Who is the most well known character to you? (Conan, Drizzt, Elric, Geralt)

Mallus · Mar 18, 2018

I know who all four of them are. I'd say Conan is the best known, though Geralt of Riva might be closing in, given the popularity of the Witcher games (and there's the upcoming Netflix series).

My favorite, though, is Elric VIII of Melnibone, incarnation of the Champion Eternal and bane to... well, everyone, in the end, but particularly his friends and loved ones.

One nitpick: the first Elric story was published in 1961. Most US readers were introduced to him in the late 1970s, when the six volume DAW editions -- the ones with the beautiful Michael Whelan covers -- came out. Elric was very much the product of 1960s counterculture in the UK.

Make that two nitpicks: drugs and sorcery made Elric strong (well, healthy). The soul-eating demonic black sword Stormbringer made him scary as all get out.

Shasarak · Mar 18, 2018

I know Drizzt, Conan and Elric.

I do not know Geralt though.

Shiroiken · Mar 19, 2018

Conan is going to be known best, because thanks to the movies, he's known outside of gaming circles. Most who play D&D are going to know Drizzt, as he's pretty iconic. Elraic is a bit dated, but I know him due to the influence on early D&D. I know nothing of the last character.

Enevhar Aldarion · Mar 19, 2018

I know Conan the best, as I was reading Howard's short stories of Conan, along with Tolkien and CS Lewis in my teen years. I just never got into the Elric stories, thought I tried at about the same time period as the previous mentioned. I was big into AD&D in the 80's, so I read a LOT of the novels put out back then and I thought the early ones with Drizzt were good, Icewind Dale and Dark Elf trilogies, but I stopped reading about him after that. And Geralt I know because of the massively popular Witcher 3 game, which is on PC, PS4, and XBox One. I never read any of the actual stories about him or ever played the first two Witcher games, so i know the least about him. But like others here, with Witcher 3 all over the place, I am really surprised anyone who plays console games has not heard of it or him. And mentioning Tolkien earlier, I am sort of surprised you did not include Aragorn in your poll, if you were going for well-known swordsmen.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 19, 2018

But like others here, with Witcher 3 all over the place, I am really surprised anyone who plays console games has not heard of it or him.

I play games on my computers and mobile devices, but as for consoles? I went from a Pong to an Atari 2600 to a Wii. Literally. Not thar consoles didn’t appeal, but no console had everything I wanted to play. Hell...none had even a simple majority. So I never bought any.

About the only console gaming I’ve done was when my cousins would visit from NOLA toting theirs...and I’d whup them on combat games like the various Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Primal Rage and Soul Calibur games.

But even if I HAD owned a console game, it’s unlikely I’d have purchased a Witcher game. Those kinds of games never interested me after the 1980s, even on my computers.

GreyLord · Mar 19, 2018

The Most well known is Conan. Least is probably Geralt, though with the witcher games that may be debatable in realtion to Drizzt. If we go back 30 years Elric is more famous than all but Conan, but today...

I checked them all as I know who all those characters are.

Jhaelen · Mar 19, 2018

I think Conan is the best known, thanks to several film adaptations.

Driz'zt is probably to known to everyone who knows about D&D.

Knowing Elric is probably mostly related to age: I doubt many youngsters know of him. If you're my age, though (40+), you are quite likely to know about Michael Moorcock's work; assuming you're interested in fantasy. (Although I wondered a bit about 'The White Wolf' part. 'Elric of Melnibone' is the most common name used.)

Regarding Geralt, I didn't immediately recall where I knew the name from. I know about 'the Witcher', though. I guess, if you're into video games you're most likely to have heard of him.

Mercule · Mar 19, 2018

TwoSix said:
People don't know all 4? I've read books with Conan, Drizzt, and Elric, and although I haven't played any of the Witchers, it's hard to be at all involved in gaming and not know the series.

Nope. Never heard of Geralt. In context, though, I'm assuming he's from the Witcher series, which is on my to-do list.... somewhere.

I've read a couple Conan books.

I'mm familiar with Elric, but haven't been able to find a copy of the earlier books to start reading (I look every now and then, but haven't made a concerted effort).

I've read part of a Driz'zt book and, frankly, the novels around the Realms are what takes the setting from "meh, take or leave it" to "kill it with fire".

TwoSix · Mar 19, 2018

Jhaelen said:
Knowing Elric is probably mostly related to age: I doubt many youngsters know of him. If you're my age, though (40+), you are quite likely to know about Michael Moorcock's work; assuming you're interested in fantasy. (Although I wondered a bit about 'The White Wolf' part. 'Elric of Melnibone' is the most common name used.)

Regarding Geralt, I didn't immediately recall where I knew the name from. I know about 'the Witcher', though. I guess, if you're into video games you're most likely to have heard of him.

I think this poll will definitely have an age bias. If the bulk of voters were <30, I imagine the numbers for Geralt and Elric would be reversed. Only Geralt has an iconic meme, after all.