D&D General RA Salvatore Wants To Correct Drizzt’s Racist Tropes

In an interview with Polygon, the author talks about how the drow are currently being redefined in D&D, and how he wants to be part of that process.

”But on the other hand, if the drow are being portrayed as evil, that’s a trope that has to go away, be buried under the deepest pit, and never brought out again. I was unaware of that. I admit it. I was oblivious.

Drow are now split into (at least) three types — the familiar Udadrow of Menzoberranzan, the arctic-themed Aevendrow, and the jungle-themed Lorendrow. Salvatore's new novel, Starlight Enclave, helps to expand the drows' role in the narrative.

D&D’s Drizzt books were built on racist tropes. R.A. Salvatore wants to change that

‘If the drow are being portrayed as evil, that’s a trope that has to go away’

www.polygon.com

In 2020 WotC made a public statement about how they would be treating drow and orcs going forward -- "Throughout the 50-year history of D&D, some of the peoples in the game—orcs and drow being two of the prime examples—have been characterized as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated. That’s just not right, and it’s not something we believe in. "

Commitment to Diversity | Dungeons & Dragons

D&D continues to be made as diverse as possible with the reminder that only a diverse group of adventurers can overcome obstacles.

dnd.wizards.com

 

[Weiley31]

That bikini armor was probably +3: no wonder why they used it so much!

 

[Libertad]

Are you going to at least show me a few examples of cultures that associate light with "evil" and darkness with "good". Because honestly, I find it quite baffling your claim that this is 100% cultural and not rooted in the fact that we are completely blind in the absence of light.

Someone else already did upthread, with @Enevhar Aldarion using China as an example.

The color white is associated with death in Japan as well.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

That is because different cultures/world regions have different meanings for the same colors. Like in China, where white is the color for funerals and death, and not black. Or red is the color for weddings, not white. That brings up another European thing. White is life and purity and black is death.

For example, the Black Death was called "black" because infected, dying tissue would noticeably blacken, not because black was a synonym for evil. However, light representing goodness and truth and darkness representing evil and lies has long been a thing, such as in the Bible (I'll be glad to be corrected if these connotations were created through translations and not the texts in their original languages).

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm still not sure if you guys are all on the same page here. Just read the latest reply by Unbran.

I did, and nothing about it suggested that he believes drow are an attempt to depict a real-world ethnicity. The fact that it looks like “us guys” aren’t on the same page to you is an indication that you are not clear on what we’re actually saying.

 

[DemoMonkey]

"Because if that were true, then if when D&D came out all the art depicted gay black people and not white European male heroes with scantily clad women, none of these same people making that argument would have played it to begin with."

Interesting theory.

Why do you think that?

 

[whimsychris123]

Because I'm tired of people saying stuff like "the drow wear bikini armor" and pull out an image created 30-50 years ago instead of a modern 2010-2021 image of them, for example.

It's like imagine I claimed you were sexist and used art from 40 years ago as evidence, instead of the modern stuff you've been drawing.

To me, such evidence feels like you have to go searching far back into the past for it. Like as if I'm trying so hard to show you're sexist that I have to rifle through the past to find it instead of seeing if your current behavior is sexist.

For example.

Again, you missed my whole point. My point is that when bikini armor was a regular thing, not many females played D&D. Now that it's not a thing, more females play.

I was making an analogy suggesting that if we adjust or get rid of the "black-skinned evil race" portrayal in D&D, more people of color may feel comfortable at the table.

 

[billd91]

Someone else already did upthread, with @Enevhar Aldarion using China as an example.

The color white is associated with death in Japan as well.

Death, yes. But evil?

 

[Charlaquin]

If we are concerned that having a dark-skimmed imaginary race in our fantasy game leads to real life racism, we are basically proving that the "D&D is a satanic influence" people in the 80s were right.

Well, good news: that’s not what we’re concerned about.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

"Because if that were true, then if when D&D came out all the art depicted gay black people and not white European male heroes with scantily clad women, none of these same people making that argument would have played it to begin with."

Interesting theory.

Why do you think that?

Because every time a "nerd" property comes out that does have gay people, or black people, or other minorities as the protagonists, there is bound to be a vocal contingent of whinging White supremacists complaining about it.

And every time somebody advocates for an existing property to diversify their cast, those same whinging blowhards inevitably start attacking them on the Internet. Death threats abound, doubly so if that person is a minority themselves.

 

[Libertad]

Death, yes. But evil?

White Hair, Black Heart - TV Tropes

In many works, especially anime and video games, white hair quite frequently indicates a villain or, at the very least, someone to watch out for. Especially in characters typically too young to have white hair. Despite the wide range and use of …

tvtropes.org

I should've discussed it in my original post, but a lot of white-haired bishounen in anime and manga are bad guys.