Drizzt Do'Urden

Drizzt Do'Urden (full name Drizzt Daermon N'a'shezbaernon) is an anti-stereotypical drow who has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark. He is one of only a few drow known to live on the surface. More popular than Elminster the Sage, Drizzt is undoubtedly the most well-known hero in the Forgotten Realms, and is, arguably, one of modern literature's most beloved characters.

Drizzt's story is told in the fantasy novels of R.A. Salvatore (see Literature), including The Icewind Dale Trilogy, The Dark Elf Trilogy, the Legacy of the Drow series, the Paths of Darkness series, and The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, but he has also been featured in some computer role-playing games, including the Baldur's Gate Series and the more action-oriented Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone.

Appearance
Drizzt Do'Urden is a dark elf, commonly known as drow. Drizzt stands at about 5′6″ and weighs about 130 pounds (59 kg). His handsome features are sharp and well proportioned; and like other drow, Drizzt's skin is black and his stark white hair is long, thick, and flowing. Perhaps Drizzt's most striking feature, though, are his eyes, which are a lavender hue (quite different from the drow race's typical red, even when he uses his infravision, which normally causes eyes to glow red) and seem to glow fiercely when he is angry or determined. He normally wears a fur-collared green forest cloak and high black boots, with a necklace attached to a white unicorn head, the symbol of his goddess, Mielikki. This symbol was crafted for him by his good friend Regis. It has been more than 20 years since Drizzt first ventured into the surface world, but his vision, accustomed to the pitch-blackness of the Underdark, has not completely adapted to the bright surface world. At present he is in the neighborhood of 70 years old, having been born in 1297 DR, not even old enough to be considered an adult by elven standards. It is common knowledge that the average lifespan of a drow is not below 800 years, but accounting for displacement of the natural drow habitat, it is yet to be seen if his potential lifespan will be reached.

Personality
Outwardly calm and composed, Drizzt still has a burning rage within him, a legacy of the time he spent living in the wilds of the Underdark where he had to survive by skill alone. While he has mastered that side of his psyche—he refers to it as "the Hunter"—it can still surface when Drizzt is hard-pressed and under great emotional duress. The "Hunter" was a cold, passionless alternate personality that epitomized Drizzt's fighting capabilities. When not possessed by the "Hunter," Drizzt is cool-headed, a peacemaker, and is always willing to avoid a fight if he can (except with races such as orcs or goblins). When the situation calls for it, however, he can be incredibly daring, even reckless. In fact, several of his friends are convinced that someday the drow will leap into a situation that he will not be able to get out of. He harbors a deep love for the surface world, and cherishes his place in it, though many are still prejudiced against him, for the drow are known to be cruel killers without mercy.

Magical Items
Drizzt's favorite weapon is the scimitar, and he carries twin swords, nicknamed Twinkle and Icingdeath. He also carries a magical figurine which summons his black panther companion Guenhwyvar. Guenhwyvar used to be the possession of a cruel drow from Drizzt's homeland, but because she was mistreated, Drizzt killed her past owner and claimed her for himself. The drow wears a pair of bracers of the blinding strike (obtained from weapons master of the first house of Menzoberranzan who challenged and lost to Drizzt) around his ankles, making him incredibly quick on his feet. He chose to wear them on his legs instead of his arms because when the enchantment combined with his natural speed, his sword-swings became too fast for him to control and his feet could not keep up, resulting in extremely predictable attacks. Drizzt's attire is generally a cloth tunic, tough pants, and soft boots. For many years Drizzt wore an enchanted set of mithral chainmail, but it was damaged recently and he now wears a spider silk shirt under his armour that can magically protect its wearer from all but the most lethal attacks.

Weapons
Throughout the training sessions with his father, Zaknefein Do'Urden, and in Melee-Magthere, Drizzt favored the use of scimitars. Drizzt also attended Socere, an academy for the spell-casters. At Socere, Drizzt quickly became extremely accomplished in the magical arts, but he favored the blade rather than magic. This did not change after his coming to the surface world. Drizzt was not above improvising in combat by taking what weapons available to him at hand, but most of the time, he uses no weapon other than his two enchanted scimitars: Icingdeath and Twinkle. When not using these scimitars, he has been known to use Mooshie's Longbow and a dagger hidden in his boot.

Combat/Tactics
Drizzt fights in the two long-weapon style common among drow warriors. He was trained by his father, Zaknafein, the best weapons master in Menzoberranzan, who taught Drizzt the movements to transcend the basics of the drow martial art, to think creatively about any fight. His technique was more about training one's muscles to respond, quickly and in perfect harmony, to the calls of the mind, and more importantly, to the calls of the imagination. He taught that improvisation, not rote responses, separated a warrior from a weapons master.

When the tides turn bad, or when facing opponents such as dragons or frost giants, he calls upon his innate drow abilities to conjure up a globe of impenetrable magical darkness that neither himself nor his opponent can see through. Depending on the situation, Drizzt continues the fight from there. In most rare cases, Drizzt would go into a self-imposed trance (which he calls the Hunter) where, through pure instinct, he often gains the upper hand, parrying enemy blades and making attacks that find holes in his opponent's defences that they, not used to fighting blind cannot possibly see coming (the textual equivalent of the Blindfighting feat).

When chasing someone or unable to see his prey, Drizzt often calls upon his innate abilities to surround his target by faerie fire, purple flames that do not burn but can be seen, even if the target turns invisible, as demonstrated in The Halfling's Gem, on the boat with Captain Deudermont fighting the pirate Pinochet and his lackeys.

Drizzt never takes potions and the like with him on adventures, preferring to rely on his own skills, equipment and friends (generally Bruenor Battlehammer, Cattie-Brie, Wulfgar, Regis and Guenhwyvar) to help him out if he gets into too much trouble.

Biography
Drizzt was taught the ways of the ranger from Montolio Debrouchee (Mooshie), a blind human, and Drizzt realized he had followed these ways all of his life. From this time on, he made his matron goddess Mielikki, Faerûnian goddess of the forest and of rangers.

Thoughtful and sensitive to others, Drizzt holds himself to the highest ideals but does not expect the same of others. Ever alert for treachery and danger, he speaks little but is apt to be polite (if terse) in his dealings. A perfectionist who yearns to be accepted into places and groups and to make friends widely, Drizzt is haunted by the danger he brings to those he befriends thanks to the scrutiny of the clerics of Lolth and his other foes (notably the demon Errtu and the human assassin Artemis Entreri). Those he meets perceive him as having a grim manner.

Early in his surface travels, Alustriel Silverhand welcomed him as warmly and personally as she does all in need, but dared not let him openly into Silverymoon at that time. His deeds have, very slowly, made Drizzt Do'Urden more welcome in the Sword Coast North.

Thrice in his life, Drizzt had regressed into a bestial and instinctive state of mind in which he has identified as the Hunter. The first time this happened was after Drizzt had fled from Menzoberranzan and was living in the wilds of the Underdark The second was when he went back to his homeland to prevent harm from coming to his friends in the book "Starless Night". The third time was during the war with King Obould Many Arrows and his horde of orcs. Drizzt had thought Bruenor dead, and wasn't certain if his other friends were alive. When Drizzt is the Hunter, he reaches his physical apex, his skills honed to their utmost peak. His scimitars are like extensions of his own arms, and his senses are heightened beyond their normal capacity.

As a dark elf, Drizzt is innately able to summon globes of darkness at will in an area or attached to a target, he can also summon a harmless "faerie fire", which outlines a target, making it easier to spot. At one time, he had the ability to levitate, but the sunlight destroyed the magic of his House sigil which enabled this feat, and he gradually lost this ability. He can, however, still adjust his eyes to the infrared spectrum, allowing him to see in the dark. His agility and fighting prowess are legendary, and many have described his movements as too fast to follow with the eye, drow or human.

Drizzt Do'Urden means dreamer who walks in the dark.

Literature
Listed in the chronological order of the events in the books.

The Dark Elf Trilogy
Overview The trilogy was a prequel to the very successful Icewind Dale Trilogy. Oddly enough, Drizzt Do'Urden was originally written as supporting character in the Icewind Dale Series. However the author soon realized how powerful the character was, and he soon became the main character. Works included
 * 1) Homeland (1990) — Homeland follows the story of Drizzt from around the time and cicumstances of his birth and his upbringing amongst the drow (dark elves).
 * 2) Exile (1990) — Exile tells the story of Drizzt outside of the Drow Cities in the open Underdark.
 * 3) Sojourn (1991) — Sojourn is the story of Drizzt coming onto the surface of the world, how he became a ranger and ultimately ended up at Icewind Dale.

The Icewind Dale Trilogy
Works included
 * 1) The Crystal Shard (1988) — This book tells the story of the battle between the Ten Towns (located in Icewind Dale) and Akar Kessel, a mage aided by the crystal shard. It also explains how Drizzt, Bruenor, Cattie-Brie, and Regis met Wulfgar.
 * 2) Streams of Silver (1989) — Tells the story of the journey that Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis, and Wulfgar set upon to search for Mithral Hall, Bruenor's boyhood home. This is the first novel in which Artemis Entreri appears.
 * 3) The Halfling's Gem (1990) — This is the story of Wulfgar and Drizzt's journey to rescue Regis, who was captured by the hired assassin Artemis Entreri. Entreri's employer was Pasha Pook, a very powerful Pasha in Calimport (the capital of the empire of Calimshan), who wants revenge for an enchanted ruby that Regis stole.

Legacy of the Drow
The Legacy of the Drow is the third series about the character Drizzt Do'Urden. Works included
 * 1) The Legacy (1992)
 * 2) Starless Night (1993)
 * 3) Siege of Darkness (1994)
 * 4) Passage to Dawn (1996)

Paths of Darkness
Paths of Darkness is the fourth series about the character Drizzt Do'Urden. Works included * Servant of the Shard (2000) has been removed from this series and placed within the Sellswords series, which follows Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri.
 * 1) The Silent Blade (1998)
 * 2) The Spine of the World (1999)
 * 3) Servant of the Shard (2000)*
 * 4) Sea of Swords (novel) (2001)

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy
Works included
 * 1) The Thousand Orcs (2002)
 * 2) The Lone Drow (2003)
 * 3) The Two Swords (2004)

Fan reactions
Novels with Drizzt as the title character tend to sell extremely well in comparison to other Forgotten Realms-line books, often breaking into the New York Times bestseller lists when first released and often out selling non-Drizzt related first-release products even in the back list version. While perhaps controversial among some Forgotten Realms fans, Drizzt is certainly one of the better-known faces (if not the best-known face) from the Forgotten Realms, and books featuring him are among the most popular of the Dungeons and Dragons inspired fiction. His popularity reaches beyond the gaming community, appealing to a wide range of fantasy and science fiction fans.

It should be noted that among a small group of fans of the Forgotten Realms setting, Drizzt Do'Urden is considered to be a trite character and unrealistic to the setting. Many also mistakenly take umbrage at R.A. Salvatore's changing of the canon of the Forgotten Realms setting in his Drizzt novels (as, according to Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms, anything published is considered canon). This problem often occurs because much of what has been changed has changed after the original publication dates of Salvatore's novels. Many people do not realize that when Salvatore joined "Forgotten Realms" only one other novel and very few game products were actually published. Salvatore created Menzoberranzan and the whole of drow society with the creation of Drizzt Do'Urden. Prior to Salvatore's novels there were only three modules and a single paragraph concerning drow found in the Fiend Folio.

Literature

 * The Dark Elf Trilogy
 * The Icewind Dale Trilogy
 * Legacy of the Drow
 * Paths of Darkness
 * The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

Characters

 * Artemis Entreri
 * Guenhwyvar (cat)