Roy Greenhilt

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caption=Roy Greenhilt, drawn by Rich Burlew.
comic_color=background:#8080ff
character_name=Roy Greenhilt
real_name=
publisher=Giant In The Playground
debut="The Order of the Stick" #1 [cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html | title = New Edition | work = Episode 1 ]
creators=Rich Burlew
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status=splattered over a battlefield
alliances=Order of the Stick
previous_alliances=
aliases=
relatives=Eugene Greenhilt (father - deceased), Julia (sister)
powers=Veteran fighter. Tactical expertise, relative practicality and common sense compared to comrades. High intelligence, wisdom and charisma for a fighter.|

Roy Greenhilt is a major character in the webcomic, The Order of the Stick, written by Rich Burlew. A 29-year-oldcite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0500.html | work = Episode 500 | title = A Reason To Keep Trying ] veteran fighter, Roy assembled the Order and acted as party leader. Roy is a counterstereotype of the traditional "dumb fighter" cliché.

Character History

Early Life and College

Roy was the son and eldest child of Eugene Greenhilt, a highly accomplished illusionist, who wished for his son to follow in his footsteps and enroll in Mage College. Roy, however, had other ideas. Inspired by tales of his grandfather and the greatsword that he wielded, he enrolled in Bash University (Bash U), a college for those intending to become fighters. Roy, being highly studious, found himself to be something of a social outcast. After three years of study, he was surprised to receive a visit from his father, who had disowned him when he chose the fighter's path. Eugene explained to his son that he was dying of old age and that Roy and his younger sister Julia would inherit a blood oath of vengeance that he had sworn against the sorcerer Xykon, who had slain Eugene's mentor many years earlier. Despite his father's firm belief that Roy, as a lowly fighter, would be incapable of facing Xykon (now having become a lich) successfully, Roy swore to continue his father's quest to destroy the sorcerer. Shortly after his father's death some years later, Roy graduated from college with an MBA (Master of Battle Administration).

Pre-Order Adventuring

After college, Roy decided that he needed to gain some levels before starting his quest to destroy Xykon and so signed up with an adventuring party that were on a quest to eliminate a group of orcs who had been causing problems in a nearby town. One of the other members of the party was a surly dwarven cleric by the name of Durkon Thundershield whose attitude made him generally disliked by the other members of the group. Sent on a mission with Durkon by the other members of the party, who made it quite clear that they'd be more than happy if Durkon failed to return, Roy saved his compatriot's life by throwing himself into the path of an attack meant for Durkon. Fending off the attack, Roy realised that the orcs were not there to cause trouble, but were waiting for a forthcoming rock concert and it was the natural distrust of orcs by the townspeople that was causing the problems. Roy came to an agreement with the orcs, allowing them to stay for the concert on the proviso that they moved on afterwards. Facing the disagreement of the rest of the party, who failed to understand why Roy wasted time negotiating with the orcs rather than simply killing them, as adventurers, in their opinion, were supposed to do, Roy left in disgust, telling them that he would never kill somebody simply because it was more convenient than talking to them.

Durkon went after him, telling Roy that he was the first human he'd ever met who chose to use his head when faced with a choice between thinking and violence and that in saving his life, Roy was also the first non-dwarf who had ever cared about him. Durkon then told him that, if Roy ever formed his own party, that he would be part of it. Realizing that the time had come, Roy, with Durkon's assistance, then spent the next couple of years seeking out information about Xykon, ultimately gaining the location of the lich's lair from an oracle. After hearing details of the likely opposition, Roy and Durkon came to the conclusion that they would need more assistance.

Forming The Order

Roy and Durkon separated to look for willing allies. Roy initially tried approaching adventurers in the street, only to be immediately rebuffed. A chance encounter with a passing bard named Elan, who was familiar with genre conventions, put him straight. Elan assisted Roy in disguising himself as a stereotypical 'mysterious stranger' and told him to sit in the corner of a tavern and stare into his drink. Despite feeling utterly ridiculous, Roy complied and was shocked to discover a number of adventurers waiting to talk to him when he finally looked up. Explaining the task ahead of him, Roy was turned down almost immediately by the vast majority of the applicants, but three showed interest: A rogue named Haley Starshine, a high elven wizard by the name of Vaarsuvius and a highly confrontational halfling ranger named Belkar Bitterleaf. He gave the final position in the party to Elan, as thanks for his assistance. After some debate among the party as to what name they should adopt, Roy finally made the irritated and entirely frivolous suggestion that they should be called "The Order of the Stick," purely because they happened to be passing a stick lying on the ground at the time. To his distinct aggravation, this met with considerable approval.

After their initial encounter with a small group of kobolds went badly, Roy gave serious thought to disbanding the party immediately, but was talked out of it by Durkon, who pointed out that he and Roy hadn't got along when they first met either. He suggested that Roy might be exactly the sort of strong leader that they needed to get them to work as a team. Despite great misgivings, Roy agreed to give it a chance.

Xykon, Round One

Arriving at Xykon's lair, the Dungeon of Dorukan in the Redmountain Hills, the Order made their way through level by level, fighting their way past goblins, ninjas and various other creatures. Roy was also visited en route by the ghost of his father, who provided him cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0015.html | work = Episode 15 | title = Family Time ] with a prophecy that, in traditional fashion, was almost completely impenetrable until the right moment. They also encountered the Linear Guild for the first time, an evil group made up of opposites of their own team, led by Elan's highly intelligent and evil brother, Nale. The two groups ultimately fought, with the Order coming out on top, at least in part due to Roy's abrupt realisation cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0059.html | work = Episode 59 | title = The Shot Heard Round the Dungeon ] about his father's prophecy. Some of the Guild escaped, one was slain and the two captives, Nale and his half-orc fighter companion, Thog, were taken to prison by Celia, a sylph who had fallen foul of the Guild.

Celia also showed the Order a way down into the lower levels of the dungeon, saving them considerable time and effort. Roy finally came face-to-face with Xykon, who almost immediately shattered his greatsword. Enraged, Roy lifted cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0114.html | work = Episode 114 | title = Exciting Climax ] Xykon and threw the lich into a mysterious gate located in the bottom level of the dungeon. Xykon's body was destroyed by the gate's energies. The castle and underlying dungeon was destroyed shortly afterwards when Elan set off a self-destruct system that had been built in by their constructor, Dorukan. All the Order escaped unharmed, despite Elan's insistence cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0119.html | work = Episode 119 | title = Hollywood, Eat Your Heart Out ] on the theatrics required by the event putting both himself and Roy a little bit closer to the blast than Roy felt entirely safe with. Believing Xykon destroyed, Roy considered it a victory, taking a crown from the lich's head and wearing it as a necklace.

Restocking and resupplying

The Order returned to town, where they addressed such matters as the division of the treasure, level-rises due to experience for completing their quest and so forth. To his slight disgust, Roy ended up with a bag of tricks, which he regarded as an utterly useless magic item, although he was later to find the occasional use for it. Roy also looked into the matter of getting his sword reforged, only to be told by the dwarven blacksmith (unknown to Roy, Sabine of the Linear Guild in disguise) that his sword was made of star-metal and a new supply would be needed to reforge it. The smith told him cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0134.html | work = Episode 134 | title = Craft (Plotline) ] of a place where a meteorite had fallen a century earlier, which would contain the metal that he needed. Cursing the necessity of side-quests, Roy assembled the rest of the party, convinced them to help out (their original contracts with him had expired with the fall of Xykon) and set out. After various misadventures, including tangling with bandits, a hag who turned Vaarsuvius into a lizard, and a dragon, they recovered a substantial hoard of loot, plus the starmetal meteorite, which turned out to be a nugget smaller than a fist.

Azure City

En route back to town, Roy and his party were accosted cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html | work = Episode 200 | title = The Confrontation ] by Miko Miyazaki, a paladin of the Sapphire Guard of Azure City, who had come to arrest them for crimes against existence, namely Elan's destruction of the gate in Dorukan's Dungeon. Prompted at least in part by his general weakness for attractive women, Roy agreed to comply and persuaded his teammates to do likewise. Despite several setbacks en route, most notably a series of misadventures at an inn cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0224.html | work = Episode 224 | title = Groggy, Groggy, Groggy ] along the route, which included Roy being temporarily hailed as a king cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0227.html | work = Episode 227 | title = AR&R ] , the total destruction of said inn, the loss of practically all of their loot, Roy spending an amount of time as an attractive (if still bald) woman courtesy of a "Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity" that Elan had taken from an ogre slain by the Order, and Haley losing her speech as the result of losing the treasure. As a result of his actions, he apologised to Miko for seeing her as a sex object, an apology which Miko accepted, feeling that it showed off a new maturity and telling him that she would be more considerate of the possibility of a romantic relationship. Roy, on the other hand, had seen a different side to Miko and rejected her cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0250.html | work = Episode 250 | title = Oh no, he DIDN'T! ] outright telling her that, despite her Lawful Good alignment, she was far from any definition of good that he recognised and that he refused to accompany her to Azure City. Unfortunately, this resulted in the Order being dragged there in chains.

Reaching Azure City, the Order were put on trial cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0268.html | work = Episode 268 | title = The Lawyers Strike Back ] for their actions, with Celia the Sylph acting as their legal representative. During the course of the trial, they learned about the nature of the gate that Elan destroyed, that there were others, including one in Azure City itself, about the individuals who set them up and about the Snarl which was kept at bay by the gates. They were found not guilty, and the trial was revealed to have largely been a sham orchestrated by Lord Shojo of Azure City and the ghost of Roy's father, with the purpose of bringing the Order to Azure City. Eugene then revealed that Xykon had survived because of his phylactery, and the Order was asked to investigate the other gates.

Spending New Year in Azure City, the Order got some much needed downtime. Roy arranged to have his greatsword reforged cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0297.html | work = Episode 297 | title = Sword Speak ] —although it turned out not to be made of starmetal, the meteorite that Roy had recovered could be incorporated into the reforged sword, giving it a +5 enchantment. It would also occasionally glow with green energy that would be particularly harmful to the undead, a side-effect that Roy steadfastly refused to learn how to counteract. He also went on a date with Celia, which ended with them sleeping together. Celia subsequently gave Roy a talisman which would summon her if it is broken.

Revisiting the Oracle of Sunken Valley to redetermine where Xykon would be found, Roy's intelligence got the better of him, as his question cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0331.html | work = Episode 331 | title = For the Future ] specifically eliminated the Azure City gate as being Xykon's next target, despite it being where the lich is heading next. Shortly afterwards, however, before they could move to investigate what the Oracle had told them, Roy was contacted cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0337.html | work = Episode 337 | title = Brief and to the Point ] by Nale, telling him that the Linear Guild had kidnapped Roy's sister Julia and were holding her hostage. Roy led the Order to rescue her from her captors. This done, Roy returned to Azure City to resume their quest. After a night of rest for him (during which his party not only defeated the Linear Guild, but Haley regained her speech and resolved her love for Elan) he went to Lord Shojo's throneroom with Belkar to discuss the current situation. Unfortunately, their conversation cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0405.html | work = Episode 405 | title = The Secrets ] was overheard by Miko Miyazaki and Hinjo, Shojo's nephew, who confronted their leader (Roy sensibly chose to remain quiet). Appalled to learn that Shojo had been manipulating the paladins, Hinjo advocated Shojo's arrest; however Miko, having leapt to the somewhat unlikely conclusion that Shojo and Roy were actually in league with Xykon (based on her previous presumption that the Order were minions of the Lich), immediately pronounced Shojo guilty of treason and executed him on the spot. The gods, however, did not agree with her and—due to her attack on a helpless being—revoked her Paladin status.

Roy then attacked Miko in retaliation for killing the Order's main ally. Roy, now in possession of his family's powerful ancestral sword instead of his non-magical greatclub, proved to be more than a match for Miko. She finally surprised him with a kick to the face and attempted to escape. She was stopped by Hinjo, who placed her under arrest. Miko attempted to explain herself, demanding Roy's arrest. Hinjo calmly asked Miko to surrender, but she attacked him, swiftly gaining the upper hand before Roy stepped in and knocked Miko unconscious. When the Clerics were unable to resurrect Shojo, Roy offered his assistance to Hinjo to help with Xykon's impending attack. Hinjo accepted and asked Roy to serve as his bodyguard to fend off the assassins that most assuredly would come for him as the new ruler of Azure City. He also revealed the location of the Azure City Gate - a sapphire embedded in the ruler's throne.

Xykon, Round Two

In the face of Xykon and his hordes' attack, Roy and the rest of The Order were charged by Hinjo to make their way to Xykon during the battle and eliminate him to shift the battle in their favor. When the attack came, Roy and the rest of the Order quickly dealt with several elementals summoned by Redcloak and launched at the battlements. Roy then saved Elan's life from a hail of arrows. Shortly afterward, a new complication arose when it was pointed out that there were "three" Xykons on the battlefield, rather than the one they had anticipated. Faced with deciding which one was the real one, Roy began formulating a plan to deal with the nearest two Xykons, but was quickly stopped when Haley pointed out that the three Xykons were a con game and none of them was the genuine article. This was confirmed moments later by an errant gust of wind along the battlements; Hinjo's seer Sangwaan quickly used a True Seeing spell and promptly discovered the "real" Xykon riding an undead dragon steed, under a Greater Invisibility spell, heading straight for the city's central tower and the Gate.

With his enchanted sword, Roy was the only one able to damage Xykon, who flew off after being attacked. Roy used Belkar's Ring of Jumping to leap onto the dragon and attack Xykon directly. Roy's anger was swiftly elevated to extreme levels when, as usual, Xykon couldn't remember him, but also when Xykon took his crown back, informing Roy that the reason he'd killed Roy's father's master in the first place was purely because he liked the look of the crown. Xykon pointed out that he's out of Roy's league, and offered to postpone the confrontation and allow Roy to gain a few levels. Roy responded that Xykon was his responsibility and he intended to end this now, attacking Xykon repeatedly. The annoyed lich abandoned his steed using an Overland Flight spell, blasted Roy with a Meteor Swarm spell, and left him to fall to the ground, where he was killed on impact as he was trying to break Celia's amulet. Durkon witnessed his death from the city walls and Haley, acting as leader of the Order of the Stick in Roy's absence, assigned herself the task of retrieving his corpse for resurrection.cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0468.html | work = Episode 468 | title = Splitting Up is Hard to Do ] However, upon getting to the place where Roy died, she and Belkar discover that the body has been taken by the Monster in the Darkness for his tea party. While fleeing with Roy's corpse, Haley accidentally dropped him in a chasm created by an earthquake started by the Monster in the Darkness. In order to halt his descent and retrieve him, Haley was forced to shoot him with an arrow that strikes him in the groin, halting his fall. She then lassos him with the help of Belkar.

In the Afterlife

Upon reaching the Celestial Realms, Roy's soul is greeted by his father, who wastes no time in berating him for failing to defeat Xykon. He also makes it known that upon Roy's death, the Blood Oath to defeat Xykon passed to Julia, and that neither one of them will be able to proceed to the true afterlife until this Blood Oath is fulfilled. Later a Deva was assigned to examine Roy's life to see if he is worthy of entering the Celestial Realms upon the Oath's completion. The Deva notes several of Roy's less-than good acts, notably his temporary abandonment of Elan to the bandits and his association with Belkar, but also notes that, in both cases, there are mitigating factors. Ultimately, after some debate, the Deva concludes that, although Roy's record isn't perfect, he is continually trying to do better, and that is what counts. She then [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0490.html lets] Roy into the Celestial Realm, in spite of the Blood Oath (and to Eugene's great exasperation). It is thereafter revealed that Roy was allowed to enter the Celestial Realm because he had died attempting to fulfill the Oath to the best of his abilities (including his ability to judge what was appropriate), whereas [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0491.html Eugene had consciously given up on it] many years before and never once made one last attempt to defeat Xykon, preferring to hand responsibility off to his children instead. Upon entering the gates, Roy finds his own personal Archon to guide him through the realm as well as giving him a map that shows him several locations seemingly created to fit his interests, along with his mother's house, where he will be staying temporarily.

Roy soon arrived at his mother Sara's house, who appears to him as a 19 year old woman because in the Celestial Realms one appears as an idealised versions of oneself. There Roy tells her how badly he dislikes his father, his mother defends Eugene by saying that he is a single minded man but gets bored easily and attributing his irritable and unpleasant character to the Oath. She also reveals to him that she is having an affair with another man named Enrique.

While at Sara's house, Roy meets up again with his younger brother, Eric, who died over eighteen years ago while Sara was away and Eugene was supposed to take care of the boys; his accidental death is suggested to involve Eugene's magical laboratory. Eric never responded to attempts to resurrect him, according to Roy's theory because the afterlife was very pleasant for him, he did not think to return when called. Eric has remained a child in the afterlife, but despite the changes time has wrought in Roy, his little brother instantly recognizes him and invites him to play with blocks together; a tearful Roy happily accepts. Roy then meets Horace Greenhilt, his grandfather that he has been attempting to emulate for his life. Soon after an evil adventuring party Plane Shifts into the house, though they are quickly defeated by the Greenhilts. Roy, believing that he has only been dead for about 12 hours, is extremely surprised to be told by his family that he has been dead for over three months, as time passes at great speed in the Celestial Realms.

Concerned at why he hasn't been resurrected yet, Roy makes his way to his father, the only one he knows in the afterlife that can see the mortal realm. Eugene initially rejects Roy, but ultimately decides to "play along" with what he believes to be Roy's attempt at reverse psychology. Focusing on Durkon first, Roy learns that the reason that he hasn't been resurrected is that they don't have his body. He then focuses on Haley; on learning that Haley has both his sword and corpse, Roy decides to project himself as a ghost through the spiritual connection of the Greenhilt sword, like his father did. Although he is successful he remains invisible to Haley as well as the inadvertently summoned Celia. Roy stays and watches Haley until a fortune teller and psychic joins Haley's resistance. After a failed attempt to get through via the fortune teller, Roy returned to the Celestial Realms, annoyed [ [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0534.html Giant In the Playground Games ] ] , and is later seen playing Dungeons & Dragons First Edition with his Archon as part of a tribute to Gary Gygax [ [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html Giant In the Playground Games ] ] . Roy is still playing when his father informs him that Haley has reached the Oracle. Roy returns to Earth, but is unable to attract the Oracle's attention. He then looks on as Belkar kills the Oracle. Upon the Order and Celia leaving, the Oracle is revived by Lizardmen who he employed ahead of time to revive him and reveals to Roy that he is, in fact, capable of hearing him [ [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0571.html Giant In the Playground Games ] ] .

As a golem

Unfortunately, Celia, in a desperate attempt to get him resurrected, took his skeleton to Hieronymus Grubwiggler, a sorcerer specializing in animating golems. Grubwiggler [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0576.html successfully transformed] Roy into a bone golem. Celia, Haley and Belkar [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0578.html escaped] the sorcerer, but left Roy behind.

Personality, Abilities and Traits

Roy frequently finds himself to be highly frustrated at the various character flaws displayed by his teammates. Roy is highly intelligent, second only in the party to Vaarsuvius, but balances it by possessing a considerable degree of wisdom and charisma, to the extent that an encountered illithid regarded Roy as the most appetizing individual present (to the illithid's eyes, Roy's brain cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0031.html | work = Episode 31 | title = All-You-Can-Eat Brain Buffet ] was the equivalent of roast turkey and all the trimmings, while Vaarsuvius' brain was viewed on par with a deluxe cheeseburger). Roy also fits the physical role of a fighter, being strong enough to carry Durkon (as shown several times when they're fleeing), and big enough that, should he be incapacitated, none of the other party members can carry him, forcing a rest stop until he can get back on his feet. (This, however, appears to have been retconned due to the fact that Haley and Belkar, working in tandem, carried his dead body- at a fairly rapid pace- through the ruins of Azure City in their efforts to reach Hinjo's junk.) He is apparently at least level thirteen , as his father points out he is "the highest level Good character on the field", the best of the other Good PCs/NPCs appear to be level thirteen. However, this does not take into account the experience he may lose if he is resurrected. He appears to mature considerably after his father's death. He does, however, have a tendency towards over-complexity: on his second visit to the Oracle of Sunken Valley, he poses his question about Xykon's forthcoming whereabouts so precisely that he managed to eliminate Xykon's next target as a possibility . Roy does realize his error shortly thereafter, but the magic of the Valley causes him to forget this subsequent realization. He also has the minor personal quirk of referring to his genitals as "the Trouser Titan", to the amusement of any teammates in earshot at the time. In addition, he has a tendency to become attracted to beautiful women to the point where his judgment could become somewhat clouded, though female antagonists such as Sabine or those whose personality he finds repulsive, like Miko, are exceptions.

Generally speaking Roy gets on reasonably well with his teammates. He is undoubtedly closest to Durkon, due to their shared history, and respects Vaarsuvius intellectually. Initially, he found the others to be an occasional liability, giving serious consideration to simply leaving Elan behind when the bard was kidnapped by a group of bandits. He realized, however, that these thoughts were unworthy of him and ultimately went to Elan's rescue. After that incident, Roy showed great loyalty to all his teammates, standing up for even the near-psychotic Belkar when the halfling was in trouble and even taking three arrows meant for Elan cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0425.html | work = Episode 425 | title = War Makes Boys of Us All ] . He does, however, have certain concerns - for example, he tends to regard Elan, Haley and Belkar as unsuitable for standing guard while the party sleeps, being too stupid, too greedy and too psychotic cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0014.html | work = Episode 14 | title = Why Roy is Always Tired ] respectively. As Durkon and Vaarsuvius are both spellcasters and thus need sleep in order to regain their spells, Roy often finds himself remaining awake all night, which leads to a distinct degree of irritation.

The Order of the Stick Adventure Game

Roy Greenhilt is one of the characters players may choose when playing the Order of the Stick Adventure Game. The abilities of the character are reflective of his personality and skills as depicted in the comic, with cards titled such things as Greenhilt Sword, Bag of Tricks, and Logic.

References