Fantasy fans love their weird heroes, and Drizzt Do’Urden is one of the flagbearers of weirdness in a protagonist. Drizzt is the drow or dark elf outcast who has become a favorite amongst Dungeons & Dragons players, and while his morals are pretty standard fare for most protagonists, there are still some odd and lesser-known facts about him.
These facts mostly serve as a testament to his timeless and solid characterization. It just so happens that Drizzt’s popularity has surged quite a bit thanks to his latest video game outing, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Beneath the drow facade, dual blades, and white hair, there’s much to know about this edgy dark elf so you can appreciate him better while slashing his enemies to ribbons in-game.
10 He’s one of the many characters influenced by Elric of Melnibone
The funny thing about Drizzt serving as a template for shady and angsty but morally good D&D player-made characters is that he might have been derived from another more original template. That would be Elric of Melnibone of the Elric Saga, a series of novels and short stories written by Michael Moorcock in the 1960s.
Elric was made as a diametrical opposing fantasy figure to Conan the Barbarian. He’s slender, pale, and relies a lot on magic. He’s also part of an inherently troublesome race from which he dissented and also sports long flowing locks of white hair. Drizzt is likely one of his faithful analogs along with other icons such as Geralt of Rivia or the Targaryens from A Song of Ice and Fire.
9 He’s the very antithesis of a drow
For those who aren’t familiar with Drizzt outside of the Dark Alliance video game, his name literally means “outcast” in elvish. That’s because the drow pride themselves on being treacherous and Machiavellian. Their race is what some can consider morally evil.
Drizzt is an outlier in the drow society even from childhood. Whereas his brethren have no qualms about enslaving and killing other races, Drizzt has a little too much compassion and is morally upright. This has caused trouble for him and made him quite a loner.
8 He has lavender eyes
To drive the point further about Drizzt being a one-of-a-kind drow, he was given lavender eyes by R.A. Salvatore, the author who created him. Most drow are born with red and sinister eyes, making Drizzt’s eyes a stark contrast to his kin.
It’s a rare eye color both in and out of his race, making Drizzt an unmistakable figure. His lavender eyes are even some of the first features that his enemies notice and most of them have grown to hate it, as it’s the last thing they see before their demise.
7 He’s being hunted down by his own kin
You might think that being an outcast is cool if you get to wield twin legendary scimitars and have beautiful long white hair, but even that comes with a hefty price. Drizzt is relentlessly hunted down by other drow.
He was marked by his own society as a valuable target thanks to his dissidence and his vocal renouncement of Lolth, their matron-goddess. There were even instances where Drizzt had to fight off drow armies sent after him. Suffice to say, he’s not welcome in the drow Underdark city of Menzoberranzan.
6 He wasn’t supposed to live as soon as he was born
Had fate been less playful toward Drizzt, he wouldn’t have been the poster boy of rangers in Dungeons & Dragons. His being the third child of a well-known drow family meant that he was supposed to be sacrificed to Lolth, their cruel goddess and creator.
However, one of his brothers got a little too drow-y and murdered the other one, leaving only two of them. This led to Drizzt getting spared and eventually growing up to be a formidable drow that would someday challenge even Lolth herself.
5 He’s lived for more than 200 years
Well, he’s an elf, so he has the luxury of living far longer than the mortal races of Faerun in the Forgotten Realms. Drizzt, for that matter, has lived an astonishingly long life — around 200 years.
He has seen many challenges and tribulations, including some of the most important canon events of the Forgotten Realms lore. That also meant he outlived his friends — one of the tragedies of being a drow outcast with overwhelming survival instincts.
4 He’s received some gruesome wounds and ignored them
That isn’t to say there weren’t times when Drizzt could have succumbed to mortality in his novels and comic books. Out of all the Companions of the Hall, which is his adventurer group, he’s probably sustained the most serious injuries.
There were situations here both his shoulder blades were sliced open and he powered through it. He also often ignores the pain of fatal wounds if it meant saving others. One of the most impressive attacks he survived was a demon queen’s lightning bolt which struck him at the back and exploded afterward.
3 His most clever attack is a cheap tabletop tactic
When not relying on his trusty twin scimitars or his pet panther, Drizzt resorts to a magic attack where he unleashes a sphere of magical darkness. Since it’s magical, enemies can’t see through it, even if they have special eyes.
Drizzt doesn’t need to see to fight so he takes advantage of that darkness sphere. Who else does that? Basically most warlocks in a D&D tabletop session. It’s actually a cheesy low-level tactic that ruins most Dungeon Masters’ plans.
2 He can fight for days without sleep
Most of the time though, Drizzt doesn’t even need to rely on magic or his cheesy darkness sphere attack. His innate physical capabilities are dizzyingly impressive. He can run and fight for days without stopping or sleeping to rest.
He has done this many times before where he even fought hordes of demons for several days nonstop. Most of Drizzt’s fighting feats are rather Herculean even when he’s just training under his father.
1 He’s getting his own Magic: The Gathering card
Since D&D is also owned by Wizards of the Coast, he’s about to get a guest appearance in their other intellectual properties. The most prominent of those is Magic: The Gathering, a fantasy collectible card game that’s not unlike D&D in theme and structure.
Drizzt is set to get his own card where he’s a legendary creature and gets to summon his panther, Guenhwyvar. His alignment there is also spot-on as he belongs in the most morally upright color designation of the game.
NEXT: Reasons Gloomhaven Is Better Than Dungeons & Dragons (And Reasons It Isn’t)
