The drow Drizzt Do’Urden is one ofDungeons & Dragons' most beloved characters ever, and the story behind his creation makes his popularity even better – and more unlikely. Originally created by R.A. Salvatore for theIcewind Daletrilogy, Drizzt first appeared in 1988. Since then,Drizzt has been in almost 40 books, graphic novels, RPGs –Drizzt was even supposed to be inDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesbefore rights issues necessitated scrapping him from the script and replacing him with the character of Xenk. His enormous popularity belies his smaller beginnings, however.
Drizzt Do’Urden, with his array of powers and abilities, is one of the best-written and fleshed-out characters in the entireDungeons & Dragonspantheon. His backstory and history are rich and detailed, and his adventures and relationships have filled thousands of pages. As much time has been spent on crafting Drizzt’s arc as on any fictional character. Care that deliberate is even more impressive consideringthere wasn’t much thought put into the initial creation of his character– that focus on him only came after.
Drizzt Do’Urden Was Created On A Whim
He Was Invented In A Hurry
As it turns out, the creation of Drizzt wasn’t a long process or something that had been in the works for a long time before he appeared on the page. There wasn’t even a plan for him to exist at alluntil R. A. Salvatore was in a bind and needed a new character in a pinch, in fact. Salvatore’s explanation of Drizzt’s conception in an interview in 2004 (viaGameSpy) shows just how unlikely it was that the character would grow to be so popular:
“I’d quit writing and start creating characters to sell to other authors. Drizzt was created on a whim, under pressure, while at work at my day job in finance. I had to come up with a sidekick for (aForgotten Realmscharacter named) Wulfgar and had this sudden thought. I don’t know where it came from. I guess that Gary Gygax just did such an amazing job in creating the Drow elves that something about them got stuck in the back of my head. Thank God!”
I Know What D&D Needs To Do With Drizzt After The Franchise’s $208M Movie Bomb Cut Him
After being cut from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise’s most recent movie, Drizzt Do’Urden is in a prime spot to get his long-overdue solo project.
While it might be a little disappointing for some to learn that Drizzt wasn’t created as a passion project or because Salvatore had a long-burning desire to see the character brought into the world, from another perspective,it makes it even cooler that the character stuck around and made such an impact.In a way, it’s entirely fitting: in the books, Drizzt has no business surviving the Underdark, much less thriving outside of it, and the same could be said of his real-world popularity. It’s a neatly symbolic parallel.
Why Drizzt Is One Of The Biggest Dungeons & Dragons Characters Ever
He’s A Hero’s Hero
Since his creation,Drizzt Do’Urden, with his iconic dual scimitarsand panther Guenhwyvar, has become the face ofForgotten Realms, and a strong argument could be made for him being the face ofD&Ditself. Like any good, popular character, Drizzt has his detractors –few characters are universally beloved, even the largely beloved ones.But it’s a small minority. Undoubtedly, theForgotten Realmscampaign madeDungeons & Dragonsmore accessible to a wider audience than ever before, particularly with the 5th Edition, and Drizzt was a big part of that growth.
Drizzt is easy to love as the drow is a pure force of good, everything a hero should be:noble, brave, charismatic, and always striving to be better.That’s not to say tropes don’t creep into his character from time to time, but he was (and still is) relatable in a way so many other stock high fantasyDungeons & Dragonscharacters simply are not. His books were the first to really tackle real-world issues and themes, including racism, religion, and found family inD&Dand he made the world feel more lived-in and real. He’s not a perfect character, but for starting as a hurried thought, Drizzt is about as perfectly crafted a character as you could ask for.
Dungeons & Dragons
TheDungeons & Dragonsfranchise is a fantasy adventure series based on the iconic tabletop role-playing game. The franchise includes both live-action and animated adaptations, with the most notable being the recent filmDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves(2023), which brought the fantasy world of D&D to a broader audience with its blend of humor, action, and classic D&D elements. The franchise explores themes of heroism, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of adventuring in a magical world filled with dragons, wizards, and mythical creatures.
