They have the same sort of bond that any pet and pet-owner have. That’s a mundane bond. Like I said, Bloodfeast took a liking to Belkar. But Belkar and Mr. Scruffy (or Lien and Razor) have a special bond that goes beyond that.
…and it’s not as though he’s got much future…
Fine. The last we saw of Mr. Scruffy, his tail was being bitten by a lizard. The point is that Belkar did deploy his animal arsenal, and helpfully so, despite V’s taunts to the contrary.
Yes, but that doesn’t give either of them any stat bonuses.
Setting aside the Oracle thing, we’re talking very immediate gain since the gods are about to destroy the world. Even Belkar can probably see the flaw in that reward. Plus the whole “maybe trying to be less selfishly evil” thing.
Re-reading the strip (was catching up on my webcomics aggregator), I’m thinking that V was just trolling Belkar for having a housecat as his bonded companion versus Lien’s halfling-eating shark mount.
… says the guy(?) with a bird.
He’s taking the piss out of Belkar AND the forumites who’ve been clamouring for Bloodfeast to get dispelled by the Anti Magic Eye-Beam. The Giant at his best 
And I think Belkar makes it clear that he is not even considering this, he is just so fascinated by all the Granny talk (btw, ALSO a nice take on forum theories that put Serini as Belkars ancestor)
Doubtful. He makes a point of not reading the forum any more. He usually doesn’t know what they are saying.
V has a Familiar, not an Animal Companion. Familiars aren’t supposed to be combat effective - by default, they’re small, vulnerable, and weak critters like ravens and toads - and house cats. A ranger’s Animal Companion, on the other hand, is a major class feature that is supposed to be a significant element of the ranger’s combat effectiveness. By default, they’re powerful, aggressive predators, like lions and tigers and bears, oh my.
Which is why the famous “BIRD TO THE FACE” move is not generally used. And housecats are only deployed against Commoners.
I am aware, but he is eerily good at guessing what the fans get hung up about
He’s just that good.
Oh, yet another flaw with Serini’s “plan” from last update: As of right now, she’s no help to the Order, because she refuses to help beat Xykon, because it’ll endanger the Gates. But if she were to lose all her memory of the Gates, then she’d presumably be much easier to persuade… while still being an epic-level rogue with lots and lots of magical toys. Dunking herself in amnesia potion wouldn’t just be neutral from the Order’s point of view; it’d be a huge improvement in the situation.
Probably to be expected, when you put someone like Elan and someone like Sunny in the same room together.
Of what possible use (to Serini) is wiping someone’s short term memory, which is believed to be on the order of seconds?
Get MITD in with them and you’ll have a trifecta.
This is one of those times when I miss the “like” button.