Iconic

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In Pathfinder, the Iconics are the pregenerated Player Characters that appear in the art of almost every adventure path, sourcebook, splatbook, or what have you that Paizo publishes.

The Iconics were originally created so that Paizo could have a detailed go-to reference for each class to show illustrators instead of having to repeatedly explain to each artist what equipment, weapons and armor each class would typically have. But over time the gained a life of their own, and have had their backstories fleshed out in novels and short stories. They also star in the Pathfinder comic book series, as well as 2 of them appearing in the video game adaptations of Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous. For some reason, you can't romance them in the video games, despite most of the cast able to be. The writers tend to have the Iconics subvert the tropes of how their classes are typically portrayed in popular culture, whether by having them be an unusual gender or body-type for that class, or having world views or backstory that clashes with how one would typically see it playing out.

Meet the Team

• Adowyn the Hunter, LN follower of Erastil: A ranger of Nirmanthas who's renowned as a master bounty hunter. Typically doesn't talk to anyone aside from her pet wolf.

• Amiri the Barbarian, CN follower of Gorum: One of the more popular Iconics due to being a badass musclebound woman who shows a good amount of skin and revels in kicking ass, but is still loyal to her friends and is reasonable enough to be a team player. Was kicked out of her tribe in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords (ie, Ice Age North America with Frost Giants) due to defying gender norms and slaying a giant. She took the giant's sword and now travels around with 3 things on her mind: Food, drink, and beating people up!

• Alahazra the Oracle, LG Atheist : That's right, an atheistic oracle! Growing up a pampered brat of a rich nobleman in a nation who forbade the worship of any religion, she lost her eyesight and gained great divine fire-power when she was 16. Now an outcast, she was forced to grow up fast and leave her father and nation behind. Years later, she still doesn't follow any god, but developed a strong moral compass. Standoffish and temperamental, she sees the gods only as strategic allies in the fight against evil. Also apparently has quite a healthy sex-life for such a serious character. Replaced by the Tengu oracle Korakai in 2E.

• Alain the Cavalier, LN follower of Abadar: You know the classic image of a knight in shining armor, heroically riding atop a valiant steed? This... is not that guy! Alain grew up from a rich spoiled brat into an even bigger rich spoiled brat who only cares about increasing his own fame. He doesn't even care if the world sees him as a hero or villain. As long as they've heard of him and how handsome and awesome he is, he'll be happy. He even thinks little of women and of elves! He is 100% certified dick and couldn't be more proud of it!

• Aric the Vigilante, CG/CN: Young noble, dead parents, so far, so Batman. He was then picked up by a band of bandits who trained him in hopes of honing his hatred into a purpose to avenge all those wronged by the hyper-anarchic government of Galt. Eventually, he adopted the persona of the Red Raven, an avenger of the night who brought the crooked to violent justice. However, this led to a split-personality moral crisis as his daytime persona of Aric became outspoken about the corruption in Galt while the Red Raven was hired to kill himself. This led to a break and he decided to flee with some help from Quinn to Taldor, where some decency yet remained.

• Balazar the Gnome Summoner, TN Agnostic: Was once a good-natured prankster (as is typical for gnomes), a run-in with some mages attempting to harness the power of the void left him so horrified that it literally aged him until his hair turned white. On the plus side, he got a sweet eidolon out of the ordeal named Padrig. Padrig resembles a cockatrice with a serpent's body, good for intimidating enemies or biting their heads off. Patient, wise, and a pretty cool old guy.

• Crowe the Bloodrager, CN: A man haunted by visions of a terrible storm and his own spotty memory leading to a troubled childhood. When he came of age, he was sent to gather horses - what happened was a horrible storm/rage that caused unspeakable mayhem that marked him an exile.

• Damiel the Elf Alchemist, CN follower of Norgorber: Damiel dosen't really play with many tropes, being your bog-standard "mad scientist" alchemist with a bit of Jekyll and Hyde thrown in. Sees knowledge as the ultimate drug and seeks to never stop learning to feed this insatiable knowledge. When he uses mutagens his other side comes out which is even more violent. Never really popular with players or writers, so he was replaced in 2E with the much more fun goblin alchemist, Fumbus.

• Enora the Halfling Arcanist, LN follower of Nethys: Raised in the atheist nation of Rahadoum. She was an excellent student in their magical schools and eventually went to do some research abroad. What she found was a tablet that shockingly awakened her theistic beliefs and sent her to Nethys' teaching after feeling disappointment in what she had grown up with. Though she is not considered an outcast yet, she knows that she cannot return home due to her changed beliefs and instead remains abroad in a constant pursuit of knowledge.

• Erasmus the Medium, N: The youngest son of a minor noble house. As his family started dying off one by one, he began getting haunted by the voices of his dead family. He tried ignoring them until his father died - and then they grew so bad that he had to be committed to an asylum. While confined, he finally learned how to control the voices and realized that these voices were his family trying to help him. He broke out of the loony bin by channeling his family's spirits only to find out his only surviving sibling had become the sole ruler of the house and had gained too much influence for one man haunted by the ghosts of his dead family to take on...at least, not on his own.

• Estra the Spiritualist, N: An elderly woman who is haunted by the ghost of her late husband. Said husband was the one who set her straight years ago, turning her from the life of a scam spiritualist and making her an honest woman. When he died, her attempts to get back on that trade, only to spectacularly fail when her husband emerged to comfort the grieving strangers she set out to scam. This made her too ashamed to try to scam anyone else ever again, knowing that her husband was indeed watching.

• Ezren the Wizard, NG Atheist: Your typical kindly wizard with a white beard, coat, and staff. What makes him unique is his backstory, where a plot by his asshole brother kept him out of any and all wizarding schools. Now much older, he's happy to finally start becoming a real wizard like he'd always dreamed of as a kid. It goes to show that you're never too old to start pursuing your dreams.

• Feiya the Witch, CN follower of Desna: Your typical swamp-dwelling witch who's lack of socialization predictably leads to her being more than a bit unsociable. Seeks to learn more about herself and her mysterious patron.

• Hakon the Skald, LN: Raised in a band of Viking raiders, learning the many sagas of its heroes before going off to make his own saga.

• Harsk the Dwarf Ranger: A strange anomaly of a dwarf who likes wide-open fields and tea rather than ale and caves. Most damningly, he was actually pacifistic until his inaction led to the death of his brother after his band walked into a giant ambush. Mad with grief, he then loaded up his crossbow and shot down every single giant he could see before retrieving his brother's axe. The loss turned him into more of a taciturn loner, more likely to keep to himself until the time needs him to act.

• Hayate the Samurai, LN: A head retainer who avenged his master's death by slaying the usurper. When his code dictated seppuku for what he did, his master's wife instead let him free and sent him to foreign lands as an exile.

• Imrijka the Half-Orc Pathfinder of Pharasma, LN: A so-called monster who hunts monsters and antiquarian, acting as an agent for her god in hunting down those who defy the cycle of life.

• Jirelle the Half-Elf Swashbuckler, CG: Hated her pirate mother so much that she sank the ship and her mom just to get away from that miserable lifestyle. Though she started her free life hoping to find a better life elsewhere, those plans got stalled when she heard that her mom came back as a banshee with a ghost ship. Now she seeks to fund a ship and crew to finish the job she started.

• Kess the Brawler, CG follower of Kurgess: A noble lady who grew to love pit fighting despite it angering her parents. Rather than have her family decide her future, she instead left to make a living in the colosseums, training at a gladiatorial college until she decided to start adventuring to find new challenges. She's dedicated to her craft, her body, and her fearlessness in the face of any peril.

• Kyra the Cleric of Sarenrae, NG: Survived a brutal raid on her home and was adopted into the cult of the Dawnflower (statistically represented with a special Trait and the Sun and Healing domains). Rather than seek out vengeance, she instead turned her focus onto saving lives and redeeming the wicked so that none would ever have to consider such a path.

• Lem the Halfling Bard, CG: Born the slave of some snobbish nobles, he learned how to charm his higher-ups into giving him easier jobs and protecting his family. He betrayed his masters once he realized that his family was being sacrificed to fiends and burned the house down. While it saved their lives, that same family then rushed back in to put out the fire with no hint of irony. He left, convinced that his actions were in the right and always ready to side with the little guy (metaphorically).

• Lirianne the Half-Elf Gunslinger, CG: Hails from Alkenstar, a region where magic actually doesn't work too well. While she sought adventure, the only adventure she got was from following her father's footsteps as a Shield Marshal. That all got changed when a wave of wild magic teleported her very far from home and within contact of an elven heritage she'd ignored for a long time.

• Lini the Gnome Druid, N follower of the Green Faith: A natural with animals, with her pet snow leopard Droogami being but the first animal she was miraculously able to pacify. Has a habit of collecting sticks from every forest she encounters, each one holding enough memories that it acts like a sort of scrapbook for her.

• Mavaro the Occultist, N follower of Pharasma: Grew up in a convent and stole some talismans that happened to seal away an ancient evil. Whoops. The evil then murdered the nuns, possessed the prioress who set the place on fire and then was rebuffed when the man struck back. He prefers not to talk about this when he can, instead talking about various treasures, but he does swear to finish the job with that ancient evil he unleashed.

• Meligaster the Halfling Mesmerist, N: A slave who used his natural charm to gain favor around the mansion and help his ailing mother, but those charms only lasted so long before he was pushed into harsher tasks. When his fellow slaves sought to sacrifice him to an archdevil in hopes of restoring their masters' reputation, he discovered his gift of hypnotism. By studying further, he learned how to dominate the minds of everyone in the estate, including his masters, and became the master. When he was visited by Lem, his supposed half-brother, he found that the bard was completely opposed to this lifestyle - going so far as to abscond with their mother and freeing his slaves from their enslavement. The rightfully pissed slaves burned the place down and Meligaster sought revenge.

• Merisiel the Elf Rogue, CN: Ditched in front of a church of Calistria, she chafed under the teachings of the priests and then ran away to become your typical pickpocket. While crafty and sneaky, her favorite tools for solving problems are her bundles and bundles of knives.

• Oloch the Half-Orc Warpriest of Gorum, CN: A battle-starved beast of a man who grew up in a tribe before moving on to find more suitable challenges. While he claims his job gives him the chance to find a good opponent, he's also using it and his proximity to civilization to figure out just what kind of person he is.

• Quinn the Investigator, LN: A dandyman who roves the streets to uphold the law and protect the innocent. While he's more than apt at digging up clues to bring into court proceedings, he's more than capable of getting down and dirty, using his sword-cane and alchemical elixirs to take down his enemies by surprise.

• Reiko the Ninja, N: Raised as part of a seclusive ninja clan, but that clan and her family were exterminated by a cruel warlord. She swore vengeance and then went adventuring, looking for any leads for the warlord so she could take her revenge.

• Rivani the Psychic, LN: Was revealed to have massive psychic potential when her test had her accidentally entering the mind of her proctor. She was then sent off to travel, filling her with a massive wanderlust.

• Sajan the Monk, LN: Raised as part of a monastic order of warrior-monks alongside his twin sister. He fought in wars in service to his master, but when his master sold his sister in part of a dishonorable bargain to avoid defeat, he left his home to chase down any leads for his sister. This eventually led him to Absalom, a place very far from home but the only place he can call such since he's now a deserter.

• Seelah the Paladin of Iomedae, LG: A young girl orphaned after her family was murdered by roving Gnolls, she was forced to scavenge for her survival. One day, she came across a band of paladins who fought to defend the town she lived in and she decided to follow them. She managed to steal the helmets of one of the members as some sort of trinket, but that proved to be the worst thing she could do when the paladin she stole it from died from an arrow through the skull. This haunted her enough that she tried to jump into the paladin's funerary pyre, but she was instead convinced to join the order as another paladin - eventually seeing her guilt turned into a purpose to emulate her hero.

• Seltyiel the Half-Elf Magus, LN: The single most edgiest edgelord who's ever edged. His past was so shit that picking up a spooky book of magic was his only release from his misery and gave him a path to a better life.

• Seoni the Sorcerer, LN: Daughter of a Varisian caravan master, she naturally came to use runic tattoos as both a cultural symbol and a casting focus. For some reason, she's bound by all sorts of inscrutable codes and strictures that baffle others.

• Shardra the Dwarf Shaman, N: A dwarf stuck in a life that wasn't hers. That all changed one day when she fell down a pit and got seriously hurt, meeting a small lizard-shaped spirit of stone that taught her how to channel primal magics such as Rivethun, an old dwarven tradition derived from a disjunction between body and soul. She soon left her home to take up a life of wandering.

• Valeros the Fighter, NG follower of Cayden Cailean: A simple farm boy who went out into the world of adventuring and realized that it was hardly the sort of thing the bards sing about. He had to do work as a mercenary, get down and dirty into the art of war and learned how to make a name for himself. His lifestyle is a bit carefree, but he's far from an uneducated bumpkin and he's pretty devout to the god of bravery, freedom, and BOOZE!

• Yoon the Kineticist, CG: Rather infamous for being the only child iconic. She grew up with a love of fire and a stuffed owlbear her late mother gave her. One day during a festival, she found her father trapped in a burning building and assailed by soldiers. In an outburst of rage, she exploded. She was later found by a nameless traveler who took her on as an apprentice as she learned to master her powers. Was aged up a fair bit in 2E.

• Zadim the Slayer, N follower of Sarenrae: A Qadiran devotee of the Cult of the Dawnflower. He acts as a vigilante affiliated with the church, murdering the wicked and corrupt when mercy is beyond reach.