Characters of The Order of The Stick - The Gods

The Gods

There are three main pantheons of gods in the Order of the Stick universe. The Northern Gods, worshipped by the dwarves and humans living in the Northern Lands, are based on the Norse gods. The Southern Gods, often referred to by their worshippers as the "Twelve Gods", are revered by the people of the Southern Lands and are based on the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The third set of gods, called the Western Gods, are based on the deities of the ancient Near East, such as Marduk and Tiamat. The Oracle of the Sunken Valley, despite living outside the Western continent, claims to worship Tiamat and Minister Malack worships Nergal. A fourth pantheon, called the Eastern Gods, was based on the Olympian gods of ancient Greece, but was destroyed by the Snarl during the time of the previous world and is thus unknown to most inhabitants of the world.

The elves and goblins have their own gods. For instance, Vaarsuvius worships the God of Knowledge and Redcloak worships the Dark One. These gods were "raised" to godhood rather than having existed before the universe. The Dark One was raised through a yearlong slaughter in his name after his death, while the Elven gods apparently gathered enough followers to gain godhood. As is usual in Dungeons and Dragons, the gods are demonstrably real. Thor and other gods have appeared in the comic several times. Each pantheon has greater control over the geographical area after which it is named as Tiger, one of the Southern Gods, prevents Thor from directly intervening in events transpiring in the Southern Lands.