Drizzt Do'Urden

Drizzt Do'Urden (full name Drizzt Daermon N'a'shezbaernon) is an atypical drow who has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark. He is one of few drow known to live on the surface. Drizzt Do'Urden is one of the most widely-recognized characters from the Forgotten Realms setting.

Appearance
Drizzt Do'Urden is a drow (not to be confused with a dark elf). He stands at about 5′4″, (1.68m) 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. His eyes 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 from Scrimshaw (bone of the knuckle-headed trout found in Icewind Dale). 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 greatly adapted to the bright surface world, so now when using his infravision, the images if held for a prolonged period of time cause headaches and other strained symptoms.. 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 can be longer than 700, but accounting for displacement of the natural drow habitat, it is yet to be seen if his potential lifespan will be reached.

Personality
Thoughtful and sensitive to others, Drizzt holds himself to the highest ideals but does not expect the same of others. He credits Catti-brie for imparting cultural awareness and tolerance upon him. 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.

The Hunter
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.

Equipment
Drizzt's favorite weapon is the scimitar, and he carries two, nicknamed Twinkle and Icingdeath. He also carries a unique Figurine of Wondrous Power which summons his black panther companion Guenhwyvar. The drow wears a pair of bracers of the blinding strike (obtained from Dantrag Baenre, weapon 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 (making it hard to change directions), and his feet could not keep up, resulting in extremely predictable attacks. Drizzt's attire is generally a cloth tunic, tough pants, soft boots and leather gloves. Drizzt wears an enchanted set of mithral chainmail, made by Buster Bracer that he now augments by wearing a spider silk shirt under his armour that can magically protect its wearer from all but the most lethal attacks. Drizzt carried Agatha's mask during his journeys in Calimshan. Drizzt is not above improvising in combat by taking what weapons are available to him. He has also been known to use Mooshie's Longbow and a dagger hidden in each boot.

While Cattie-brie was injured during Drizzt's battles with Clan Karuck, Drizzt wielded Taulmaril and its neverending supply of lightning arrows, he still had it in his possession a hundred years later. He also mastered and wielded Khazid'hea for a time but left it stuck in Obould Many-Arrows' armour while he fled from single combat with him.

Abilities
As a drow, 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 has lost this ability upon leaving the Underdark. This is due to the absence of faerzress on the surface world. 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.

Combat and tactics
Drizzt fights in the two long-weapon style common among drow warriors. 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 defenses that they, not used to fighting blind cannot possibly see coming.

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, Catti-brie, Wulfgar, Regis and Guenhwyvar) to help him out if he gets into too much trouble.

Formative years
Drizzt was born on the night that Matron Malice and House Do'Urden exterminated House DeVir in order to raise House Do'Urden through the Heirarchy of the Drow city of Menzoberranzan. Drow practices called for the sacrifice of the third son to the Spider deity Lolth, the goddess of the Drow, to gather the Spider Queens favor in the battle and this sacrifice was to be Drizzt. On the field of battle though, Dinin Do'Urden drove a dagger through the back of the elder-boy of the house, Nalfein Do'Urden, substituting him as the sacrifice thus sparing Drizzt's life. For the first few years of his life, he was taught language and his place in Drow society, that being inferior for he was a male, by his sister Vierna Do'Urden. During this time he was mostly assigned the never-ending task of cleaning House Do'Urden's private temple to Lolth. He proved to be stubborn and determined to complete tasks assigned to him to the point of exhaustion. He was able to master levitation (a trait all nobel Drow share) at an uncommonly young age and carried an innocence that set him apart from the rest of his race.

His brother Dinin took over his tutelage when Drizzt was secondboy of House Do'Urden. Dinin tried to teach him etiquette, Drizzt however was always making mistakes in this regard which annoyed Dinin to no end. His eldest sister Briza was always assigning him the most mundane and dull, yet sometimes incredibly challenging tasks just so that she would have an excuse to punish her 'impudent' half-brother. Five years before Drizzt became a full house noble, he met Lolth herself, but being so young he merely thought he'd met an extremely beautiful lady with a dress made of spiders. His family were instructed by his mother to not explain the event as she believed him too young to understand.

Training
Drizzt received training sessions from his father, Zaknafein Do'Urden, and in the drow warrior school Melee Magthere-- part of the drow Academy Arach-Tinilith in Menzobarranzan -- where he favored the use of scimitars, and earned his reputation as a skilled fighter, even when pressed under various possible circumstances placed by his instructors. Like all drow warriors, Drizzt spent 9 years of training in the melee-combat and the remaining six months of his stay at the Sorcere, the Academy's school for wizardy and magic-crafts.

He escaped Menzoberranzan after Zaknafein was killed and first got in touch with 'The Hunter'. Eventually though, he would emerge from the Underdark into the surface world.

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, goddess of the forest and of rangers.

Reputation
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.

Nojheim
Shortly after Mithral Hall was retaken for Clan Battlehammer, Drizzt ran into a goblin slave named Nojheim. Despite goblins being his favoured enemy, Drizzt despised slavery even more than his wish to see goblinoids eradicated from the realms. Nojheim taught Drizzt much about how others viewed him and Drizzt in turn vowed to free him. He immediately rode to Silverymoon to petition Alustriel to free the goblin but she was away on business to Sundabar. He immediately returned to where Nojheim was enslaved but found him hanging dead by his neck outside the village walls. Nojheim's owner had heard their conversation and executed him, but no one would openly refuse his owner's claim that Nojheim attacked him. Drizzt vowed that from that day forth he would attack the owners of slaves first and damn the consequences.

Ellifain
Drizzt is haunted by the memory of a moon elf girl called Ellifain Tuuserail, also known by her male alias "Le'lorinel". On his first visit to the surface, he participated in an attack on the surface elves with his fellow drow. During this experience he began to realise how vile he found his own kin, and saved the young Ellifain by smearing her with blood from her mother's corpse. Ellifain recalled a different account of events and believed Drizzt to be responsible for her mother's death, hunting him down relentlessly.

This culminated in a final encounter between the two, in which both were mortally wounded. Ellifain died believing Drizzt to have also been killed, but Bruenor Battlehammer came to his aid and saved his life.

During the events in Realms of the Elves Drizzt finally releases his guilt after Ellifain's soul is summoned and apologizes for her unwarranted hatred of Drizzt.

Relationship with Catti-brie
Drizzt found himself in love with Catti-brie, although he was unwilling to deal with the emotional implications of this initially. From the end of the Hunter's Blades trilogy and more recently The Orc King, Drizzt and Cattie-Brie are unofficially married, as there was no formalities involved. It is implied within The Orc King that they have slept together, shortly before Drizzt sent out to find Tos'Un, as well as in The Pirate King, on page 50.

Shallows
In 1370 DR Drizzt was involved in the battle at Shallows against the invading orcs and frost giants. He distracted five of the ten giants, leading them on a chase which led to him entering a cave system through a narrow gap. The giants were unable to follow him inside, and blocked off the entrance with boulders. Drizzt spent several days looking for an alternative way out, and when he found one, he returned near to Shallows to witness the collapse of its wizard tower, with a figure he thought to be Bruenor on it. He assumed that Bruenor had been killed, and this had a profound emotional effect on him.

Images
Since his debut in 1988, Drizzt Do'Urden has been illustrated by many different authors. However, since 2004 and the reissue of many of R.A. Salvatore's books under the Legend of Drizzt series, all artwork of the dark elf has been done by Todd Lockwood.

Appearances
Drizzt's story is told in the fantasy novels of R.A. Salvatore, 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. 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. Listed in the chronological order of the events in the books:

Dark Elf trilogy

 * 1) Homeland (1990)
 * 2) Exile (1990)
 * 3) Sojourn (1991)

Icewind Dale trilogy

 * 1) The Crystal Shard (1988)
 * 2) Streams of Silver (1989)
 * 3) The Halfling's Gem (1990)

Legacy of the Drow

 * 1) The Legacy (1992)
 * 2) Starless Night (1993)
 * 3) Siege of Darkness (1994)
 * 4) Passage to Dawn (1996)

Paths of Darkness
* 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)

Hunter's Blades trilogy

 * 1) The Thousand Orcs (2002)
 * 2) The Lone Drow (2003)
 * 3) The Two Swords (2004)

Transitions

 * 1) The Orc King (2007)
 * 2) The Pirate King (2008)
 * 3) The Ghost King (2009)

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, Darkwalker on Moonshae, 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.