Editing Drizzt

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[[File:DrizztSue.png|300px|thumbnail|right|Blame the people who did his clones.]]

'''Drizzt Do'Urden''' is the <del>[[Drow]]</del> <del>[[Elf]]</del> [[Drow]] protagonist of several of [[R.A. Salvatore]]'s [[Forgotten Realms]] novels. He is well known - and well-hated - on /tg/ for being the origin of the "Good Drow Ranger Fighting To Prove Him/Herself Worthy Despite The Sins Of His/Her Kin While Dual-Wielding Scimitars" stereotype used as a template to create characters by hundreds upon thousands of pathetically unoriginal idiots the world over. While Drizzt really isn't a terrible character in and of himself (especially in light of shit like [[Twilight|Pinelight]]), the sheer volume of Drizzt-clones he's spawned are capable of inducing [[Rage|burning fury]] in even the most [[Reasonable Marines|mild and even-tempered of dudes]].

He is also commonly described as a [[Mary Sue]], although whether this is really a property of the character himself or if he's simply tainted by association with the thousands of knock-off characters he spawned is open to debate. Some bet on the latter, having moved into "sick of people who are sick of the original subject matter". Other point out that, all copycats aside, Drizzt has stupid amounts of [[plot armor]] in the books and is able to carve his way through armies and Epic-level encounters such as Balors without sweating despite only being lvl16 pure-class [[ranger]]. Given past experience by players being inspired by [[Stephanie Meyer|stupid shit]], there is every reason to take a lot of problems with the guy with a grain of salt. However, keep in mind that Drizzt's author Mr. Salvatore had given him a thoroughly well-planned plotline to at least justify to kill the Balor, such as an extremely powerful frost weapon scores of pages and chapters ago, so under such circumstances killing a Balor with a well-planned ambush as a level 16 ranger ''can be tolerated'' to a degree, and character-wise, Drizzt is a pretty mellow, morally consistent, and reasonable individual without going into needless heroism and Kaldor Draigo level of challenges. It's the cargo cult-grade fanboyism that made the fucker be hated by the rest of the world's [[Neckbeards]].

No matter what your verdict, keep in mind he is an elf, and thus automatically 5 billion times less manly than even the dreaded [[Tau|Space Communists]].

Doubly fun fact: He was planned as a SECONDARY character, a sidekick in support of a human [[Barbarian]] called Wulfgar, in a crusty old book named ''The Crystal Shard''. Then the writing started and, whattaya know? He just had too much charisma to not end up becoming the main character.

==Ok, so why is this son of a bitch so popular?==
* Drizzt is a [[Twilight|unique and beautiful snowflake]] (well, he used to be unique).
** To his credit however, even Drizzt himself is [[FAIL|facepalming]] at the above line. ''Jesus.''
* He has [[Cadia|lavender eyes]], making him popular among the [[-4 Str|ladies]].
* Drow are hot, and Drizzt is a drow. Therefore we can safely conclude that Drizzt is hot. (Confirmed by our [[Gay Purple Man|on-staff homosexual.]])
* He occasionally hangs out with [[Dwarves|dorfs]], which basically means he cannot ''completely'' suck.
* [[Meme|I think Drizzt is a pretty cool gal, seh kills demons and doesn't afraid of anything.]]
* His name sounds exactly like the Russian word for "diarrhea" (was even renamed into Dzzirt in the official Russian translation, go figure).
* Because he's a male drow that doesn't get slapped for not GB2Kitchen. Indeed, he slaughtered his way across his [[Stupid Evil]] members to his well-earned freedom.
* Has a badass black panther animal companion.
* Drizzt isn't a fan of his clones either. And to his credit, he gets shit done better than them.
* Though Chaotic Good, he isn't Chaotic Stupid. Uses chaotic things like lies, deceit and lawful things like principles and plain self-sacrifice to ensure his friends' safety, and good is preserved without resorting to Mary Sue killings like Kaldor Draigo did. In one tale, he uses a sack of flour to drown Crenshinibon, a world-threatening sentient crystal; in another he willingly takes blows from the now-grown hateful elf girl he once saved from death, who thought he was going to kill her. So he is a bro, bro'est of all Drow.
* We're reasonably sure he didn't cause [[4e]].
* <s>He's part of the elf master-race.</s> [[Dwarf|WHO LET THE ELVES IN HERE???]]
* He's a [[ranger]] and a bad motherfucker, two things that, in ''D&D'', have rarely blended well. Might have to do with being raised by a badass bearded blind ranger, and at least having a class of barbarian in the older editions for the "berserk" trance he used in the Dark Elf Trilogy.
* Did we mention he dual-wields scimitars like Baraka on crack? It's as good as it sounds.

...On a serious note, it's because people have always liked the idea of playing "monster" races.  From [[goblins]] to [[orcs]] to [[minotaur]]s, it's as old as ''D&D''. Literally; Gygax included notes expressing different opinions on the idea in different supplements over the years and reportedly once let someone bring a ''balrog'' to the table. Evil races are often kinda ''sweet''. Why else would [[Chaos]] have as many fans as it does? But bringing a monster attitude to a normal gaming table is often disruptive.  Gygax pointed out that having a balrog in the party made it hard to adventure, since it kept trying to dominate or abuse the other party members into line.

So, to the kind of mind that likes coming up with "unconventional" PC choices, playing a non-evil version of a traditionally-evil race is a good way to try to create a character with an adventuring-party-friendly personality without fully sacrificing the cool-factor that made the traditionally-evil race popular in the first place. And it was pretty good roleplay fodder too, before it got run into the ground: the player in question got to have angst while the party got to show how cool and not-racist they were for looking past the monster PC's race to see them for the good person they were inside.

Drizzt, bless his heart, was merely the first PROMINENT example of what people have always been doing to get lots of spotlight. In the Prequel explaining his backstory, he gets a considerable amount of fleshing out and has good explanation for his items and skills. It is learned that his father, Zaknafein, is a Drow so manly that he openly repudiates Lol'th in public, and yet is given leeway by his fuckbuddy, Matron Malice (Drizzt's mom who fucks him regularly because of his rejection of submission typical of Drow males). It is Drizzt's father that infuses his idealism and good heart, and subtly tells Drizzt that Drow are backstabbing sons of bitches who can't wait a split second before going on free-for-all a la [[Neogi]]. So Drizzt got saved from an evil Matriarchal society by a strong father figure, an evil, lawless society where only women are revered and fatherless, dark skinned-children go on cathartic murder sprees and enslave others.

Holy fucking hell Salvatore, I didn't realize you were [[/pol/]] before it was <s>cool</s> popular.

He starts rather well in the Crystal Shard of the Icewind Dale trilogy complete with severe weakness to sun that nearly gets him killed at the beginning of the book, but goes increasingly batshit [[Mary Sue]] by the time his Stupid Evil kin decide to attack the surface to enslave and murder. He infiltrates their city, complete with magic time bombs (Yes, magic C-4) to blow up Drow cathedrals and fight dozens of Drow at once like some Assassin's Creedfag on steroids and pointy ass elf ears. Seriously Salvatore, you done fucked up.

Afterwards, he kinda mellows and goes on a few adventures, fucks a light elf chick and saves her ass, that sort of comicbook shit.  He never really lets being the most popular and iconic drow ''and'' the most popular and iconic ranger in the gameline go to his head, and that makes him pretty tolerable.

==The Companions of the Hall==
Whilst Drizzt ''has'' done more than his fair share of solo adventuring or bumming around with other people, he is most associated with his own distinct team of [[adventurer]]s that he lived much of his life with. Originally, he outlived them all, which only makes sense since none of them were elves and adventuring is a fairly high-risk profession, but they were actually reincarnated after the [[Spellplague]].

'''Bruenor Battlehammer''' (Male [[Dwarf|Shield Dwarf]] [[Fighter]]) is the co-founder of the Companions. The last living heir to the throne of the dwarven clanhold of Mithral Hall, from which he and his relatives were driven when he was a child by a [[Shadow Dragon]] named Shimmergloom and its army of [[duergar]]. He encountered Drizzt during the drow's early days on the surface, originally hunting Drizzt for a crime the drow hadn't committed, then siding with Drizzt after his innocence was proven. He became Drizzt's longstanding friend, and that companionship was rewarded when Drizzt helped Bruenor to find and reclaim dominion over Mithral Hall. After the [[Spellplague]], he was reincarnated as the Male [[Dwarf|Shield Dwarf]] [[Fighter]] ''Reginald Roundshield'' ("Little Arr Arr" to his close friends); initially failing to remember that he had volunteered to come back to the world of the living to aid [[Drizzt]] at the request of [[Mielikki]], he found his second life unwanted and quite embarrassing at first. He later got over it and used the revelation of his original incarnation to become a legendary dwarf leader.

'''Catti-brie''' (Female [[Human]] [[Fighter]]) is Bruenor's adoptive daughter, rescued from [[Icewind Dale|Termalaine]] in the wake of a [[goblin]] attack that killed her father, her mother having died in childbirth. She was one of the first surfacers to meet and befriend Drizzt, which is partly how he got in her father's good books. She initially wielded the enchanted bow ''Taulmaril'', and eventually took up the (psychotic) intelligent sword ''Khazid'hea''. Prior to the [[Spellplague]], her leg was crushed in an attack by [[Frost Giant]]s, and she feared the loss of her life as a warrior, only to discover an untrained latent as a [[wizard]]. However, she was killed by some of the first manifestations of the [[Spellplague]]. She was reincarnated as ''Ruqiah'' (Female [[Human]]) in the Desiah tribe of the Bedine nomads of the Anarouch. In this life, she forsook the path of the warrior and concentrated on her mystical abilities, of which she had plenty! Possessing scars in the shape of the holy symbols of [[Mystra]] and [[Mielikki]] on her forearms, she may have been [[spellscar]]red, and definitely wielded a mixture of arcane and divine magics. She may have even had some druidic abilities, as she was able to use certain druid spells like Call Lightning and to shapeshift into the forms of a wolf, owl, hawk and eagle, but no official statblock exists. At least some of her magical powers, most notably the shapeshifting, were lost when [[the Sundering]] saw the restoration of Mystra's Weave and the removal of all spellscars. Ruiqiah is the most controversial of the reincarnated Companions, as she went from the most friendly and open-minded of the group to a religious zealot convinced that all non-demihumans were utterly, irredeemably evil.

'''Wulfgar''' (male [[Human]] [[Barbarian]] - or [[Fighter]]-with-Uthgardt-Barbarian-kit in AD&D) is an Uthgardt Barbarian from the Tribe of the Elk who partook in a raid on the Ten-Towns of [[Icewind Dale]] when he was a youth. In the fight, he came up against Bruenor Battlehammer, who was shocked by the boy's youth and so decided to spare him, knocking him out cold and taking him as a prisoner of war instead of simply killing him. Wulfgar initially resented this, but came to see the dwarf as a substitute father. They grew so close that Bruenor even invoked the mystical ability of all dwarves to, once in their life, create a single powerful magical weapon as their ultimate masterpiece to forge a weapon for Wulfgar: Aegis-fang, a mighty warhammer that could be freely used as a missile weapon, as it would fly back to its wielder's hand. Wulfgar had the most tumultuous life of the Companions, and even left their company for many years prior to his death, first by being dragged into the [[Abyss]] by a vengeful [[demon]] and then voluntarily leaving to try and recover from his scars. Ultimately, he lived to be a hundred years old, with three living children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, but neither his age nor his being sick with pneumonia stopped him from responding to a [[yeti]] attack on his tribe by launching himself at the hulking ape-things, killing several with his bare hands before being struck down. The most reluctant to be reborn, he was revived as ''Hrolf Alfarinson'', an Uthgardt Barbarian of the Tribe of the Elk.

'''"Rumblebelly" Regis''' (Male [[Halfling]] [[Rogue]]) was an orphaned halfling from Calimshan who grew up as a street thief in a guild run by Pasha Pook... until the day he realized his boss was sporting a magical ruby necklace that could be used to hypnotize people, and he stole it. Desperate to keep his innards where they belonged, Regis fled to [[Icewind Dale]], and somehow ended up a member of the Companions. Whilst he was adept at handling social stuff for them, and could be surprisingly handy in a fight, he was very much ''not'' a great warrior like his companions, and this ate at him. He was slain by the [[Spellplague]] when his soul was ripped from his body and into his magical necklace. He was reincarnated as ''Spider Parrafin'', a Male Halfling but also a Water [[Genasi]]... which technically doesn't have official stats, but isn't as impossible as you'd think, considering that [[D'hin]] exist. Whilst still a [[Rogue]], this reincarnated Regis was much more aggressive and combat-trained, fighting with rapier, dagger, and plenty of poison & alchemical items to augment his abilities - more a [[Swashbuckler]] and less a [[Thief]] compared to his original incarnation.

==So, about those books==
There have been a ''lot'' of books featuring Drizzt and his friends, from full-fledged novels to short stories.

'''Novels:'''
* Dark Elf Trilogy (Homeland< Exile, Sojourn)
* Icewind Dale Trilogy (The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, The Halfling's Gem)
* Legacy of the Drow (The Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, Passage to Dawn)
* Paths of Darkness (The Silent Blade, The Spine of the World, Sea of Swords)
* Hunter's Blade Trilogy (The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow, The Two Swords)
* Transitions (The Orc King, The Pirate King, The Ghost King)
* The Neverwinter Saga (Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon's Claw, The Last Threshold)
* The Sundering (The Companions)
* Companions Codex (Night of the Hunter, Rise of the King, Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf)
* Homecoming (Archmage, Maestro, Hero)
* Generations (Timeless, Boundless, Relentless)

He also appears in the short stories "The Fires of Narbondel" in Realms of the Underdark, "Dark Mirror" in Realms of Valor, "The Dowery" in The Collected Stories: The Legend Of Drizzt, and  "Comrades at Odds" in The Collected Stories: The Legend Of Drizzt".

Finally, he appears in the books The Stowaway, A Reader's Guide to R. A. Salvatore's the Legend of Drizzt, The Shadowmask, and The Collected Stories: The Legend of Drizzt Anthology.

Non-book appearances consist of the adventure module "The Accursed Tower", and the videogames Menzoberranzan, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, Dungeons and Dragons: Neverwinter, Arena of War, and Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance.

==Gallery==
*See also [http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/all_drow_are_drizzt_1654.jpg here].

==See Also==
* [[Elf]]
* [[Dwarf]]

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Forgotten Realms]][[Category:RAGE]][[Category:Mary Sue]]