The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [26]
Beyond Tolkien, Gygax drew upon several sources for the Dungeons & Dragons–style thief. There is the adventurer in Fritz Leiber’s Grey Mouser, who debuted along with his barbarian ally Fafhrd in Two Sought Adventure (1957). The Grey Mouser shares the thief’s penchant for daggers and the ability to wield them against unwary adversaries. There is also Jack Vance’s “Cugel the Clever” (Wetzels) and Roger Zelazny’s “Shadowjack.” These spellcasting rogues influenced the thief’s ability to read scrolls in the early editions of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s evident that the thief archetype harkens from a more cynical, pulp-like fantasy setting, a setting that certainly inspired Gygax, who was a fan of Vance’s work (Gygax 2001).
The thief has a particularly important role in the creation of interactive fiction; two of the programmers who helped create Zork played thieves. They valued exploration and puzzle solving, challenges eminently suited to the thief role. When dungeon crawling was the preferred mode of adventure, dungeons often had traps that could only be surmounted by a thief using his ability to detect traps and disarm them.
This fascination with the thief class continued in Zork, with the creation of one of the first nonplayer characters controlled by a computer, the everpresent thief, described as “a seedy-looking individual with a large bag” and “a man of good breeding” (Montfort 2003:112). The thief was an adept pickpocket who would wander in, steal an item from the player, and leave—all features common to Dungeons & Dragons thieves. These traits made the Zork thief a constant irritation to the player and a challenging obstacle to overcome.
WARRIOR • Warriors are trained combatants, well versed in tactics and experts in their weapons (Aeon 2001). The warrior is the most prevalent archetype in The Lord of the Rings, and understandably so, since the nations in Middleearth are at war. From axe-wielding dwarves to hordes of Orcs, warriors participated in all the major battles of Tolkien’s universe.
And yet, not all who fight wars are warriors. The wars in The Lord of the Rings are desperate struggles for survival (Timmons 2007:89). As such, there are just as many untrained soldiers drafted into combat as there are trained warriors, and therein lies the difference between the two.
The term “warrior” is from the Old Northern French derivative “werreieor.” (Ayto 1990:566). Legolas and Gimli can be classified as warriors, especially in light of their penchant for comparing their orc kills. Each specializes in his particular fighting style; for the elf, it’s the bow, for the dwarf, it’s the axe. Other warriors include Boromir, Eomer, Eowyn, King Theoden, the Rohirrim, Beregond, Prince Imrahil, and many others.
The warrior first appears in Chainmail as the “Fighting-Man” (Gygax and Perren 1971:6). The term was made gender neutral by the subsequent title of Fighter, which continues in Dungeons & Dragons to this day. The term seems peculiar to the pen and paper role-playing game. Many other incarnations of fantasy games use “soldier” or “warrior” instead. As described by Gygax in Role-Playing Mastery (1987:29), the Fighter has a “highly physical approach.”
WIZARD • The wizard has a rich history in legend, harking back to Odin as the graybearded, floppy-hat-and-robewearing wise man. Merlin, advisor to king and country (Coghlan 1993:176), is a literary descendant of Odin. Who in turn influences Gandalf.
The term “wizard” appears in 1440, meaning “philosopher.” It is derived from the Middle English “wys,” which means “wise.” Wizards, then, have great wisdom, from which the term “wizened” has its roots. The association of the term “wizard” with magic was not in evidence until 1550 (Ayto 1990:576).
Tolkien was unhappy with the appellation of “wizard” to Gandalf but felt it was the closest approximation to his powers (Tracy). In Middle-earth, Gandalf