NPCs who best represent the main 8 classes.
Mordeus
Member Posts: 460
I've been curious to see what characters people think are the best representation of certain classes. In other words which character best represents a mage, fighter, etc... The criteria is a based on authenticity, so a depiction that comes across as being genuine, convincing or realistic of what that class means to you.
It's going to be a purely subjective thing, especially in the case of something like a druid which relies on the concept of neutrality and that varies. Not to mention we all look for different qualities in people. So don't feel compelled to say what you think the answer should be, just go with your gut. I could see rationales for pretty much all the NPCs... well aside from Dorn since he is purposely the antitheses of the paladin, being that he is an Anti-Paladin. But if you are into playing evil alignments, then feel free to speak from the evil perspective.
Probably best to restrict the discussion to NPCs that join your party, but there might be a case where no joinable NPCs are good candidates, so then you could give suggestions of which non-joinable one would make the best Paladin, Cleric, etc...
When it comes to dual or multi-classing, then that NPC can be considered for both. So Anomen could be a candidate for best cleric or fighter, Aerie for best mage or cleric. With Rasaad, he could be considered a cleric or fighter, since the monk usually falls within those categories. Even their stated Class is probably inaccurate like how Coran could be considered suited to the Ranger archetype than Fighter or Thief, so there is some room there. You could even say that Eldoth is the best portrayal of a thief, even though he is a bard or Anomen as best Paladin.
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Here are my picks.
- Khalid for best Fighter. I usually see the Fighter class as being fairly generic and reserved for the token human of the group. So while Khalid is a half-elf, I find that he fits that role quite nicely. He does have the quirk of his lack of courage but I see it as being quite realistic of a front line fighter, since blind courage seems more fitting of a paladin.
- Coran for best Ranger. I'm ruling out Minsc because he is more of a Berserker to me and Valygar is out because he is too much of a hybrid. I was going to say Kivan but what changed my mind is that I see the Ranger as a bit of a vagrant or wanderer, someone who had a purpose but has since walked away from it. Kivan's vendetta against Tazok is what rules him out for me. Coran is the candidate for me because he isn't bound to follow anyone and jumps from one thing to the next without responsibility.
- Keldorn for best Paladin: I was going to say Ajantis since I typically see the paladin as being quite one dimensional but he lacks the authority that I find Keldorn possesses. Not to mention that Keldorn also has the status of what I think a paladin should have with society. Even his strained relationship with family is quite realistic of what sacrifices a paladin should make.
- Yeslick for best Cleric: This one gets a bit tough since there are some good candidates. I personally love Branwen the most but when it comes to embodying the cleric, I think Yeslick edges her out. Yeslick may also be a fighter with the backstory of a blacksmith, but I find he has the temperament of what I think a cleric should be. While the other clerics are all rather volatile, aside from Aerie who I find too passive.
- Faldorn for best Druid: This is another tough one but I find that Faldorn is the most committed druid of the bunch. Jaheira seems more caught up in being a Harper than druid and I see that her half-elf lineage helps
contribute to her infinity to nature. While Cernd seems to be more of a Native American caricature. With Faldorn she pretty much embodies the work of a druid to a fault, it's pretty much the entirety of her character.
- Dynaheir for best Mage: Probably not most people's pick but I like my mages to be rather mysterious with a bit of exoticism to them. It's one thing for them to cast spells, and to do them well but it's another thing for their character traits to be rather magical.
- Alora for best Thief: In the Forgotten Realms I see the thief as being a dextrous street urchin and Alora fits that perfectly. It also helps her case that she is a Halfling which pretty much dominates the thief class. Montaron is also another good pick for best Thief but he's too antagonistic for me.
- Garrick for best Bard: He pretty much wins by default since Eldoth is like a fallen Bard and Haer'Dalis is too otherworldly that his Bard qualities are overshadowed.
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I'm a bit of a fantasy traditionalist so it's probably no surprise I have a preference for the BG1 NPCs who are rather safe portrayals. I imagine someone from another roleplaying background or someone who plays with an evil party would have a very different set of 8. Doesn't help that I was influenced by things like Tolkien and the DnD cartoon from the 80s at an early age, so I have a very rigid view of the 8 classes.
It would be also interesting to see who people think are the worst NPCs at embodying a class. That would probably yield a more interesting discussion. I'm seeing Nalia/Skie for Worst Thief, Quayle for worst Cleric with Mazzy/Jaheira for worst Fighter to start.
It's going to be a purely subjective thing, especially in the case of something like a druid which relies on the concept of neutrality and that varies. Not to mention we all look for different qualities in people. So don't feel compelled to say what you think the answer should be, just go with your gut. I could see rationales for pretty much all the NPCs... well aside from Dorn since he is purposely the antitheses of the paladin, being that he is an Anti-Paladin. But if you are into playing evil alignments, then feel free to speak from the evil perspective.
Probably best to restrict the discussion to NPCs that join your party, but there might be a case where no joinable NPCs are good candidates, so then you could give suggestions of which non-joinable one would make the best Paladin, Cleric, etc...
When it comes to dual or multi-classing, then that NPC can be considered for both. So Anomen could be a candidate for best cleric or fighter, Aerie for best mage or cleric. With Rasaad, he could be considered a cleric or fighter, since the monk usually falls within those categories. Even their stated Class is probably inaccurate like how Coran could be considered suited to the Ranger archetype than Fighter or Thief, so there is some room there. You could even say that Eldoth is the best portrayal of a thief, even though he is a bard or Anomen as best Paladin.
---
Here are my picks.
- Khalid for best Fighter. I usually see the Fighter class as being fairly generic and reserved for the token human of the group. So while Khalid is a half-elf, I find that he fits that role quite nicely. He does have the quirk of his lack of courage but I see it as being quite realistic of a front line fighter, since blind courage seems more fitting of a paladin.
- Coran for best Ranger. I'm ruling out Minsc because he is more of a Berserker to me and Valygar is out because he is too much of a hybrid. I was going to say Kivan but what changed my mind is that I see the Ranger as a bit of a vagrant or wanderer, someone who had a purpose but has since walked away from it. Kivan's vendetta against Tazok is what rules him out for me. Coran is the candidate for me because he isn't bound to follow anyone and jumps from one thing to the next without responsibility.
- Keldorn for best Paladin: I was going to say Ajantis since I typically see the paladin as being quite one dimensional but he lacks the authority that I find Keldorn possesses. Not to mention that Keldorn also has the status of what I think a paladin should have with society. Even his strained relationship with family is quite realistic of what sacrifices a paladin should make.
- Yeslick for best Cleric: This one gets a bit tough since there are some good candidates. I personally love Branwen the most but when it comes to embodying the cleric, I think Yeslick edges her out. Yeslick may also be a fighter with the backstory of a blacksmith, but I find he has the temperament of what I think a cleric should be. While the other clerics are all rather volatile, aside from Aerie who I find too passive.
- Faldorn for best Druid: This is another tough one but I find that Faldorn is the most committed druid of the bunch. Jaheira seems more caught up in being a Harper than druid and I see that her half-elf lineage helps
contribute to her infinity to nature. While Cernd seems to be more of a Native American caricature. With Faldorn she pretty much embodies the work of a druid to a fault, it's pretty much the entirety of her character.
- Dynaheir for best Mage: Probably not most people's pick but I like my mages to be rather mysterious with a bit of exoticism to them. It's one thing for them to cast spells, and to do them well but it's another thing for their character traits to be rather magical.
- Alora for best Thief: In the Forgotten Realms I see the thief as being a dextrous street urchin and Alora fits that perfectly. It also helps her case that she is a Halfling which pretty much dominates the thief class. Montaron is also another good pick for best Thief but he's too antagonistic for me.
- Garrick for best Bard: He pretty much wins by default since Eldoth is like a fallen Bard and Haer'Dalis is too otherworldly that his Bard qualities are overshadowed.
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I'm a bit of a fantasy traditionalist so it's probably no surprise I have a preference for the BG1 NPCs who are rather safe portrayals. I imagine someone from another roleplaying background or someone who plays with an evil party would have a very different set of 8. Doesn't help that I was influenced by things like Tolkien and the DnD cartoon from the 80s at an early age, so I have a very rigid view of the 8 classes.
It would be also interesting to see who people think are the worst NPCs at embodying a class. That would probably yield a more interesting discussion. I'm seeing Nalia/Skie for Worst Thief, Quayle for worst Cleric with Mazzy/Jaheira for worst Fighter to start.
3
Comments
-Korgan for Fighter. Khalid is a solid example, but he's fairly atypical, being a skinny half-elf. Korgan better exemplifies the martial training and mind set of a dedicated killing machine.
-Viconia as an evil cleric. Since you're ranking clerics by temperament, it's only fair to consider the evil side of things.
-Edwin as Mage. A brilliant professional who stops at nothing to increase his own power. He never would need a Minsc to defend him. He would never get captured by Gnolls. Give him a few thousand years and a pointy hat, and he'd kick Elminster's arse.
-Hexxat as thief. Yeah, going there. Other thieves do other things better, but Hexxat is the single most badass thief in the series. She's like Forgotton Realms Lara Croft.
-NOBODY as best bard. Garrick sucks, Haer'dalis is hardly a bard. An NPC that actually embodied the bard class might be nice some day, but that day has not yet come.
I'm going with Korgan here. Fighters aren't the deepest of characters, so a drinking, skull-smashing dwarven berzerker fits the bill for this archetype. Korgan is a mercenary and a veteran who has seen it all; age, experience and the fact that he still alive and on top of his game gives him authority over younger fighters. Where Anomen brags about the one big crusade he participated in, Korgan just shrugs and says nothing because he isn't that quick of a thinker and can't decide with which of all his epic victories to one-up the rookie.
2 - Ranger
I'm not very attached to the ranger class and surprisingly, the NPC to change that recently was Valygar. His backstory mostly fits to what I think sets a ranger apart from a druid. A druid wants balance and protects nature for the sake of neutrality, a ranger always strikes me as someone who is running away from something - an urban life, for example - and finds new purpose in the wilderness. Valygar does exactly that; he escaped a bloodline he wants nothing to do with. He sees his ancestors as the root of evil and that's his reason to pick a lifestyle that is very different; something that fits his idea of a better, simpler life. He protects this life for himself as much as he protects nature; it's not exclusively a "greater cause". There's a certain level of selfishness that druids don't have.
3 - Paladin
I guess Keldorn will get many votes either way, so I give mine to a less popular NPC - Anomen. A paladin is a class that never made much sense to me for a level 1 or very young character - Ajantis, for example, is level 1, a squire and yet a paladin already. Anomen, on the other hand, has the backstory; he starts as a fighter, then duals to cleric and after his quest, becomes a knight in a paladin order. That's the career path a paladin should have. His quest also reflects the moral sacrifices that come with the responsibility and status of a paladin, and I think overcoming his pride and arrogance is a bigger challenge than holy crusades. It shows that a paladin is not just about being a sword-swinging force of good, but that it also takes a certain personality to deal with the moral struggles behind the glorious, noble exterior.
4 - Cleric
Branwen. It is subtle, but she fits the archetype best. As a single class cleric, she truly fights to honor her gods; with the strength and abilities her faith gives her. She's not a fighter who happens to be a believer and can "fall back" to the training as fighter; she only depends on her gods. Viconia, the other single class, may have her Lloth/Shar backstory, but it is mostly overshadowed by her status as exotic damsel in distress and facing prejudice due to her race. Branwen faced prejudice in her society because she broke with the convention that only men should be clerics, but to her, this is a test of strength and faith, not a problem. Branwen follows her faith and only that, regardless of consequences, and never doubts.
5 - Druid
Never gave this much thought; I rarely ever use any of the NPCs. I guess I agree with Faldorn; she has the radical attitude and the "nature before reason" outlook. Jaheira frankly doesn't strike me as a druid at all. Her voiceset, sure, but beyond that, she's all about being a Harper and Cernd is... well, Cernd, I guess.
6 - Mage
Xzar and Edwin both fit; from their personalities, they are polar opposites. To me, a typical mage is either an arrogant intellectual who belittles less powerful people or a madman with more power than anyone would want him to have. If I have to settle for one, I'd probably go with Edwin though. He is arrogant, he does belittle the peasants beneath him, he dislikes getting his own hands dirty and he is power hungry. This last trait is the one thing Xzar doesn't have to fit the "madman wizard" archetype (which I find a nice twist on the trope, not complaining about it). Edwin and Xzar are like Jigsaw and Herbert West - two different archetypes in the same genre.
7 - Thief
Montaron would be my pick if it was about kit representation - he's the assassin archetype, but other than backstabbing, he isn't much of a thief (personality, not skills, obviously). I'm voting for Safana here - she's all for treasures, for piracy and for using any means neccessary (including her charms) to get what she wants. Sure, she's pretty close to represent a kit (Swashbuckler) more than the entire class, but her personality fits the classic fantasy archetype of a "charming rogue" best.
8 - Bard
Eldoth by default. Haer'Dalis may have all the fancy poetry, but other than that, he's mostly a fighter and doesn't use his charms much after leaving the acting troupe. Garrick does like epic tales, but again, barely uses his charms. Eldoth does and depends on them - he is a magnificent liar who tells people what they want to hear and gets away with it (for a while anyway).
Cleric - Viconia
Thief - Safana & Yoshimo
Druid - Cernd
Paladin - Keldorn
Bard - Haer'Dalis
Mage - Dynaheir & Edwin, although Nalia in ToB excellently alludes to the idea of a Mage being tainted or becoming too obsessed with their power, but is given too little opportunity to explore the consequences of it
Ranger - none, Minsc is more fitting for a Barbarian; Kivan for a Stalker; and Valygar's ideas about being a Ranger are cool but non-conventional. Keep him and Jaheira in ToB together and he'll explain more to her about his views on Druidic views of nature
By the way: Just because I think these guys are closest to the representations of each class, I don't actually like all of them or think that they are all tastefully done.
Edwin is definitely the best Mage, with xzar taking second. Any Mage would have to be a little bonkers, all that power would go to your head.
I think the best bard is probably coran. He always seemed like more of the bardic type, than fighter/thief, his portrait looks really jestery. And the way he gets at Safana.
The best fighter is Khalid, ranger I think kivan. Valyagar is to kitted, Minsc to ridiculous, and I think the revenge thing kivan has fits the ranger.
The best thief is probably alora, but Safana looks good to. Best Druid is probably Faldorn, but I haven't played cerned yet. (Is that his name? The on twitch the good portrait)
The best clerics is yeslik, because he's an old dwarf, and that's the way clerics should be.
Safana and Alora act like real thieves. Also I agree with @KidCarnival about Montaron and Branwen.
Good point about Coran. Never though about that he really can fit a ranger role...
Mages are Edwin AND Xan. Dynaheir is a mage just on paper.
Shar-Tell is a pure amazon warrior with attitude.
Ranger: Kivan. Valygar plays more like a Fighter/Thief while Minsc is more of a Berserker-Ranger hybrid. Kivan spends his time in the wilderness and uses bows. That's pretty rangerish.
Paladin: Keldorn
Mage: Edwin
Cleric: Viconia. Yea, she doesn't worship Lloth, but still, female drow priestess.
Thief: Hexxat. Sort of wins by default.
Druid: Cernd
Bard: Eldoth. Haer'dalis is a Blade, which is more Fighter/Mage than bard. Garrick is an idiot. Eldoth is an alcoholic womanizer and manipulator AND he actually plays like a bard.