After Marisha put up with so much undeserved shit for Keyleth during campaign 1, and absolutely knocking it out of the park with Beau in campaign 2, I’m SO HAPPY that Marisha gets to play a character that both she and the audience love and can have fun with in Laudna
Personally, I would have put Fjord higher. I think Fjord becomes such a key supporting character throughout Campaign 2, supporting Beau as a friend, being mentored and eventually growing into his own path under Caduceus, and ultimately being the most dependable one in the group. He became the person who would never back down and support his friends no matter what, and I just found him so charismatic and endearing
Fjord's potential was the second highest next to Caleb to have an amazing narrative arc and really become a great leader and herald of the Wildmother. Then Travis just stopped developing the character, and was content to basically be a punching bag joke character for whatever Sam/Veth thought would be funny that day.
Fjord's potential was the second highest next to Caleb to have an amazing narrative arc and really become a great leader and herald of the Wildmother. Then Travis just stopped developing the character, and was content to basically be a punching bag joke character for whatever Sam/Veth thought would be funny that day.
I feel like Fjord had one of the biggest highs in the campaign when he destroyed the sword revealed his true self ,his issues with masculinity and finally regaining his powers after. But I feel like it took too many episodes to come up to that point imo and before that his character is very reactive and on the support side as people said.
Fjord was also the one who took the responsibility of calling the shots when they were setting the traps against Lucien. No one liked making that decision but Fjord took it because he understood how heavy it was and he was willing to take that on his shoulders. In a way, the last name the he hated so much was a signifier of who he eventually became
Exactly, he's a great character who's deliberately sitting back. It speaks a lot about Liam as a player and how he doesn't need to be centre of attention. If only some of the others who have gotten a lot of attention in previous campaigns would take note and do the same
Ashton is what you get when you attempt to persevere and force your way through life while in constant pain. If you have never been a sufferer of chronic, debilitating pain, it is absolutely soul-draining. It can be hard to even hold on to the core of yourself at times. Taliesin's role-playing makes for a revelatory experience when you finally understand how much pain Ashton is in, all the time. Given that reveal, kind of interested to see if that would change your tier choice in any way for them.
I think Ashton is Taliesin's most complex and interesting character. Caduceus was great, but also a very simple character. Percy had a complex backstory, but again not that complicated. Ashton has so much going on, both in backstory and as a character.
I would absolutely put Scanlan in S Tier. No one, and I mean NO ONE, going into this campaign could have predicted the Bard being the most hilarious, interesting, complex, and simultaneously badass character out of all of them. Out of all the characters in all the campaigns, no one has even come close to leaving more of a mark on the players and the audience than Scanlan Shorthalt has. This may be an exaggeration, but I think Sam created one of the greatest characters in all of fiction with Scanlan.
From Burt Reynold's classic "Clarota Healing," through "What was my mother's name," and ultimately to "Nine," we can see that Scanlan is the most nuanced character in C1 and likely the rest of the CR. Mechanically he obviously knew how to leverage his class. I don't know if he got a buff when they changed from PF 1e to D&D 5e compared to say Vex who got quite the nerf, but that wouldn't account for Riegel's ability to use the toolkit each system allowed. The biggest testament to his importance to the party was how the party struggled through challenging encounters in his absence (e.g., the second episode of CR1 I recommend people skip ... the kraken fight).
He definitely has his fans... personally, I can't stand Scanlan. I like Sam, but I just don't like Scanlan. The constant stream of potty humor and dick-jokes just make me cringe most of the way through season 1. He's better in the animated series - still shallow and vapid but with more insight. I was glad in Season Two how Sam made such a great character with such an interesting story arc. It almost made up for season 1.
To me, if there could only be one "S" tier it would have to be Jester. Her consistency with her theme overall was amazing and she made watching the show a joy. You talk about Caduceus being the heart, but to me it was Jester. I'm a huge Ashley fan so all of hers have a special place in my heart, but Pike's and Yasha's limited screen time reduced their affect on the game. My favorite moment, that thing that made me ball out crying was when Pike in the bar after Grog passed out and she revealed that she still keeps calling out to Scanlan. I'm not a fan of Liam's characters although he portrays them well, and I learned to love what a wizard character can add with some extra RP when spellcasting, they all seem to have a chip on their shoulder, and I find more love for Tiberius then I do for Orym. Despite his personal flaws I saw more potential in that character. Love Talisan, his vibe, but he doesn't step up enough outside his Percy arc which was "A" tier all the way. Sam has been consistent and unique, love him and Travis. You may not love Chetney, but I do :) That being said, Marisha was not my favorite. I know she was playing Naive and she was experienced for Keyleth, but it seemed to me more like she was going thru the motions while trying to learn the game. You love Beau, I love the relationship arc, but I didn't find her as appealing overall. Now, Laudna! That is one of the most creative things I've ever seen. I LOVE Laudna! Talk about a personality, I could imagine the scene from Alita where she would be willing to literally give someone her heart being a reality in this season. I think that's where we differ, you put more stock in a solid backstory and plotline where I want to be entertained. For my rankings I'm doing something a little different. I'm basically doing this as a way to denote my rankings by my favorite and least favorite of that season. I put one "S" tier and "D" tier for each Season I put two "A" tier and "C" tier for each Season This has worked remarkably well to explain my moves. S - Jester Lavoure, Laudna, Scanlan Shorthalt A - Percival de Rolo, Fearne Calloway, Imogen Temult, Caduceus Clay, Vax'ildan, Caleb Widogast B - Knot / Veth Brenatto, Vex'ahlia, Dorian Storm, Grog Strongjaw, Beauregard Lionett, Chetney Pock O'Pea, Keyleth, Fresh Cut Grass, C - Pike Trickfoot, Ashton Greymoore, Fjord, Taryon Darrington, Kingsley Tealeaf, Orym D - Mollynauk Tealeaf, Tiberius Stormwind, Bertrand Bell
Really interesting how Ashton and Beau ended up on such opposite sides of the list! To me they felt really similar in terms of both initially coming off as abrasive and aggressive then becoming more endearing through their loyalty to protect their friends and revelations of their complexity
Personally I think it comes down to Marisha just coming off more natural with her abrasiveness. With Taliesin it always felt too try hard...at least to me. 😅
I think it could have to do with Beau having been on her character arc journey and coming out the other side and Ashton still being in the middle of theirs. We've barely gotten to any major Ashton backstory stuff yet.
That's a good point. For me, I feel like the way Taliesin played Molly, Ashton, and a bit of Percy felt very pompous. Percy I get because he is described as a pretentious rich boy and that was the satire of his character. However with Molly and especially with Ashton when it comes to combat, the attitude that comes over Taliesin irritates me. He did act like this a little bit for Caduceus, but's it's very prevalent with Ashton. When other players, such as Travis or Laura, in combat enact special features, they keep it subtle and mysterious. Taliesin however is a bit haughty when he's describing what he's going to do. Some may say it's confidence, but for me it comes off as show off-ey. I love the calmness and wise portrayal of Caduceus and would agree he's definitely an S tier for me. I love when Taliesin described in 4-sided dive that Ashton is a person with chronic pain and it makes sense that his character would act the way it does because of it. I just wish that when Taliesin would cut back on the commentary if that makes sense.
@@lunasea08 that's totally fair and I understand that not every player style is everyone's cup of tea. I was just looking at it purely from the way the characters themselves are similar at the start of each campaign to end up in such different places on the ranking.
There's really someone for everyone with these characters. Couple that with the fact that the players are literally trained actors who can fully commit to their roles, it makes sense that everyone's tier list will look wildly different. Thanks for sharing yours! :D I'm not gonna leave my own controversial hot takes here, because honestly, who cares.
I'd probably switch your places for Beau/Laudna and Caleb/Vax, but overall this is a really solid list. I really appreciate the Caduceus love, my favorite as well
@@flandomaltrizian4603 Thanks so much! You're a literal lifesaver for me whenever I make a CR related video haha. You make it so much easier to find the clips I need, so thank you!
I agree on the switching Beau/Laudna opinion. For me, Laudna is a very strong character in many respects in terms of theme, motivation, and personality. The boldness of Laudna's design compared to many other characters and how well it 'fits' (in both the overarching campaign and party dynamics) are something I think make her worthy of S-tier.
I really agree with the Molly sentiment. I think essentially these characters with amazing stories dedicating so much of their time and energy to someone they knew for a few weeks. Enough to get tattoos of him or at least the eyes.
All of Taliesin's characters are atleast A Tier for me, but I guess it's because I grew up with Ashton's and Molly's. And Caleb Widowgast is easily my top S Tier of them all.
I have to say, maybe it’s because I haven’t watched enough of campaign 2, so I’m not as connected to Beau, but Laudna is my favourite Marisha character. I love Beau and Kiki, and I think all of Marisha’s characters are great and interesting.. but there’s something special about Laudna. Maybe it’s the “side character” feeling you described. She feels less involved which oddly makes her feel more involved (I don’t know if that makes sense) Also, I’m still waiting for the other FCG shoe to drop, but I definitely agree in the meanwhile about them.
I think that makes sense. I think that's sort of my experience with Caduceus. He's a supporting character who sort of glues the the party together. Yeah I feel like there is a lot waiting in the wings for FCG!
I think you are looking for characters to "make things happen," and I'm more interested in how who they are affects their relationships. Orym has his fair share of personal tragedy, but where he really does his work is in how his combat/emotional support shines a spotlight on the other characters. And I am in love with that.
I think the reason orym seems like a better "every man" character than imogen is because orym's reason for going on the adventure is somewhat revenge coated which makes him seem more proactive in choosing this adventure, wheras imogen was literally born into being almost the main character in most of campgain 3 so far. Plus, to me it feels like her character has to be mostly plot driven with her core character taking a sidebar, the part i enjoyed the most about her character being her personal struggles constantly being bombarded by other peoples thoughts crippling her kind of got waved away as stakes got higher. Orym still manages to not feel like a narrative tool, or be out of place like the others because he already had stakes in the story, and was kind of the only character (lorewise) somewhat prepared for just how serious the plot would get. My personal favorate character of campaign 3 though is Ashton because of the realistic portrayal of chronic pain and their connections and mysteries tied to the world. In a less straight forward plot focused campaign I can see the various bells hells being perceived alot better if they only had the chance to let their character strengths shine.
Part of my love for Ashton is that he has chronic pain. Often times people with chronic illnesses are portrayed in media as inspirational and that's not always helpful. It's nice to see the struggle portrayed. And I love your comment about traumatic backstories being part and parcel for D&D. 😂 It seems like people become adventurers rather than go to therapy.
Something I love about the Critter community is how varied opinions and love of characters can be. I don't think I agreed on a single tier other than the 2 D tier choices. But I love how much thought was put into this and all the little in jokes throughout the video. I love content like this :-)
I think Percy might be why I’m so hard on most characters when they become the focus of an arc… because I enjoyed Percy and the first major Whitestone arc so well that it’s hard to measure up to that. It also doesn’t help that The Briarwood’s arc is when I first started watching the show.
its so interesting to me why people love the characters they do, like looking at how they service the plot or story rather then how you relate to them, how they make you feel, how strong their personal archs are if they make you laugh. I feel as though characters falling into the background is maybe a genre limitation of ttrpg liveplay. You want to give each character, player and their story time to shine and that means players need to take a backseat and support their friends story rather than stealing the spotlight. Thats why i love Caduecus even as a supporting character he still shines so well. I am also glad Molly died cause Dueces is my all time fav but I was heartbroken at the time cause I loved Molly too, a grating flamboyant queer moral asshole. how i see myself. and the fact he dies and still propels the other characters stories and the rest of the campaign is in my eyes BECAUSE of how good a character Molly was. Not just a lucky development from it.
personally i think Molly suffers from the death even more. It would have been fun to see what would have happened if Molly was around the whole time, an Lucian not being able to get his body back. And then that pushing Cad possibly into C3
This is my list, I'm around 10 eps away from finishing campaign 1, 10 eps into campaign 2 and caught up in campaign 3... (I know I'm watching it in a weird order) S- Grog, Chetney, Fearne, Laudna, Scanlan, Jester, Cad, A- FCG, Nott, Percy, Vax, Pike, Fjord, B- Ashton, Imogen, Keyleth, Beau, Taryon, Caleb, Orym, Vex, Yasha, Molly, C- Dorian, Bertrand, D- Tib I've seen a lot of clips from campaign 2, so I think Fjord, Caleb, Nott, Beau and Yasha will go up but idk (Cad hasn't been introduced yet where I'm at but from the clips I've seen, he deserves to be up there)
I appreciate the extra context you're giving and how much thought you put into these. It's cool to see other people's opinions of the characters. I'd like to mention, and only because I'm not seeing it elsewhere, but I don't think your info about Marisha when talking about Keyleth was correct. Yes she is the youngest at the table, but Marisha did have a fair amount more roleplaying experience than the other players (excluding Taliesin). She was brought in to the first home game as an assistant to Matt to help the others learn how to play. A lot of people mistake Keyleth's wide-eyed naivete for what Marisha was thinking/feeling, but it really wasn't that way. If anything, I think Marisha may have struggled with the sheer volume of Druid spells, but as someone who's 4th major campaign character is a druid, I can vouch that it would throw a wrench into any player's roleplay.
(spoilers for c2 just in case) for me, i put beau on the top of S tier. I really love how her arc goes over almost all of the campaign, as well as how detailed she feels. To me Beau is Such a good character to analyze because of her growth with being in the Cobalt Soul, as well as learning “people skills.” One thing in particular though, is during episodes 92 and 93. the way marisha acted her closing up while returning to kahmordah was beyond amazing. up until e92, she grew close to tm9 and became stronger within her fighting, as well as her interpersonal skills. But on the way to her hometown, she almost shuts down. she does that interact much in the party and starts to separate from them (physically and mentally). and i think one specific part that stuck out to me is when jester is talking about Babenon in e92 and you just see beau completely out of it, like shes drowning in her thoughts. and after she visited her father, she was ready to lose her family AGAIN so Nott’s curse could be broken. idk marisha did Such a good job giving beau character, and i really could go on but. that moment was one of my favorite character moments in all 3 campaigns (apologies if some of this doesn’t make sense, i have so many thoughts about beau and tried to summarize most of them-)
I would have put Scanlan in S tier. He is my absolute favorite. Sam and Scanlan made C1 so much fun to watch. Hands down (besides Grog) was the most hilarious. I could go on all day. Just my opinion.
Critter since the beginning here, Dungeon Master since the 90s. Fantastic storytelling, wonderful amazing arcs throughout.. if we're talking about power tiers I see them in 4 varying groups. Which characters can affect the following with their abilities, character progression, obtained gear and class. Tavern tier, Kingdom, World, and God tiers respectfully Top 5 most powerful S Tier Characters in Critical Role 5. The Champion of the Raven Queen: Vax 4. Voice of the Tempest: Lady Keyleth 3. Professor Caleb "Mud Wizard" Widogast 2. soon to be the High Sorceress of Red (future prediction, Laura's going full throttle Elphaba from Wicked) Imogen Temult and the most powerful of them all.. 1. Doors
A couple caveats: The fact that Ashley didn't get to play often drops Pike and Yasha from where they would otherwise be. And Scanlan and Grog would be higher if this were the animated version. I've also included the ExU characters. D: Tiberius C: Scanlan, Molly B: Nott, Grog, Pike, Vax, Yasha, Terry, Fjord, Kingsley, Vex, Bertrand A: Percy, Keyleth, Beau, Orym, Opal Caduceus, Imogen, Dorian S: Laudna, Chetney, Fearne, Caleb, Jester, Ashton, FCG, Dariax Campaign 3 is my favorite, and a large part are the characters. I think Chetney and Laudna in particular are the best characters they've done.
1. Scanlan (the reason my first ever 5e PC was a Lorebard) 2. Grog ( A deep character in simplicity) 3. Jester ( Brought that trickery). I prefer those Characters that make me Laugh with Less "I have to prove myself trope." Liam is the Best at Drama and those heart string pulls and Caleb was epic, but I sank hours into C1 and C2 due to the fun and mystery of those characters. Also no mention of Darrington Brigade one shot? that was the Campaign 3 I wanted!! again fun characters.
Ashton was fun for me because initially I really liked him, but we haven't really gotten into the bone of Ashton yet and Chetney took my number one spot for the Bells Hells for sure. Fearne is a strong contender, for some reason the more chaotic the character the more fun they are to watch. Also Ashley is playing Fearne as if she was an old school Kender Oh you placed Nott and Veth the same I guess. I liked Nott way more than Veth.
I agree with most of this. And it does goes to show, with reflection, Second Campaign just overall has the best characters, although the pacing of the first campaign was best. For me what is interesting is that I would have Caleb and Jester as my top 2, then Cad and Beau. But Fjord is high up there for me too even after the arc. I agree about molly I never really got into them either. Yasha was a product of unfortunately Ashley being out most of the campaign and Veth/Nott I really like a lot, I definitely preferred Nott over Veth... but I agree that they kinda of go dull after their arc. I guess for me characters mean everything and I have to say I would stick with Campaign 2 forever. I was so... sad? when it ended.
I feel like Ashton should've been a little higher on the list, I understand not connecting with his punk esthetic but to me, Ashton is one of those guys that will tell you what you need to hear, they might not be nice about it, but they say it bluntly and straightforward, add in the fact Ashton is in constant, chronic pain, and issues and mystery of his past (many of which are even mysterys to the Greymoore kid themself) and we have a character that alongside Orym the everyman and Laudna, someone who I feel could surpass Jester in character, and you have me waiting with baited breath for their return.
What are your thoughts on Chetney and FCG after meeting Dianna and Frida? Cad was one of my favorites as one of the ensemble characters, how he was played, how he acted, how his class worked, What about guest characters through the campaigns! It just occurred to me that Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia if they portaled into our world would just be Dan and Lia
IMO Imogen is for sure a C tier character. You can tell there is a lot of potential with the psionics and these anime city wide destruction fade to white moments. Which I think goes counter to being the "Everyday" character in the way that Aurum is, and your right it lands much differently for Aurum. Because Aurum is just a dude with a job and a blade, no crazy powers or world shattering traits. I think the main issue with Imogen is that she is following Vex > Jester who were such stand out spotlight characters, that now playing a more subdued character that plays off the cast more. Just makes her look like she has no real control of her situation and relies on the characters around her to give her character, rather than having character herself.
I’d argue that Marisha was the strongest role player in campaign 1. People refused to believe that Marisha and Keyleth were two different people, and they very much were
I love this video and I love your opinions, though I feel some of your opinions on the Campaign 3 characters feels as if not enough info was known before placing them. Just my opinion though. Love this video though!
So, I feel like this might be the video to get a through of my own views of some of these characters out, so I'm gonna. (Haven't watched the Vox Machina campaign, so no comment on those, as I don't really know anything about them to comment) Molly/Ashton: Honestly, I feel both of these characters suffer in quality if you watch both campaigns. Mainly because, they seem to be basically the same person, just with or without anger issues. Anger issues stemming from a good reason, I might add. But honestly, most of Ashton's actions and behaviour is what I would expect from Molly, if they'd had anger issues. And if Ashton is ever rid of the reason for his lack of anger management, I honestly suspect he is gonna turn out like Molly. Laudna and Imogen as characters also suffer due to similar reasons, although with a few differences as to why. Imogen: The way Matt sometimes include the story of the PC's in the story of the overall game is awesome. In this case, he has overdone it with Imogen and underdone it with everyone else. When it comes to how important Ruidus is to the story, and how tightly Imogen is tied to Ruidus, she has basically become the main character. To the point that Sam has actually made that joke on camera! It also seems that Matt needs to find excuses to tie the others just a little bit into the moon just somehow, for some reason. Imogen as a character, and how she is played by Laura, would be a much more enjoyable character to watch, if she hadn't been treated as the main character for such a big part of the story. Laudna: Laudna is one of the most enjoyable characters of campaign 3. But the way she was resurrected, kinda makes the stakes of the story seem benign and arbitrary, and a bit too comic-book-esque. The trip they went through to get her back felt cheap, and it feels like it has cheapened her as a character and the story as a whole.
I....**have** to agree to disagree with some of your takes. Not necessarily the ranking, but like- "Laura plays Imogen like the everyman" is ..I think that's just not true? I do have to say, respect for the Beau respect- I also like her more than Laudna even if Laudna is a really great character as well (just a testament to how good a rper Marisha is)
I also disagreed with his comparison of orym and Imogen as two characters attempting to fall into the everyman category. Orym absolutely falls into that category: very normal average guy who got stuck in terrible circumstances and goes on a journey because of it. He knows he’s just a normal dude that would be better suited to live a normal life. Then opposite of him you have Imogen who was born into these circumstances and practically forced into her journey. She KNOWS that she’s never been your average farm girl, and she so so desperately longs to eventually have a normal life, but views it as practically unattainable. I hesitate to call them foils of each other, but it’s tempting.
@@lexim.7582 I think this is a much better take on their dynamic. I honestly think it has to do with how Castle is seeing the series nowadays, of course everyone can have their opinion. But i think its def resulting in him missing some pretty obvious character dynamics.
@@darkestlight660 his content is really good and I agreed with the majority of his takes in this vid but there were definitely a few that made me take a breath and remind myself “agree to disagree”
So… wait… you were ranking them off how good of player characters they were, which I would generally assume would be off of how well roleplayed they were… but even though you liked Keyleth even though she wasn’t roleplayed that well in the first campaign, but even though Ashton was intentionally made to be unlikeable, he ranks low because you don’t like him, but Keyleth ranks high?
Also I totally agree that Molly death was the best thing for campaign 2, and that’s not because he’s a bad character. I just felt like the group was so scattered before that event. They needed something to really bring them together.
Travis isn't pretending on those rolls. I don't know what he has to roll to die in the night, but it's a real bit he's doing. Don't remember 9fbhe aaid it in game or 4 sided dive
Scanlan deserved S tier. You clearly overlooked combat contributions in your list, which in Critical Role are a major part of the story because the players tend to strategize in-character. This has led to a lot of dicey situations, but it's also led to moments like Scanlan taking a whole dungeon by himself and tricking the party AND DM into bamboozling the final boss of the campaign while he was ALREADY trying to conserve his 9th level slot to save Vax. His character gets questionable at times, but never in ways that aren't justified by how his party often treated him, and it never put him off his game in a fight.
In a video that is subjective, I must say you have some spicy takes. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the spice but hot dang that spice. I do feel that none of your rankings are ever unreasonable even when I disagree. I feel like the Molly fans might come after you though XD I do agree with your top choice of Cad. He's my favorite of all of them! I think what I love about Beau is that before Cad came on the scene she was my fave character in C2 even though nothing about her backstory, or characterization was compelling to me personally. Just the way Marisha played her was always so great! Come to think of it Marisha's characters have been my favorite character for each campaign if we ignore Cad.
Hey, Im not far into C3, but I had to joke when I met Taliesen that the first thing Ashton says is basically the same thing I said when I woke up at 5 AM to come meet him at a con-a burst of profanity.
Never felt so justified until now hearing someone else call Molly "annoying" (i just tend not to be a big fan of Tal's characters in general). Love the way you explain your opinions btw, even if i don't agree with some of them.
you are 100% correct that Mollymock's death was one of the best things to happen for the campaign and the Mighty Nein, but not for the reason you said... everybody who has finished C2 knows what i mean... Neo Somnovem the Nonagon 10,000%
Definitely ALOT different than my list for sure. I only have one character in A tier and 4 in S and then alot of C tier and then 4 in D tier. My D tier being Keyleth, Orym, Mollymauk and Travis's Gnome dude who I can't even remember the name of. S's being Vex, Scanlan, Grog and Jester.
Re: You feeling like Orym working better than Imogen as an “Everyman” character: I think this also has to do with the class fantasy of fighter vs sorcerers. Fighters are warriors who hone their skills to become exceptional, but sorcerers are innately magical people who ARE exceptional. With rigorous training and discipline, I might be able to do what Orym does, but I can never be like Imogen.
Bertrand wasn't just C3 though. He's from the Search for Bob/Grog one shots to explore what happened to Grog when he pulled a card from the Deck of Many Things and got warped away during the finale. It was kind of like omg you dick, we're not expanding this campaign to explore how you get back so hand wavy how that happened. Then they added exploring that as a stretch goal reward and Travis needed a character to play until they got to Grog. He is annoying though, but I think that's on purpose because he's a glass canon that was probably going to die in the one shots. They explained they brought him into C3 because he was supposed to die anyway, and Travis wanted a delayed entry for Chetney. Essentially Bertrand by accident got more affection than he was supposed to because he lived longer. The original elf was also Chutney Chocolatecane. Ashton I don't dislike, but I understand your reasoning. But in a recent 4 sided dive Taliesin talks about how Ashton is troubled by chronic pain and people carry that and respond to their world with that in different ways. He has pain himself, but obviously Ashton is different. Notably he talked about friends he knew that had constant migraines and that was why they were always cranky, but before that he just thought they were assholes. It seems like he's trying to embody what that must have been like to have such severe pain that kindness is difficult to hold onto. Hearing that I felt more understanding of Ashton as well.
(this is lighthearted, don't take it too seriously) Absolutely horrendous takes on both Grog and Taryon. Grog is obv S-tier, he's literally the saving grace of the entire campaign. Travis played the button-pushing barbarian perfectly and kept the pace of the game moving, while perfectly blending humor and violence. Taryon was the perfect character to galvanize the group RIGHT when "the thing" happened. Each character was kind of on edge and there was just a weird vibe until Tary showed up and gave them all something to "unite against" in a sort of "Hey you can't talk to MY friend that way" kind of situation. Not only that, but Grog & Tary unleashed one of THE BEST comedic moments in CR history just walking around Vassalheim. Two double S-tiers IMO.
Honestly, I don't think Mollymauk gets enough credit for being a not only a party member, but also the BBEG, (and yes, that's tongue in cheek, but if you think about it...) Oh, and also when you can't think of a part timer with more game time than Robbie, I would point out that Orion Acaba was technically downgraded to guest star, so technically Robbie would have to clock 20 some odd episodes to pass Tiberius
Really enjoyed the video :) And I agreed with a surprising amount of the list. Your explanation about Chetney I fully agree with - I've never really understood why he stayed with the party. Also I'm always happy to see Beau get some love! Her and Cad are also my S tier. And I'd probably add Laudna and Fearne to S tier as well. The only characters I would put in dramatically different spots are Scanlan and Vax, and I'd probably nudge Taryon, Nott, Vex and Imogen up a bit as well. But I think you justified your decisions really well! I stand behind you on Molly btw - could not stand him. I feel like Ashton is a bit of a redo of Molly which is why I'm also having issues with them.
My list is very different than yours 🤣 S - Caleb, Jester, Caduceus, Fjord, Vax A - Beau, Mollymauk, Nott, Percy, Grog B - Vex, Scanlan, Tarion, Ashton, Fearne C - Pike, FCG, Laudna, Imogen D - Yasha, Chetney, Orym, Dorian, Bertrand, Tiberius Campaign 3 characters don't do it for me, they feel very out of place and their interactions as a party is not even 1% as interesting as M9.
Overall I this list, but u did Vex dirty esp. if you consider the animated version. Hot take, but I think Percy should be a low S tier - he's such an interesting concept. I totally agree with you on the campaign 3 characters - they all seem like jokes or just sit in the background
Idk if this is a weird take or not but I actually liked Keyleth more than Beau. Maybe someone can convice me otherwise, but Beau's backstory resolution never quite sat well with me. It just felt as though she was being completely admonished of responsibility for her own choices by blaming them on her dad. Now don't get me wrong, Beau's dad is absolutely a scumbag, but he didn't force Beau to become a criminal. Like 90% of it is her dad's fault, but I never understood why it was treated as though she wasn't partly responsible for her own actions. I'm not saying I don't find her situation realistic, because I can totally sympathise with acting rebellious in the face of a lack of parental love, but she chose to become a criminal, and is not held even slightly accountable.
Fjord not being S tier to me would only be because why Knott is a D tier also for me because Fjord SHOULD have been an even more clear cut leader than he was, but Knott/Veth/Sam spent the entire campaign always joking at his expense. I get it got laughs in the room but it felt like a lot of the growth that should’ve been had got cut down any time Fjord did anything and by the millionth “but Fjord is weak” statement Travis, who naturally is fine being a butt of the joke, just absorbed it. I liked Scanlan, I appreciate the ideas of FCG and the mini story of Taryon as a person was fun, but Knott just felt so in the way and scene-steal and the lack of maturity/growth even after the character change grated me.
Wow, I finally feel validated in my general dislike of Mollymauk. Dislike may be a strong word to use, but in general he just didn't do it for me, and seeing just how much other people seemed to *love* him always just left me kinda puzzled.
Ashton is one of my favorite characters . But its cause i kinda get the schtick i suppose cuase i come from a metal and punk background and get the culture. And same with Molly my parents where carnies lol But Mollys Death was the Most nessecary story catalyst of all time.
I think Molly wasn't that interesting while alive, his plot is amazing, but actually his memory, of what he stood for and such, is what makes him great, rather than anything he did while alive.
Great list! I would move a few characters up or down a tier, but agree with the vast majority of your list. Also, I completely agree with the Molly take! I think I liked him a bit more than you (I always saw him like if Jack Sparrow was a carny lol). However, his death completely changed campaign 2 imo. The intensity increased 10 fold. It made the story way more compelling. It really brought the rest of the group together. It was a big reason I think the 2nd campaign is my favorite. I'm struggling to connect with campaign 3 as much but it's still good. Now that I think about it. Campaign 3 saw the group coming together over a death as well with Bertrand. However, that one seemed more forced and the team feeling like they had to use his name for their party. Still don't really care for Hells Bells as a name. Just felt rushed. We spent a lot more time with Molly than Bertrand so that may have something to do with it.
After Marisha put up with so much undeserved shit for Keyleth during campaign 1, and absolutely knocking it out of the park with Beau in campaign 2, I’m SO HAPPY that Marisha gets to play a character that both she and the audience love and can have fun with in Laudna
It's funny, I seem to run agains the grain on Marisha's characters. I LOVED Keyleth, but didn't find Beau the least bit interesting.
1. It wasn't undeserved.
2. Beau is a terrible character. Probably the worst of all of them.
Personally, I would have put Fjord higher. I think Fjord becomes such a key supporting character throughout Campaign 2, supporting Beau as a friend, being mentored and eventually growing into his own path under Caduceus, and ultimately being the most dependable one in the group. He became the person who would never back down and support his friends no matter what, and I just found him so charismatic and endearing
I agree, for me Fjord starts as a 6 or 7 out of 10, but he ages like a fine wine, one of my favorites
Fjord's potential was the second highest next to Caleb to have an amazing narrative arc and really become a great leader and herald of the Wildmother. Then Travis just stopped developing the character, and was content to basically be a punching bag joke character for whatever Sam/Veth thought would be funny that day.
Fjord's potential was the second highest next to Caleb to have an amazing narrative arc and really become a great leader and herald of the Wildmother. Then Travis just stopped developing the character, and was content to basically be a punching bag joke character for whatever Sam/Veth thought would be funny that day.
I feel like Fjord had one of the biggest highs in the campaign when he destroyed the sword revealed his true self ,his issues with masculinity and finally regaining his powers after. But I feel like it took too many episodes to come up to that point imo and before that his character is very reactive and on the support side as people said.
Fjord was also the one who took the responsibility of calling the shots when they were setting the traps against Lucien. No one liked making that decision but Fjord took it because he understood how heavy it was and he was willing to take that on his shoulders. In a way, the last name the he hated so much was a signifier of who he eventually became
Orim is meant to be a background character. Liam has said he feels like he had enough spotlight in season 1 and 2.
I was actually going to comment this, glad someone else sees it, lol.
@Gabriel1126 I get serious Link vibes from Orim.
Exactly, he's a great character who's deliberately sitting back. It speaks a lot about Liam as a player and how he doesn't need to be centre of attention. If only some of the others who have gotten a lot of attention in previous campaigns would take note and do the same
Ashton is what you get when you attempt to persevere and force your way through life while in constant pain. If you have never been a sufferer of chronic, debilitating pain, it is absolutely soul-draining. It can be hard to even hold on to the core of yourself at times. Taliesin's role-playing makes for a revelatory experience when you finally understand how much pain Ashton is in, all the time. Given that reveal, kind of interested to see if that would change your tier choice in any way for them.
I think Ashton is Taliesin's most complex and interesting character. Caduceus was great, but also a very simple character. Percy had a complex backstory, but again not that complicated. Ashton has so much going on, both in backstory and as a character.
I would absolutely put Scanlan in S Tier. No one, and I mean NO ONE, going into this campaign could have predicted the Bard being the most hilarious, interesting, complex, and simultaneously badass character out of all of them. Out of all the characters in all the campaigns, no one has even come close to leaving more of a mark on the players and the audience than Scanlan Shorthalt has. This may be an exaggeration, but I think Sam created one of the greatest characters in all of fiction with Scanlan.
From Burt Reynold's classic "Clarota Healing," through "What was my mother's name," and ultimately to "Nine," we can see that Scanlan is the most nuanced character in C1 and likely the rest of the CR. Mechanically he obviously knew how to leverage his class. I don't know if he got a buff when they changed from PF 1e to D&D 5e compared to say Vex who got quite the nerf, but that wouldn't account for Riegel's ability to use the toolkit each system allowed. The biggest testament to his importance to the party was how the party struggled through challenging encounters in his absence (e.g., the second episode of CR1 I recommend people skip ... the kraken fight).
I 100% agree. I think that if it weren’t for the man with the purple hand, I wouldn’t have played a bard. I am having a blast. In love with the class.
He made campaign 1, scanlan will always be vox machinas de facto leader to me
He definitely has his fans... personally, I can't stand Scanlan. I like Sam, but I just don't like Scanlan. The constant stream of potty humor and dick-jokes just make me cringe most of the way through season 1. He's better in the animated series - still shallow and vapid but with more insight.
I was glad in Season Two how Sam made such a great character with such an interesting story arc. It almost made up for season 1.
@@davidarmstrong1617 shallow isn’t the word I would use for scanlan….the saddest counterspell was anything but shallow
To me, if there could only be one "S" tier it would have to be Jester. Her consistency with her theme overall was amazing and she made watching the show a joy. You talk about Caduceus being the heart, but to me it was Jester. I'm a huge Ashley fan so all of hers have a special place in my heart, but Pike's and Yasha's limited screen time reduced their affect on the game. My favorite moment, that thing that made me ball out crying was when Pike in the bar after Grog passed out and she revealed that she still keeps calling out to Scanlan.
I'm not a fan of Liam's characters although he portrays them well, and I learned to love what a wizard character can add with some extra RP when spellcasting, they all seem to have a chip on their shoulder, and I find more love for Tiberius then I do for Orym. Despite his personal flaws I saw more potential in that character. Love Talisan, his vibe, but he doesn't step up enough outside his Percy arc which was "A" tier all the way. Sam has been consistent and unique, love him and Travis. You may not love Chetney, but I do :)
That being said, Marisha was not my favorite. I know she was playing Naive and she was experienced for Keyleth, but it seemed to me more like she was going thru the motions while trying to learn the game. You love Beau, I love the relationship arc, but I didn't find her as appealing overall. Now, Laudna! That is one of the most creative things I've ever seen. I LOVE Laudna! Talk about a personality, I could imagine the scene from Alita where she would be willing to literally give someone her heart being a reality in this season. I think that's where we differ, you put more stock in a solid backstory and plotline where I want to be entertained.
For my rankings I'm doing something a little different. I'm basically doing this as a way to denote my rankings by my favorite and least favorite of that season.
I put one "S" tier and "D" tier for each Season
I put two "A" tier and "C" tier for each Season
This has worked remarkably well to explain my moves.
S - Jester Lavoure, Laudna, Scanlan Shorthalt
A - Percival de Rolo, Fearne Calloway, Imogen Temult, Caduceus Clay, Vax'ildan, Caleb Widogast
B - Knot / Veth Brenatto, Vex'ahlia, Dorian Storm, Grog Strongjaw, Beauregard Lionett, Chetney Pock O'Pea, Keyleth, Fresh Cut Grass,
C - Pike Trickfoot, Ashton Greymoore, Fjord, Taryon Darrington, Kingsley Tealeaf, Orym
D - Mollynauk Tealeaf, Tiberius Stormwind, Bertrand Bell
Gotta do this with Dimension 20 now
I would say Caleb is my overall favorite character from Critical Role. His character growth throughout the campaign is insane imo.
Really interesting how Ashton and Beau ended up on such opposite sides of the list! To me they felt really similar in terms of both initially coming off as abrasive and aggressive then becoming more endearing through their loyalty to protect their friends and revelations of their complexity
Personally I think it comes down to Marisha just coming off more natural with her abrasiveness. With Taliesin it always felt too try hard...at least to me. 😅
I think it could have to do with Beau having been on her character arc journey and coming out the other side and Ashton still being in the middle of theirs. We've barely gotten to any major Ashton backstory stuff yet.
@@vgexpert20001 I think it's supposed to be, I think ASHTON is trying to seem/act tough more than he really is if you feel me
That's a good point. For me, I feel like the way Taliesin played Molly, Ashton, and a bit of Percy felt very pompous. Percy I get because he is described as a pretentious rich boy and that was the satire of his character. However with Molly and especially with Ashton when it comes to combat, the attitude that comes over Taliesin irritates me. He did act like this a little bit for Caduceus, but's it's very prevalent with Ashton. When other players, such as Travis or Laura, in combat enact special features, they keep it subtle and mysterious. Taliesin however is a bit haughty when he's describing what he's going to do. Some may say it's confidence, but for me it comes off as show off-ey. I love the calmness and wise portrayal of Caduceus and would agree he's definitely an S tier for me. I love when Taliesin described in 4-sided dive that Ashton is a person with chronic pain and it makes sense that his character would act the way it does because of it. I just wish that when Taliesin would cut back on the commentary if that makes sense.
@@lunasea08 that's totally fair and I understand that not every player style is everyone's cup of tea. I was just looking at it purely from the way the characters themselves are similar at the start of each campaign to end up in such different places on the ranking.
There's really someone for everyone with these characters. Couple that with the fact that the players are literally trained actors who can fully commit to their roles, it makes sense that everyone's tier list will look wildly different. Thanks for sharing yours! :D I'm not gonna leave my own controversial hot takes here, because honestly, who cares.
I'd probably switch your places for Beau/Laudna and Caleb/Vax, but overall this is a really solid list. I really appreciate the Caduceus love, my favorite as well
Waaaaaaaait aren't you the person who timestamps CR on youtube?
@@castlecaster I am, I appreciate the recognition. I also recently found your videos, and you're doing great work. Keep it up!
@@flandomaltrizian4603 Thanks so much!
You're a literal lifesaver for me whenever I make a CR related video haha. You make it so much easier to find the clips I need, so thank you!
I agree on the switching Beau/Laudna opinion. For me, Laudna is a very strong character in many respects in terms of theme, motivation, and personality. The boldness of Laudna's design compared to many other characters and how well it 'fits' (in both the overarching campaign and party dynamics) are something I think make her worthy of S-tier.
Thanks for always being there for us, Flando!
If I had to chose, Nott is my favourite out of all of them! Shes just great, and her story was really well done!
I love Nott the brave :))❤
Hey! Hey! Don't be disrespectful give Nott her comma!!!!!! 😂
Another Caduceus truther! I knew this channel was a good subscription.
He's the best!
I really agree with the Molly sentiment. I think essentially these characters with amazing stories dedicating so much of their time and energy to someone they knew for a few weeks. Enough to get tattoos of him or at least the eyes.
I personally think Fearne and Chetney are actually the most representative characters of their actors 😂
All of Taliesin's characters are atleast A Tier for me, but I guess it's because I grew up with Ashton's and Molly's.
And Caleb Widowgast is easily my top S Tier of them all.
I have to say, maybe it’s because I haven’t watched enough of campaign 2, so I’m not as connected to Beau, but Laudna is my favourite Marisha character. I love Beau and Kiki, and I think all of Marisha’s characters are great and interesting.. but there’s something special about Laudna. Maybe it’s the “side character” feeling you described. She feels less involved which oddly makes her feel more involved (I don’t know if that makes sense)
Also, I’m still waiting for the other FCG shoe to drop, but I definitely agree in the meanwhile about them.
I think that makes sense. I think that's sort of my experience with Caduceus. He's a supporting character who sort of glues the the party together.
Yeah I feel like there is a lot waiting in the wings for FCG!
I think you are looking for characters to "make things happen," and I'm more interested in how who they are affects their relationships. Orym has his fair share of personal tragedy, but where he really does his work is in how his combat/emotional support shines a spotlight on the other characters. And I am in love with that.
I wasn't expecting the "🎶Making their way🎶". You cracked me up with that 😂
I think the reason orym seems like a better "every man" character than imogen is because orym's reason for going on the adventure is somewhat revenge coated which makes him seem more proactive in choosing this adventure, wheras imogen was literally born into being almost the main character in most of campgain 3 so far. Plus, to me it feels like her character has to be mostly plot driven with her core character taking a sidebar, the part i enjoyed the most about her character being her personal struggles constantly being bombarded by other peoples thoughts crippling her kind of got waved away as stakes got higher. Orym still manages to not feel like a narrative tool, or be out of place like the others because he already had stakes in the story, and was kind of the only character (lorewise) somewhat prepared for just how serious the plot would get.
My personal favorate character of campaign 3 though is Ashton because of the realistic portrayal of chronic pain and their connections and mysteries tied to the world. In a less straight forward plot focused campaign I can see the various bells hells being perceived alot better if they only had the chance to let their character strengths shine.
Ooh, you should do a tier list of Lili Furfaro's character songs! They're all amazing.
In my opinion Caleb is the best character in Critical Role history for sure.
Caleb and Percy are my tops
Part of my love for Ashton is that he has chronic pain. Often times people with chronic illnesses are portrayed in media as inspirational and that's not always helpful. It's nice to see the struggle portrayed.
And I love your comment about traumatic backstories being part and parcel for D&D. 😂 It seems like people become adventurers rather than go to therapy.
Something I love about the Critter community is how varied opinions and love of characters can be. I don't think I agreed on a single tier other than the 2 D tier choices. But I love how much thought was put into this and all the little in jokes throughout the video. I love content like this :-)
"i love marisha characters" TASTE!
“I don’t really like edgy sad boy’s”
Looks at 2 out of his top 5 are edgy sad boys.
Right! The hypocrisy
Jester not beign S tier is blasphemy for sure, specially since Beau is.
I think Percy might be why I’m so hard on most characters when they become the focus of an arc… because I enjoyed Percy and the first major Whitestone arc so well that it’s hard to measure up to that.
It also doesn’t help that The Briarwood’s arc is when I first started watching the show.
Same here!
its so interesting to me why people love the characters they do, like looking at how they service the plot or story rather then how you relate to them, how they make you feel, how strong their personal archs are if they make you laugh. I feel as though characters falling into the background is maybe a genre limitation of ttrpg liveplay. You want to give each character, player and their story time to shine and that means players need to take a backseat and support their friends story rather than stealing the spotlight. Thats why i love Caduecus even as a supporting character he still shines so well.
I am also glad Molly died cause Dueces is my all time fav but I was heartbroken at the time cause I loved Molly too, a grating flamboyant queer moral asshole. how i see myself. and the fact he dies and still propels the other characters stories and the rest of the campaign is in my eyes BECAUSE of how good a character Molly was. Not just a lucky development from it.
This is actually pretty close to my list. Great takes and you did a good job explaining your reasoning
Bertrand was much more deserving of C, if low C. Just not rubbing shoulders with Tibs.
And to those who say Scanlan deserves S tier... agree.
Based Caduceus choice
I still think it’s hilarious when ferne tried to steal pike’s holy symbol.
personally i think Molly suffers from the death even more. It would have been fun to see what would have happened if Molly was around the whole time, an Lucian not being able to get his body back. And then that pushing Cad possibly into C3
This is my list, I'm around 10 eps away from finishing campaign 1, 10 eps into campaign 2 and caught up in campaign 3... (I know I'm watching it in a weird order)
S- Grog, Chetney, Fearne, Laudna, Scanlan, Jester, Cad,
A- FCG, Nott, Percy, Vax, Pike, Fjord,
B- Ashton, Imogen, Keyleth, Beau, Taryon, Caleb, Orym, Vex, Yasha, Molly,
C- Dorian, Bertrand,
D- Tib
I've seen a lot of clips from campaign 2, so I think Fjord, Caleb, Nott, Beau and Yasha will go up but idk (Cad hasn't been introduced yet where I'm at but from the clips I've seen, he deserves to be up there)
Im so glad your brought up SGM his videos are amazing
Caduceus around the M9: Lawful Neutral.
Caduceus around his siblings: Chaotic Evil.
kid: "can we have Gandalf?"
parent: "we have Gandalf at home" *points to Tiberious*
a.k.a thats basically Tiberious in a nutshell, scuffed Gandalf
I appreciate the extra context you're giving and how much thought you put into these. It's cool to see other people's opinions of the characters. I'd like to mention, and only because I'm not seeing it elsewhere, but I don't think your info about Marisha when talking about Keyleth was correct.
Yes she is the youngest at the table, but Marisha did have a fair amount more roleplaying experience than the other players (excluding Taliesin). She was brought in to the first home game as an assistant to Matt to help the others learn how to play. A lot of people mistake Keyleth's wide-eyed naivete for what Marisha was thinking/feeling, but it really wasn't that way. If anything, I think Marisha may have struggled with the sheer volume of Druid spells, but as someone who's 4th major campaign character is a druid, I can vouch that it would throw a wrench into any player's roleplay.
I was more refering to performing experience, not necessarily just rp
For me the S Characters would be Jester, Scanlan, Fearne and Laudna. Fjord would be close on top of A
Yep. The Clerics of C2 were the "glue"
(spoilers for c2 just in case)
for me, i put beau on the top of S tier. I really love how her arc goes over almost all of the campaign, as well as how detailed she feels. To me Beau is Such a good character to analyze because of her growth with being in the Cobalt Soul, as well as learning “people skills.” One thing in particular though, is during episodes 92 and 93. the way marisha acted her closing up while returning to kahmordah was beyond amazing. up until e92, she grew close to tm9 and became stronger within her fighting, as well as her interpersonal skills. But on the way to her hometown, she almost shuts down. she does that interact much in the party and starts to separate from them (physically and mentally). and i think one specific part that stuck out to me is when jester is talking about Babenon in e92 and you just see beau completely out of it, like shes drowning in her thoughts.
and after she visited her father, she was ready to lose her family AGAIN so Nott’s curse could be broken.
idk marisha did Such a good job giving beau character, and i really could go on but. that moment was one of my favorite character moments in all 3 campaigns
(apologies if some of this doesn’t make sense, i have so many thoughts about beau and tried to summarize most of them-)
I would have put Scanlan in S tier. He is my absolute favorite. Sam and Scanlan made C1 so much fun to watch. Hands down (besides Grog) was the most hilarious. I could go on all day. Just my opinion.
Critter since the beginning here, Dungeon Master since the 90s. Fantastic storytelling, wonderful amazing arcs throughout.. if we're talking about power tiers I see them in 4 varying groups.
Which characters can affect the following with their abilities, character progression, obtained gear and class.
Tavern tier, Kingdom, World, and God tiers respectfully
Top 5 most powerful S Tier Characters in Critical Role
5. The Champion of the Raven Queen: Vax
4. Voice of the Tempest: Lady Keyleth
3. Professor Caleb "Mud Wizard" Widogast
2. soon to be the High Sorceress of Red (future prediction, Laura's going full throttle Elphaba from Wicked) Imogen Temult
and the most powerful of them all..
1. Doors
A couple caveats: The fact that Ashley didn't get to play often drops Pike and Yasha from where they would otherwise be. And Scanlan and Grog would be higher if this were the animated version.
I've also included the ExU characters.
D: Tiberius
C: Scanlan, Molly
B: Nott, Grog, Pike, Vax, Yasha, Terry, Fjord, Kingsley, Vex, Bertrand
A: Percy, Keyleth, Beau, Orym, Opal Caduceus, Imogen, Dorian
S: Laudna, Chetney, Fearne, Caleb, Jester, Ashton, FCG, Dariax
Campaign 3 is my favorite, and a large part are the characters. I think Chetney and Laudna in particular are the best characters they've done.
scanlan at c makes me actually disregard the rest of your list
@@summeraidan5815 Seeing Molly in C tier makes me wanna cry.
1. Scanlan (the reason my first ever 5e PC was a Lorebard) 2. Grog ( A deep character in simplicity) 3. Jester ( Brought that trickery). I prefer those Characters that make me Laugh with Less "I have to prove myself trope." Liam is the Best at Drama and those heart string pulls and Caleb was epic, but I sank hours into C1 and C2 due to the fun and mystery of those characters.
Also no mention of Darrington Brigade one shot? that was the Campaign 3 I wanted!! again fun characters.
Ashton was fun for me because initially I really liked him, but we haven't really gotten into the bone of Ashton yet and Chetney took my number one spot for the Bells Hells for sure.
Fearne is a strong contender, for some reason the more chaotic the character the more fun they are to watch.
Also Ashley is playing Fearne as if she was an old school Kender
Oh you placed Nott and Veth the same I guess.
I liked Nott way more than Veth.
Youuu.... little shit waving around my babies from S to D giving me heart palpitations!
Great video as always!
I agree with most of this. And it does goes to show, with reflection, Second Campaign just overall has the best characters, although the pacing of the first campaign was best. For me what is interesting is that I would have Caleb and Jester as my top 2, then Cad and Beau. But Fjord is high up there for me too even after the arc. I agree about molly I never really got into them either. Yasha was a product of unfortunately Ashley being out most of the campaign and Veth/Nott I really like a lot, I definitely preferred Nott over Veth... but I agree that they kinda of go dull after their arc. I guess for me characters mean everything and I have to say I would stick with Campaign 2 forever. I was so... sad? when it ended.
I feel like Ashton should've been a little higher on the list, I understand not connecting with his punk esthetic but to me, Ashton is one of those guys that will tell you what you need to hear, they might not be nice about it, but they say it bluntly and straightforward, add in the fact Ashton is in constant, chronic pain, and issues and mystery of his past (many of which are even mysterys to the Greymoore kid themself) and we have a character that alongside Orym the everyman and Laudna, someone who I feel could surpass Jester in character, and you have me waiting with baited breath for their return.
What are your thoughts on Chetney and FCG after meeting Dianna and Frida? Cad was one of my favorites as one of the ensemble characters, how he was played, how he acted, how his class worked,
What about guest characters through the campaigns!
It just occurred to me that Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia if they portaled into our world would just be Dan and Lia
No way in hell Beau made S tier and Caleb didn't. Jesus this is scuffed
It's called opinions. They're a thing other people are allowed to have that differ from what you think. Might be worth looking up, bud
IMO Imogen is for sure a C tier character. You can tell there is a lot of potential with the psionics and these anime city wide destruction fade to white moments. Which I think goes counter to being the "Everyday" character in the way that Aurum is, and your right it lands much differently for Aurum. Because Aurum is just a dude with a job and a blade, no crazy powers or world shattering traits.
I think the main issue with Imogen is that she is following Vex > Jester who were such stand out spotlight characters, that now playing a more subdued character that plays off the cast more. Just makes her look like she has no real control of her situation and relies on the characters around her to give her character, rather than having character herself.
I would definitely put Jester in S-tier, especially for every time she casts Message & for organizing and implementing TravelerCon.
Grog deserves S tier. The skill Travis displays in his roleplay is second to none in my opinion
Percy is just posh gun guy, as Luboffin’s husband said in LoVM reaction 😂
I’d argue that Marisha was the strongest role player in campaign 1. People refused to believe that Marisha and Keyleth were two different people, and they very much were
I love this video and I love your opinions, though I feel some of your opinions on the Campaign 3 characters feels as if not enough info was known before placing them. Just my opinion though. Love this video though!
So, I feel like this might be the video to get a through of my own views of some of these characters out, so I'm gonna. (Haven't watched the Vox Machina campaign, so no comment on those, as I don't really know anything about them to comment)
Molly/Ashton: Honestly, I feel both of these characters suffer in quality if you watch both campaigns. Mainly because, they seem to be basically the same person, just with or without anger issues. Anger issues stemming from a good reason, I might add. But honestly, most of Ashton's actions and behaviour is what I would expect from Molly, if they'd had anger issues. And if Ashton is ever rid of the reason for his lack of anger management, I honestly suspect he is gonna turn out like Molly.
Laudna and Imogen as characters also suffer due to similar reasons, although with a few differences as to why.
Imogen: The way Matt sometimes include the story of the PC's in the story of the overall game is awesome. In this case, he has overdone it with Imogen and underdone it with everyone else. When it comes to how important Ruidus is to the story, and how tightly Imogen is tied to Ruidus, she has basically become the main character. To the point that Sam has actually made that joke on camera! It also seems that Matt needs to find excuses to tie the others just a little bit into the moon just somehow, for some reason. Imogen as a character, and how she is played by Laura, would be a much more enjoyable character to watch, if she hadn't been treated as the main character for such a big part of the story.
Laudna: Laudna is one of the most enjoyable characters of campaign 3. But the way she was resurrected, kinda makes the stakes of the story seem benign and arbitrary, and a bit too comic-book-esque. The trip they went through to get her back felt cheap, and it feels like it has cheapened her as a character and the story as a whole.
I....**have** to agree to disagree with some of your takes. Not necessarily the ranking, but like- "Laura plays Imogen like the everyman" is ..I think that's just not true?
I do have to say, respect for the Beau respect- I also like her more than Laudna even if Laudna is a really great character as well (just a testament to how good a rper Marisha is)
I also disagreed with his comparison of orym and Imogen as two characters attempting to fall into the everyman category. Orym absolutely falls into that category: very normal average guy who got stuck in terrible circumstances and goes on a journey because of it. He knows he’s just a normal dude that would be better suited to live a normal life. Then opposite of him you have Imogen who was born into these circumstances and practically forced into her journey. She KNOWS that she’s never been your average farm girl, and she so so desperately longs to eventually have a normal life, but views it as practically unattainable. I hesitate to call them foils of each other, but it’s tempting.
@@lexim.7582 I think this is a much better take on their dynamic. I honestly think it has to do with how Castle is seeing the series nowadays, of course everyone can have their opinion. But i think its def resulting in him missing some pretty obvious character dynamics.
@@darkestlight660 his content is really good and I agreed with the majority of his takes in this vid but there were definitely a few that made me take a breath and remind myself “agree to disagree”
Crazy, I hated Beau and Cad but I love Nott, Jester and Ford.
So… wait… you were ranking them off how good of player characters they were, which I would generally assume would be off of how well roleplayed they were… but even though you liked Keyleth even though she wasn’t roleplayed that well in the first campaign, but even though Ashton was intentionally made to be unlikeable, he ranks low because you don’t like him, but Keyleth ranks high?
13:34 Percy is S tier even if it were only because his narrative called into existence Victor the ultimate vendor NPC
Agree 100% about Molly. I literally jumped out of my seat and cheered when he died in that episode. I was so happy and relieved to be rid of him.
I liked him, but I clearly didn’t have the reaction most did. I just didn’t feel connected enough to feel super sad.
Who wrote the chapters on this video? They got half or more of the spellings wrong? And flattout just called FCG: Warforged
I’ve personally never understood the massive love for Caduceus, but thinking about him compared to Iroh is interesting. That makes more sense.
Also I totally agree that Molly death was the best thing for campaign 2, and that’s not because he’s a bad character. I just felt like the group was so scattered before that event. They needed something to really bring them together.
Travis isn't pretending on those rolls. I don't know what he has to roll to die in the night, but it's a real bit he's doing. Don't remember 9fbhe aaid it in game or 4 sided dive
S-tier;
Grog, Cad, Jester, Scanlan
A-tier; Caleb, Beau, Percy, Fjord
B-tier; Vax, Vex, Pike, Nott/Veth, Yasha, Molly
C-tier; Keyleth
I would love to see this idea done with dimension 20!
Scanlan deserved S tier. You clearly overlooked combat contributions in your list, which in Critical Role are a major part of the story because the players tend to strategize in-character. This has led to a lot of dicey situations, but it's also led to moments like Scanlan taking a whole dungeon by himself and tricking the party AND DM into bamboozling the final boss of the campaign while he was ALREADY trying to conserve his 9th level slot to save Vax. His character gets questionable at times, but never in ways that aren't justified by how his party often treated him, and it never put him off his game in a fight.
Doesn’t want to give any spoilers.
Reveals Molly’s death without a second thought. 🤦♂️
In a video that is subjective, I must say you have some spicy takes. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the spice but hot dang that spice. I do feel that none of your rankings are ever unreasonable even when I disagree. I feel like the Molly fans might come after you though XD
I do agree with your top choice of Cad. He's my favorite of all of them!
I think what I love about Beau is that before Cad came on the scene she was my fave character in C2 even though nothing about her backstory, or characterization was compelling to me personally. Just the way Marisha played her was always so great! Come to think of it Marisha's characters have been my favorite character for each campaign if we ignore Cad.
Thank god someone mentions Ashton
Hey, Im not far into C3, but I had to joke when I met Taliesen that the first thing Ashton says is basically the same thing I said when I woke up at 5 AM to come meet him at a con-a burst of profanity.
Never felt so justified until now hearing someone else call Molly "annoying" (i just tend not to be a big fan of Tal's characters in general). Love the way you explain your opinions btw, even if i don't agree with some of them.
Tarion honestly felt like an NPC oddly enough
you are 100% correct that Mollymock's death was one of the best things to happen for the campaign and the Mighty Nein, but not for the reason you said... everybody who has finished C2 knows what i mean... Neo Somnovem the Nonagon 10,000%
Definitely ALOT different than my list for sure. I only have one character in A tier and 4 in S and then alot of C tier and then 4 in D tier. My D tier being Keyleth, Orym, Mollymauk and Travis's Gnome dude who I can't even remember the name of. S's being Vex, Scanlan, Grog and Jester.
Do you even really watch if you can’t remember Chetney’s name? 😂
Campaign 2 lost me over a few things and Mollymawk's random deification was one of them 😅
Re: You feeling like Orym working better than Imogen as an “Everyman” character: I think this also has to do with the class fantasy of fighter vs sorcerers. Fighters are warriors who hone their skills to become exceptional, but sorcerers are innately magical people who ARE exceptional. With rigorous training and discipline, I might be able to do what Orym does, but I can never be like Imogen.
I wouldn't ever consider Percy a goth and I'd have ranked Jester as a C, it would be a D if it wasn't for her stunt with the cupcake.
Bertrand wasn't just C3 though. He's from the Search for Bob/Grog one shots to explore what happened to Grog when he pulled a card from the Deck of Many Things and got warped away during the finale. It was kind of like omg you dick, we're not expanding this campaign to explore how you get back so hand wavy how that happened. Then they added exploring that as a stretch goal reward and Travis needed a character to play until they got to Grog. He is annoying though, but I think that's on purpose because he's a glass canon that was probably going to die in the one shots. They explained they brought him into C3 because he was supposed to die anyway, and Travis wanted a delayed entry for Chetney. Essentially Bertrand by accident got more affection than he was supposed to because he lived longer.
The original elf was also Chutney Chocolatecane.
Ashton I don't dislike, but I understand your reasoning. But in a recent 4 sided dive Taliesin talks about how Ashton is troubled by chronic pain and people carry that and respond to their world with that in different ways. He has pain himself, but obviously Ashton is different. Notably he talked about friends he knew that had constant migraines and that was why they were always cranky, but before that he just thought they were assholes. It seems like he's trying to embody what that must have been like to have such severe pain that kindness is difficult to hold onto. Hearing that I felt more understanding of Ashton as well.
S. Jester, Caduceus, Laudna, Scanlan, Grog, Vax
A. Chetney, Percy, Vex, Bertrand, FCG, Fearne, Taryon, Fjord, Nott, Caleb, Molly
B. Keyleth, ashton, imogen, beau, orym, pike, dorian, yasha
C.
D.
Didn’t forget anyone! Nice! 😏
(this is lighthearted, don't take it too seriously) Absolutely horrendous takes on both Grog and Taryon. Grog is obv S-tier, he's literally the saving grace of the entire campaign. Travis played the button-pushing barbarian perfectly and kept the pace of the game moving, while perfectly blending humor and violence. Taryon was the perfect character to galvanize the group RIGHT when "the thing" happened. Each character was kind of on edge and there was just a weird vibe until Tary showed up and gave them all something to "unite against" in a sort of "Hey you can't talk to MY friend that way" kind of situation. Not only that, but Grog & Tary unleashed one of THE BEST comedic moments in CR history just walking around Vassalheim. Two double S-tiers IMO.
Mostly agree I'd probably slide chetny and fcg up... The big exception for me is beau she ends up hitting me in the same reason Ashton hits me wrong
S Tier: Caleb, Jester, Caduceus, Beauregard, Fearne, Scanlan and Chetney.
Best characters for it's player.
Honestly, I don't think Mollymauk gets enough credit for being a not only a party member, but also the BBEG, (and yes, that's tongue in cheek, but if you think about it...)
Oh, and also when you can't think of a part timer with more game time than Robbie, I would point out that Orion Acaba was technically downgraded to guest star, so technically Robbie would have to clock 20 some odd episodes to pass Tiberius
Since I know you're all dying to know, mine would be:
S: Jester, Grog
A: Scanlan, Chetney, Keyleth, Fearne, Caleb,
B: Laudna, Vex, Knott/Veth, Percy, Caduceus, Fjord, Vax, Imogen, FCG
C: Orym, Pike, Ashton, Molly, Taryon, Bertran, Beau,
D: Yasha
Do any of you know if bards in D&D 5e are stronger than bards in PF 1e?
Really enjoyed the video :) And I agreed with a surprising amount of the list. Your explanation about Chetney I fully agree with - I've never really understood why he stayed with the party. Also I'm always happy to see Beau get some love! Her and Cad are also my S tier. And I'd probably add Laudna and Fearne to S tier as well.
The only characters I would put in dramatically different spots are Scanlan and Vax, and I'd probably nudge Taryon, Nott, Vex and Imogen up a bit as well. But I think you justified your decisions really well! I stand behind you on Molly btw - could not stand him. I feel like Ashton is a bit of a redo of Molly which is why I'm also having issues with them.
Much better then the D20 vid imo reasoning wise.
Caleb, and Jester would of hit S and Ferne is high B
wish you included calamity characters but I understand why you didnt.
My list is very different than yours 🤣
S - Caleb, Jester, Caduceus, Fjord, Vax
A - Beau, Mollymauk, Nott, Percy, Grog
B - Vex, Scanlan, Tarion, Ashton, Fearne
C - Pike, FCG, Laudna, Imogen
D - Yasha, Chetney, Orym, Dorian, Bertrand, Tiberius
Campaign 3 characters don't do it for me, they feel very out of place and their interactions as a party is not even 1% as interesting as M9.
Overall I this list, but u did Vex dirty esp. if you consider the animated version. Hot take, but I think Percy should be a low S tier - he's such an interesting concept. I totally agree with you on the campaign 3 characters - they all seem like jokes or just sit in the background
Idk if this is a weird take or not but I actually liked Keyleth more than Beau. Maybe someone can convice me otherwise, but Beau's backstory resolution never quite sat well with me. It just felt as though she was being completely admonished of responsibility for her own choices by blaming them on her dad. Now don't get me wrong, Beau's dad is absolutely a scumbag, but he didn't force Beau to become a criminal. Like 90% of it is her dad's fault, but I never understood why it was treated as though she wasn't partly responsible for her own actions. I'm not saying I don't find her situation realistic, because I can totally sympathise with acting rebellious in the face of a lack of parental love, but she chose to become a criminal, and is not held even slightly accountable.
Fjord not being S tier to me would only be because why Knott is a D tier also for me because Fjord SHOULD have been an even more clear cut leader than he was, but Knott/Veth/Sam spent the entire campaign always joking at his expense. I get it got laughs in the room but it felt like a lot of the growth that should’ve been had got cut down any time Fjord did anything and by the millionth “but Fjord is weak” statement Travis, who naturally is fine being a butt of the joke, just absorbed it.
I liked Scanlan, I appreciate the ideas of FCG and the mini story of Taryon as a person was fun, but Knott just felt so in the way and scene-steal and the lack of maturity/growth even after the character change grated me.
Wow, I finally feel validated in my general dislike of Mollymauk. Dislike may be a strong word to use, but in general he just didn't do it for me, and seeing just how much other people seemed to *love* him always just left me kinda puzzled.
Cad is also my fav character
Scanlan belongs in S. I can’t argue why because of spoilers but he belongs in S. Putting him even in A is a crime
Ashton is one of my favorite characters .
But its cause i kinda get the schtick i suppose cuase i come from a metal and punk background and get the culture.
And same with Molly my parents where carnies lol
But Mollys Death was the Most nessecary story catalyst of all time.
I think Molly wasn't that interesting while alive, his plot is amazing, but actually his memory, of what he stood for and such, is what makes him great, rather than anything he did while alive.
Great list! I would move a few characters up or down a tier, but agree with the vast majority of your list. Also, I completely agree with the Molly take! I think I liked him a bit more than you (I always saw him like if Jack Sparrow was a carny lol). However, his death completely changed campaign 2 imo. The intensity increased 10 fold. It made the story way more compelling. It really brought the rest of the group together. It was a big reason I think the 2nd campaign is my favorite. I'm struggling to connect with campaign 3 as much but it's still good.
Now that I think about it. Campaign 3 saw the group coming together over a death as well with Bertrand. However, that one seemed more forced and the team feeling like they had to use his name for their party. Still don't really care for Hells Bells as a name. Just felt rushed. We spent a lot more time with Molly than Bertrand so that may have something to do with it.