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Jock Dad Nerd Son: Inverted with Roy Greenhilt and his father, Eugene. Roy chose a career as a fighter class as opposed to a wizard like his father, which are seen as a jock and nerd class at least in universe. Played straight with Eugene and his father, Horace, who had inspired Roy's career path. Interestingly, Roy was apparently a nerd compared to other fighters.
Roy: Well I hate to break it to you dad, but this isn't the end of the line. More like half-time.
Eugene: What? How can you halve time itself?
Roy: *Sigh* I should have known a sports metaphor would be wasted on you.
Just Between You and Me: Redcloak to Tsukiko. In a minor subversion, he says it before he springs his trap. And in a further subversion, he actually does make sure she never reveals it to anyone.
Just Hit Him: The raging Thog's main tactic in his gladiatoral fight with Roy. Sure, being thrown into walls was damaging, but it also gave Roy enough breathing time to put together a strategy, and even put him in the perfect position to enable it when Thog threw him into the spectator rows.
Also, How Redcloak plans to trick Xykon by giving the lich a copy of his phylactery while keeping the real one for himself.
Katanas Are Just Better: Azure City is the Stick-verse's Wutai, so katanas are favored by many of the soldiers and members of the Sapphire Guard. Belkar and Nale have both subverted this trope, fighting with katanas they stole from Azurites, but switching to their preferred weapons at the first opportunity.
Hobgoblin:(kills the guard Nale just disarmed) Hey thanks! I guess I'm lucky you really needed a katana!
Nale: I prefer longswords, actually. (kills the hobgoblin and takes his sword)
Invoked posthumously in regard to Crystal. Elan says he's not mad at Haley for it, as long as she's sure Crystal was "really, REALLY bad." Haley responds that she once saw Crystal headbutt an elderly gnome woman into a coma, which makes Elan feel better about it.
V's murder of Kubota certainly showed just how much more of an Anti-Hero V had become, but if there was any antagonist that deserved to be unceremoniously disintegrated and scattered to the winds, it was him.
Similarly, Haley's murder of Crystal is commonly seen as this, though a few still found it a bit unsettling. At least until you buy the fourth book, then read the scenes where Crystal tries to kill Haley several times while they're retrieving Roy's body.
Also Miko pursuing Belkar, especially if you consider what Belkar's conduct looks like from inside the comic's world.
Redcloak killing Tsukiko is thoroughly cold, callous and brutal and serves as a defining character moment for the former as a villain... and yet, given the latter is a villain with a skewed perception of morality, and an idiot for threatening to ruin Redcloak's plans, she really had it coming.
Kid with the Leash: Roy and Belkar, especially when Roy has the command word for Belkar's mark of justice. After Roy dies, the leash passes to Haley. She isn't as good at keeping him under control.
When Belkar kills the Chimera at the very beginning.
Trigak: You may have won this round, Order of the Stick, but we swear our revenge on you! When you least expect--! GAK! GAK! GAK!
Xykon does this to a group of mercenary ogres who are complaining about not being paid very early in the comic's run, (and then he zombifies their corpses so he can still get some use out of them), perhaps giving the first hint that he's not a harmlesscliché storm of a villain, despite appearances.
This is also how Roy Greenhilt dies, mid-pondering in freefall.
Lord Shojo, Therkla and Miko. The first two have reasons to deny resurrection, and as for the third, she was given a very final-looking death scene, and the only person who seemed interested in her corpse (to make an intelligent undead, not resurrect her) passed up on the chance because it was an incomplete body. (Also, Word of the Giant.)
It appears we can now add Thanh and Tsukiko to this list as well.
He's not actually dead yet, but according to the Oracle, Belkar has a place on this list.
The Resistance is wiped out by Redcloak, and their hideout is then destroyed by an avalanche. At the very least, the elf commander and the elf lieutenant won't be coming back, because they were imploded.
Parodied: Therkla gets to be the valedictorian of her ninja class by killing the original.
Also how Redcloak became supreme leader of the hobgoblins, by killing the one he assumes is their leader. The real leader wisely keeps his mouth shut and lets Red take over.
Knights and Knaves: The Test of the Mind in the Sunken Valley. Solved in a non-traditional manner.
La Résistance: No longer exists, thanks to Redcloak and a bunch of his summoned minions.
The memory charm around the Oracle that makes you forget everything about your visit except your questions and their answers as soon as you leave.
The same thing is going for the afterlife. Roy can remember the time spent on the clouds with his father and the scrying they've done, but past the big gate his memories are fuzzy, though he remembers some bits.
Redcloak's right eye. You can tell that he's actually screaming at the irony, as opposed to the pain from the stabbing of his eye.
Also, Elan and Nale's first fight.
Elan: Nale! There's nowhere to go. Surrender!
Nale: Surrender? Never, you moronic little twit. I'd rather die than--
(bridge crumbles underneath his feet, leaving him dangling by one hand)
Nale: Help me, brother!
Elan: Karma-riffic!
Vaarsuvius was already feeling guilty about using fiend-granted powers to wipe out every creature related to a black dragon, but even so he/she probably wasn't expecting it to bite them in the ass like in "All in the Family".
Tarquin: ... she had the most magnificent set of perky round--
Haley: Eyes. Let's both pretend you were about to say, "eyes".
Laughably Evil: Many villains (and one protagonist): Burlew is very good at writing characters who are both likeable (funny, awesome, etc.) and yet definitely villainous and unsympathetic. Examples include:
Xykon. All over the place.
Belkar. And he knows it.
Belkar: I'm comedy gold! I'm the only funny thing left in this damn comic strip!
Laugh with Me: Inverted. When Xykon proclaims that his goals will be achieved soon, Redcoak and the MitD let out an Evil Laugh. Redcloak then asks why Xykon doesn't join them.
Xykon: Actually, ever since I became a lich, I haven't been able to get the same volume in my evil laughter. Since I technically don't have lungs.
Paladins are noted to have this reputation, but actually rarely show it... with one unfortunate exception. In general, Lawful Stupid, Stupid Good, Chaotic Stupid and Stupid Evil are all demonstrated by one character or another at different times. (Miko Miyazaki arguably demonstrates all four, sometimes all in the same comic.)
Roy: You're not Good, at least not any definition of Good that I would want to follow. You follow the letter of the alignment description while ignoring its intent. Sure, you fight Evil, but when was the last time you showed a "concern for the dignity of sentient beings"? You're just a mean, socially inept bully who hides behind a badge and her holier-than-thou morality as excuses to treat other people like crap.
Haley: A ruse that relies on the target's innate acceptance on the rules presented to him? Against a league of paladins? Easy money.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Less common than Breaking the Fourth Wall moments, but in one strip, Tarquin comments about Thog "It's weird, no matter how many people he kills, the audience still thinks he's lovable". Meaning the audience in the arena, not the readers, obviously.
Leave No Witnesses: When Redcloak wipes out the Resistance and gets Xykon's phylactery back, he only uses summoned monsters (who he then dismisses) and lets the only other goblin involved stay dead.
Redcloak: The exact details here need to stay between me and our god. I just thank the Dark One that I didn't need to execute you myself.
Left for Dead: Durkon was, accidentally, in an early strip.
Left Justified Fantasy Map: A map of Azure City and its surroundings appears in the back of War and XPs with a sea along the left edge. However, the western continent should appear on the other side of the sea.
Lethal Joke Item: The bag of tricks, which summons random animals. Roy eventually finds creative uses for it, like making distracting kitties. It also has a compact rhino on it, but it kinda backfired.
"Dancing Lights? That's like a 0th-level spell! Geez, what kind of low-level lame-ass spellcaster are you? You've got one chance before I perforate you, and you choose... Dancing... Lights."
While being interviewed for the Lawful Good afterlife, Roy Greenhilt stops the bureaucratic deva interviewing him before she can mention the Gender Bender incident within earshot of his father, who is standing not ten feet away.
During Azure City's New Year, Belkar gets drunk and kisses Vaarsuvius full on the lips. Afterwards, Belkar forgets it entirely and Vaarsuvius insists that, if the one witness to the kiss (Durkon) ever has to discuss it again, it will be referred to it as "the Event". And they never talk about it again.
As seen in "A Dish Best Served Warm, After All", Vaarsuvius has this attitude regarding further recounting of his adventures in the Plane of Ranch Dressing.
The Order itself, as revealed in On the Origin of PCs.
Also, Redcloak and his brother Right-Eye, as revealed in Start of Darkness.
Literal Genie: Subverted. Roy, wary of this happening, words his question to the Oracle in such a way that it works against him. His concern made sense, as this trope was played straight the first time he visited the oracle (offscreen):
Bureaucratic Deva: Mr. Greenhilt, we do things "by the book" around here — and it just so happens that the book in question is 100 feet tall and alight with holy fire --
Look Behind You!: In "Good to the Last Drip", Vaarsuvius is so busy attempting to Disintegrate Qarr that only the small imp notices an ancient black dragon with a personal vendetta approaching from behind.
Luckily, My Powers Will Protect Me: In Start of Darkness, the rematch between Lirian and just-turned-lich Xykon is basically Lirian using all the wrong spells and abilities so Xykon can explain why none of them work anymore. Admittedly, it isn't out of character for Xykon to taunt his opponent by pointing out why his opponent can't beat him, even if that essentially means giving tips on how he or she could.
Luke Nounverber: The Greenhilt family doesn't count since it's actually named from the ancestral sword, but we have plenty others: Haley & Ian Starshine; Belkar Bitterleaf; Durkon Thundershield; Hilgya Firehelm; Leeky Windstaff; Girard Draketooth; Fyron Pucebuckle; Miron Shewdanker; Hieronymus Grubwiggler; Reegon Mithrilspear; Hiran Sinkeye; Clang Killitchy; Deergar Bluehawk; Firuk Blackore; Darren Leafsword...
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