One of the challenges posed in introducing role-playing to newcomers is in relating the near-limitless possibilities of the player's persona -- the player character -- and what that might look like. Enter iconics, which existed long before the Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons branded them.
[h=3]What's an Iconic?[/h]Broadly, iconics are recurring characters that are used in examples of play. There's a comprehensive list of iconics introduced in Third Edition here, with a wide spread of characters covering many possible race and class combinations.
Iconics later served other purposes, as envisioned by Third Edition's marketing team, who wanted to make the characters easier to relate to. Iconics also created a stable of characters to draw from for fiction in a variety of media -- initially, just short stories and novels, but later in comics and films.
[h=3]The Anti-Iconics[/h]Long before Third Edition came up with iconics, there were characters who became legendary in D&D because their names were associated with spells and magic items -- Melf's Acid Arrow, Tenser's Floating Disc, and Otto's Irresistible Dance to name just a few. Perhaps the most iconic characters are the ones who played with Gary in the early playtest games: Ernie (Tenser of Tenser's Floating Disc spell), Elise (Ehlissa, a Queen who created the Marvelous Nightingale artifact in the First Edition Dungeon Master's Guide), Don Kaye (Murlynd, a pistol-wielding quasi-deity), and Rob and Terry Kuntz (Robilar and Terik, who appeared in the World of Greyhawk folio and the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure Isle of the Ape, respectively).
These characters didn't quite serve the same marketing purpose as later iconics. They were more archetypes and examples, but did not necessarily represent the full spread of D&D possibilities -- in fact, they often broke the rules (Murlynd's pistols come to mind). They were less iconic but more memorable as a result.
For iconics a little closer to the types of characters we’re accustomed to today, the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide provides some clues.
[h=3]The Pre-Iconics[/h]Scattered throughout the DMG are illustrations on the borders of five adventurers created by David C. Sutherland (see picture above). The adventuring party includes a human female magic-user, a sword-and-dagger-wielding Halfling, a human “sword-and-board” fighter, an axe-and-shield-wielding dwarf, and a bow-wielding elf. The Halfling stabs a stone giant in the gut in one illustration and a fire salamander in another (also in the gut). The PCs also take on kobolds and trolls. The fighter has a winged dragon on his shield – and judging by that pattern on his shield, the same fighter was also facing off against a red dragon on the cover of the Basic Dungeons & Dragons boxed set.
There were other characters expressed visually like Sutherland’s PCs, but they had a specific marketing purpose – to sell D&D. TSR wasn’t too keen on comics at the time, as relayed by one of the artists who worked on the comic ads, Bill Willingham:
Iconics later served other purposes, as envisioned by Third Edition's marketing team, who wanted to make the characters easier to relate to. Iconics also created a stable of characters to draw from for fiction in a variety of media -- initially, just short stories and novels, but later in comics and films.
[h=3]The Anti-Iconics[/h]Long before Third Edition came up with iconics, there were characters who became legendary in D&D because their names were associated with spells and magic items -- Melf's Acid Arrow, Tenser's Floating Disc, and Otto's Irresistible Dance to name just a few. Perhaps the most iconic characters are the ones who played with Gary in the early playtest games: Ernie (Tenser of Tenser's Floating Disc spell), Elise (Ehlissa, a Queen who created the Marvelous Nightingale artifact in the First Edition Dungeon Master's Guide), Don Kaye (Murlynd, a pistol-wielding quasi-deity), and Rob and Terry Kuntz (Robilar and Terik, who appeared in the World of Greyhawk folio and the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure Isle of the Ape, respectively).
These characters didn't quite serve the same marketing purpose as later iconics. They were more archetypes and examples, but did not necessarily represent the full spread of D&D possibilities -- in fact, they often broke the rules (Murlynd's pistols come to mind). They were less iconic but more memorable as a result.
For iconics a little closer to the types of characters we’re accustomed to today, the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide provides some clues.
[h=3]The Pre-Iconics[/h]Scattered throughout the DMG are illustrations on the borders of five adventurers created by David C. Sutherland (see picture above). The adventuring party includes a human female magic-user, a sword-and-dagger-wielding Halfling, a human “sword-and-board” fighter, an axe-and-shield-wielding dwarf, and a bow-wielding elf. The Halfling stabs a stone giant in the gut in one illustration and a fire salamander in another (also in the gut). The PCs also take on kobolds and trolls. The fighter has a winged dragon on his shield – and judging by that pattern on his shield, the same fighter was also facing off against a red dragon on the cover of the Basic Dungeons & Dragons boxed set.
There were other characters expressed visually like Sutherland’s PCs, but they had a specific marketing purpose – to sell D&D. TSR wasn’t too keen on comics at the time, as relayed by one of the artists who worked on the comic ads, Bill Willingham:
In that regard, Indel the elf, Valerius the Fighter, and Grimslade the magic-user were the first true iconics to appear in comics. Saren, a female cleric, was added in the second comic. The heroes face off against a shambling mound, green slime, goblins, and even a red dragon. They survive, only to go on another quest to rescue Grimslade’s mentor, Grindal. They never made it, as the series stopped abruptly and was eventually replaced by new adventurers: Auric the fighter, Tirra the elf, and Khellek the wizard. This trio’s adventures also trailed off without resolution. Willignham explained why the comics failed in an interview:
D&D would later create iconic characters thanks to established fiction like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, where characters like Sturm and Elminister and Drizzt became household names. But all of those characters appeared in fiction first, role-playing games later. Iconics would properly debut in Third Edition.
[h=3]Iconics, Finally[/h]Jon Schindette, Wizard of the Coast’s website art director at the time, explained the iconic dilemma:WOTC ended up relying on iconics as a marketing tool, with the likes of Mialee, Regdar, Lidda, etc. This was not without controversy, because the Third Edition developers worked hard to avoid a white male iconic at the forefront. Monte Cook explained what happened next:
As a result, Regdar dies in pretty much everything:
Pathfinder picked up the iconic mantle and has expanded it (emblematic of Pathfinder’s massive variety, there are a lot of iconics), as explained by editor-in-chief, James Jacobs:
Pathfinder brought iconics full circle, from narrative constructs and play examples to fully-fledged personalities in comic format. Erik Mona explains that this is where iconics truly flourish in "The Secret Origin of the Pathfinder Iconics":
[h=3]It's Not Easy Being an Iconic[/h]Gender diversity gradually increased in adventuring parties, but racial diversity was even rarer – Regdar is a stark reminder of how long it took the D&D brand to fully embrace diversity. We finally got there with Fifth Edition, which references fictional iconics like Bruenor Battlehammer, Tika Waylan, and Artemis Entreri. The artwork changed to reflect the diversity Cook was striving for in Third Edition:
As the controversy over iconics illustrates, having characters represent your game says as much about the game's audience as it does about the gameplay itself.
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