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Seems strip #448 of The Order of the Stick was so well executed it has left more than a few people sickened/disgusted/horrified/appalled, who seem to be only just now realising what it means that the villain of the story is evil. The strength of the response gives me hope that I might be able to provoke such emotional reactions in the future. Mind you, it was superbly executed.
So, here's Megalomaniac2's eloquent response to one poster's realisation that "Xykon is evil, much more than I thought":
So, here's Megalomaniac2's eloquent response to one poster's realisation that "Xykon is evil, much more than I thought":
It's exactly what O-chul was warning Haley about in 417- Haley and us.
One of the drawbacks of following a story as well-done as OOTS is that
we wind up involved with its world and its characters, even if they're
stick figures. Us and Haley both thought Xykon's assault would be a fun
little piece of awesome- lots of splash pages, suspense, and jokes, so
what if some nameless NPCs die? And Xykon? He's hilarious! We love
Xykon! I mean, he's technically evil, but let's face it, we root for
him as much as the Order itself! Bring on the war!
But when war comes to a well-done fictional world that the
audience cares about, it's ugly. O-chul tried to warn us. He tried to
point out to us and Haley that people were going to die, and even if
they were nameless NPCs it would still be nasty.
Xykon isn't just funny and powerful, he's completely insane and
very, very evil. The only thing he cares about in all of existence is
his own amusement. And if making dozens of lifelong comrades devoted to
Good slaughter one another within a minute, wiping out decades of
tradition, honour, training, courage, and sacrifice in a single strip-
with a bouncy ball- if that's what it takes to get Xykon off, well,
he'll do it. Xykon cares about NO ONE- not even the readers. Like many
of the characters, he's partially aware that he's in a comic strip, but
still he has no sense of respect for the story, or the plot, or what
we'd find most entertaining, much less any of his fellow characters.
The only reason he sticks to genre cliches when it comes to Roy or the
Monster in the Dark is that it amuses HIM.
I think that's the real reason #448 had such an impact. When a story is
this good, the audience becomes invested in the characters, including
the villains. We loved and trusted Xykon; despite his evil status in
the comic. He entertained us so we rooted for him anyways. We expected
him to entertain us with the Sapphire Guard with a multi-episode,
snark-filled battle. But Xykon doesn't care about us. He cares about
himself. And so instead of what we were expecting, we got a sickening,
sadistic, and humiliating display of stick-figure carnage brought on by
a superball.
One of the drawbacks of following a story as well-done as OOTS is that
we wind up involved with its world and its characters, even if they're
stick figures. Us and Haley both thought Xykon's assault would be a fun
little piece of awesome- lots of splash pages, suspense, and jokes, so
what if some nameless NPCs die? And Xykon? He's hilarious! We love
Xykon! I mean, he's technically evil, but let's face it, we root for
him as much as the Order itself! Bring on the war!
But when war comes to a well-done fictional world that the
audience cares about, it's ugly. O-chul tried to warn us. He tried to
point out to us and Haley that people were going to die, and even if
they were nameless NPCs it would still be nasty.
Xykon isn't just funny and powerful, he's completely insane and
very, very evil. The only thing he cares about in all of existence is
his own amusement. And if making dozens of lifelong comrades devoted to
Good slaughter one another within a minute, wiping out decades of
tradition, honour, training, courage, and sacrifice in a single strip-
with a bouncy ball- if that's what it takes to get Xykon off, well,
he'll do it. Xykon cares about NO ONE- not even the readers. Like many
of the characters, he's partially aware that he's in a comic strip, but
still he has no sense of respect for the story, or the plot, or what
we'd find most entertaining, much less any of his fellow characters.
The only reason he sticks to genre cliches when it comes to Roy or the
Monster in the Dark is that it amuses HIM.
I think that's the real reason #448 had such an impact. When a story is
this good, the audience becomes invested in the characters, including
the villains. We loved and trusted Xykon; despite his evil status in
the comic. He entertained us so we rooted for him anyways. We expected
him to entertain us with the Sapphire Guard with a multi-episode,
snark-filled battle. But Xykon doesn't care about us. He cares about
himself. And so instead of what we were expecting, we got a sickening,
sadistic, and humiliating display of stick-figure carnage brought on by
a superball.
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Date: 2007-05-10 10:43 (UTC)From:I think not b/c of the death but b/c of the sense of hopelessness :\ And when coupled with the feeling ppl get when reading a strip they think is supposed to be funny, it rly rly hurts :O And then ppl get mad. :\
It's kinda reasonable I guess, cuz they feel like "if I wanted to feel this bad, I'd read something sad". :|
However, I think that the following strip has all the more impact B/C 448 was so powerful :O
However, if 448 was just THE END, then it would just seem like the author deliberately wanted to hurt the audience and then it would be kinda mean :(
Tho clearly, the author can do whatever s/he likes :) But the audience can also feel cheated :O
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Date: 2007-05-10 21:14 (UTC)From: