Who is your iconic character for each class archetype?

[Rfkannen]

What fiction, myth, or history character is the one that for you most embodies each archetype?

for example. When I think of arcane trickster I think kylar stern

champion fighter is finn the human

open hand monk is sun wukong

element monk is korra.

who are yours?

[mythmonster2]

Shouldn't this be in the 5e section?

[Dhavaer]

Shouldn't this be in the 5e section?

I was just thinking that, and have dropped the mods a line.

[Haruki-kun]

It's a bit more general than just 5e, I'd say.

The Winged Mod: Moved to Roleplaying Games.

[Vitruviansquid]

I'd say Sun Wukong is more like the opposite of a monk for most of his life on earth. He does, after all, disregard the authority of the emperor of heaven and/or Buddha. Also, he has a trademark magic stick that he fights with.

[Wraith]

Most archetypal characters I think of, either come from the Warhammer and Discworld settings, since they were both such a big influence on me growing up, but there are a few that always spring to mind from elsewhere:

Barbarian - Conan
(Despite his dropped levels into Rogue and Samurai....)

Paladin - Don Quixote de la Manche

Sorcerer - Lo Pan (The evil baddie from the movie, Big Trouble In Little China)

[Tengu_temp]

Paladin - Don Quixote de la Manche

That's a very weird choice, considering that Don Quixote is a delusional old man, and the story treats him as one; we're not supposed to find him motivational, but laughable.

A better paladin example would be Sir Galahad. Or, my personal favorite, Vash the Stampede; not because he's a pacifist, but because he's a man who lives by his code.

[jaydubs]

Valor Bard - Link, from Legend of Zelda series.
Bard in general (possibly Lore) - Kvothe, from the Name of the Wind.

Moon Druid - Joseph Listens-to-Wind, aka Injun Joe from the Dresden Files.

Thief Rogue - Locke Lamora, from Lies of Locke Lamora.
Assassin Rogue - Kalam Mekhar, from the Malazan series.

Barbarian in general - Logen Ninefingers, from the First Law.

[Tommy_Dude]

Fighter - Achilles, Myth/history
Wizard - Gandalf, Lord of the Rings
Rogue - Han Solo, Star Wars
Druid - San, Princess Mononoke
Paladin - Joan of Arc, History
Barbarian - Conan, Conan the Barbarian
Sorceror - Howl, Howl's Moving Castle
Cleric - Otohime, Bleach

[goto124]

That's a very weird choice, considering that Don Quixote is a delusional old man, and the story treats him as one; we're not supposed to find him motivational, but laughable.

[TrollCapAmerica]

That's a very weird choice, considering that Don Quixote is a delusional old man, and the story treats him as one; we're not supposed to find him motivational, but laughable.

That was the intention but it didn't work that way. I think it worked out better that way

http://xkcd.com/556/

Barbarian- Honestly Conan although 5E seems like the closest. If I had any other choice Hercules seems angry enough most of the time

Bard- Orpheus man nothing fits better

Clerics- I'm gonna go with Moses on this on

Druid/Wizard- Merlin for both

Paladin- Captain America!

Monk- Kwai Chang Caine. Any other answer is wrong

Warlock- The Ice King. Now let's hope EE finally gives me good ice spells

[Khaiel]

Barbarian: Hercules (Roman and Greek Myths)
Paladin: Archangel St Michael (Chatholic Tradition)
Wizard: Raitslin Majere (Dragonlance)
Fighter/Knight: El Cid (History and Literature)
Rogue: Odysseus (Myth/History)
Sorcerer: Morgan le Fay (Arthurian Myth)
Druid: Merlin (Arthurian Myth)
Samurai: Doji Kakita (Legend of the Five Rings)
Bard: Gandalf* (Lord of the Rings)
Ranger: Aragorn (Lord of the Rings)

*: Gandalf is depicted as a magician with knowledge of many things and skill with a sword, able to survive by himself during long journeys even without using his magic and able to inspire people to fight against almost impossible odds. As such, I think of him more as a Bard focused a bit more in magic than as a wizard.

[comicshorse]

Barbarian: Conan

Ranger : Robin Hood (specifically Michael Praed in the 1984 BBC series)
Fighter: Achilles

Sorceror: Mickey Mouse

Druid: Merlin

Rogue: The Gray Mouser (Fafhrad and the Gray Mouser novels by Fritz Leiber ). Actually thinking about it I really imagine Villa from 'Blakes 7' but that's probably way too obscure a reference

Monk: Kwai Chang Caine ('Kung Fu' the tv series)

Paladin: Sir Galahad

Samurai: Ogami Ittō (from the Lone Wolf and Cub series of movies, particularity 'Shogun Assassin' which I saw at an impressionable age))

[TrollCapAmerica]

All my Samurai always slowly turn into Mifune. Even the female ones

[ondonaflash]

Man, everyone brings up virtuous knights for Paladins but, and this may be stacking the deck a little bit, I can't think of anyone who encompasses the ideals of virtuous self-sacrifice the way I imagine a paladin should quite as well as Sturm Brightblade from Dragonlance. Picking another source who isn't specifically described as a Paladin in the text, probably Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin.

As for fighters, in my opinion a good fighter should have a little bit of dirt on their soul, but not so much that it makes them as bad as who they're fighting. To that end I really like Matrim Cauthon from Wheel of Time. Just enough grit to be satisfying, just enough wit to be fun.

And dipping into the WoT well once more, I think Thom Merrilin as the court bard/assassin is everything I want out of a bard.

Hercules is probably my favorite choice for Barbarian, murdering people in fits of violent rage and then feeling really bad about it afterwards, then going to stupidly great lengths to make amends.

For a good Rogue it's tough to beat Locke Lamora, but I also really like Dodger from the Terry Pratchett novel of the same title.

For a good wizard I find Gandalf to be a bit lacking. He throws around a few light spells and folks are supposed to be impressed? Nah, Give me Odin. Accompanied by two raven familiars and wandering the world in the appearance of a kindly old man, rewarding those who do right by him and cursing those who do him ill.

[BootStrapTommy]

Wizard - Gandalf the Grey
Ranger - Aragorn, son of Arathorn
Rogue - Gonff the Mousethief (Redwall series)
Fighter - Alexander of Macedon
Barbarian - Ragnar Lodbrok
Paladin - Date Masamune
Druid - Merlin

[Aspiration]

Druid: Merlin
Paladin: Athena or Kaladin Stormblessed (Stormlight Archive)
Fighter: Lancelot
Cleric: Joan of Arc or Ahmad ibn Fadlan (13th Warrior)
Bard: Orpheus
Wizard: Saruman
Sorceror: Shallan Davar (Stormlight Archive) or Nyneve/Vivianne
Rogue: Robin Hood or Batman
Ranger: Jon Snow (Game of Thrones) or Arwen

[BWR]

Eh, so many inspirations can be portrayed as so many classes. So, ignoring any particular classes and going straight for archetypes or purpose:

The Warrior: Beowulf. Probably because he's the first I came across.
The Wizard: Gandalf probably because he's the first who really came to my attention.
The Sneak: the Gray Mouser: decent in a fight, prefers to use his wits and skills, a dabbler in many things, and pretty cool

Samurai: Doji Kakita (Legend of the Five Rings)

A) technically he never took the Doji name.
B) Lady Matsu hates your guts now. Mirumoto isn't that impressed either.

[Ionbound]

To me, Sam Vimes is the archetypal LG/LN rogue, depending on how you view his alignment.

As for Paladin, Captain Carrot. Just...Everything about him screams paladin.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Let's try something a little different...

Fighter: KnightMan.EXE Protoman/Blues.EXE
Wizard: Megaman/Rockman.EXE, Bass/Forte.EXE

Spoiler: Major end of series spoilers

Show

Iris.EXE

Cleric: Roll.EXE, Medi.EXE, Toady.EXE
Rogue: ShadowMan.EXE
Barbarian: TomahawkMan.EXE
Brawler: GutsMan.EXE, MetalMan.EXE
Bardbarian/Bardblade/Bardsader: Colonel.EXE

[Seerow]

Paladin: Michael (Dresden Files) or Kaladin (Stormlight Archives)

Monk: *insert dragonball reference here*

Fighter: Beowulf (Mythology) or Thomas (Riftwar Saga)

Rogue: Jimmy the Hand (Riftwar Saga)

Bard: Kvothe (Kingkiller Chronicles)

Ranger: FitzChivalry (Farseer trilogy) or Beorn (The Hobbit)

Wizard: Harry Dresden (Dresden Files)




Honestly I can't come up with anything for Druid/Cleric, despite being pretty major archetypes. In most fantasy stories these seem to tend towards background characters, rather than protagonists or supporting cast. It seems to me like in most fantasy source material characters who have Druidic or Divine magic tend to get it on a more offensive base, making them lean more towards appearing as Paladins and Rangers. Which is probably a large part of why D&D 3.5 gave Druids and Clerics so much combat capability, to better resemble those characters.

[Rhunder]

Paladin - In my opinion the perfect paladin is Gandalf. Think about it

Barbarian - Hulk? Is he not allowed or something? Why has no one said him?

Ranger - Im mostly going off the last movie, but Riddick almost seems like an epic level Ranger.

Rogue - There are so many possible choices here, but im going for the ultimate skill monkey Bruce Wayne. Is there a skill he doesn't have. I know Batman technically can go anywhere, but the Rogue aspires to his fortune and sheer diverse usefulness. But if not you can always MacGuyver.

Monk - depending on which edition, any DBZ characters seem to fit best, but if not any Bruce Lee Character ever would suffice.

Bard - Charismatic and slightly annoying to the end, I love these guys as villains thus I see them as Villains constantly. Lex Luther, Handsome Jack, Glados, any time you start to agree with the villain or appreciate him as a character, you realize how charming these guys can be. But my personal favorite is Aku from Samaria jack.

[Wraith]

That's a very weird choice, considering that Don Quixote is a delusional old man, and the story treats him as one; we're not supposed to find him motivational, but laughable.

I understand that, on face value, Don Quixote is an old man in the twilight of his years that has lost his grip on reality and his last desperate attempts at glory are both feeble and misguided.

But 'being effective' is not one of the core requirements for a Paladin. Being noble and self-sacrificing is.

Don Quixote perceived evil. He perceived a monster ravaging the countryside and threatening the villagers in it's wake, and so he put himself between it and them regardless of the cost.
He fought what he believed to be evil and he protected those which he believed to be innocent, and when his lance struck home but didn't kill the 'creature'? He turned his horse and he charged again. And again. And again. He would not allow evil to stand while he still did.
Is that not the behaviour of the most true and noble Paladin?

As for Paladin, Captain Carrot. Just...Everything about him screams paladin.

I mentioned this exact example in another, similar thread, and was shouted down that Carrot should in fact be an Urban Ranger on the grounds that he knows his city inside and out, and has animal companions in the forms of Angua and Gaspode.
I *still* prefer to think of his as a Paladin, though.

[Socksy]

I mentioned this exact example in another, similar thread, and was shouted down that Carrot should in fact be an Urban Ranger on the grounds that he knows his city inside and out, and has animal companions in the forms of Angua and Gaspode.
I *still* prefer to think of his as a Paladin, though.

Angua is quite clearly Captain Carrot's "Special Mount".

[Ionbound]

*winces* That...That's something else, Socksy.

[Zyzzyva]

My iconic bard is, no lie, Elan.

[woodlandkammao]

I always come back to Halt O'Carrick as the most iconic ranger in fiction (from John Flanagan's series Ranger's Apprentice). I know everyone hears ranger and thinks Aragorn or Drizzt, but when you get right down to their "mechanics", they are both basically fighters with a few survival and tracking skills. (please don't kill me )

Halt (or Will or Gilan for that matter) are expert marksman, skilled in woodcraft and training animals, I could go on all day, they basically embody the concept of the ranger for me.

[Wraith]

*winces* That...That's something else, Socksy.

Though I realise it makes me look juvenile, I must admit that it did make me laugh.

I always come back to Halt O'Carrick as the most iconic ranger in fiction (from John Flanagan's series Ranger's Apprentice). I know everyone hears ranger and thinks Aragorn or Drizzt, but when you get right down to their "mechanics", they are both basically fighters with a few survival and tracking skills. (please don't kill me )

That's a good choice. Well, it certainly is compared to mine - For a Ranger, I always think of John Rambo (Though likely because I've only seen First Blood, and none of its' sequels).

[Kaveman26]

Witch-wicked witch of the east
Gunslinger-man with no name (Sergio leone)

[Jacob.Tyr]

Love the idea of Vash The Stampede as a Paladin Archetype. I might need to make that character in Pathfinder some time.

Adding this one as I'm surprised it hasn't come up yet:

Barbarian- Cu Chulainn