D&D General Fighters of Fantasy Literature - Tier List and Ranking! (Vote once per day through February 14th).

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm not going to cry foul TOO hard; as noted, the elves we've got at the top of the food chain all have magic powers too, but I will quibble here. Elric is primarily a sorcerer, much as he uses that sword. As we know, he's deliberately designed to be the polar opposite of Conan. Putting him on a list of the greatest fighter-types in fiction seems off.

The rules as to "who qualifies as a fighter" aren't really specified. I would have been inclined to rule out anyone who uses magic - which as pointed out would throw out all those elves the OP included in the top tier. I would stat Glorfindel as a cleric for a start. Fingolfin could be a battlesmith artificer.

I would also have ruled out legendary characters like Robin Hood. There are way to many potentials, such as Gilgamesh.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Tier 4 - Masters of the World
Fingolfin (Tolkien)
Ecthelion (Tolkien)
Gil-Galad (Tolkien)
Glorfindel (Tolkien)
John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom (Burroughs)
Icarium (Erikson)
Elric of Melnibone (Moorcock)
Cohen the Barbarian (Pratchett) <- added

Tier 3 - Masters of the Realm
Corwin of Amber (Zelazny)
Hurin (Tolkien)
Conan (Howard)
Aragorn (Tolkien)
Mandorallen (Eddings)
Drizzt Do'Urden (Salvatore)
Croaker (Cook)
Al'lan Mandragoran (Jordan)
Adolin Kholin (Sanderson)
Beowulf (Anon)

Tier 2 - Heroes of the Realm
Robin Hood (Anon)
Morley Dotes (Cook)
Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter (Moon)
Aillas of Troicinet (Vance)
Legolas (Tolkien)
Gimli (Tolkien)
Bard (Tolkien)
Brienne of Tarth (Martin) <- moved down
Fafhrd (Leiber)
Jaime Lannister (Martin)
Bronn of the Blackwater (Martin)
Joscelin Verreuil (Carey)
Geralt of Rivia (Sapkowski) <-added

Tier 1 - Local Heroes
Jean Tannen (Lynch)
Eowyn (Tolkien) <-moved up. How many xp for a Witch King?
Eomer (Tolkien)
Cugel the Clever (Vance)
Merry (Tolkien)
Samwise the Brave (Tolkien)

 

[Erekose]

Ahem

Tier 4 - Masters of the World
Fingolfin (Tolkien)
Ecthelion (Tolkien)
Gil-Galad (Tolkien)
Glorfindel (Tolkien)
Erekose (Moorcock) <———— Added but I don’t want to drown out the list with all of the Eternal Champion incarnations
John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom (Burroughs)
Icarium (Erikson)
Elric of Melnibone (Moorcock)
Culain Lord of the Lance (Gemmell) <———— Added
Cohen the Barbarian (Pratchett)

Tier 3 - Masters of the Realm
Corwin of Amber (Zelazny)
Hurin (Tolkien)
Conan (Howard)
Aragorn (Tolkien)
Mandorallen (Eddings)
Drizzt Do'Urden (Salvatore)
Croaker (Cook)
Al'lan Mandragoran (Jordan)
Adolin Kholin (Sanderson)
Beowulf (Anon)
Druss the Legend (Gemmell) <———— Added

Tier 2 - Heroes of the Realm
Robin Hood (Anon)
Morley Dotes (Cook)
Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter (Moon)
Aillas of Troicinet (Vance)
Decado the Ice Killer (Gemmell) <———— Added
Legolas (Tolkien)
Gimli (Tolkien)
Bard (Tolkien)
Brienne of Tarth (Martin) <- moved down
Fafhrd (Leiber)
Jaime Lannister (Martin)
Bronn of the Blackwater (Martin)
Joscelin Verreuil (Carey)
Geralt of Rivia (Sapkowski) <-added

Tier 1 - Local Heroes
Jean Tannen (Lynch)
Eowyn (Tolkien) <-moved up. How many xp for a Witch King?
Eomer (Tolkien)
Cugel the Clever (Vance)
Merry (Tolkien)
Samwise the Brave (Tolkien)

 

[Lanefan]

Brienne of Tarth could take Bard the Bowman with one hand tied behind her back. They shouldn't even be in the same tier.

The question here isn't who has the greater reputation for heroism, but who is the better warrior - who would beat who one-on-one. Bard's one deed brought him great renown, sure, but renown doesn't help much when someone's beating you up.

 

[TheSword]

Tier 4 - Masters of the World
Fingolfin (Tolkien)
Ecthelion (Tolkien)
Glorfindel (Tolkien) ———— Moved up, he slew a Balrog single handed.
Gil-Galad (Tolkien)
Erekose (Moorcock)
John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom (Burroughs)
Icarium (Erikson)
Elric of Melnibone (Moorcock)
Culain Lord of the Lance (Gemmell)
Cohen the Barbarian (Pratchett)


Tier 3 - Masters of the Realm
Corwin of Amber (Zelazny)
Hurin (Tolkien)
Conan (Howard)
Aragorn (Tolkien)
Mandorallen (Eddings)
Drizzt Do'Urden (Salvatore)
Al'lan Mandragoran (Jordan) ————Moved up. Warder, greatest fighter in a world of legendary fighters. Undefeated.
Croaker (Cook)
Adolin Kholin (Sanderson)
Beowulf (Anon)
Druss the Legend (Gemmell)
Matt Cawthorn (Jordan) ————Added
Galad Damodred (Jordan) ————Added


Tier 2 - Heroes of the Realm
Robin Hood (Anon)
Morley Dotes (Cook)
Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter (Moon)
Aillas of Troicinet (Vance)
Decado the Ice Killer (Gemmell)
Legolas (Tolkien)
Gimli (Tolkien)
Bard (Tolkien)
Brienne of Tarth (Martin)
Fafhrd (Leiber)
Jaime Lannister (Martin)
Bronn of the Blackwater (Martin)
Joscelin Verreuil (Carey)
Geralt of Rivia (Sapkowski)

Tier 1 - Local Heroes
Jean Tannen (Lynch)
Eowyn (Tolkien)
Eomer (Tolkien)
Cugel the Clever (Vance)
Merry (Tolkien)
Samwise the Brave (Tolkien)

 

[Dioltach]

He also trains Jaime how to fight with his other hand, and IMO if you're good enough to be the trainer for one of the best swordsmen in the realm that's saying something.

Edit to add: good call on Jean Tannen, @Blue - I knew there was a fighter in those books but couldn't remember who it was!

First up, I agree, Jean Tannen is a good call.

On your other point: pretty sure that in the book Jaime trains with Ser Ilyn Payne, not Bronn (because Payne can't tell anyone that Jaime can't fight anymore).

In general: no-one has mentioned Logen Ninefingers? The Bloody Nine? Who has killed more men than the plague?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Brienne of Tarth could take Bard the Bowman with one hand tied behind her back. They shouldn't even be in the same tier.

The question here isn't who has the greater reputation for heroism, but who is the better warrior - who would beat who one-on-one. Bard's one deed brought him great renown, sure, but renown doesn't help much when someone's beating you up.

Good against humans is one thing, good against dragons is something else.

"Who would win in a dual?" Is one way of ranking, "Who can kill the toughest monster" is a completely different one. And "who is the best military leader?" another again.

Although Bard could easily take Brienne at any range over 100 yards.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Although Bard could easily take Brienne at any range over 100 yards.

And don't even get me started on Robin of Loxley. (Hugs Patriot Arrow).

 

[Amrûnril]

He also trains Jaime how to fight with his other hand, and IMO if you're good enough to be the trainer for one of the best swordsmen in the realm that's saying something.

On your other point: pretty sure that in the book Jaime trains with Ser Ilyn Payne, not Bronn (because Payne can't tell anyone that Jaime can't fight anymore).

I'm going by the book version, since it's the literature tier list, and since I've only seen fragments of the show. My understanding, though, is that the show expands Bronn's role and hypes him up more, so book Bronn in tier 1 and show Bronn in tier 2 might be a reasonable assessment.

 

[Lanefan]

I think I have some reading to do - there's more and more names appearing on this list (both character and author!) that I've never even heard of.