History Main / TheBard

** In ''Liam's Quest: Full Circle'', a de-aged player character version of Creator/MatthewMercer (usually the Dungeon Master) is given bard abilities, able to use Vicious Mockery, Healing Word, and Thunder Wave at 1st level. DM Liam implies these powers come from the purity of Matt's soul.

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* ''Literature/{{Quarters}}'': The bards of Skaldia are a group with the power to do magic [[MagicMusic through song]], calling on [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental beings called the kigh]] for many different purposes, divided into four "quarters"-fire, water, earth and air. They are also capable of [[CompellingVoice commanding people by speaking with a certain tone]], used for trials to insure defendants and witnesses [[TruthSerum give truthful testimony]].

* The Bard is a creature class introduced to ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' in the ''Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms'' set. They are largely associated with Green, but are secondarily associated with Red as a secondary color.

* As of the ''Adventures in the Forgotten Realms'' set, the Bard is a creature class introduced in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', largely associated with Green with Red as a Secondary.

* in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' Bards can visit your fortress, play music (and create their own songs) dance (and choreograph their own dance forms) , tell poems (and write new ones) , and you can even play as one in Adventure Mode (and do everything the fort mode bards can do), DF also takes this UpToEleven because in DF there is also a different skill for every style of song, every single style of dancing, every single type of poem, and every single instrument, and every single style of music as well.

* In ''Ghosts of the Past'', sequel to ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', Taliesin [[spoiler: a.k.a. Doctor Strange]] is revealed to have been the part-time Court Bard for Camelot. Yes, ''that'' Camelot. He was also the Court Physician and an exceptionally powerful wizard (by his own account, he was second only to Merlin and Morgana), having mastered MagicMusic, and after he'd trained up a couple of successors, went wandering, to learn more magic. When he came back, he found that Arthur had died at Camlann, Merlin had vanished, and Camelot was collapsing around his ears, something he still blames himself for.

* The Edema Ruh from ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicles'' seem to be a society of travelling entertainers including many bards.

In medieval Gaelic and British culture (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Brittany and Cornwall) a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities. The word itself is loaned from Scottish Gaelic, deriving from the Proto-Celtic ''bardos'', ultimately from Proto-Indo-European, which roughly translates as "''to raise the voice; praise''."

* Dandelion in ''Series/TheWitcher'' acts as a bard, singing songs about Geralt's heroic deeds. His song "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" became very popular in 2019 and 2020.

* Geoffrey Chaucer is a hilarious one in ''Film/AKnightsTale''.

In game cultures such as Dungeons & Dragons, the Bard is a versatile character able to both fight strategically and cast magic [[MagicMusic through the power of their songs]], suggesting them to be magicians who use the power of emotion and creativity to conjure miracles into the world.

* Dandelion from ''Literature/The Witcher'' series is a bard famous for his songs and storytelling ability, and a close friend of Geralt of Rivia.

* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Wandersong}}'' is a bard, who's MagicMusic is required to solve puzzles and get through various areas of the game.

* Historically, Creator/WilliamShakespeare was known for his title as "The Bard of Avon."

* Homer of ''Literature/TheIliad'' and ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' has been portrayed as a blind bard. The classical era certainly had an extensive oral poetic tradition.
* Numerous Greek and Roman poets and writers were portrayed this way, especially as they were romanticized in the early modern era. True to the page quote, the tales they told fed into later high culture, art, music, occultism, pop culture, fantasy, and sci-fi, coloring the opinion of later peoples because of how the something was portrayed by classic writers. For a (simplified) example, Ba'al and Beelzebub started as terms for a Punic deity, but Rome won the war and now Ba'al almost certainly represents something wicked when used in fiction.

* Leliana from the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series used to be a traveling Bard (or rather, a spy/assassin who disguised herself as a traveling Bard -Apparently that's pretty common in Orlais). She comes with the Bard specialization and will teach it to other Rogues if her approval rating is high enough. Additionally, much of her dialogue includes stories and songs she learned during her time as a Bard. [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition The Inquisitor]] can ask, and Leliana will offer, to give training on being a bard: it basically amounts to DoNotAttempt because of how dirty and conniving bard work is.

* Dandelion from ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' series is a bard famous for his songs and storytelling ability, and a close friend of [[TheProtagonist Geralt of Rivia]]. In the [[VideoGame/TheWitcher2 second]] and [[VideoGame/TheWitcher3 third]] games he serves as the {{narrator}}, and the character entries in Geralt's [[EncyclopediaExposita journal]] were written by him.
* ''VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy'' has a few with the MagicMusic power.
* The Bard from ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' will play any song from the game's soundtrack for you if you get him the music sheets. He'll also pay you 500 gold for each music sheet you bring him, which is another incentive to collect them.
* Jimmy from ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' is a bard who uses MagicMusic.
* One party member in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateSiegeOfDragonspear'', Voghiln the Vast, is a "skald from the north who inspires his allies with epic tales".

* in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' Bards can visit your fortress, play music (and create their own songs) dance (and choreograph their own dance forms) , tell poems (and write new ones) , and you can even play as one in Adventure Mode (and do everything the fort mode bards can do), DF also takes this UpToEleven because in DF there is also a different skill for every style of song, every single style of dancing, every single type of poem, and every single instrument, and every single style of music as well.
* ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'' has them as part of one of the quests. Yeah you heard right, quest, as in {{LARP}}.
* While ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' calls the [[JobSystem Job]] "Performer" (or Superstar if you perfer the original translation), the idea of a party member who buffs and debuffs through singing is still a major part of it. Amusingly, the male costume is an ElvisImpersonator outfit, and the female costume is a Playboy Bunny uniform.

* The Jester from ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' fulfills this role in the FantasyCharacterClasses line-up, being a MagicMusic user who buffs and stress heals his allies with his lute. While he isn't a storyteller or very poetic, he also stress heals his teammates with a few good jokes and laughs. Unless he crossed the DespairEventHorizon, of course.
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has an unconventional, but spiritually appropriate take on the archetype through a character ''named'' [[ShapedLikeItself Bard]], titled "The Wandering Caretaker." Bard is a celestial being who observes the universe as a series of cosmic noises, [[WanderingMinstrel so he roams its entirety in search of material to compose with and make into masterful songs]]. [[HumansAreSpecial He finds fascination with Runeterra]] since it's home to some of the most interesting and chaotic sounds, and he functions as a quirky in-game champion who incorporates [[MagicMusic cosmic music]] into his support-based gameplay.