The Legend of Drizzt / Characters

Characters from The Legend of Drizzt novels by R.A. Salvatore.

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Drizzt Do'Urden

Race: Drow

Class: Fighter/Rogue/Ranger

Alignment: Chaotic Good

The Ace: As one of the most skilled fighters and well-travelled rangers out there, he's considered this by his party members, the ranger community, and many adventurers throughout Toril. It's even mentioned that, had Drizzt chosen, he could have been a powerful wizard; he's apparently naturally good at everything... except talking his way out of things. And lying.
The Aloner: Spends nearly a decade in the Underdark with Guenhwyvar as his only companion. It almost drives him mad. He eventually surrenders himself to the svirfneblin, mortal enemies of the drow, out of desperation and loneliness.
Amplifier Artifact: His anklets (really bracers, but he wears them on his legs) give him a massive boost to his running speed.
Author Filibuster: Salvatore often uses Drizzt to deliver speeches about various morals, political stances, and viewpoints that are suspiciously relevant to things that happen in our world at the beginning of every part of a book.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Artemis Entreri a few times.
Berserk Mode: Hunter mode, a bestial mindset that Drizzt can fall into when angry enough. He picked it up while wandering in the Underdark.
Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Wulfgar's Betty for Catti-brie's Archie, though the two men swapped roles after Wulfgar Took a Level in Jerkass in the runup to his and Catti-brie's marriage.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's polite and trusting almost to a fault (especially in the earlier books), but if you mess with the people he cares about, he will end you.
Black Sheep: Becomes this to House Do'Urden after he flees Menzoberranzan at the end of Homeland. Given the nature of Menzoberranzan society, this can also make him a White Sheep.
Blood Knight: He may be a profoundly wise and moral man, but he also genuinely loves to fight and will happily leap into the heart of the deadliest battles just for the joy of it. It's one of several reasons why he favors the harsh, violent life of a ranger even when other alternatives are available.
Blue Blood: Was a prince of a noble house before he went rogue.
Blue Oni, Red Oni: The coolheaded Blue Oni to Wulfgar's fierce Red Oni.
Breakout Character: Wulfgar was originally going to be the main character of the series.
Character Development: Gets older and more accepting of necessary evil, especially after the timeskip. A lot of his later character growth focuses on reconciling his old idealism with his more world-weary cynicism.
Characterization Marches On: In the Icewind Dale Trilogy, Drizzt is Wulfgar's Stern Teacher who's rather stoic, self-possessed, and mysterious, with a tendency towards being a Sink or Swim Mentor. Later books show a more conflicted, emotive drow who is young, idealistic, and deeply protective of his friends. This might be partly due to the change in POV - how Wulfgar views Drizzt is very different from how Drizzt views himself.
Chekhov's Skill: This could technically apply to all drow, but in this instance, it specifically applies to the counter of the double-thrust low maneuver.
Cool Horse: Andahar.
Cool Swords: Twin kle and Icing death.
Crusading Widower: During most of Gauntlgrym. Disturbingly, instead of drowning his sorrows with alcohol, he does it with blood. Although fitting for a drow, which might make it worse.
Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: One extremely tense scene in Homeland sees Drizzt call out Lolth as a lying bitch to his sister Vierna's face... who is a priestess of Lolth. A lot of the tension of the scene is whether or not Vierna or another drow will kill him for his blasphemous tantrum or not, but the fact that he is the first drow to boldly (albeit suicidally so) spit on the name of their liar of a goddess is pure badassery at its finest.
Dual Wielding: With scimitars.
Fantastic Racism: Was a victim of this during his earliest decades on the surface, due to the notoriety of his race. A recurring element in the earlier books deals with his struggle against this trope. Drizzt isn't immune to this himself; when fighting against King Obould and his orcs, he finds it absurd that the orcs don't "know their place", though he does catch himself on it and reevaluate his position.
Flash Step: The "Ghost Step" technique. Half Super-Speed, half optical illusion. With perfect timing, Drizzt can step to the side in the split second his opponent's weapon passes through his own line of sight, blocking him from view and causing him to seemingly disappear. Done correctly, by the time the opponent figures out what happened, half of their more important organs will be out of place.
Full-Name Basis: Most people call Drizzt by his full name when addressing him. This is lampshaded in Starless Night when Drizzt gets annoyed that Matron Baenre addresses him by his full name at the end of almost every sentence, to the point that even the narration gets tired of it.
Guilt Complex: Big time. His friends dying, killing drow, killing humans, not saving humans, not saving his friends; Drizzt agonizes over everything he is even tangentially related to that he could have affected. It gets pointed out to him from time to time.
Hand Signals: The Drow hand cant isn't used much in later novels since he's not usually around any other drow to use it with, but he attempts to teach it to his companions (with limited success).
Heroic BSoD: Has one after the events at Shallows during the Hunter's Blades trilogy, and a more recent one happens near the end of The Ghost King.
Hero with Bad Publicity: On account of his race. In later novels, however, his personal reputation allows him to be accepted in most places.
In-Series Nickname: Due to most people's inability to speak Drow Undercommon properly, most people who have only heard of Drizzt call him "Drizzit" upon their first meeting.
Incest-ant Admirer: For a time, was this with Vierna, his eldest sister, who had been interested in him for years, though it was forbidden even in drow society.
Kirk Summation: Attempts to give one to Artemis Entreri in Charon's Claw, suggesting that Artemis pursue good instead of ending his life. Being Artemis Entreri, he tells Drizzt to just get it over with.
Like Father, Like Son: Zaknafein absolutely hated everything to do with Menzoberranzan and the ideals instilled into drow from birth by Lolth's clergy. To say Drizzt adopted his mindset is an understatement.
Master Swordsman: As is common for any powerful chaotic evil civilization, the drow of Menzoberranzan compensate for both their lack of discipline and capacity to organize at a strategic level with phenomenal individual fighting talent. Drizzt followed in the footsteps of his father Zaknafein as the greatest drow swordsman of his generation, which is enough to make him one of the greatest swordsmen in the world. The number of enemies he faces who can match or exceed him in pure martial skill can be counted on one hand, and doing so is considered an incredible achievement in-universe by anyone who's heard of him.
Mind Rape: During Starless Night, involving an illithid.
Mirror Character: To Artemis Entreri, who represents what Drizzt could have become. When Drizzt falls into his hunter mode, he's afraid of turning into Entreri.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: While's he's considered a hero among humans that know of him, he's considered an embarrassment in drow society.
- Ironically, his penchant for causing chaos wherever he goes (not just among them) convince the drow that he might, in fact, be favored by Lolth. They're not wrong. Maestro and Hero show that he's a chosen of Lolth, whose desire to see him dead, suffering, or as one of her worshippers is equal.
Nay-Theist: Drizzt doesn't so much worship Mielikki as he looks to her as a symbol of the values he holds dear.
Non-Human Sidekick: Guenhwyvar.
No One Gets Left Behind: Drizzt attempts to outrun a drow raiding party sent to recapture him, avoid Artemis Entreri (who is pursuing him in the tunnels), and find a way back up to his friends while physically dragging the injured Regis along with him in The Legacy.
Orc Raised by Elves: Although technically an "adult" when he makes it to the surface, Drizzt is adopted by Bruenor Battlehammer, a dwarf, and taught to be a productive member of society (as opposed to what he was previously doing, which was hanging out around the edges and hoping not to bother anyone).
Pint Sized Power House: One of the best rangers in all the Realms is about 5'4" and 140 pounds. And he's tall for a male drow! Occasionally, characters express surprise that a legendary fighter is shorter than they expected. In one novel, he physically has to climb over a wall his barbarian companion was a head and shoulders taller than just to look over it.
Prophetic Name: "Drizzt" can mean both "Dawnfinder" and "Unyielding Hunter" in the drow language.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against the orcs in the Hunter's Blades trilogy when he thinks all of the other Companions were killed.
Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: It's implied that Drizzt's idealism is partly due to youth - by elven standards, he's a young adult at best. After the time skip, he's much more cynical, and is now trying to marry his current cynicism with his previous idealism in the way most adults struggle with. In that sense, the series is Drizzt's Coming of Age story.
Superpowered Evil Side: The Hunter.
Super-Speed: After killing the drow weaponmaster Daentrag Baenre, he obtains a pair of enchanted bracers that each grant supernatural speed to the limb they're attached to. Daentrag wore them on his wrists, but Drizzt finds that he prefers them on his ankles. As a result, he goes from 'incredibly fast' to 'nightmarishly fast', capable of crossing a battlefield in the blink of an eye.
Think Nothing of It: Given the gravity of his deeds, he's extremely modest about it; in fact, gratitude seems to embarrass him somewhat.
Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Drizzt Do'Urden of D'aermon Na'shez'baernon, Ninth House of Menzoberranzan. As the rest of his house find out, though, business cards are the least of their worries if they want to ensure that Drizzt honors his title (or ensure that there is a D'aermon Na'shez'baernon for him to be part of in the first place).
The Unfettered: Spends most of Gauntlgrym being one, until Jarlaxle pins him against the wall to give him a "Reason You Suck" Speech.
Unknown Rival: He has a habit of picking up these. In his childhood every swordsman in Menzoberranzan, including his own brother, viewed him as a rival... which Drizzt never noticed. Even his rivalry with Artemis Enteri was slightly one-sided, as Enteri constantly wanted to best Drizzt, and all Drizzt wanted was Enteri to stop threatening him and his friends.
Unstoppable Rage: When Drizzt gives himself up to his Hunter personality, there's almost no stopping him. During the almost century-long Time Skip in Gauntlgrym, while he and Bruenor are seeking out the titular Dwarven kingdom, Drizzt constantly goes out of his way for an excuse to kill something. When coming across other travelers in need, he would jump at the chance to clear out a goblin lair or three or hire himself out as a bodyguard escort, ostensibly for needed money but in honesty hoping for a few random encounters.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: While his overall demeanor and good nature hasn't changed, young Drizzt was significantly more idealistic and optimistic, with Zaknafein especially noticing and admiring the boy's innocent smile. Much of the hardest part of reading Homeland is watching how Menzoberranzan brutally beats the sweet nature out of the poor kid, both literally and metaphorically.
Victorious Childhood Friend: With Catti-Brie, who he met when she was a young teenager.
What Beautiful Eyes!: Drizzt's purple eyes are incredibly striking. They're also a rare color for drow and symbolically set him apart from his brethren. His eyes are noticeable enough that he's occasionally referred to as "the purple-eyed drow".
What Is This Feeling?: Innovindil made him consider the more pleasurable side of life in The Lone Drow.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Explored in-depth. Drizzt was definitely worried about the idea of outliving his friends for his first few decades on the surface until he struck up a friendship with Innovindil, a surface elf. She advised him to live a series of shorter, segmented lifetimes, taking each as they come, rather than dwelling on the looming centuries. Her advice came into play after the events of Gauntlgrym, when Bruenor, the last of his original friends, died in battle. Drizzt mourned his loss, then picked himself up and began traveling with Dahlia Sin'felle.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: He's this in the earlier books of the series, with Homeland being one of the most obvious examples. Post-Spellplague, he's lost most of this.
Younger Than They Look: In the sense that - if drow aging and development parallel conventional elf aging and development - Drizzt was actually an adolescent for well over half the books featuring him. In fact, Gauntlgrym would have been the first book where Drizzt is an actual adult by elven standards.

Guenhwyvar

Race: Animate Panther

Class: Fighter/Rogue

Alignment: Unaligned

A panther whom Drizzt can summon from the Astral Plane using a small onyx statuette shaped like her. She can only appear on the material plane for twelve hours every other day; though it's possible for her to stay longer, if she stays away from the Astral Plane for more than that, she becomes drowsy and unable to fight. Also known as Guen and Whiskers.

Action Pet: Calling her a pet is probably inaccurate, as she's closer to Drizzt's true companion. However, she's a capable fighter and has saved Drizzt's life on several occasions.
Mama Bear: To Drizzt. Not only does she fight alongside him and is his loyal protector, she also has a habit of mothering him. When Drizzt does something she thinks is wrong, she will still down and ignore him. She was also one of the reasons he agreed to go with Montelio and be trained, as she kept nudging him into it.
Panthera Awesome: She's a very big cat and a skilled fighter as well - just looking at her is enough to scare some characters.
Samus Is a Girl: For the most part, Guen is referred to with it/its pronouns or as "the cat"; this was editorial mandate, as Salvatore was told by TSR that - as a magical item - she couldn't have a gender. Early printings of the books got her gender wrong when editors changed some instances of "it" to "he". Salvatore has gone on record saying he was 'horrified' by this, as he'd always intended her to be female.
Summon Magic: How Guen's figurine works. It doesn't turn into her as much as it summons her from the Astral Plane, where she spends her downtime resting or hunting a similar spirit of a giant deer.

The Homeland Trilogy

Zaknafein Do'Urden

Race: Drow

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Neutral Good

Drizzt's father, his mentor, and Weapons Master of House Do'Urden.

The Ace: Widely considered the greatest weaponsmaster thatMenzoberranzan has ever known.
Back from the Dead: Brought back to life by Lolth at the very end of Hero.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Drizzt when defending Gauntlgrym. As expected, they fight very well together.
Beyond the Impossible: Similar to his son, Zaknafein punches above his weight class. taking down high priestesses and even handmaidens of Lolth.
Big Brother Mentor: To Drizzt.
Blood Knight: In Menzoberranzan, Zaknafein lived mostly for fighting and killing priestesses of Lolth.
Broken Pedestal: Becomes this to Drizzt when Zaknafein returns in the modern era and shows that he still retains drow prejudices, essentially reversing the Fantastic Racism Drizzt faced from humans and other surface races. It takes them both a while to work things out.
Came Back Wrong: As the Zin-carla.
Can't Argue with Elves: As much as he hates the twisted effects Lloth had on drow society, he still thinks drow are better than any other race. He doesn't take it well when he returns in the modern era and learns that Drizzt is not only married to a human woman, he's even fathered a half-drow child.
Combat Pragmatist: So much so; right down to blinding his opponents, plucking out spellcasters' tongue with a whip, and kicking them where it hurts.
The Comically Serious: When we see Zak with Jarlaxle, it turns into this trope. Jarlaxle is always goofing off, which contrasts the dour, brooding Zaknafein.
Cruel Mercy: Was on the receiving end of this trope after he defeated a handmaiden of Lolth. Surprisingly, he suffered no punishment at the time besides being kicked out of Bregan D'aerthe; it turns out that the handmaidens and high priestesses were letting him live just so they could inflict a later punishment on him and his son.
Deadpan Snarker: Incredibly snarky. He even mouths off at high priestesses and Matron Mothers.
Dual Wielding: Though he's good with anything, his preferred style is two swords. Sometimes he goes with a sword and a whip, but only when going up against priestesses of Lolth, presumably for the irony (whips being the preferred weapon of the priestesshood).
Face Death with Dignity: Pulls this twice. He calmly offers to be sacrificed in place of Drizzt, and later takes control of the Zin-carla long enough to kill himself by jumping into a lake of acid.
Fantastic Racism: Zak isn't fully immune to drow propaganda and struggles with Drizzt having non-drow friends, a human wife, and a half-human child.
Fish out of Temporal Water: After coming back to life. Zaknafein's kind, honorable and compassionate... but has still absorbed plenty of drow propaganda. Unlike Drizzt or even Jarlaxle, he hasn't lived on the surface or had 100 years of Character Development, so he's working with the prejudices and personality flaws that were present at the time of his death. To his credit, he is swiftly overcoming this trope.
Gilded Cage: Regarded House Do' Urden as a prison. Had he been able to, Zaknafein would have left and joined Bregan D'aerthe.
Heroic Sacrifice: Both times to save his son.
Honorary True Companion: To Bregan D'aerthe. He never formally joined the group, instead entering House Do'Urden after the fall of Simfray but he is close friends and constantly ran missions with Jarlaxe.
In-Series Nickname: "Zak". Interesting variation in that the author uses it more in narration than he does Zaknafein's full name, and even more than the actual characters themselves use it.
Master Swordsman: He is the weapons master of House Do'Urden and is considered to be the best in Menzoberranzan.
Meaningful Name: According to the 3.5E sourcebook Drow of the Underdark, "Zaknafein" means something along the lines of "distant noble vengeance". Rather appropriate considering who his son became.
Mirror Character: To Artemis Entrei. Jarlaxle notices that both men are similar in personality and cynical worldview, and that's why he likes them both (specifically, Zak resembles Entreri during his Character Development).
Morality Pet: Zak served as this to Jarlaxle, where his morals set an example and helped Jarlaxle become more than just an opportunistic mercenary. After Zaknafein's resurrection, Jarlaxle ironically becomes this for him.
My Greatest Failure: Zaknafein views not being able to guide or raise Vierna as this, as she ended up brainwashed by her priestess training. To this day, he regrets not being there for his daughter.
Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Drizzt heavily idealized Zak's memory, holding him up as a paragon of Drizzt's ideals and everything he aspires to be. Justified in that Drizzt was still a child when Zak died, and only saw his father with a child's hero worship.
No Accounting for Taste: Apparently he actually had feelings for Malice prior to the series. Boundless and Timeless retcon this into him having always hated her.
Odd Friendship: With Jarlaxle. Jarlaxle goofs off and rarely takes a situation seriously, while Zak is always serious, stoic and brooding. They're also from different drow classes - Jarlaxle leads a band of outcasts, while Zak is as close to drow nobility as a male can get.
Papa Wolf: Don't hurt Drizzt.
Poor Communication Kills: He and Drizzt end up having a dramatic faceoff due to this.
Questionable Consent: Zaknafein's relationship with Matron Malice is very one-sided, and comes off as coercion or even spousal rape. Zak joined House Do'Urden under considerable duress; though he despises Malice, he has to please her or risk her considerable wrath.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Jarlaxle's Blue, subverting the personality stereotypes. Zak's brooding and stoic demeanor hides a great deal of emotional turmoil, and he thinks with his heart rather than his head, leading to impulsive decisions. Jarlaxle's lackadaisical personality means that he rarely fully takes a situation seriously, allowing him to look at things objectively; he spends much of Boundless and Timeless breaking up fights that Zak gets in, often acting like an exasperated babysitter.
Red Pill, Blue Pill: Zak, like Drizzt, was given an opportunity to escape from drow society and flee to the surface when freeing a family of halflings that he saved. Unlike Drizzt, he never took the opportunity, and it's stated that this became his greatest regret.
Sacrificial Lion: Killed in Homeland, and again in Exile, and both times push Drizzt to escape the drow.
Sixth Ranger: He frequently served Bregan D'aerthe as an associate member. Malice Do'Urden consented to this partly because his successes reflected on her, and partly because Jarlaxle was backed by Matron Baenre, who could literally destroy Malice with a thought if she felt like it.
Stern Teacher: To Drizzt. He taught Drizzt swordfighting and showed him kindness, but was not above smacking his son if the boy was being impudent or dense.
Unknown Rival: Where Drizzt inherited it from. Zaknafein had multiple rivals trying to kill him, in large part due to his reputation, though his rivalry with Arathis Hune was due to the latter being Jarlaxle's best friend. Zaknafein doesn't care for those rivalries, saving his hatred and energy for the priestesses of Lolth.
We Used to Be Friends: It is mentioned that Zaknafein and Jarlaxle were once good friends, but Zak was betrayed by Jarlaxle at some point in the past. On Jarlaxle's part, he regrets it immensely, and the event started his own path to being maybe, sort of, slightly less terrible.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Played straight and subverted. He is horrified with the drow practice of murdering every member of an opposing family during a house war, including small children. At the same time, he has no choice in the matter, because refusing would mean his death. This later becomes a Berserk Button for him when he thinks that Drizzt has murdered an elven child during the surface raid.

Malice Do'Urden

Race: Drow

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Drizzt's mother and Matron Mother of House Do'Urden.

Abusive Parents: Like all Matron Mothers, Malice doesn't give a shit about her children and is more than willing to kill any of them if they hinder her acquisition for power in any way.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Her Fatal Flaw. Malice simply cannot understand the bond between Zaknafein and Drizzt; this, combined with a female drow's tendency to underestimate men, leads to crucial missteps. She fails at breaking Drizzt's heroic spirit, misjudges Drizzt's reaction to her murder of Zak, and underestimates Zak's unwillingness to hurt his son even in death.
Evil Matriarch: She becomes Drizzt's main opposition in Exile.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Malice has a wicked, barely controlled temper, and a tendency to lash out at her house and family. She's partially where Briza gets her foul temperament from.
Ignored Epiphany: Malice briefly reconsiders her devotion to Lolth when she realizes it's brought her nothing but fear and misery. She ultimately convinces herself that she's come too far to stop now, and that the rewards will be well worth it.
Laser-Guided Karma: Whenever Malice kills a member of her own family, she ends up suffering nasty consequences:
- Malice killed her mother (and it's implied, her siblings) in her quest for power. This backfired when she struggled to conceive children after Briza, leaving her house severely weakened from the lack of nobles.
- Malice engineered Nalfein's death through her other children in order to spare Drizzt... who would grow to be the White Sheep of the family.
- Malice killed Zaknafein, which outraged Drizzt enough that he abandoned his family.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Malice" isn't a friendly name.
Really Gets Around: Malice has a reputation for having a lot of paramours and an insatiable appetite.

Vierna Do'Urden

Race: Drow

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Drizzt's older sister, and the one tasked with raising him as a child and teaching him about drow society.

Cool Big Sis: When she wasn't a Sadist Teacher. Vierna taught Drizzt magic, reading, and other skills, and was kind to him in her own aloof way.
Heel Realization: Came very close to this while teaching Drizzt. When she saw his uncharacteristically optimistic and kind (for a drow) personality, she found herself questioning the futility of the constant, gainless wars the drow all fought in. She quickly chastised herself for her 'blasphemous' thoughts and took out her internal turmoil on Drizzt, also making this an Ignored Epiphany.
Incest-ant Admirer: For a time, she was this with Drizzt, which even in drow society is considered taboo; her mother had to warn her away when he was still a child, though it didn't stop her from trying after he was an adult.
Male Gaze: Exploited this trope in order to teach Drizzt how to maintain concentration while harnessing the natural drow levitation ability by having him levitate up several feet and polish statues of nude female drow.
Nature vs. Nurture: Vierna is a study on this trope. She's more compassionate and kinder than most drow, due to being Zaknafein's child, but was indoctrinated early on into high priestesshood - leading her to embrace Lolth's teachings against her better nature. Zak is guilty and appalled at what happened, and her example spurs him to take a more active role in raising Drizzt.
Redemption Equals Death: After getting fatally stabbed by her brother, she finally realizes the error of her ways and forsakes Lolth with her last thoughts.
Stern Teacher: She was aloof and stern in her methods of raising Drizzt, but unlike most Lolth priestesses, she hesitated in being overtly cruel to be a Sadist Teacher. It took her elder sister pressuring her for Vierna to start using her whip on Drizzt, and it's shown she never took pleasure in it.
Whip of Dominance: Played With. As a priestess of Lolth, she wielded the Snake Whip they're famous for, and while she's quite stern and authoritative she was considered "soft" for her hesitation to use her whip on Drizzt when she mentored him. Their elder sister Briza (a high priestess of Lolth and far more sadistic) eventually pressured Vierna into starting to lash Drizzt when he made mistakes to "motivate" him, and teach him how to be submissive to the supremacy of female drow. Vierna reluctantly complied and started to whip him when he made grave mistakes, which provided results, but also damaged their relationship.

Dinin Do'Urden

Race: Drow

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Always Second Best: Dinin is a definite second to Drizzt in fighting skill, and he knows it. It's particularly galling as he's the Elderboy, and is paranoid about Drizzt usurping him the way he did Nalfein.
Back from the Dead: Temporarily brought back to life when Lolth's handmaidens summon all driders past and present to serve Zhindia. His resurrection is made permanent when he's turned back into a drow through Yvonnel's spell.
Back Stab: Pulled this on Nalfein near the beginning of Homeland, which allowed Drizzt to not be sacrificed on the day of his birth. By law in Menzoberranzan, every third male child is sacrificed to Lolth. With Nalfein's death, Drizzt was no longer the third son, and was spared.
Body Horror: What happens to him in The Legacy: he's transformed into a drider.
Dropped a Bridge on Him
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: With a bit of Laser-Guided Karma. Dinin's killing of Nalfein allows Drizzt to live. If Dinin hadn't been so greedy, he and his house might still be alive and intact.
Pragmatic Villainy: At the end of Exile, he flat-out refuses to participate in any more plans to chase down Drizzt because he knows people who do it tend to die. He even manages to curb Jarlaxle's enthusiasm for the idea. Sadly for him, his sister isn't so pragmatic.
Sibling Rivalry: One-sided with Drizzt. Drizzt seems to be more or less oblivious to it throughout Homeland.
- Also with Nalfein, to the point where Dinin assassinated him in the aftermath of a war.
Spider People: Eventually turned into a drider.

Rizzen Do'Urden

Race: Drow

Class: Fighter/Wizard

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Patron of House Do'Urden; not-so-secretly the uncle, not father, of Drizzt.

Butt-Monkey: Frequently insulted, abused or outright ignored by his "wife" and daughters.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: He tries to demand respect due to being the house Patron; Briza whips him into submission.
Flat Character: Doesn't get much in the way of character development, and exists primarily to show how badly male drow, even ones who fully buy into the system, are treated.
The Friend Nobody Likes: His rival is dismissive of him, his daughters don't respect him or his "title", the other males don't seem to care about him, and Malice only kept him around so she could have more children. Even when he dies, the text mentions that nobody actually cared.
The Rival: To Zaknafein, due to both of them being Malice's lovers, though it seems one-sided on Rizzen's part.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: How he died. An undead Zakafein cut his body to pieces.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Not said outright, but Matron Malice had already chosen another patron at the time of his death, leaving Rizzen's life forfeit.

Yvonnel Baenre

Race: Drow

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

The cruel leader of House Baenre, and the most important woman in Menzoberrazan.

The Archmage: A divine version of this - she's one of the most powerful wielders of divine magic in the Realms.
Beneath the Mask: She sometimes pretends to be livid with rage when she's actually pleased with a situation, both to further her schemes and keep her children and everyone else off balance. She loudly berates Jarlaxle for Vierna Do'Urden's failure to bring back Drizzt, but he's not worried because he knows she's secretly pleased with it. He only becomes nervous when it seems like Matron Baenre thinks he's seen through her anger, which would legitimately anger her and earn him a slow, painful death.
Blue Blood: The matron mother of House Baenre, the first drow house of Menzoberrazan.
Bolt of Divine Retribution: Was gifted one to use against House Oblodra after the Time of Troubles, mostly to show the entire city what happens when you annoy Lolth.
Boom, Headshot!: When she finally dies, it's with a melee version of this trope - Bruenor cleaves her skull in two.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Yvonnel would likely prefer to kill most male drow that flout Menzoberranzan's standard gender roles, but she lets Jarlaxle and Bregan D'aerthe live. They're ideal agents for any dirty deeds she needs done that can't be traced back to House Baenre.
Crippling Overspecialization: Yvonnel is far older than even elves normally get to, and while healthy (considering her age), she's still frail and almost completely dependent on magic. When magic goes awry - as it did in the Time of Troubles - or simply stops functioning - as when Errtu's minion revealed an Anti-Magic sapphire - Yvonnel becomes nothing more than an old woman who's utterly helpless in melee combat.
The Empress: Called "the uncrowned Queen of Menzoberranzan" many times during her reign.
Evil Counterpart: To Bruenor Battlehammer; and, before him, to Bruenor's ancestor Gandalug Battlehammer. Bruenor instinctively realizes this, and killing her is immensely cathartic for him.
Evil Matriarch: Rules her house with an iron fist. It says a lot about her power that her eldest daughters, despite being powerful and ambitious, still haven't set out to start their own houses.
Fatal Flaw: Her blind ambition. She tries to invade Mithral Hall despite multiple setbacks, losing the element of surprise, anddrow being drow, being unable to browbeat Menzoberranzan into being a functional army.
God Save Us from the Queen!: She's the ruler of House Baenre - the largest, most powerful House in Menzoberranzan- and thus the defacto ruler of the city, and she's as cruel and tyrannical as her goddess.
I Have No Son!: Acts this way toward Jarlaxle because she's actually terrified of him, since she believes him blessed by Lolth. (She may not actually be wrong about this.) She also does it so he's not connected to House Baenre, allowing him to develop Bregan D'aerthe as a strike force that she can use as needed without its deeds being publicly traced back to her. Jarlaxle is equally terrified of her, knowing that turning him into a drider would be the least of the fates she could inflict on him.
Karmic Death: Her death at the hands of Bruenor Battlehammer.
Never Mess with Granny: Likely the single most powerful priestess of Lolth on Abeir-toril, Yvonnel answers only to Lolth herself. Everyone else in Menzoberranzan, including her own children, are terrified of her. Even Jarlaxle watches his step around her, knowing that turning him into a drider would be the least of the fates she could make him suffer if she felt like it.
Oh, Crap!: She's reduced to a grovelling mess when Lolth's avatar confronts her during the Time Of Troubles.
Purpose-Driven Immortality: She lived three times as long as an ordinary elf, due to her obsession with taking Mithral Hall.
Really 700 Years Old: Is actually over 2,000 years old (which is old even by normal elf standards, who usually top out at 750; drow, almost none of whom die of old age, tend to have much shorter lifespans) by the time she finally dies.
Too Important to Walk: She usually moves around on a floating disk of magical energy.

Jarlaxle Baenre

Race: Drow

Class: Rogue/Fighter/Duelist (3E); Skirmisher (4E); Rogue (5E)

Alignment: Neutral Evil, later Chaotic Neutral

10-Minute Retirement: Played with. He stepped away from Bregan D'aerthe after the events of Servant of the Shard, but was shown to be back in control as of The Pirate King. Treated in later installments to be more of a sabbatical, putting his mercenaries in Kimmuriel's command so that there'd be an opposing voice of reason and business to counteract Jarlaxle's often-whimsical orders.
Abusive Parents: Played with. Although his mother tried to murder him as a child, and issued many threats to put him in his place, later in his life he's become too powerful to attack directly,
The Ace: A skilled warrior, incredibly attractive, so impossibly charismatic as to make a living on the surface with relative ease, the head of a large mercenary group with more resources than you can shake a stick at, and he wears a huge number of magic items on his person at all times. There's very little that Jarlaxle cannot accomplish, given half a chance.
Affably Evil: To the point where the "evil" part is questionable at times.
Always Someone Better: Jarlaxle's always someone better is his older brother, Gromph, whose power structure is superior even to Jarlaxle's, and whose personal skill in the arcane arts blows Jarlaxle's right out of the water. Gauntlgrym shows that Jarlaxle'll go to Gromph for help and advice (reminiscent of Sherlock and Mycroft), and that Gromph has no trouble in seeing through Jarlaxle's bullshit.
Army of Thieves and Whores: Bregan D'aerthe is made up of outcast and castoff members of drow society.
Badass Crew: Bregan D'aerthe, the mercenary band he founded and leads. Merely surviving in female-dominated Menzoberanzan is quite an achievement, but they enjoy a level of freedom and (grudging) respect from the ruling powers that is completely unprecedented, simply by virtue of being that good at their jobs.
Beware the Nice Ones: It can be hard to make him lose his cool, but if you pitch him, you'll wind up dead in some exciting way.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite his quirks, he's been extremely successful as a houseless drow male for centuries, and as the leader of Bregan D'aerthe.
The Casanova: Has loved and left more than his fair share in the past. Including dragons, much to Entreri's horror.
The Charmer: Jarlaxle is almost impossibly charismatic. Whereas Drizzt has been struggling most of his life to overcome a deeply-entrenched prejudice against drow on the surface, Jarlaxle can win acceptance in a matter of minutes by sheer force of personality.
The Chosen One: He was blessed by Lolth just as he was to be sacrificed to her by his mother. She's since withdrawn her favor, but didn't bother to tell her priestesses that, so Jarlaxle is still Lolth's Chosen as far as they know.
Crazy-Prepared: The man has a magic item for every conceivable situation, and some that aren't.
Delinquent Hair: Notably, Jarlaxle's shaved head is actually significant; hairstyle indicates role and station in drow society. By shaving his head, Jarlaxle removes himself from this system.
Dirty Old Man: Continually hits on and sleeps with both drow and human women who are considerably younger than he, whether by the standards of his or their races.
Evil Virtues: Resourcefulness.
Eyepatch of Power: Of course. This one is actually both stylish and functional, as it either gives him the ability to see through illusions and solid objects or shields his mind from magic or psionic intrusion, depending on which eye he wears it on.
First-Name Basis: Most people call him by his first name (since it's the only one he gives), but, notably, he's the only person to ever call Artemis Entreri by his first name in universe.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Most D&D rule sets explicitly forbid using magic items the way Jarlaxle does. Jarlaxle, presumably, doesn't care, because he's Jarlaxle. Entreri goes so far as to openly speculate that Jarlaxle is secretly a mage. Fifth Edition has some fun with this by explicitly giving him abilities that allow him to ignore the rules.
Guns Akimbo: Has been shown a few times wielding two wands (one that fires lightning and one that shoots globs of adhesive slime) in long-range combat.
Hand Signals: The drow hand cant. He uses it frequently with his lieutenants and sometimes with Entreri, whom he taught it to.
Heel–Face Turn: While Jarlaxle was always Affably Evil and began his transition to Chaotic Neutral during The Sellswords, he only fully became one of the good guys around the time of The Ghost King, where he sincerely wants to help Drizzt and Bruenor...but can only apologize, as he doesn't even know where to begin tracking down someone's soul.invoked
Hidden Heart of Gold: He repeatedly aids Drizzt and his friends, even when he could easily defeat them and collect a huge reward.
Irony: Despite directly refusing Lolth's offer to be one of her agents of chaos, Jarlaxle seems to have become one almost by his own volition. His antics cause no end of mayhem in Menzoberranzan and ensure that the drow matrons can never afford to be complacent.
Just the First Citizen: He pulls this in his ill-conceived plot to claim the land of Vaasa for himself, crowning Artemis Entreri as a puppet king. He even goes so far as to literally call himself First Citizen Jarlaxle in his proclamation to King Gareth.
Karma Houdini: When one particularly ambitious pirate captain started a war in Luskan to become its supreme leader, Jarlaxle supported him in exchange for being able to use Luskan as a trading post for Underdark goods. Thousands died in the ensuing conflict, including noncombatants who perished from a lack of food and shelter, including Drizzt's close friend Deudermont. When Drizzt catches up to him, Jarlaxle (correctly) points out that he didn't initiate this plot, and only played a supporting role for once.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: Jarlaxle being a renegade member of House Baenre is a closely-guarded secret in-universe, and isn't revealed to readers until well after his character has been established. Nowadays its a fundamental aspect of his lore.
A Lighter Shade of Black: As far as it goes, Jarlaxle is easily the least evil power player among the drow. He does not kill needlessly, does not torture at all unless necessary, and can be bought, bargained with, or appealed to. However, Bregan D'aerthe is a money-making operation first and foremost, and will always place itself on the winning side, regardless of how many backs are stabbed in the process.
Lovable Rogue: Very nearly the archetypal example. He's a sneaky bastard to end all sneaky bastards, but most find it difficult to outright hate him because he's just that damn charismatic.
Meaningful Name: Jarlaxle means "charmed ally" in Deep Drow.
Minored in Ass-Kicking: When he was at the drow martial academy, it was noted that he was far more suited to the intellectual and strategic side of combat. He's still a perfectly challenging opponent when he has to get physical, something Artemis Entreri can personally attest to.
Motor Mouth: According to Artemis.
Multi-Melee Master: Jarlaxe can wield two swords with nearly as much skill as his old friend Zaknafein - but like Zak, is also handy with whatever weapon he can lay his hands on. This should probably be expected,, given what a motley collection his magic weapons are.
My Greatest Failure:
- It is mentioned that his greatest regret is having betrayed Zaknafein at some undisclosed point in the past. Being Jarlaxle, he's not exactly drowing in guilt, but it is notable in being one of the few regrets he actually has.
- Betraying Entreri to the Netherese is a much straighter example. He wouldn't have done it in the first place if he had any other option, and, had it not been for Kimmuriel modifying his memories, he would have double-crossed the Netherese. He's shown to still be extremely guilty about it several decades later.
Nay-Theist: Jarlaxle knows, as a matter of fact, that Lady Lolth exists. He refuses to worship her, which is hardly surprising considering that his first memory is being sacrificed at her altar. He notably lacks even the token reverence other drow males have for Lolth out of fear, even referring to her as The Spider Bitch on one occasion.
No Honor Among Thieves: Completely abandoned Entreri in the battle against Urshula at the end and made very little apology about it afterward.
No One Could Survive That!: The amount of times he's pulled this is staggering.
Not Me This Time: Jarlaxle tells Drizzt that he's not the mastermind behind the civil war in Luskan. He simply supported the real instigator in exchange for being allowed to use Luskan as an Underdark trading post. And he's actually telling the complete truth, for once!
One-Man Army: With his wits, weapons, and magic items, Jarlaxle can take on pretty much anyone or anything. He literally breaks the rules of D&D 5th Edition's magic items so he can keep all those.
Plot Armor: Appears as a villain in the D&D 5th Edition adventure Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Meant for characters levels 1-5, Jarlaxle is a whopping challenge rating of 15, with an armor class that makes him almost unhittable by player characters of low level (rolls of 19 or 20 for characters of level 1-4, 18-20 for characters of level 5).
Pragmatic Villainy: What sets Jarlaxle apart from most drow is that he's not a sadist; he's a buisnessman. He's not above trading lives for gold but he'll also pitch in for a greater good if it benefits him in the long run.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Jarlaxe is a Father to His Men who genuinely cares for Bregan D'aerthe. The group is made up of outcast drow, most of whom Jarlaxle rescued from doomed houses and gave a home. He protects the group with his life, mourns each death fiercely, and is willing to forgive failure and even outright betrayal.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Zig-Zagged. While Jarlaxle is certainly morally ambiguous and is usually working with the bad guys, he's never considered an outright villain himself. This is actually averted in The Ghost King and Gauntlgrym, where he serves as one of the good guys.
Refuge in Audacity: Jarlaxle's flamboyancy tends to either enrage or shock people too much for them to actually try to do anything to him. It was lampshaded after Jarlaxle's "Who I Am" monologue to Queen Christine in Road of the Patriarch. The acceptance in a public tavern that Drizzt labored for decades to earn? Jarlaxle got it in five minutes when he walked in, took a seat at another man's table, got him kicked out for drawing steel, and bought everyone a round. He also at one point defused a situation by claiming to be Drizzt.
Refusal of the Call: He was chosen by Lolth to be one of her agents... and flat-out refused. Then again, Lolth's most favored servants are bringers of chaos, and he certainly is that, almost singlehandedly making things more interesting in Menzoberranzan than they've been in centuries. Jarlaxle's situation is foreshadowing for Drizzt's status as champion of Lolth - it shows that Lolth is willing to accept agents who don't worship her, so long as they cause chaos.
Self-Proclaimed Liar: To Artemis Entreri. Entreri isn't sure if he's being put on or set up, which may have been precisely the point.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Encourages Entreri to be a Sharp-Dressed Man by playing dress-up with him during their adventures. Jarlaxle himself is flamboyantly dressed, even by the standards of the ostentatious drow.
The Smurfette Principle: Bregan D'aerthe is an almost exclusively male group and has very few named women. Justified - the group is made of outcasts, which means that few drow women would ever deign to join.
Villainous Rescue: The amount of times he's saved The Companions or simply let them escape, on purpose, is staggering.
Vitriolic Best Buds: An odd example, given how nuanced the drow concept of "friendship" is. Entreri is the most openly hostile of the two, which Jarlaxle acknowledges but is merely amused by. Jarlaxle, on the other hand, is openly friendly and affectionate towards Entreri, but has no problem manipulating or exploiting that friendship when it suits him.
Walking the Earth: 10% for finding new business opportunities for Bregan D'aerthe, 90% just for the hell of it.
Wasn't That Fun?: This is practically Jarlaxle's catch-phrase during the Sellswords Trilogy and the various short stories featuring him and Entreri. Entreri is never impressed.
Wild Card: During his tenure in Menzoberranzan so very, very much. He broadly supports the status quo in Menzoberranzan — as it is the path of least resistance to profit — but his loyalty to any particular individual is for sale at a premium.
Willfully Weak: Spends most of the second and third books of the Sellswords Trilogy playing politics with the Bloodstone Kingdom and the Citadel of Assassins, just because he thinks it would be fun to try to build power from the ground up. When Entreri is in danger of execution, he stops playing around, calls in a favor from Bregan D'aerthe, and demolishes the entire Citadel of Assassins effortlessly in a matter of minutes.

Clacker

Race: Pech/Hook Horror (Polymorphed)

Alignment: Chaotic Good

A pech who was polymorphed into a Hook Horror.

Death Seeker: Begs Drizzt on several occasions to kill him while he's still mentally himself, as the Hook Horror mind and instincts are slowly overwriting his own.^note
Dishing Out Dirt: As a pech, he is deeply connected with rocks, able to shape stone and speak with it. Tapping on the stone walls as a Hook Horror is the only thing that brings some semblance of normalcy back to his life, as he is unable to properly perform his magic in that state.
Dying as Yourself: He doesn't want to become an actual Hook Horror mentally as well as physically, and asks to be killed more than once. Drizzt can't bring himself to do it. He ends up getting his wish, dying to protect Drizzt and Belwar from a cave-in caused by Drizzt's fight with the zombified Zaknafein.
Forced Transformation: Clacker is a pech, who was polymorphed into a hook horror by the same human wizard who killed his friends. When Drizzt and Belwar meet him, he is slowly but surely losing himself to his new Hook Horror personality.
Only Known by Their Nickname: By the time he meets Drizzt, he's forgotten his own name, so Drizzt dubs him Clacker. After his sudden death, Belwar laments that they never knew what Clacker’s real name was.

Montolio Debrouchee

Race: Human

Class: Fighter/Ranger

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Death Seeker: He originally came to the grove where he lived because he was looking for a place to die after the incident where he lost his sight, wherein several of his friends died. The grove was next to a large establishment of hostile orcs.
Friend to All Living Things: Yes. Befriends animals, trusted by elves, and is one of the first surface-dwellers to wholeheartedly accept a lost and lonely drow.
Hermit Guru: For Drizzt.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: He dies a year after he meets Drizzt, though in his case it's from old age. He does Go Out with a Smile knowing that Drizzt would continue.
Non-Human Sidekick: Hooter the Owl and Bluster the Bear.

Roddy McGristle

Race: Human

Class: Fighter

Alignment Chaotic Neutral

Butt-Monkey: Thanks mostly in part to Drizzt, he never fails to make an ass out of himself.
Determinator: Whatever else can be said about the guy, he doesn't quit easily; he chased after Drizzt across Faerun for years, trying to get revenge on the drow for humiliating him and killing one of his dogs.
Disproportionate Retribution: Allied with orcs in an assault on a ranger's grove. Murdered at least two people. Tortured monks. Threatened to rape a seven-year-old. Why? All because Drizzt killed one of his dogs (and it was in self-defense!).
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: One of the reasons he hates Drizzt is because Drizzt killed his dog.
Harmless Villain: Inverted. Roddy initially comes off as somewhat of a joke villain and isn't really much of a threat.. and then he murders two people and threatens to rape the then-seven-year-old Catti-brie.
Manipulative Bastard: Has shades of this; when an adventuring party was dispatched to track down Drizzt, thinking he was responsible for the murder of a family, Roddy joined them and egged them on in trying to hunt him down. Later he managed to con an orc chieftain into launching an attack on a forest Drizzt was staying in, using Drizzt's presence there and the threat of usurpation as a means of goading him. Further down the line, he did his best to try and turn the already suspicious Bruenor Battlehammer against Drizzt, despite the latter having done nothing to warrant it save for being a drow.
Never My Fault: Suffers from this big time - everything that has gone wrong in his life since Drizzt showed up has ultimately been of his own doing, including wasting much of his life trying to hunt down and kill Drizzt. As far as he's concerned, it's Drizzt who is ultimately responsible for this sorry excuse for a life, rather than his own pigheadedness and bad judgement.
Would Hurt a Child: Threatened to rape Catti-brie, who was a child at the time.

Tephanis

Race: Quickling

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

A quickling who puts himself in the employ of large and powerful beings.

Agony of the Feet: Gets his foot nearly entirely ripped off after stepping on a bear trap in the attack on Montolio’s grove, and proceeds to cut off what’s left in order to escape.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Twice. The first time he encourages Graul to attack Montolio’s grove, hoping that the orc King’s forces would kill Drizzt... but instead ends up with a bounty on his head, his foot torn off, and the Winter Wolf he was serving dead after the orcs and their worg allies are successfully repelled. The second time, he traps Drizzt and the weeping friars the drow was traveling with in a cave where they would have to pass by a dragon to get out, instead of telling Roddy the drow’s location. After seeing his plan has failed, he runs his mouth just enough that Roddy figures out that Tephanis lied to him a second time, cheating him out of another chance to kill Drizzt himself, leading to the mountain man killing him via repeated, blunt force trauma. For someone who can move very fast, Tephanis doesn’t seem to think more than one step ahead.
Super-Speed: Like the rest of his race, if you blink, you’ll miss him. Actually, you’ll probably miss him even if you don’t blink.

The Crystal Shard Trilogy

Bruenor Battlehammer

Race: Shield Dwarf

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Neutral Good

Allergic to Routine: He'll find any way to try to head out adventuring, instead of sitting around taking care of the boring matters of his royal station.
The Blacksmith: Briefly in The Crystal Shard, but then he crafts his masterwork (Wulfgar's hammer, Aegis-Fang) and hangs up the metaphorical hammer.
Character Catchphrase:
- "Or I'm a bearded gnome!"
- "Ye durned elf!"
Disney Death: His apparent demise in his battle with the dragon Shimmergloom.
Dying Moment of Awesome: After killing the pit fiend, he pulls the lever (which only he can pull) that will stop a volcano from erupting.
It Is Not Your Time: Pulled out of his coma by Regis in The Lone Drow, but dwarves strongly believe that Moradin sent him back to help fight against Obould's horde.
Mutual Kill: Takes out a pit fiend (a Big Red Devil that serves as a general in The Legions of Hell), but the fiend mortally wounds him in return.
Papa Wolf: Threaten Catti-brie in front of him and your lifespan can suddenly be measured in minutes.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He may be the most dangerous warrior in his army.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Abrasive and hard-headed as he is, he's one of the more easygoing and compassionate of dwarven kings.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Singlehandedly (well, with only the help of the other Companions) retook Mithral Hall from an army of duergar commanded by a shadow dragon. He then proceeded to take down said dragon by jumping on top of it with a keg of oil, a torch, and an axe.
Supporting Leader: As far as politics and widescale events go, Bruenor is far more important than Drizzt, but isn't the focus of the novels.

Catti-brie Battlehammer

Race: Illuskan human (first life), Bedine human (second life)

Class: Fighter/Wizard (first life), Cleric/Sorceress (second life)

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Absurdly Sharp Blade: Khazid'hea. It's also a Talking Weapon. And it has nothing nice to say.
Action Girl: Much to her father's consternation.
Anchored Ship: Type I with Drizzt (after many books of Will They or Won't They?) in The Orc King.
Battle Couple: With Drizzt.
Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Drizzt for many books.
Bottomless Magazines: The magical bow Taulmaril that she takes for her own in Mithral Hall has this as an extremely useful secondary enchantment, letting her chew through hordes of enemies with a quiver that apparently only contains twenty arrows.
Bow and Sword in Accord: Though she's much better with the bow.
Daddy's Girl: She loves Bruenor and he loves her back. She can play him like a fiddle, and he just grumbles and goes with it.
Death by Flashback: Flashbacks she actually acted out in story.
The First Cut Is the Deepest: It takes her a long time to get over Wulfgar. Her guilt and grief drives her away from romance for a while.
Go into the Light: Played with, since a pinpoint of light marked the unicorn of Mielikki that took her soul away.
Long-Range Fighter: She's the band's main sniper, and while she's perfectly capable in melee combat, owning a bow that can spew out infinite magical arrows with the power of an anti-materiel rifle means there's rarely any reason for her to get anywhere near her enemies.
Obfuscating Stupidity: A lot of people forget (or are unaware) that she's the princess of a frontier dwarven clan and assume that she's a naïve child unused to adventuring, and she's quite willing to play along if it will earn her and her friends some advantage. In particular, exaggerating her Naïve Newcomer credentials when visiting Menzobarazzan lets her wreak some serious havoc.
Peaceful in Death: She dies peacefully in her sleep after initially appearing to have survived her exposure to the Spellplague.
Squishy Wizard: After her rebirth. She kept her magic powers, but since she was raised as a normal girl by normal parents, she never relearned to fight.
These Hands Have Killed: Has this reaction after the first time she killed another human. Notably, she'd killed quite a few orcs and goblins before, and had just slaughtered a group of grey dwarves moments before with a bow.

Regis Rumblebelly

Race: Lightfoot halfling

Class: Rogue (first life), Rogue/Fighter (second life)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Big Eater: The other Companions usually have to pull him away from his food when they're in the middle of an adventure.
Blood Knight: In his second life, Regis regularly provokes fights to get practice in.
Carry a Big Stick: Played with, since his mace is actually small. It's crafted personally for him by Bruenor, so he can do some damage with it.
Freak Out: When he tried to help Catti-brie come out of her coma, his soul got pulled to where she was. It didn't end well.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He started to feel bad about being a burden on his friends after his Near-Death Experience and sulked about it for a while until he decided to suck it up and help out.
Took a Level in Badass: Regis learned how to wield a rapier in his second life.
Undying Loyalty: To his friends, but especially Bruenor. He's willing to go back and fight a dragon with him, even knowing that it'll only end with them both dead.

Thibbledorf Pwent

Race: Shield Dwarf

Class: Barbarian (Battlerager)

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Always Someone Better: Despite being a formidable fighter and ridiculous badass, Pwent is very nearly killed when he and the brigade pick a fight with Uthegental Barrison Del'Armgo, a drow weapon master who fights not at all like most drow weapon masters.
Back from the Dead: Charon's Claw shows him rising from his grave as a vampire, rather unhappy about the whole situation. Relentless shows him being cured of his vampirism and becoming a living flesh and blood person again.
Beard of Barbarism: Not only long and untamed, but very, very dirty.
The Berserker: "Battlerager" isn't just a title, after all.
Blood Knight: Has more than a bit of this.
Collision Damage: The whole point of battleraging is to ram into your enemies and tear them apart with the spikes and blades on your armor.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: In preparation for the drow war, Pwent teaches some dwarven volunteers the fine art of battleraging. This trope is his teaching technique.
Generation Xerox: Battleraging is a Pwent family tradition, as illustrated by Thibbledorf's ancestor Crommower Pwent.
A Good Way to Die: His final act was placing Bruenor on the crankshaft that would let the king reseal the primordial that powers Gauntlgrym.
Identical Grandson: A flashback in The Legacy introduces us to Thibbledorf's ancestor Crommower Pwent. Crommower is every bit as loyal, violent, courageous and stinky as his descendant. Crommower also serves as bodyguard and confidant to Gandalug Battlehammer, Bruenor's ancestor and the founder of Mithril Hall, much as Thibbledorf does for Bruenor in the modern era.
The Last Dance: Helping Bruenor fight the pit fiend in Gauntlgrym proved to be his.
The Pig-Pen: Covered in dirt and grime. Hair's greasy as all hell. Was actually forced to take a bath in The Orc King, for the first time in years, and likely tried to kill the person who forced it on him. It's noted more than once that dwarves are used to sweaty bodies and strong odors, but even they can't stand Pwent's stench.
Power Fist: Uses his armored gauntlets to punch the hell out of enemies. Some art depicts them with wolverine... spikes.
Rule of Cool: The only reason his fighting style actually works.
Sociopathic Hero: Pwent has a disturbing love for tearing his enemies to pieces, but he only directs his bloodlust towards the enemies of the dwarves.
Spikes of Villainy: Averted; his armor is covered with spikes, but he's very much a good guy.
Trademark Favorite Food: Forms the "Gutbuster Brigade", a unit of shock troop battleragers, in Mithril Hall, named for Thibbledorf's favorite drink. "Gutbuster" tastes vile, but it's so potent that it makes the drinker almost immune to drow sleeping poison.
Undying Loyalty: Would follow Bruenor to hell and back.
Use Your Head: Primary mode of attack. It helps that he has a ridiculously large spike on his helmet.
Wild Hair: All. Over. His. Body.
Wolverine Claws: Pwent's gauntlets are equipped with them. They work both for parrying sword blades and ripping enemies.

Wulfgar, son of Beornegar

Race: Illuskan human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Back from the Dead: In Passage to Dawn. And again in The Companions.
Barbarian Hero: By class and fighting style moreso than personality or lifestyle.
Charles Atlas Superpower: His years of work along the dwarves in mines and forges made him far stronger than any human. (He literally was stronger than it was possible for a human to be in 2nd Edition rules, barring magic.)
Defeat Means Friendship: When Wulfgar was young, Bruenor defeated him in battle, then took him on as a slave. He eventually grew into the adopted son and apprentice roles over the period of five years.
Drowning My Sorrows: Fell deep into the bottle to try and deal with his post-traumatic stress from being trapped in the Abyss.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Drizzt and Guenhwyvar. When he first meets Drizzt, Wulfgar called him a sorcerous dog and believed Drizzt can teach him nothing worth learning. Drizzt then (with Bruenor's permission) beat him in the span of a couple of seconds; and over the span of several tendays, Wulfgar learned a great deal from Drizzt and respected him. The trio then worked together to take out twelve giants together and then Icingdeath and their friendship is forever solidified.
The First Cut Is the Deepest: Before he was killed at Mithril Hall, he and Catti-Brie were set to be married. But after being recovered from the Abyss and all the torture he was made to endure, they couldn't quite make it work anymore.
Forging Scene: Gets one after the Time Skip in the first book, as something of an Establishing Character Moment for how the years of service have changed him.
The Giant: He's 7 feet tall and 350 pounds, all of it muscle. In the course of the books, only a handful of the people he meets are of comparable size with him, much less larger.
Happily Adopted: Beornegar was killed in an intertribal war when Wulfgar was just a boy, and the king of Wulfgar's tribe adopted him as his royal herald. Later, when Wulfgar is captured by Bruenor, he starts viewing the dwarf this way.
He's Back!: Finally managed to break out of his alcoholism in The Spine of the World.
Heroic BSoD: Somewhere during his time in the Abyss.
Heroic Build: Wulfgar is insanely muscled, with broad shoulders, a massive chest, a powerful back, huge legs, a small waist, and arms thicker than a fat dwarf's thighs.
I Am X, Son of Y: He will remind you that he is Wulfgar, Son of Beornegar. Justified in this case, as it reinforces his link to his tribal heritage after he was orphaned and raised by the Battlehammer clan.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Thanks to a combination of his own perfect athleticism and the warhammer's magically excellent balance, he can throw Aegis-fang with superhuman range and accuracy. In his own physics-defying way, he's almost as good a sniper as Catti-brie.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: To a mild degree. While in Luskan, he was recruited by Morik the Rogue to be the muscle for his extortion racket for the promise of good money, a few laughs, and the chance to beat up unscrupulous smugglers and the like. Looked at through the bottom of a whiskey bottle, it didn't seem like that bad an idea.
Made of Iron: Something of a Charles Atlas Superpower, Wulfgar's amazing durability is the result of long hours of working alongside dwarves every day for five years straight.
Neck Lift: His signature move while working as a bouncer was to lift troublemakers like this and hurl them to the street.
Put on a Bus: Got in a fight with a yochlol and nearly won... only to be crushed to death, then got taken to the Abyss to be a balor's plaything for seven years. While the effects were felt by the other characters, the manner in which Wulfgar was removed was abrupt, to say the least.
- Was Put on a Bus in The Orc King after the events of The Two Swords, and made a brief appearance in The Pirate King before disappearing from the main narrative completely. He gets a send off in a short story in an anthology book later on, though.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Played with, since he didn't fight in a war so much as survive being tortured by a demon for seven years.
Summon to Hand: The signature ability of his warhammer, Aegis-fang, and part of what makes it a perfect throwing weapon.
Super-Strength: Several of Wulfgar's feats of strength are beyond what even a vey strong man could accomplish. His strength is greater than ogres and trolls - races much stronger than humans - and even rivals that of hill giants. One of his first on-page fights has him perform a Neck Snap on a verbeeg (a lesser giant twice as tall as a human) with his bare arms, and another has him squashing a similarly large and powerful barbarian king's skull between his hands.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: This is the specific magical ability of his weapon, Aegis-fang. It's far more accurate when thrown than such a massive, ungainly warhammer should be and instantly returns to Wulfgar's hand after it finds its mark, making it a reliably nasty (and lethal) surprise for anyone who assumes he's only a Close-Range Combatant.
Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Catti-brie, who ended up with Drizzt.
World's Strongest Man: No mere human or orc comes even close to Wulfgar's strength.

Artemis Entreri/Barrabus the Gray

Race: Calishite human

Class: Fighter/Rogue (Assassin)/Ranger

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Always Someone Better: Artemis gets slapped hard in the face with this after spending time in Menzoberranzan and meeting an entire city of people who think they are (and some are!) better than he is at what he does. Despite all the work he has put into his skills, he's put into a position where he can't kill anyone to raise his status, and most of the population are killers on an equal level with him.
Arch-Nemesis: To Drizzt. Artemis despised Drizzt because despite their near-equal abilities in combat, Drizzt devoted his life to, well, his life, gaining friends and actually having a life worth living, whereas Entreri honed himself into a soulless killing machine and still couldn't quite match him. He sees in Drizzt the hollow emptiness of his own existence. Drizzt, for his part, hates Entreri both because he's an evil bastard and because he sees in Entreri what he could have become if things had been different. Entreri later grows out of it. He comes to respect Drizzt for the choices he took in life and the friends he made, rather than despise him for them, and as Entreri becomes a better person, Drizzt hates him less and less.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Drizzt more than a few times over the years, most recently in Neverwinter.
Can't Stand Them, Can't Live Without Them: With Jarlaxle until Road of the Patriarch.
Close to Home: When attempting to enter Castle Perilous, Athrogate called a stuck gate a "son of a bar whore". Artemis didn't take it well.
Combat Pragmatist: He'll pull every dirty trick in the book during a fight. At one point, while fighting Drizzt, he held a mouthful of sewer water in his mouth for several pages until the perfect time to spit it in Drizzt's face. He lacks pragmatism on a grander scale; he prefers to fight, period, meaning he'll avoid less hazardous ways of dealing with his enemies.
The Comically Serious: Road of the Patriarch gives us this glorious exchange:
Athrogate: Well now, I'd say that's better, but it'd be a lie. Any elf's but a girl making ready to cry.
Entreri: And if you keep rhyming, you're going to die. [Athrogate laughs] No. There is no joke in my words. And the rhyme was coincidental.
Dark and Troubled Past: It is revealed in the short story The Third Level (and later in Road of the Patriarch) that Entreri was physically and sexually abused as a child, and was sold to a pedophile merchant who later intended to sell him into slavery.
Deadpan Snarker: In spades in the Sellswords trilogy and in the short stories that are set during that timeline. He also displays these tendencies in the Neverwinter books, particularly in the second after he meets up with Drizzt and Dahlia.
Death Glare: Most people on the receiving end on this usually don't end up living too much longer afterwards.
Death Seeker: Implied for some time, but confirmed in the Neverwinter trilogy.
Desperately Seeking A Purpose In Life: Played with. After losing to Drizzt for the last time, he's ultimately content to just exist without purpose and just follow Jarlaxle around. However, Jarlaxle opening his heart with Idalia's Flute causes him to want more out of life, a sensation that greatly displeases Entreri. He ultimately goes his own way at the end of Road of the Patriarch.
Dual Wielding: Notably, Artemis actually does it right, using a sword in his main hand and a dagger in his left.
Empathic Weapon: Charon's Claw. It is sentient and is capable of communicating thoughts to its wielder. It also has a preference for Netherese wielders and creatures from the Shadow Plane, and must be mentally dominated by its wielder or else it will burn their skull from the inside out.
Enemy Mine: The frequency with which he ends up getting forced into these with Drizzt and his companions is a key factor in his long, slow Heel–Face Turn.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: His mother Shanali was the one and only positive feature in his childhood. Being sold by her into slavery was deeply traumatizing to a young Artemis, but even after that, he can't bring himself to hate her.
Even Evil Has Standards: He has a special kind of hate for parents who sell out or abandon their kids in an effort to save themselves.
Evil Counterpart: To Drizzt. Drizzt even states himself on more than one occasion that if things had gone differently in Menzoberranzan he has no doubt that they would have turned out the same.
Evil Weapon: The above mentioned Charon's Claw is a cursed weapon. It doesn't have a personality aside from vague impulses, but it will burn its owner alive from the inside out the minute he drops his guard. In the Neverwinter storyline, it is revealed that it has enslaved Entreri and is keeping him alive to torture him.
Evil Virtues: Determination.
First-Name Basis: Only with Jarlaxle. Dhawvel also refers to him as Artemis once in Servant of the Shard, but not to him directly.
Friendless Background: He considers relationships as a vulnerability and mocks Drizzt's loyalty to his friends on several occasions. Later, however, he comes to reverse this opinion and begin to hate the empty life he's been leading.
Full-Name Basis: People sometimes address him as this, even if they're talking directly to him. Jarlaxle is the most frequent offender.
Gender-Blender Name: While more commonly a man's name these days, Artemis is technically unisex and was a female name in the original Greek.
Heel–Face Turn: Takes him very, very many books but by the end even Drizzt acknowledges Artemis's heroism. When it starts is not entirely clear, but he perhaps can be considered to be becoming genuinely heroic to some extent by the end of Road of the Patriarch.
I Am Not Your Father: Played with. When confronted, Belrigger — the man who "raised" Artemis — admits that he isn't Artemis's father; he's simply a man that allowed Shanali and Artemis to live with him in exchange for sex and money. However, Artemis had no real reason to believe that Belrigger was his real father, the mistake was simply the result of disjointed childhood memories that he's been repressing for decades.
Iconic Item: His jeweled dagger, which has the ability to eat a victim's soul, is every bit as feared as the name Artemis Entreri. Later on Charon's Claw becomes this for Barrabus, though not by choice.
In Name Only: Game-stat example. In every appearance, he is universally described as an assassin.^note But when the Time of Troubles rolled around, R.A. Salvatore got a phone call saying that the writing team planned to have all assassins die as part of a massive ritual. Not wanting to lose a beloved character, Salvatore replied, "He's not really an assassin; he's a fighter-thief that kills people for money".
Joker Immunity: Enteri's suffered multiple Disney Death (at one point, "dying" three times in a single book) and comes back every time. He's one of the few people Drizzt knows that survived a century-long time skip.
Lack of Empathy: An odd case, in that he's a remorseless killer who will not hesitate to torture anyone who may have information he needs, but if someone is not a target or involved with a job, he's perfectly capable of showing empathy, if in a cynical manner.
Last-Name Basis: To everyone not named Jarlaxle.
Mangst: In Road of the Patriarch. Digging into the past that he's been repressing for most of his life is silently eating at him for most of the book. It eventually comes to a head in the final chapters, when he's driven to return to his birthplace to confront the mother that abandoned him and kill all the people responsible for making his life hell.
Master Swordsman: He's a human and one of the most skilled swordsmen alive.
Meaningful Rename: Took on the mantle of Barrabus the Gray as of Gauntlgrym.
Menacing Stroll: He excels at this. This is a practiced trait, as he learned long ago that being able to intimidate people with just his walk was a very valuable street skill.
Older Than They Look: Specifically stated to be over 40, but looks like he's in his late-20s to early-30s. Played even straighter as Barrabus the Gray. Due to Entreri/Barrabus being infused with a Shade, he would now be over 100 years old and still looking about 30.
Nay-Theist: He never doubts the existence or the power of the gods, but he flatly despises all of them on principle. This extends to clergy as well; Entreri decides he hates Cadderly Bonaduce before they even meet, as soon as he hears that Cadderly is a priest of Deneir. This turns out to be a lingering resentment from childhood, as he grew up in a hovel that was exploited mercilessly by priests of Selune.
Nominal Hero: By the start of The Sellswords. He feels compassion for a few specific people, but on the whole he's still extremely cold-blooded.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: With Drizzt, to an extent. He is perfectly willing to let Drizzt become a sacrifice to Lolth, but only if Entreri is allowed the chance to defeat the man in a fair battle first.
Perpetual Frowner: And how. The very few times he does smile, it's either sarcastic or intensely out of character.
Jarlaxle: Why the foul mood?
Entreri: Personality trait.
Platonic Life-Partners: With Dwhavel Tiggerwillies, the proprietress and guildmistress of the Copper Ante. The two share an emotional intimacy beyond anything Entreri has experienced with anyone else, but have never shown any romantic interest in each other. Notably, Entreri's first instinct when he finally decides to abandon Jarlaxle is to immediately return to her, despite knowing how dangerous it would be to return to Calimport.
Professional Killer: Rose to fame in Calimport as a ruthless assassin.
Rape as Backstory: His early years were marked by being molested by his "uncle" and a paedophile merchant his mother sold him to.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Jarlaxle's red.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: At the end of Road of the Patriarch.
Servile Snarker: To Alegni.
Sex Slave: During his time in Menzoberranzan, Artemis was passed around by the priestesses of Lolth as a sex toy.
Shut Up, Kirk!: Just before Artemis' (self-anticipated) death, Drizzt starts in on a Kirk Summation, which Artemis cuts off before it really gets going.
Drizzt: "A man of your skills could contribute..."
Artemis: "Spare me your idiocy."
Son of a Whore: His mother Shanali was a prostitute.
Start of Darkness: Road of the Patriarch showed Artemis's childhood via flashback, wherein it was shown that he was molested, beaten, and sold into slavery. The Third Level expounds on his early career as a Calimport rogue, showing that even as a teenager Artemis was already a force to be reckoned with.
The Stoic: Known for his cold, emotionless personality until he started partnering with Jarlaxle. Later becomes Not So Stoic thanks to Idalia's Flute.
Straight Edge Evil: Before meeting Jarlaxle, he was the only killer in Calimport who never indulged any of the city's many vices, believing they distracted him and dulled his edge. While travelling with Jarlaxle, he occasionally has a glass of whiskey, but almost never finishes it. When his past is revealed, it's also heavily implied that sex repulses him due to his first experiences with it being deeply traumatizing.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever he's forced to fight alongside Drizzt against more immediate enemies.
That Man Is Dead: Literally said word for word at the end of Road of the Patriarch. A variant by the time of the Neverwinter trilogy: Artemis/Barrabus doesn't care how people address him, and Drizzt spends the latter third of the book calling him Entreri. Herzgo Alegni, however, has a decided opinion on the matter.
Alegni: He's still mine, you understand, and so his name remains Barrabus.
Unscrupulous Hero: Through Jarlaxle's manipulations and his own insights, Artemis eventually loses much of his callousness. By Gauntlgrym, he actually feels remorse for being forced to kill someone.
Villain Protagonist: In his later appearances alongside Jarlaxle.
Villainous Rescue: Entreri frees and teams up with Catti-brie in Starless Night to free the captured Drizzt in the hopes that Drizzt will help lead him to the surface and away from Menzoberranzan.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jarlaxle. The vitrol is almost entirely one-sided on Entreri's part, as his repeated threats to murder Jarlaxle are only met with amused laughter.
What Is This Feeling?: Idalia's Flute cause him to experience emotions that he'd been repressing most of his life, which is an extremely uncomfortable experience for him. Notably, it causes him to fall in love for the first time in his life.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Thanks to Charon's Claw, he literally can't die. Not that he likes this at all, especially since said sword makes it a living hell for him.

Errtu

Race: Balor (demon)

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

A Balor and ruler of a plane of the Abyss obsessed with the Crystal Shard.

Arch-Enemy: Self-proclaimed arch-enemy to Drizzt, at one point declaring himself "He who hates Drizzt most".
The Dragon: To Akar Kessell during his period as the Crystal Shard's Master.
Dragon-in-Chief: Errtu is about a thousand times more dangerous than Kessell, and even that's probably underselling it.
Evil Is Petty: Goes to elaborate lengths to get revenge on Drizzt.
Expy: Like all Balor, he's one of the Balrog of Moira. Errtu is significantly chattier than the Balrog, though.
Flaming Sword: Comes with being an Expy of a Balrog.
Mind Rape: Inflicts a combination of this and Cold-Blooded Torture on Wulfgar.
Motive Decay: Becomes more obsessed with Drizzt than the Crystal Shard, because revenge. (Then again, even the smartest demons are known for getting distracted from broader goals; it comes with being chaotic evil).
Multi-Melee Master: Comes with being a Balor.
Winged Humanoid: It's a bit of a stretch on the humanoid part, but he has two arms, two legs, a head, and a torso.
Would Hurt a Child: Murders Wulfgar's half-human children.

Heafstaag, King of the Tribe of the Elk

Race: Illuskan human

Class: Barbarian

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

King of the Tribe of the Elk, the most powerful of Icewind Dale's barbarian tribes, Heafstaag is one of the leaders of the attempt to conquer Ten Towns. He later pledges the barbarians' allegiance to Akar Kessell.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Most of the barbarians hate Akar Kessell and don't want to fight for him, but Heafstaag's pledged their allegiance to him. With so many of the barbarians' best warriors killed during the war with Ten Towns, none of them can legally challenge Heafstaag for the tribal throne. Wulfgar resolves to change that.
Beard of Barbarism: He has a thick, wild red beard to rival any dwarf, and he's a brutally cruel barbarian warrior.
Even Evil Has Standards: Heafstaag might be a sadistic asshole, but even he's disgusted by how Kessell brainwashes and rapes the women his minions abduct.
Lightning Bruiser: He's much faster than he looks, and catches both Drizzt and Wulfgar off guard when they fight him.
Made of Iron: Drizzt seemingly outfights Heafstaag during the barbarian invasion, impaling him on one scimitar and gutting him with another. Heafstaag is so tough he still bashes Drizzt with the flat of his axe, nearly killing the drow in one hit. Drizzt is especially dismayed to realize that Heafstaag would survive even the wounds he's inflicted on him.
The Worf Effect: Inflicts this on Drizzt when they fight. Heafstaag is so durable he manages to overcome the vicious blows Drizzt hits him with, and nearly kills Drizzt when he retaliates. Drizzt realizes that Heafstaag would heal from their fight, but he might not be so lucky, as he collapses on the field.

The Cleric Quintet

Cadderly Bonaduce

Race: Human

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Neutral Good

Badass Bookworm: He's one of the most powerful clerics on Toril, and spent the better part of his life building a Cathedral/Library, Spirit Soaring.
Badass Preacher: One of the most powerful clerics on Toril, period. Being a Chosen of Deneir ramps this up to eleven, thanks to his mastery of the Song of Universal Harmony.
The Chosen One: Chosen of Deneir.
Flat-Earth Atheist: For a long time he questioned whether or not the gods actually existed, even though he was a priest and received magic from one. Somewhat justified in that Deneir actually encourages his followers to question dogma and think for themselves.
Good Is Not Soft: He's very kind and gentle, but can be merciless when confronted by evil. At one point, he summoned a demon to ask it questions about another demon, which the demon was compelled to answer, though with no small amount of threats and insults which Cadderly brushed off. Once the questioning was finished, Cadderly went to dismiss the demon back to Hell, only for the demon to throw one final threat that it would find a way to be resummoned by another and come after Cadderly's family. Cadderly immediately cancelled the dismissal, effectively slamming the door in the demon's face, and then proceeded to summon a whirling wall of blades directly on top of the demon, shredding its physical form into pieces. ^note
Heroic Sacrifice: In The Ghost King, against the title monster. He's walking a vigil on the border of the Shadow Plane for the rest of eternity to keep the Ghost King in check.
Killer Yoyo: His weapon of choice.
Older Than They Look: Over sixty, but looks to be in his mid twenties due to reverse ageing for a few years; he actually looks younger than his own son.
Sealed Evil in a Duel: The weakened Ghost King has no choice but to flee from Cadderly's divine light. As long as Cadderly stands between him and the Material Plane, he's stuck in the Shadowfell.
Younger Than They Look: Before becoming Older Than They Looked, he looked like an ancient man despite being in his thirties due to the effort of building the main part of Spirit Soaring with magic, which drained him.

Danica Bonaduce

Race: Human

Class: Monk

Alignment: Lawful Good

Action Girl: An incredibly powerful martial artist who is frequently described as muscular beyond belief.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Danica is described in the books as being blond, thin and small. Every single picture of her makes her brunette and ripped.
Amazonian Beauty: Smaller and lighter than most examples, but still considered by most characters who meet her to be the closest thing to absolute physical perfection they're ever likely to see.
Bare-Fisted Monk: One of the strongest in the series, no less. It's no mean feat to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Artemis Entreri with nothing but your two fists.
The Berserker: Not exactly a core element of her fighting style the way it would be for, say, a barbarian, but a valuable tool in her arsenal. Being a monk means discipline and control are paramount for her, but it also means that if she needs to power through pain, injury and hostile magic by switching off her brain and going into a mad battle-frenzy, she can do that and trust in her peerless martial expertise to see her through.
Crystal Weapon: Carries a pair of crystal-bladed daggers. One has a hilt in the shape of a tiger, the other in the shape of a dragon.
Hot-Blooded: Has a habit of running straight into battle while laughing.
Pintsized Powerhouse: Five foot nothing of lean, wiry, perfectly-trained muscle capable of headbutting her way through solid iron.
Waif-Fu: She's 100 pounds soaking wet and and beats up men twice her size. It's heavily implied that every ounce of her is pure muscle.

Ivan Bouldershoulder

Race: Dwarf

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Neutral Good

Bash Brothers: With Pikel.
Genius Bruiser: On top of being a fierce warrior, he's also a brilliant engineer and inventor.

Pikel Bouldershoulder

Race: Dwarf

Class: Druid

Alignment: Neutral Good

Bash Brothers: With Ivan.
Carry a Big Stick: His shillelagh, or as he calls it, his "sha-la-la". Or as his brother calls it, "his tree".
Character Catchphrase: "Oo Oi".
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Pikel thinks and acts in a very odd manner. There's a fairly strong implication that he has, in Dungeons & Dragons terms, high Wisdom and low Intelligence. In other words, he's legitimately mentally handicapped.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Most people who spend five minutes around Pikel assume he's either insane or stupid. Once they see him fight, his badassery can't be denied.
Genius Ditz: Often comes up with clever plans, and has saved the day more than once with a Big Damn Heroes moment. But, still, he's a bit of a ditz. Furthermore, he managed to become a druid at a time when - by the background rules of the setting - only humans, elves, and half-elves could do so.
Handicapped Badass: Missing an arm by the time of The Lone Drow. If you believe that his weirdness is due to being mentally handicapped, he still counts as this even before then.
Nature Hero: Can talk to animals, grow trees, control roots... This is very notable because, at the time Pikel was introduced, a Dwarven Druid was impossible by the game rules.
Scars Are Forever: Lost his arm while helping to defend Mithral Hall against Obould Many-Arrows, Gerti Orelsdottr, and their respective forces. Thirteen years later, he still hasn't got it back (which, with the quality and availability of magical healing in the Forgotten Realms, is slightly more unusual than it sounds).

Legacy of the Drow

Ellifain Tuuserail/Le'lorinel Tel'e'brenequiette

Race: Moon Elf

Class: Warrior

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Bald of Evil: Shaved her head as part of her disguise.
Blood-Splattered Innocents: It actually saved her life, as it tricked a drow hunting party into thinking she was dead.
Broken Bird: It's arguable as to whether it would have been kinder for her to have died in the raid.
Cool Mask: To hide her gender.
Crazy-Prepared: Has a magical item meant for every one of Drizzt's defenses.
Died Happily Ever After: Drizzt feels extremely guilty about killing her, to the point of asking Bruenor and Catti-brie to save her when they have a healing potion. When he befriends a moon elf named Innovindil, they travel to Ellifian's grave and return her body to the Moonwood. The elven priests then cast a spell to temporary bring back Ellifain's spirit and house it in Innovindil's body. She then speaks to Drizzt, telling him that after she died she learned how Drizzt originally saved her and forgives him.
Dual Wielding: With long swords, in which she was trained specifically in order to counter Drizzt.
Fantastic Racism: Against drow, thanks in part to being a surface elf, and in part due to a very bad childhood experience.
Freak Out: When Drizzt visits the Moonwood in Starless Night, she gets one good look at him and then attacks him.
Freudian Excuse: Drizzt covering her in her mother's blood in order to hide her from his fellow drow didn't do her sanity any good. That, and her sole reason for going after Drizzt is because she think he's the guilty party of her people's massacre, rather than the one who saved her.
Meaningful Name: Her alias means "I to you as you to me" in an Elvish language.
Moral Myopia: Believes that everyone else in the world is wrong about Drizzt's heroism, and only she knows him for the monster he really is. It's one of many clues that she's not quite sane.
Mutual Kill: If Drizzt's friends hadn't arrived when they did, both of them would have bled out.
Nigh-Invulnerable: While using her stoneskin spell.
Our Elves Are Different: Not so much in this setting, as moon elves are as bog standard as elves get. Still, this is a series that is positively dripping with the much more exotic drow, so this is actually exceptional.
Revenge: On every living drow, but especially Drizzt, who she views as a Villain with Good Publicity.
Revenge Before Reason: By the time the heroes get to her, she's pretty much incapable of reason.
Save the Villain: Drizzt tries to invoke this with her, wanting to sacrifice himself to save her life. His friends will have none of it.
She Who Fights Monsters: With the bonus that she isn't even really fighting monsters.
Shut Up, Kirk!: Just about everyone points out how stupid her desire for revenge is. She tells them all to shove it.
Super-Speed: One of her spells enables this.
Sweet Polly Oliver: A very dark take on it.
Ungrateful Bitch: Drizzt saves her as a child and refuses to harm her in a later book, even though she attacks him with no provocation. She thanks him by... blaming him for her mother's death, and then spends Sea of Swords will the sole purpose of finding him so she can kill him. In her defense, she's not all there.

Kimmuriel Oblodra

Race: Drow

Class: Psionicist

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Badass Bookworm: He's the last drow psionicist in Menzoberanzan. While he's almost unstoppable in battle, he much prefers to study and meditate.
Barrier Warrior: The kinetic barrier. Used as a Chekhov's Gun through Entreri on Drizzt in The Silent Blade.
Commander Contrarian: His arrangement with Jarlaxle after taking over Bregan D'aerthe while Jarlaxle is Walking the Earth. Jarlaxle is still in nominal command of the group, and occasionally calls in the troops for his latest projects, but Kimmuriel has the power to refuse or modify Jarlaxle's orders if he feels that what Jarlaxle wants isn't in the group's best interests. Despite the possibility of conflict (especially between drow), so far the arrangement has worked out swimmingly for both.
Conflicting Loyalty: In Servant of The Shard, between Jarlaxle and Rai-guy. He didn't want to betray Jarlaxle, out of loyalty to him for saving his life after the fall of House Oblodra, but he eventually sided with Rai-guy because he believed that Jarlaxle's behavior would destroy Bregan D'aerthe.
Creature of Habit: He would rather serve as lieutenant and focus on improving his abilities than serve as leader of Bregan D'aerthe.
Deadpan Snarker: And he doesn't hesistate to use it on anyone, including Jarlaxle.
Dragon Ascendant: Kimmuriel is more or less forced into this after Jarlaxle leaves him in charge of Bregan D'aerthe to go travelling on The Surface.
Dragon-in-Chief: As time has gone on, he's essentially become co-leader of Bregan D'aerthe, with authority roughtly equal to Jarlaxle. Jarlaxle remains the face of the organization, but Kimmuriel has the ability to act autonomously or even act against Jarlaxle's interests if it suits him.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Rai-guy, one of the few people that Kimmuriel genuinely likes. Their friendship (so to speak) is strong enough that Kimmuriel doesn't need too much convincing to join him in a coup against Jarlaxle, to whom Kimmuriel owes his life.
Jedi Mind Trick: Although it's less passively exerting influence than it is forcefully disturbing their mind.
Last of His Kind: The only survivor of the destruction of House Oblodra, meaning he's currently the only drow psionicist left in the world.^note
Mind Probe: He is a psionicist, after all.
Only in It for the Money: He's mostly drawn to Bregan D'aerthe for the pay, but partially because he has nowhere else to go.
Politically Incorrect Villain: It doesn't show much due to his nature as The Stoic, but it's mentioned a few times that he is especially racist, even for a drow.
Psychic Powers: Easily one of the most powerful characters in the series because of this.
The Spock: He is calm, stoic, rarely emotes, and takes the time to logically point out the flaws and consequences of Jarlaxle's plans if he needs to.
The Stoic: Expresses less and less emotion as the series progresses. Possibly justified by him advancing in his training as a psionicist.
Unequal Rites: Like most psionicists, he has nothing but contempt for magic-users. Notable exceptions include Archmage Gromph, whom he knows is powerful enough to destroy even mindflayers if he has to, and Rai-guy, with whom he has a deep mutual respect.

Khazid’hea/Cutter

A very sharp, sentient magic sword with an insatiable bloodlust.

Absurdly Sharp Blade: Flesh, bone, armor, stone - with enough momentum, Khazid’hea pretty much goes through anything (and anyone).
Artifact Domination: If the person wielding Khazid’hea can't keep it under control, it’s more accurate to say Khazid’hea wields them.
Blood Knight: Oh yeah. At one point, when the narration follows Khazid’hea, while Catti-brie is recovering from serious leg injuries and won’t be fighting for what everyone estimates to be at least a month, it takes the time to point out that Cutter hates peace.
Bow and Sword in Accord: How Catti-brie utilizes Cutter.
Cool Sword: While it’s not a very nice sword, it's quite a cool sword to have. It can even alter its own hilt to look like something its current/potential wielder might like; to its annoyance, however, it can't reshape its blade.
Evil Weapon: Very much so. If everyone around it is alive, it isn’t happy.
Green-Eyed Monster: It gets very upset if it isn’t the one doing the killing. It believes bows are a “coward's” weapon; likely due in no small part to the fact that as a melee weapon, it can’t be mercilessly cutting down enemies when it’s nowhere near them, and that every enemy taken down with an arrow is one it doesn’t get to kill.
Interplay of Sex and Violence: In a way. It seems to view partnership with a worthy warrior as quasi-romantic, and battle while being wielded by them like sex.
Leeroy Jenkins: If the person wielding Cutter can’t keep it under control, it takes control of them and charges headfirst into any group of enemies (or indeed allies) they can get to, strategy and practicality be damned, because it wants to kill them, all of them, right now, not later.
Meaningful Name: Many characters and the narration note how Cutter’s name is quite appropriate.
More than Mind Control: When it can’t outright get a person to do as it wants, it alternates between & complements its telepathic magic by trying to convince its wielder to do what it wants by reasoning with them.
Named Weapons: Khazid’hea/Cutter.
Only the Chosen May Wield: The only thing that rivals its bloodlust is its desire to be wielded by a great warrior. It’s content to be wielded by someone of Catti-brie’s skill, but it longs for someone like Drizzt to keep and use it. If it doesn’t deem its current wielder worthy, it will try to get them killed, hoping that whoever picks it up next is more suitable than the last. When it's given to a revived Zaknafein, it's initially angry until it realizes Zaknafein's skill. It's soon very satisfied with its new lot.
Talking Weapon: Uses telepathy to talk. It becomes easier to hear when holding it, although you really shouldn’t.
This Is My Name on Foreign: Khazid’hea means “cutter” in the Drow language. Interestingly, while it means the same thing, the characters often refer to “Cutter” as a nickname for the blade, rather than a straight translation of its name.
Token Evil Teammate: Khazid’hea to Catti-brie, Khazid’hea to the companions, Khazid’hea to... pretty much anyone who doesn’t have a similar mind/goal as it. And it’s always hungry for blood & death. It calms down quite a bit when it's given a to a revived Zaknafein. Zak is a swordsman to rival Drizzt and constantly fighting, which makes Khazid'hea more than pleased to be wielded by him.
Would Hurt a Child: When Delly picks it up near Colson, Khazid’hea’s influence gives her a strong urge to kill the kid, and temporarily uses Colson as a bargaining chip of sorts against Delly to get her to do what it wants. It also doesn’t show any sort of alarm, remorse, or sympathy when Colson accidentally hurts her finger on the sharp blade, when she reaches out to touch it.

The Hunter's Blade Trilogy

Obould Many-Arrows

Race: Mountain Orc

Class: Barbarian/Fighter

Alignment: Chaotic Evil, later Chaotic Neutral

Arch-Enemy: After Artemis, Obould is somewhere near the top of the list for Drizzt's archrival. Obould's war is responsible for the death's of several of Drizzt's friends, the crippling of his lover, and shaking the very foundations of his reality. Drizzt, on the other hand, is was the single biggest thorn in Obould's side during the war, causing no end of problems for the orc king by killing literally hundreds of his soldiers and spreading fear through the ranks. Obould is one of the few people to force Drizzt to flee from combat, and despite two vicious battles, neither was able to achieve a decisive victory over the other.
Anti-Villain: His methods are brutal, but his goal is noble: create a stable orc state and put an end to his people's self-destructive ways.
Armor Is Useless: Averted. His armor saves his life again and again.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: After his death, he was made a demigod by the orc deity Gruumsh.
Badass Boast: To Drizzt:
Obould: Look around you, drow. This is my home now. My kingdom! When you fly on your pet, you see the greatness of Obould. You see the Kingdom of Dark Arrows. Remember that name for the last minutes of your life. You die in Dark Arrows, Drizzt Do'Urden, and will be eaten by birds on a mountain side in the home of King Obould.
BFS: And it's on fire.
Canon Immigrant: Reversed, depending on whether you consider the novels or gamebooks more canon; Obould was originally featured in a sourcebook for the RPG before making it into the novels.
The Chosen One: Blessed and Chosen by Gruumsh to lead the orc people into a new age.
Combat Pragmatist: Subtle, as generally speaking he's just plain good enough that he doesn't need to resort to dirty tricks, but he does have one ploy that he uses to deadly effect; when attacking, he wills his Flaming Sword to blink on and off in quick succession to mess with his opponent's vision and present an opening.
Cool Horse: Averted; he tried breaking a captured pegasus, but when the horse refused to yield to him even after he made it clear he could kill the thing with a swift punch, he relented, having a respect for the creature's wild nature.
Cool Sword: His flaming BFS.
Diagonal Cut: Does it twice.
Establishing Character Moment: When Obould appears on the battlefield before the protagonists for the first time, he immediately kills a high level wizard, ignores arrows from Catti-brie's bow, and defeats Wulfgar - who has been explicitly noted to have extraordinary strength even for a barbarian - in one-on-one combat.
Evil Overlord: Of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, though only with relation to those who are not a part of his kingdom.
Evil Virtues: Honor.
Full-Frontal Assault: During his last fight with Drizzt, a cleric's spell forces him to remove all his armor or get eaten alive by metal spiders. He's even more dangerous naked.
Genius Bruiser: Really only compared to other orcs, but is still very intelligent by other race's standards.
Heel–Face Turn: Though never truly good, Obould slid into neutrality after he was blessed by Gruumsh.
Karma Houdini: A lot of innocent people die in the war he starts. A lot of innocent people die by his hand. In the end, he forces a stalemate, establishes a lasting kingdom, and rules for decades before dying in his sleep of old age.
Lightning Bruiser: He's stronger than Wulfgar and as fast as Drizzt.
A Man Is Always Eager: Averted; while he's a sexually active character, he made a habit of surrounding himself with the most beautiful female orcs in his kingdom, letting them grind against him during feasts and war councils, and showing absolutely no interest in them as a way of showing off to his men how much more disciplined and controlled he was compared to them (while also demonstrating, when the time was right, he was not afraid to absolutely go to town on a willing woman).
Master Swordsman: He's as good with his greatsword as Drizzt is with his scimitars or Artemis is with his saber.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Though not in the same way as Drizzt. Obould is every bit as evil as you would expect an orc to be, it's just that he's also bright, motivated, disciplined, and diplomatic.
No One Could Survive That!: Everyone is sure he died from his Disney Villain Death, even though Drizzt survived the exact same fall. It is very quickly revealed that he's Not Quite Dead.
Offing the Offspring: Obould originally had eight sons. Seven of them plotted against him, three did so openly. By the time he comes into the books, Obould only has one living son, the implication being he killed the others. He would have killed that one too (for incompetence rather than treason), but someone else beat him to it.
Oh, Crap!: The reaction of everyone on the dwarves battlefield when Obould manages to best Wulfgar in single combat.
Our Orcs Are Different: Are they ever.
Pet the Dog: He treats his prisoners fairly well. He threatened death to any of his men who harmed a captured pegasus or a dwarven prisoner, and even had his shamans heal Regis before returning him to the Companions. This is more about the pragmatic villainy than actual sympathy, but still.
Pragmatic Villainy: His approach to Chaotic Evil is a lot less heavy on the "chaos" than most orcs, as he realizes that the normal savagery of his kind is not conducive to long-term survival.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: In his case, he does a lot, not only leading his men in battle but also forging an exceptional orc kingdom.
Shadow Archetype: To Drizzt. They're both exceptional members of Always Chaotic Evil races who see the obvious flaws in their respective cultures, rejecting said culture in favor of their own moral codes. Where as Drizzt used his martial skill to escape and evade his people, living apart from them, Obould used his cunning and political savvy (backed by martial skill) to force a fundamental change in the way his people lived. It's interesting to note that the parallels between them are never drawn explicitly in the text, and Drizzt never compares himself to Obould. He does, however, compare Obould to Artemis twice, the first time noting that the orc king apparently felt he needed to prove something by insisting on fighting Drizzt one on one, and the second time as a note towards his prowess in combat.
Smug Super: In terms of intelligence and fighting prowess, he's far superior to any orc, and he knows it.
Super-Empowering: He was "blessed" in a public ritual, and became a semidivine being — the Chosen of Gruumsh One-Eye.
Tin Tyrant: Something of a plot point was that Drizzt couldn't cut through his armor. Came complete with Spikes of Villainy.
Took a Level in Badass: Before being blessed by Gruumsh, he was at best, an Elite Mook. Afterwards he becomes a Hero Killer.
Übermensch: Obould rejected the traditions and morals of orcish society, rising above them and forcing a fundamental change in his people and their way of life, and by extension, the way of life for their neighbors.
Underestimating Badassery: The very idea that an orc could be as badass as Obould is is utterly incomprehensible to the Companions of the Hall. This both serves him well and bites him in the ass; in battle he has the edge (not that he really needs it) because they think he'll far less formidable than he is. On the other hand, when he seeks to try and force negotiations, that same underestimation leads them to think that fighting him is the better option.
Villainous Valor: Sees fit to fight Drizzt in one on one combat not once, but twice. Somewhat subverted in that he's not outmatched; the first time he forces Drizzt to run away, and the second time it's Drizzt who has to pull out all the dirty tricks to stand up to him.
You No Take Candle: Has shades of this speech pattern in his early appearances, giving the rogue drow band the impression that he was an easily manipulated pushover. Eventually, after being made into Grummsh's Chosen, he becomes much more articulate.

Innovindil

Race: Moon elf

Class: Warrior

Alignment: Neutral Good

Death of the Hypotenuse: Doesn't make it through The Orc King.
Love Triangle: Drizzt and Innovindil seem to express some amount of feelings for each other, while Drizzt also has strong feelings for Catti-brie. However, Innovindil seems happy to encourage Drizzt to find love with Catti-brie.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: She gives Drizzt a new perspective on having a much longer lifespan than a human. She advises him to consider an elven life as not just one long existence, but a series of lives lived in sequence. That can make the deaths of close friends somewhat easier to bear.
Willing Channeler: She helps Drizzt bring Ellifain's body back to the Moonwood and temporarily lets Ellifain's spirit inhabit her body so Ellifain can reassure Drizzt that she knew the truth about how he saved her.

The Sellswords

Athrogate

Race: Shield Dwarf

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

The Atoner: In Gauntlgrym, he's shown to be deeply remorseful for his part in destroying the legendary dwarven kingdom, and vows to make it right.
Boisterous Bruiser: An archetypal example. Hell, he's practically singing as he kills orcs and goblins.
Blood Knight: It's really hard to get him to not go looking for a fight any time he's bored.
Cool Horse: His demonic hell pig.
Death Seeker: He does like fighting, but the reason he can charge so fearlessly headlong into battle against impossible odds is that he doesn't fear death, but rather he almost welcomes it, thanks to the death of his family. This is only doubled after he releases the primordial of fire caged in Gauntlgrym Fortress.
Drowning My Sorrows: In Gauntlgrym, before becoming the atoner.
Epic Flail: Athrogate dual wields morning stars. When activated, one causes anything metallic it hits to rust, the other causes an explosion on impact.^note
Evil Virtues: Honor, Honesty, Valor, and Determination. He's more virtuous than a lot of good-aligned characters.
Fantastic Racism: Hates orcs with a passion. Entreri comparing him to one is the one insult that actually does get under his skin. Given his past, it's not surprising.
Genius Bruiser: He is much smarter than he looks. He's not as well-read, clever, or eloquent as Jarlaxle, nor as cunning as Entreri, but he's not dumb and he knows his way around a battlefield.
He Cleans Up Nicely: Originally introduced wearing the ale-and-sweat stained furs and leathers that come to dwarves standard issue. By Gauntlgrym, almost a century later, Jarlaxle has him wearing a downright stylish purple-and-black outfit, convinced him to bathe at least twice a year, and has even managed to groom his beard. By Jarlaxle's own reckoning, he's worked miracles.
Hidden Depths: On the surface, he's nothing more than an obnoxious Boisterous Bruiser Blood Knight. However, he reveals to Jarlaxle that he's actually outlived even the most generous of dwarven life-expectancies, and that once, centuries ago, he had a family in Citadel Felbarr. When the citadel was invaded by orcs, however, the dwarves were forced to flee and Athrogate's wife and children were slaughtered. His youngest died in his arms. Their deaths essentially destroyed him, and though he's recovered somewhat, he could never bring himself to return to Felbarr, even to aid an army of dwarves in retaking it, because there was too much pain for him there. He is also far more insightful than his appearance would imply, and capable of surprising empathy.
Honor Before Reason: While his reasons for fighting are rarely benevolent and are often selfish, when the fight actually gets started, he's as honorable as they come, if more than a bit brutal. He had two golden opportunities to kill Drizzt during their fight, and he passed up both of them because it would have been unsportsmanlike.
I Call It "Vera": He's given his Morning Stars the names Cracker and Whacker (or Rotter and Slaughter, this is Athrogate). While he doesn't talk to them, he is quite attached to them and he considers them true and reliable friends. When they're stolen in Gauntlgrym, he feels truly alone.
Large Ham: The rhyming helps a lot.
Lightning Bruiser: While not a particularly fast runner, Athrogate is incredibly agile, able to keep pace with Drizzt in hand to hand combat, and casually doing backflips while curb-stomping mooks, for no other reason than to show off. He's also tough enough to shrug off fireballs and falls from considerable heights, and his weapons of choice are a pair of flails that either rust whatever they hit or blow up on impact.
The Lost Lenore: He's never gotten over the deaths of his wife Gerthalie or their children, and to a lesser extent, all the members of Clan Felbarr that died with them. He couldn't even bring himself to return home because everywhere he looked, he saw his dead kin.
Mook Horror Show: Road of the Patriarch treats the reader to a scene of Athrogate hunting a colony of goblins. They are literally pissing themselves in terror as Athrogate tears their home — and their faces — apart.
No One Should Survive That!: Got completely curbstomped by a pit fiend and fell from a bridge, but (barely) lived to tell the tale.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: At first he comes across as a loud, obnoxious dwarf who wouldn't be anything without both his powerful friends and his powerfully enchanted weapons. Except, the thing is, he's actually skilled enough to put both Artemis Entreri and Drizzt Do'Urden on the back foot (not at the same time) and he has decades of combat experience under his belt.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When confronted with the Dracolich in the castle basement and told they were going to fight with, forgoes his previous Rhymes on a Dime tendencies and just says disbelievingly, "You're joking with an old dwarf". Of course given his Death Seeker tendencies he fights anyway.
Really 700 Years Old: He is this to a race that ages slower than humans (though they still age faster than elves). The most generous life-expectancy for a dwarf is about 350 years, and the few dwarves who reach that age look every year of it. Thibbledorf Pwent's knees had pretty much given out by the time he reached that age, and Bruenor was a shadow of his former self when he hit 340. Athrogate, on the other hand, was alive and still in his prime when he was around 370 years old, in 1372, and ninety years later, in 1462, when he's about 460 years old, he's shown no signs of stopping. Athrogate claims that he pissed off a wizard, who cursed him with a long life, the cruelest punishment possible for the dwarf.
Rhymes on a Dime: Much to everyone's annoyance, for obvious reasons. He thinks it's funny as hell.
The So-Called Coward: An odd example. Most people would not view him as such, given his Boisterous- and battle-loving nature, but to the dwarves of his old clan, he's a coward because he couldn't bear taking part in the retaking of their citadel and returning to the place where his family died. The warrior has faced down a dracolich, but to his people, he'll always be Athrogate the Coward.
Stepford Smiler: Athrogate died with his family when orcs invaded Citadel Felbarr, and what's left is a broken shell of a dwarf. He hides it well behind the mask of an irreverent, violent brawler, and even though he'll insult his old clan for calling him a coward, he believes it as much as they do because he didn't have the guts to face the ghosts of his family.
Jarlaxle: "Something had created Athrogate as he was; something had broken the dwarf to that base level, where he had no emotional defense other than a wall of ridicule and self-ridicule, fastened by the occasional rap of a mighty morningstar and hidden by the more-than-occasional drink".
Stronger Than They Look: Despite being a burly dwarf, he is still this thanks to wearing a Girdle of Storm Giant Strength.^note
That Man Is Dead: As far as he's concerned, Athrogate died with his family 350 years before Promise of the Witch King.
Unskilled, but Strong: While his skills are nothing to really scoff at, Dahlia noted that Athrogate makes up for his lack of precision with brute strength.
Warrior Poet: Literally. Generally agreed to not be very good, though.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: While not immortal, he was cursed by a wizard to have an unnaturally long life span, even for a dwarf. He is not the least bit happy about this.

Rai-guy Bondalek

Race: Drow

Class: Cleric/Wizard

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Badass on Paper: He actually has a very impressive resume: he's both a skilled wizard and a powerful priest, he somehow managed to become the High Priest of Lolth for the drow city of Ched Nasad — a feat considered all but impossible for a male — and led a successful coup against Jarlaxle. The problem is that very little of his awesomeness translates in-story, as Kimmuriel does most of the heavy lifting when they're teamed up. Part of this could be attributed to the influence of the Crystal Shard; Rai-guy is very clearly not in his right mind for most of the story.
Evil Overlord: When he is warned against using the Crystal Shard's power to carve out a power base in the Underdark, taking power away from Lolth's female priestesses, he decides to use the Shard to take power on the surface world instead.
Godzilla Threshold: When his plans to obtain the Crystal Shard go south, he calls in one of Lolth's handmaidens to help. He himself was very wary of doing it, knowing both that they were extremely dangerous to deal with, and that he would essentially be telling Lolth that he was planning a coup. The handmaiden does provide the help he asks for, but she also warns him that Lolth will not tolerate him trying to usurp power from her female priestesses in the Underdark.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kimmuriel Oblodra, his co-lieutenant of Bregan D'aerthe. Notable in that he's one of very few genuine friends Kimmuriel has.
Inconsistent Spelling: Has been spelled both "Rai'gy" and "Rai-guy".
Kill It with Fire: How he dies in Servant of the Shard; a very angry dragon douses him in flame.
Oh, Crap!: In Servant of the Shard, right before he's immolated by the breath of a red dragon.
Pragmatic Villainy: When one of Lolth's handmaidens warns him against his agenda of trying to usurp some of the power of her female priestesses in the Underdark, Rai-guy wisely heeds her words. Instead, he decides to use the Crystal Shard to become an Evil Overlord on the surface, where he can still carve out a power base without angering Lolth.
The Red Mage: He's one of the few characters in the series that can use both divine and arcane magic. It's one of the many reasons why he's so invaluable to Bregan D'aerthe.
The Rival: Subverted. He pretends to share a mutual hatred with Kimmuriel due to magic and psionics not playing well together. In reality, they have an extremely close kinship, and only pretend to be at loggerheads to appear non-threatening to Jarlaxle. Jarlaxle isn't fooled, but appreciates the effort.
The Smurfette Principle: Inverted. He's the only male priest of Lolth introduced in the series. He also had a surprisingly high status in the female-dominated religion.
The Starscream: When Jarlaxle is swayed by the Crystal Shard's personality, he convinces Kimmuriel to join him in a coup, deliberately sabotaging Bregan D'aerthe's surface operations before moving against Jarlaxle himself. Note that he only did so out of fear that Jarlaxle's greed had gotten the best of him and put the group at risk, but being a drow, it's not as though he needed much of an excuse. When he got his hands on Crenshinibon, he realized that he could take the artifact back underground and still power it by leaving a tower on the surface to absorb sunlight. He contemplates using Crenshinibon to carve out a power base in the Underdark, usurping some of the power of Lolth's priestesses, only to have a yochlol (one of Lolth's demonic attendants) give him a very blunt warning about what will happen if he tries it.

The Neverwinter Saga

Dahlia Sin'felle

Race: Elf

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Neutral Evil, later Chaotic Neutral

Ax-Crazy: At times. She's not the most stable person.
Bald of Evil: Mostly, anyway; she has a single bit of hair tied back in a long red and black braid. Later does a Heel–Face Turn.
Black Widow: Not just with men, either.
Blood Knight: She doesn't kill her lovers in their sleep; when she gets tired of them, she challenges them to straight-up fights.
Broken Bird: Her mind has been turned inside-out by Quenthel Baenre, to the point where she is barely functional.
Corrupt the Cutie: It seems to be her personal mission to bring Drizzt around to her worldview.
Dark Action Girl: It really says something when your overall demeanor is the darkest in a party that also includes Artemis Entreri.
Distracted by the Sexy: Her fighting garb is designed to distract her opponents with the sexy.
Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Tortured her vampire lover for information, then told him to make love to her, and that if he didn't - or didn't do it well - she would kill him. While this isn't portrayed as a positive act, it isn't treated as horribly as depictions of her own rape; it serves more to demonstrate that she's a powerful character, and no sympathy is given to the vampire over it.
Exotic Weapon Supremacy: The rest of her fighting style is this. She owes about as much to her fighting skill as she does to the fact that her Swiss-Army Weapon is absolutely absurd to fight against.
Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Against all Netherese. No exceptions.
Green-Eyed Monster: She gets rather possessive over the two men she's romantically attached to. It goes so far as showing tangible jealously when a drow priestess mentioned having slept with Entreri decades ago, and apparently not getting the subtext that he hadn't exactly been a willing participant.
Femme Fatale: Invoked specifically by her dress, which she wears intentionally to seduce and distract.
Heel–Face Turn: On a technicality, really. She's still just as twisted as ever, but Drizzt at least helps point her at more deserving targets.
I Love the Dead: The closest thing she'd had to a long-term relationship before Drizzt was with a vampire.
Jade-Colored Glasses: Her outlook on the world became especially bleak after she was horribly raped, and thought she killed the resulting child.
Meaningful Rename: Changed her surname from Syn'dalay to Sin'felle after escaping from the Netherese to symbolize her defilement.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Her outfit is cut down to just over her belly.
Nominal Hero: Not entirely incapable of compassion, but extremely aggressive, and self-centered to the point of narcissism. This is demonstrated most poignantly when she mortally wounds Drizzt for refusing to kill her.
Offing the Offspring: Believed she killed her infant son by throwing him off a cliff.
Rape as Backstory: Main reason for the aforementioned offing of the offspring.
Serial Killer: Surprisingly close to being one, with a set hunting-pattern and pre- and post-kill rituals, though she hasn't shown any preferred type of victim besides "people who are useful to her".
Swiss-Army Weapon: Includes a three-sectioned staff, dual flails, spear, and batons, complete with lightning.
Tsundere: She starts acting this way towards Artemis, of all people, being belligerent with him one moment and relaxed and (emotionally) intimate the next. She even gets noticably jealous when he has a quickie with another woman, and again when a drow woman brings up them having slept together a century ago, despite Artemis having no specific memory of her. All of this while Dahlia is technically in a relationship with Drizzt.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She's afraid of snakes.

Herzgo Alegni

Race: Tiefling

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Berserk Button: It is not the Wyvern's Walk. It is not the Walk of Barrabus. It is The Herzgo Alegni Bridge.
Evil Weapon: Came into possession of Charon's Claw when Bregan D'aerthe sold Artemis out to the Netherese.
The Fighting Narcissist: A ruthless warrior who's constantly ensuring that his cloak sets off his hair, his vest bares the right amount of chest, and who was distinctly unhappy that Shadovar magic dulled his previously-scarlet skin.
Glory Hound: Alegni is weirdly obsessive about the name of a particular bridge in Neverwinter, to the point of extreme violence. He was more than willing to wreck the place in retaliation for naming it after Entreri rather than himself.
High Collar of Doom: He's noted to wear a stiff, high collar. Almost stereotypically fitting for a devilish warlord.
Large and in Charge: A Shadovar warlord and briefly lord of Neverwinter. Also towers over just about everyone he encounters, in mass and height both.
A Man Is Always Eager: An extremely dark version, as Alegni is a notoriously prolific rapist.
Rape, Pillage, and Burn: His go-to tactic earlier in his career.
Villain with Good Publicity: In Neverwinter, anyway.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Alegni intentionally leaves his vest half-done in order to expose his well-muscled chest. It's mostly for intimidation rather than titilation, however.
Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: A hallmark of his interactions with Barrabus. His tortures of Barrabus for angering him are laced with mocking laments that Barrabus is "forcing" him to resort to such measures.

Sylora Salm

Race: Human

Class: Red Wizard

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Manipulative Bitch: Used her champion's love for her to convince him to undergo a procedure that turned him into a feral living weapon. She paid for it later.
Rasputinian Death: Was blasted nearly to death by a super-charged lightning shot, then healed almost completely, only to have her spine snapped in half moments later.

Effron the Twisted

Race: Tiefling

Class: Warlock

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Antagonistic Offspring: Barrabus thinks that Effron hates Alegni, but Effron has been loyal to Alegni thus far. His attitude towards Dahlia is more ambiguous.
Bastard Bastard: Implied to be the result of Alegni raping Dahlia.
Horned Humanoid: Ram-like horns that are said to be "like Algeni's".
Lean and Mean: To the point where he's practically skeletal.
The Load: Considered this, particularly by Barrabus, though Effron proves adept in combat magic.
The Magnificent: Though "the Twisted" isn't quite as impressive.
Mommy Issues: Seems focused on finding Dahlia, probably thanks to her attempt at Offing the Offspring.
Obviously Evil: Prominent horns? Mismatched eyes? Unnatural thinness highlighting a permanently-dislocated left shoulder whose withered arm hangs behind him? Not exactly standard hero material.
Older Than They Look: A minor example, in that while Effron is in his twenties, he's described as looking like "a young teenager". Possibly justified by the fact his mother is an elf.
Psychopathic Manchild: A powerful twenty-something warlock who likes annoying the Netherese, Barrabus in particular; 'clapping' with his useless arm when something amuses him; and asking brightly to borrow Charon's Claw, once he sees Alegni torture Barrabus with it, so he can 'play.' It may be just a facade.
Red Right Hand: More "practically-boneless left arm", but yes.
Squishy Wizard: Moreso due to his deformities.
Stepford Snarker: Implied to be hiding some 'great pain' beneath his mask.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Towards Alegni.
Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Alegni brought him along hoping that Effron would become a warrior, but that didn't pan out and now Alegni can't stand him. Effron is keenly aware of this.

Ambergris O'Maul

Race: Dwarf

Class: Cleric

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Carry a Big Stick: A mace is her weapon of choice.
Healing Hands: Being a good cleric, it comes with the territory.
Heel–Face Turn: Came to Drizzt's rescue (and informally joined the team for good) when she threw Glorfathel into the primordial pit, and came close to killing both Effron and another of her former allies.

Characters / The Legend of Drizzt

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Drizzt Do'Urden

Guenhwyvar

Zaknafein Do'Urden

Malice Do'Urden

Vierna Do'Urden

Dinin Do'Urden

Rizzen Do'Urden

Yvonnel Baenre

Jarlaxle Baenre

Clacker

Montolio Debrouchee

Roddy McGristle

Tephanis

Bruenor Battlehammer

Catti-brie Battlehammer

Regis Rumblebelly

Thibbledorf Pwent

Wulfgar, son of Beornegar

Artemis Entreri/Barrabus the Gray

Errtu

Heafstaag, King of the Tribe of the Elk

Cadderly Bonaduce

Danica Bonaduce

Ivan Bouldershoulder

Pikel Bouldershoulder

Ellifain Tuuserail/Le'lorinel Tel'e'brenequiette

Kimmuriel Oblodra

Khazid’hea/Cutter

Obould Many-Arrows

Innovindil

Athrogate

Rai-guy Bondalek

Dahlia Sin'felle

Herzgo Alegni

Sylora Salm

Effron the Twisted

Ambergris O'Maul

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