Wardens in Fantasy

[Ktulu]

Howabout BraveSTAR?!?!

 

[fireinthedust]

I can't believe I forgot to include this dude as an example of the Warden:


Think about it: he's clearly a defender, he's powered by the ancient spirits of his planet, he draws attacks from his foes...

Sweet pic!

but yeah, he's not a defender. He-Man is all about leadership and massive strength; I'd say Beastmaster ranger, with multiclass Warlord or Fighter, or possibly Paladin.
Man-at-arms is clearly the defender, although an artificer-based build would be good.

And I don't know that he's powered by the planet; it's the spirit of Greyskull (more specifically the power...), and I'd argue that the stance against the chaos and evil of Skeletor... well, the spirit of Greyskull could loosely be described as a Primal Spirit, but it's hardly neutral in its defiance of the dark (geographic standing between the light and dark sides of Eternia notwithstanding).

 

[Klaus]

Sweet pic!

but yeah, he's not a defender. He-Man is all about leadership and massive strength; I'd say Beastmaster ranger, with multiclass Warlord or Fighter, or possibly Paladin.
Man-at-arms is clearly the defender, although an artificer-based build would be good.

And I don't know that he's powered by the planet; it's the spirit of Greyskull (more specifically the power...), and I'd argue that the stance against the chaos and evil of Skeletor... well, the spirit of Greyskull could loosely be described as a Primal Spirit, but it's hardly neutral in its defiance of the dark (geographic standing between the light and dark sides of Eternia notwithstanding).

Nah, He-Man is all about defending (his friends, his planet, the castle, innocents... he even defended the villains when they were helpless!). As a Warden, his massive Strength would be put to good use. "Leader", in the D&D role, doesn't necessarily mean "being the commander". Man-at-Arms, with his inventions, is much more of a leader-type (say, a science-based Artificer/Warlord). He-Man, otoh, is the guy who never goes down, who gets the brunt of the attacks and shrug them off. Who gets piled on by minions and with a move pushes his foes back.