Exemples of Iconic Warlocks in the media?

[Matinta]

So a new guy just came to our D&D group and he argued that the Warlock was exclusivly a D&D thing.

I said "No way, that's totally a staple character from all sorts of media" so can you guys help me prove him wrong?

What I have so far:

-Ghost rider:

He clearly got his power with a demonic deal but isntead of serving his demon Patron he uses the powers against him.

-Corvo and Emily from the Dishonered series. They both got their power from a mysterious and cryptic multidimensional being.


They formed a deal with him and their power manifests weird symbols in their bodies.



-Liliana from MTG:

She didn't got most of her powers from the pact (She was a powerful necromancer on her on right) but it did greatly increase her power and it was one of the main themes on her story. Besides keeping her young.

It also manifests as symbols and marks on her body. It seems to be a recurring theme.





That's what I got so far... Anyone has any other idea?

[S@tanicoaldo]

From the top of my head:

-Elric of Melniboné, Arioch and Stormbringer.
-Soul nomad main character, The Onix blade and gig.
-Jean Gray and The phoenix force.
-Illyana Rasputin as Magick and the soul sword.
-Mr. Norrell and the Stranger.
-The Highlander?

[Tanarii]

- Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (Fallen Angel Lasciel, then Queen Mab, and arguably Demonreach Genius Loci)
- Raistlin Majere (spirit of Fistandantilus)

[GloatingSwine]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust

Also, a pact with the devil was often considered to be the nature of witches' powers in medieval lore.

[LibraryOgre]

The Witch OCC from Palladium Fantasy/Rifts. The Rifts implementation of Vampires (where they are empowered by Cthuloid beings called "Vampire Intelligences") bear a lot of similarities.

I think Spawn would qualify.

[MeimuHakurei]

-Arielle the Mermaid (pacted with Ursula)
-Raven, of the Teen Titans (gained her powers from her patron Trigon, even if not willingly)
-Prince Adam of Eternia (the magic sword of Castle Greyskull is exactly the kind of weapon a Hexblade would have)

[Particle_Man]

Green Lantern. Pact with little blue guys to shoot green blasts (and shape them to do cool stuff).

Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Blast, blast, blast!

Many “blaster” heroes and villains. Iron Man was mentioned in another Warlock thread. Lightning Lad works too. More blaster than pact-maker, mind you.

Daleks work if you squint a bit. Exterminate!

[LibraryOgre]

-Raven, of the Teen Titans (gained her powers from her patron Trigon, even if not willingly)

Arguably a Sorcerer, but a good one.

-Prince Adam of Eternia (the magic sword of Castle Greyskull is exactly the kind of weapon a Hexblade would have)

Dammit, now I want to play that.

She-ra would also fall under this. And a lot of sentai, I imagine (q.v. the Power Rangers, given their powers by Zordon)

[Personification]

--FaustEric
-All Knights Radiant (rare good variant, also often palladin-like)

[No brains]

Part of the trouble in figuring this out is drawing the line between a god and a patron. Is Marvel Comics Thor a Cleric of Odin or a Hexblade of Mjolnir? Spell list and durability notwithstanding.

[Beleriphon]

Part of the trouble in figuring this out is drawing the line between a god and a patron. Is Marvel Comics Thor a Cleric of Odin or a Hexblade of Mjolnir? Spell list and durability notwithstanding.

Isn't he a fighter with a super-artifact weapon?

As for actual characters that share warlock like pacts, there are lots.

I'll just leave this here:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...alWithTheDevil

[S@tanicoaldo]

In the comics at least Thor is clearly a Binder.

Isn't he a fighter with a super-artifact weapon?

As for actual characters that share warlock like pacts, there are lots.

I'll just leave this here:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...alWithTheDevil

I don't think that Tv tropes link id actually any help.

Despite pacts with extadimensional creatures being a key aspect of a Warlock they are not the only feature of the class.

They are humans who enter pacts in exchange for magical powers.

So not all people who enter in supernatural deals and pacts are Warlcoks, but all Warlocks entered in supernatural deals and pacts.

In that link we have all sorts of stuff from actual Warlocks to people who traded their souls for a sandwich (Not an Warlock).

“blaster” heroes and villains. Iron Man was mentioned in another Warlock thread.

That's really dumb, he's clearly a wizard using his int to solve cosmic issues.

I mean he single handed solved time travel in the last movie. He always has a plan, armor and machine for something, any situation, as long he has time to prepare.

[Excession]

For something I watched recently, "mages" in the setting of The Ancient Magus' Bride perform magic by making bargains and trading with fey creatures. They still have some form of innate magic, but they can't use it directly. This is distinct from "sorcerers" that can use magic more directly, and are portrayed as more scientific. Mages there are pretty close to fey-pact warlocks in D&D rules, though lacking a single patron.

The pattern of making bargains with fey creatures is pretty common in folklore and mythologic.

[Particle_Man]

Are we talking about 5e or 3.5? The latter allows for ancestors to have made the pact.

In the comics at least Thor is clearly a Binder.



I don't think that Tv tropes link id actually any help.

Despite pacts with extadimensional creatures being a key aspect of a Warlock they are not the only feature of the class.

They are humans who enter pacts in exchange for magical powers.

So not all people who enter in supernatural deals and pacts are Warlcoks, but all Warlocks entered in supernatural deals and pacts.

In that link we have all sorts of stuff from actual Warlocks to people who traded their souls for a sandwich (Not an Warlock).



That's really dumb, he's clearly a wizard using his int to solve cosmic issues.

I mean he single handed solved time travel in the last movie. He always has a plan, armor and machine for something, any situation, as long he has time to prepare.

[Psyren]

Corvo is definitely a solid example; his magic is very limited/narrow in focus, and the stranger definitely fits the bill as a patron.

Are we talking about 5e or 3.5? The latter allows for ancestors to have made the pact.

You could do that in 5e too - the important point is that the pact is binding to the warlock, which could apply to careless wording by an ancestor.

[Kitten Champion]

Lina inverse is somewhat of a Warlock. Black magic in Slayers is drawn from demons, but rather than gathering magic from a patron that encompasses all black magical spells like drawing water from a specific well, different spells are instead taken from individual demons who each need to be tapped individually for different spells. Which means black magic can be utterly ineffective against demons especially when they themselves are the root of the spell's power, and that spells can fade from the world if the demon that spawns it is destroyed.

As it's based on Faust to some degree, the various magic girls from Madoka Magica are heavily flavoured as warlocks. Specifically the outer-worldly patron character plying deals among mortals for immediate power in exchange for an unmentioned price they're to pay down the line.

Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents is pretty much a Warlock, and a very powerful one. So long as his fairy patrons are around and he abides by their magical rules he can fulfill any given wish he wants, albeit with a degree of monkey's paw to it.

[Kyutaru]

Uzumaki Naruto

As a jinchuriki, he makes a pact with a demon and gains powers from it.


Pretty much anyone who sells their soul to Hell would also be considered a warlock if they gained magic from it.

[Draconi Redfir]

Perhaps Sylvanus Windrunner the Banshee Queen from World of Warcraft? Most of her powers initially came from Arthas / the Lich King after he raised her into an undead. Since then she's gained new powers, including at least two instances of Resurrection from the Val'kyr.

Similarly, Talion the Deathwalker from the Shadow of Mordor/War games would also fit. As his powers come from an elven spirit possessing his corpse, and later on a Ring of power.

... still want to see those two fight on an episode of Death Battle...


... Maaayyyybeee Gordon Freeman? He has his thing with the G-man. though i don't think he gains any unique powers or abilities from it.

i think Point-man and Paxton from the F.E.A.R. franchise get their powers from Alma. though that's more hereditary then granted i believe. their powers are their own. Edit: Nah, they sorcerers or psions at best.

"You" in MASSIVE CHALICE might count. you were created by a chalice as an immortal ruler and commander. and when the Chalice dies, so do you.

the Commander in Xcom 2 may count, depending on how much you believe the Etherials have to do with his existence.

Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents is pretty much a Warlock, and a very powerful one. So long as his fairy patrons are around and he abides by their magical rules he can fulfill any given wish he wants, albeit with a degree of monkey's paw to it.

If Timmy Turner is a Warlock, then that means that for at least a short while, Aladdin is too

[JMS]

- Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (Fallen Angel Lasciel, then Queen Mab, and arguably Demonreach Genius Loci)

Let's see. Harry also gets soulfire from an archangel, so he has been a Fiendish, Celestial, fey, and whatever Demonreach is. Just need Great Old One (Unlikely, unless some weird stuff from his origin gives stuff, brought up in Cold Days, he has a weirdly easy time of killing outsiders, in a relative sense.) Hexblade (One of the Swords? He gets a warden's blade?), and Undying (No idea)

[No brains]

... Maaayyyybeee Gordon Freeman? He has his thing with the G-man. though i don't think he gains any unique powers or abilities from it.

He doesn't use a magic wand, he uses a science wand. *crowbar**crowbar**crowbar*

[Beleriphon]

Let's see. Harry also gets soulfire from an archangel, so he has been a Fiendish, Celestial, fey, and whatever Demonreach is. Just need Great Old One (Unlikely, unless some weird stuff from his origin gives stuff, brought up in Cold Days, he has a weirdly easy time of killing outsiders, in a relative sense.) Hexblade (One of the Swords? He gets a warden's blade?), and Undying (No idea)

I feel like Demonreach is probably a GOO of some kind, at least the closest in Dresden Files, unless we talked about Outsiders. But those are more like Far Realm stuff in D&D.

[Tanarii]

Despite pacts with extadimensional creatures being a key aspect of a Warlock they are not the only feature of the class.

They are humans who enter pacts in exchange for magical powers.

Similarly, not all of a warlocks power must come from their supernatural pact. They also can gain it by their own research and studies. It's just that they took a shortcut to greater power.

Let's see. Harry also gets soulfire from an archangel, so he has been a Fiendish, Celestial, fey, and whatever Demonreach is. Just need Great Old One (Unlikely, unless some weird stuff from his origin gives stuff, brought up in Cold Days, he has a weirdly easy time of killing outsiders, in a relative sense.) Hexblade (One of the Swords? He gets a warden's blade?), and Undying (No idea)

Spoiler: actual spoiling information

Show

Great old one would definitely be if he entered a pact with and got power from the outsiders. Although at this point that might just result in the end of all existence.

[S@tanicoaldo]

Lina inverse is somewhat of a Warlock. Black magic in Slayers is drawn from demons, but rather than gathering magic from a patron that encompasses all black magical spells like drawing water from a specific well, different spells are instead taken from individual demons who each need to be tapped individually for different spells. Which means black magic can be utterly ineffective against demons especially when they themselves are the root of the spell's power, and that spells can fade from the world if the demon that spawns it is destroyed.

As it's based on Faust to some degree, the various magic girls from Madoka Magica are heavily flavoured as warlocks. Specifically the outer-worldly patron character plying deals among mortals for immediate power in exchange for an unmentioned price they're to pay down the line.

Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents is pretty much a Warlock, and a very powerful one. So long as his fairy patrons are around and he abides by their magical rules he can fulfill any given wish he wants, albeit with a degree of monkey's paw to it.

I think again those are bad exemples.

Lina may drawn some of her powers from demon lords and the lower planes but she's clearly the one one doing the magic, there is no pact, deal or consent involved. She's a wizard true and true.

And Timmy is just a guy with a magic boon from magical creatures. There is no pact of deal involved and most importantly he's not the one doing the magic.

That's a very important aspect of being an warlock, you may borrow the powers of some other creature but YOU are the one casting all the spells even if they are limited in scope.

Perhaps Sylvanus Windrunner the Banshee Queen from World of Warcraft? Most of her powers initially came from Arthas / the Lich King after he raised her into an undead. Since then she's gained new powers, including at least two instances of Resurrection from the Val'kyr.

Great pick! Perhaps even the Lich king himself is a Hexblade warlock who got enough power to become a Lich. Warlcoks can become Liches rigth?

Similarly, Talion the Deathwalker from the Shadow of Mordor/War games would also fit. As his powers come from an elven spirit possessing his corpse, and later on a Ring of power.

Again great pick!

If Timmy Turner is a Warlock, then that means that for at least a short while, Aladdin is too

Hummm... Once more this is just a guy who has a powerful outsider as a servant, Clerics,Wizards do that all the time. If a regular Joe has the help of supernatural creature he's not an Warlock since he's not doing any magic himself.

Now Jafar on the other hand is the perfect exemple, he had no powers before and after findding Genie he gains many magical abilities.

Now in the MCU I always found this scene of Loki bargaining his terms of service to The other and by extension Thanos as very Warlock-y in nature.



But he's more of a Illusionist wizard than a Warlock in the actual movies.

Now to me at least the best character to incorporate Warlock mechanics and themes in the MCU is Vision.

He gets his power from an infinity stone which he admits to not know anything about, so this powerful and mysterious force gives him the power to cast blasts pf pure energy (Eldrich Blast?) float and become spectral. To me he's a perfect example of an Warlock in that movie franchise.

Now for something unconventional that fits the mechanics but not the themes we have Cap American and Red Skull. I know shocking right? But think about it. He used to be a nobody, a very low strength and constitution human and after being exposed to some energies he has no idea of how they work he got super strong and powerful.

He got a magical shield that always come back to him even if makes no sense and he can use his SUPER high charisma instead of his strength? Sounds like an Warlock to me even if it's a stretch

At least mechanically speaking.

[Mastikator]

Kaecilius off the 2016 Doctor Strange movie and and arguably The Ancient One too.

[S@tanicoaldo]

Oh yeah how could I have forgotten!

In Bayonetta universe the only way to use magic is by Warlock means!

Both Umbra Witches (Who make pacts with infernal demons) and the Lumen Sages (who make pacts with "Light is not good" angels of Paradiso) are the only ones capable of using magic in that setting and so long as they are able to keep their patrons happy.

[LordEntrails]

Sorry folks, you are stretching pretty far to find warlock icons. Not that their aren't, but most of them are recent inventions and are highly debatable. Just note your own language, "maybe", "somewhat" "like" etc.

I mean come on, Iron Man as a warlock? Not even close. He's an artificer. He does not use magic, he uses intelligence and technology to build things to help him out. No other world entity gives him any abilities other than if you argue "God" gave him his intelligence.

Another way to look at it, if "warlock" was a classic trope etc, then they wouldn't be a recent addition to role playing games. And they are recent. They were created during the explosion of crunch and the need to publish something new we were flooded with a few decades ago. Sure they draw their inspiration from old myths and folklore about demon/fey pacts, but those stories are often more about the dangers of such etc.

Anyway, none of that invalidates the value of warlocks, but no one should pretend they are as classically central to RPGs or human storytelling as warriors, priests, rogues, bards and even monks.

[S@tanicoaldo]

Sorry folks, you are stretching pretty far to find warlock icons. Not that their aren't, but most of them are recent inventions and are highly debatable. Just note your own language, "maybe", "somewhat" "like" etc.

I mean come on, Iron Man as a warlock? Not even close. He's an artificer. He does not use magic, he uses intelligence and technology to build things to help him out. No other world entity gives him any abilities other than if you argue "God" gave him his intelligence.

Another way to look at it, if "warlock" was a classic trope etc, then they wouldn't be a recent addition to role playing games. And they are recent. They were created during the explosion of crunch and the need to publish something new we were flooded with a few decades ago. Sure they draw their inspiration from old myths and folklore about demon/fey pacts, but those stories are often more about the dangers of such etc.

Anyway, none of that invalidates the value of warlocks, but no one should pretend they are as classically central to RPGs or human storytelling as warriors, priests, rogues, bards and even monks.

You are too late for this conversation bud.

This Iron man argument has been done a while ago.

Besides that I think most of the exemples here are very solid.

To be honest there are more examples of classic D&D Warlocks in media than classic D&D clerics.

[Anymage]

If by "warlock" you mean a character who draws their power from a supernatural source (that does not happen to be the capital G God or a direct representative thereof), pacts with otherworldly entities have been used to explain magical powers more often than magic as an applied science has. The specific powers rarely map to D&D warlock powers, but then casters using a memorization/slot system was super rare before D&D popularized it too. As an overall theme, they have way more precedent than the Vance system.

If you look at the mechanical angle where warlocks are primarily blasty casters with a small bag of additional tricks available, again that describes a ton of games and shows. In fact, I'd argue that a refluffed tomelock covers more "wizard" archetype characters than the actual wizard class does. You may not find perfect fits for both the crunch and the fluff, but that's the case of any translation where one source isn't blatantly cribbing from another.

[S@tanicoaldo]

If by "warlock" you mean a character who draws their power from a supernatural source (that does not happen to be the capital G God or a direct representative thereof), pacts with otherworldly entities have been used to explain magical powers more often than magic as an applied science has. The specific powers rarely map to D&D warlock powers, but then casters using a memorization/slot system was super rare before D&D popularized it too. As an overall theme, they have way more precedent than the Vance system.

If you look at the mechanical angle where warlocks are primarily blasty casters with a small bag of additional tricks available, again that describes a ton of games and shows. In fact, I'd argue that a refluffed tomelock covers more "wizard" archetype characters than the actual wizard class does. You may not find perfect fits for both the crunch and the fluff, but that's the case of any translation where one source isn't blatantly cribbing from another.

I think the OP was looking for more thematically and fluff examples. Not mechanical ones.

[Friv]

I mean, thematically, it's witchcraft. Warlocks are male witches, and that's pretty much that.

So look at any folklore for people who make deals with dark spirits in exchange for power and youth, and that's your warlock. They're usually the villains.