways to prevent damage from that destruction.

And destroy the crimson mantle in front of Redcloak.

Then torture him to death for a last time.


Lastly, I would ask for Atonement and go to "Living la vida loca"

remind me to never make enemies with you

[Talvereaux]

Probably someone evil, like Xykon or something. The Snarl if that's allowed.

Not because I dislike them as characters; on the contrary, Xykon, Redcloak, and Tsukiko among my favorites. My actual least favorite characters are most of the B-list Azurites, like Hinjo, Lien, O-Chul, Kazumi, and Daigo, but being comparatively boring subplots doesn't seem like strong incentive to kill them, especially while other characters are threatening life as we know it!

[The Pilgrim]

you clearly have NO idea what a mary sue is

Yes, yes I have.

[Kish]

Lastly, I would ask for Atonement and go to "Living la vida loca"

An Atonement spell is still not a "get out of your past crimes free" card. Given that planning to ask for the spell was part of the same plan where you did all the other things, the spell would completely fizzle.

(Also, with no Intelligence or Wisdom Redcloak would be a vegetable, probably unable to even feel pain and definitely unable to comprehend why he was feeling it.)

[TheProfessor]

Haley's not a mary sue. A mary sue is a character that the plot has to adapt to,rather than the character adapting to the plot.

[Swordpriest]

I'd vote for Redcloak, myself.

[G-Man Graves]

I would torture Redcloack to death, then raise him, then torture him to death again, and keep doing it until he is a Lvl-1, with a CON of One. Then I would WISH that all his Strenght, Dexterity, Inteligence, Wisdom and Charisma will dissapear and strengenth his Constitution, so he could torture him to death many, many times more.

Then, when he has all his Atributes to 1, use another WISH, to know what is exactly the way in wich the Crimson Mantle can be utterly destroyed, what consecuences will carry that destruction and ways to prevent damage from that destruction.

And destroy the crimson mantle in front of Redcloak.

Then torture him to death for a last time.


Lastly, I would ask for Atonement and go to "Living la vida loca"

First off, the subject needs to be willing to come back. Kind of a big deal. Secondly: "The creature seeking atonement must be truly repentant and desirous of setting right its misdeeds."

Enjoy your stay in the nine hells.

[Dr.Epic]

Xykon. Comic's over.

[veti]

Also Xykon.

Most evil character, so I don't have to feel even slightly guilty about killing him.

And he's probably worth more XP than just about anyone else, so he'll catapult me directly to mid-levels in one stroke.

[Kish]

It appears that the question, "Do you want the comic to end?" gets a dramatically different answer if phrased a little differently.

[G-Man Graves]

Comic ends if Durkon dies. Without his healing, the Order are promptly killed the next time the fight an actual thread.

[The Pilgrim]

Haley's not a mary sue. A mary sue is a character that the plot has to adapt to,rather than the character adapting to the plot.

I quote the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader. Perhaps the single underlying feature of all characters described as "Mary Sues" is that they are too ostentatious for the audience's taste, or that the author seems to favor the character too highly. The author may seem to push how exceptional and wonderful the "Mary Sue" character is on his or her audience, sometimes leading the audience to dislike or even resent the character fairly quickly; such a character could be described as an "author's pet".


And now, the other wiki:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing.

She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her into their nakama, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favorite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series. (See Common Mary Sue Traits for more detail on any of these cliches.)

In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.

...

Does the bolded sentences ring any bells? Let me help you with some examples:

- Lacking noteworthy flaws:
Her only notable flaw was her over-paranoia, and she overcame that long ago. Her partners, while have shown character growth, are still a band of misfits.

- The author seems to favor the character too highly:
When has been the last time Haley screwed up for real? Because I have to track back to at least the Bandit Camp arc to find one barely-qualifying example. In the meantime, Elan and Belkar screw up every other page, V filled the bill with the soul-splice thing, and Roy spent a full book dead.

- Exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas:
Not only she is totally perfect in the tasks a Rogue is designed to (specially her dodge, never fails a dex-based save, always come unscratched from area-effects spells, including crossing a Blade Barrier unscratched while carring the body of a paralized companion), but also shines in areas where a Rogue should fail; Her only hand to hand combat tactic is to charge forward shooting arrows, and even without her bow, she has proven in the last arc to be capable of fighting with close combat weapons and even polearms. Come on, a rogue fighting like that should have hit the grave like 600 strips ago.

- Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise:
Again in the current arc, we have seen time and time again Haley outstriping the Bard with over 20 Charisma at Diplomacy.

....

So, we can hijack the thread and begin a long debate about if Haley (fully or partially) qualifies as a Mary Sue or not. But, you have to acknowelde that there are grounds to arge (whenever you agree with those arguments or not) that Haley has been leaning towards that status. Perhaps as a result of the "Elan (dumb blonde that fails at everything) - Haley (his mature caretaker)" dynamic.

I'm not going to press the debate any further because I don't want to hijack the thread. If you agree with my points, fine. If you do not, I'm fine too. All I'm asking here is a little respect for the opinions of other people, and not discarding them with a simplistic one liner like the guy before you did. (Yep, you are getting some undeserved flak here, sorry for that)

Thanks for your time and have a nice day.

[Talvereaux]

It appears that the question, "Do you want the comic to end?" gets a dramatically different answer if phrased a little differently.

If I have to kill someone, they might as well deserve it.

[Gift Jeraff]

It appears that the question, "Do you want the comic to end?" gets a dramatically different answer if phrased a little differently.

They think Tarquin's the main villain these days. I thought you knew.

[Prospekt]

The slice of pizza that killed Milk Dudes. That sonofa-

[Kish]

I quote the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader. Perhaps the single underlying feature of all characters described as "Mary Sues" is that they are too ostentatious for the audience's taste, or that the author seems to favor the character too highly. The author may seem to push how exceptional and wonderful the "Mary Sue" character is on his or her audience, sometimes leading the audience to dislike or even resent the character fairly quickly; such a character could be described as an "author's pet".


And now, the other wiki:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing.

She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her into their nakama, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favorite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series. (See Common Mary Sue Traits for more detail on any of these cliches.)

In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.

...

Does the bolded sentences ring any bells?

...sigh. For Haley? I wish I thought you were kidding.

- Lacking noteworthy flaws:

You mean, other than being greedy, stealing from her friends as a matter of course, being mentally unstable...

- The author seems to favor the character too highly:
When has been the last time Haley screwed up for real?

Stalling out in Azure City...not telling Celia why they needed to avoid Greysky City...trusting Old Blind Pete...I could look for more examples, but since I expect you to deny any of these count, it seems really quite pointless. She screws up at least an order of magnitude more often than, say, Roy.

[...] Come on, a rogue fighting like that should have hit the grave like 600 strips ago.

At this point, I'm wondering how much you know about D&D--specifically, if you have any idea of how fights between level 15 characters and low-level warriors go, or how hard it would be for a level 15 rogue with a Dexterity over 20 to fail a Reflex save against a Blade Barrier.

You quoted "- Exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas:" and pointed to, "Look, she's halfway competent!"

- Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise:
Again in the current arc, we have seen time and time again Haley outstriping the Bard with over 20 Charisma at Diplomacy.

You mean, "Again in the current arc, we have seen time and time again Haley outstriping the idiot who always makes a point of saying exactly rhe wrong thing at Diplomacy."? I get that people complain about Elan screwing up; you're the first one I've seen claim it reflected badly on Haley, though.

....

So, we can hijack the thread and begin a long debate about if Haley (fully or partially) qualifies as a Mary Sue or not. But, you have to acknowelde that there are grounds to arge (whenever you agree with those arguments or not) that Haley has been leaning towards that status.

Just like, if you claimed Belkar had become Lawful Good, I would have to "acknowledge" that there were ground to argue that. (And do I even want to know who "the author's favorite canon character" is supposed to be here, since you bolded it?)

Edit: Someone has apparently started a thread on this topic; if you wish to defend your assertion further, I'll see you there.