Dragonlance WotC Officially Confirms Takhisis and Tiamat Are The Same

It's been an issue in dispute for decades, over various editions of D&D, but WotC has officially confirmed that - at least in 5E - Dragonlance's Takhisis is, indeed, currently Tiamat. In previous editions, Tiamat has varied from being a big dragon to a minor goddess, while Takhisis has been a greater god on Krynn. At times they've been the same entity, and at others different entities. Today, WotC is putting its foot down and saying that Takhisis and Tiamat are, indeed, the same being.



Of course, this is not an opinion universally held. Dragonlance co-creator Margaret Weis emphatically stated that "TAKHISIS IS NOT TIAMAT, DAMN IT!"

Fizban's Treasuryof Dragons confirms that the beings echo across various settings.

D&D 5E - Is Paladine Bahamut? Is Takhisis Tiamat? Fizban's Treasury Might Reveal The Answer!

According to WotC's James Wyatt, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons introduces a new cosmology for dragon gods, where the same beings, including Fizban, echo across various D&D campaign settings with alternate versions of themselves (presumably like Paladine/Bahamut, or Takhisis/Tiamat). Also... the...

www.enworld.org

 

[pukunui]

Did you watch the clip I posted - it is less than 2 minutes

EDIT: 4e also had some more nuanced lore about the dragon queen

Yeah. Super cringe.

 

[dave2008]

Yeah. Super cringe.

Not feeling Tiamat helping the heroes?! Anyway she is also presented as more than a beast in the original MM too:

 

[cbwjm]

I will say that I've generally thought of Takhisis as more of a sentient being with a personality and goals (and a human-like avatar), whereas Tiamat always strikes me as a big monster that just wants to eat everyone and burn everything and doesn't ever bother to talk.

Yeah, I've always felt Takhisis was a better villain.

 

[dave2008]

Yeah, I've always felt Takhisis was a better villain.

Well she is more fleshed out as Takhisis than in her other incarnations. That happens when you have a ton of novels that revolve around you!

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm an Io loyalist anyway.

 

[CasvalRemDeikun]

The way I justify both WotC and MW being right at the same time is you can say "Many mortals believe that Takhisis and Tiamat are one and the same. Scholars on Sigil have produced compelling evidence pointing to the fact. However, Takhisis herself denies it. Whether this is factual or Takhisis just being Takhisis is up for debate".

 

[Kai Lord]

Well it is the same description from the Monster Manual:

True, but since I don't own the original (OD&D) materials I had honestly forgotten that original Greyhawk gave her an unnamed listing in such detail so it was fun to see that posted.

Just so I'm clear, Gygax and Kuntz invented the Chromatic "Dragon Queen," then Grubb named her Tiamat for his own campaign (which later impacted her MM listing) and then Tracy called her Takhisis for Dragonlance? With Tracy and Margaret then doubling down on the notion that their version was different enough from the others as to be unique?

 

[cbwjm]

I'm an Io loyalist anyway.

While your comment might have been in jest, so am I. I was a little sad they removed him in Fizban's which has led me to ignore pretty much all of the lore in the book regarding the first world (though to fair, when I'm homebrewing I don't often adhere to lore that I do like).

 

[Zardnaar]

While your comment might have been in jest, so am I. I was a little sad they removed him in Fizban's which has led me to ignore pretty much all of the lore in the book regarding the first world (though to fair, when I'm homebrewing I don't often adhere to lore that I do like).

Ew you mention the heresy of Fizban.

 

[darjr]

So what’s the source of this info? From the wiki.

Tiamat in various campaign settings

It was the original intention of Gary Gygax, Ed Greenwood, and others that the various Tiamat incarnations were aspects of a single entity that happened to be active on more than one plane of existence, despite the apparent differences between the mythological Tiamat and her various campaign setting incarnations.​

Tiamat

Tiamat is a queen and mother of evil dragons and a member of the default pantheon of D&D gods. Her symbol is a five-headed dragon. Tiamat is the five-headed queen of the evil chromatic dragons. She has one head for each customary color of chromatic dragon (black, blue, green, red, white), and...

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