History YMMV / DungeonsAndDragons

!!!Bard
* GameBreaker: The exclusive spell Glibness — a ''+30'' to Bluff checks. Can turn the Bard into a LethalJokeCharacter by making any outrageous lie believable.
-->''"Acid is delicious and refreshing! Here, try some."''

!!!Druid
* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: If a Druid doesn't take Natural Spell at 6th level, it's probably been banned.
* GameBreaker: Considered an even worse one that the cleric. Not only do they have access to similar spell progression, but they gain [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Wild Shape]], which is more powerful than the entire Fighter class! In fact, in a setting where spellcasting was removed, Druids still remained mid to high tier due to this ability alone.
** As one forum poster summarized it: A brown bear in 3e deals on average about the same damage per round as an 8th-level Fighter. An 8th level Druid is at a minimum two brown bears (one from Wild Shape, one as a pet). Add in spells (which a Druid can cast while still being a bear, due to the aforementioned Natural Spell feat), and the bears can fly, have skin made of stone, throw lightning bolts, ''and'' summon even more bears. Thus "one guy gets a sword and armor, and [the other] is an aggressively hegemonizing ursine swarm".

[[folder:4th Edition Classes]]
!!!Battlemind
* TierInducedScrappy: The way ''Blurred Step'' and ''Mind Spike'' originally worked didn't make the battlemind a very good defender. This has been mostly relieved with the July 2010 errata.

!!!Warlord
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Well-liked for being an effective magic-less support class, including unique mechanics for bolstering, rearranging, and supporting allies by giving them more options ([[MemeticMutation "a Barbarian hits you with his axe, a Warlord hits you with his Barbarian"]]). Vanished in the transition from 4e to 5e, and one of the more common complaints of the new edition is that [[AlasPoorScrappy they miss it]].
[[/folder]]

** Numerous in all editions, although 3rd edition is particularly famous for this, due to the sheer volume of various mechanical goodies, provided by its supplements, as well as the generally high power level of the characters. Notable in 4th edition for having at least two discovered ''before the game was released''. Errata has fixed most of 4e's breaking stuff, but not all. Some examples:
** Clerics, Druids, and prestige classes related to either had the best of being both [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards linear warriors AND quadratic wizards]] … and aside from a decidedly lower-tier class selection, they were the only healers you could pick. If the Druid or Cleric stuck to healing, it didn't affect party balance. It was when the power gamer got his or her hands on them that it became a problem…
*** If they stick to healing, it breaks the game in the opposite direction. Attack and Damage scale up far faster the Armor Class and Hit Points in D&D. Playing a Cleric that is TheLoad isn't much better than playing one that that is the GameBreaker.
** Certain builds were able to incur ''trillions'' of damage in one attack, at range. One low-level spell with a specific combination of metamagic feats would raze anything and everything in a 10-mile radius to the ground. And then there's Pun-Pun, a level ''one'' kobold with inifinite stats who can reach infinitely far, including across the planes, and can cast any and every spell an infinite number of times per day. This kobold is more of a god (infinite divine ranks) than the actual gods.
** Essentials. Not in-and-of themselves, mind you, and not so much if you're in an all-Essentials group, but consider the following. Prior to the release of Essentials, basic attacks were just that, basic. They were usually the weakest hitting things for damage dealers, and didn't have all the cool effects other powers did. Thus, classes such as Bards, Warlords and the like which gave out basic attacks like candy would only marginally influence the tide of battle. Now enter the Essentials, which are based around improving or replacing basic attacks: [[{{BFS}} Slayers]] that wield 2-handed weapons that deal as much as 4 weapon damage on a single basic attack; [[DualWielding Scouts]] that get granted one melee attack and are suddenly making 3 or more of them; latter additions give us Vampires that effectively become unkillable as long as they keep hitting, and the Bladesinger that adds a burst of various magical damage each time he hits. Yikes.
** Erudites with the "Convert Spell to Power" alternate class feature. Regular Erudites can learn every psionic power there is and use them spontaneously for as long as their {{Mana Meter}}s hold out. Spell-to-Power Erudites can do that, too … plus they can also learn every arcane spell in the game and convert them to psionic powers, which means they can "cast" them using the same mana meter system ''and'' ignore both arcane spell failure and expensive material components. A Spell-to-Power Erudite who can learn 9th Level spells is basically a demigod.
** The Illithid Savant prestige class (although, honestly, if your DM lets you play as a mind flayer and also lets you take a prestige class clearly designed for NPC use, he deserves what he gets). Basically, the Illithid Savant is like [[{{Series/Heroes}} Sylar]], gaining the powers, special abilities, and even ''spellcasting'' of those whose brains he eats. (For ''extra'' cheese, eat the brain of a Sorcerer or Wizard who can cast Gate. Now if you want a particular ability, just summon up the creature who has it virtually at will.)
** Verging on a BoringButPractical version of GameBreaker and dependant on what kind of DM is running the game, diplomacy skills and tactics, while not flashy, are some of the easiest ways to deal with many problems involving [=NPCs=] and hostile characters. There are many, ''many'' stories on the net of players managing to successfully derail entire campaigns simply by having their characters talk the BigBad out of going through with their EvilPlan.

** The Beholder Mage and Illithid Savant {{Prestige Class}}es in 3.5 are intended to be used only by the DM to make monsters able to stand a chance against 4 [=PC=]s with their 4 times as many actions. Naturally, Munchkins figured out ways to get into them without taking the large amount of racial hit dice that Beholders and Mind Flayers have.
** in 4th edition clerics got a level 1 daily power called "Moment Of Glory", which gave the entire group resist 5 to all damage until the end of the fight, which was pretty much an automatic "we win" at low levels (as most creatures at level 1 could barely do enough damage to actually hurt anyone.) It got less ridiculous at high levels, (where most enemies did enough damage per hit to still pose a threat), but by then the cleric probably got new daily powers anyway.

** Monks also got this treatment. In 3.5, they were the weakest of the melee classes. Later editions turned them into deadly {{FragileSpeedster}}s that could do as much damage unarmed as most other melee classes could with weapons.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** 3.5 Monks are noted for getting many abilities that are either done better with spells or gotten much quicker by other classes (over 20 levels they get the ability to reduce fall damage; that's a first level spell for a caster or 2000 gold for everyone else) and they don't synergize at all (Monks have one ability that makes them move fast, and another that requires them to stand still). It gets to the point that when asked to optimize a Monk, most suggestions are to play another class. Truenamers also get a ''lot'' of flack for getting ''[[GameBreakingBug weaker as they level up]]'' as they need to meet an already hard check with a requirement that goes up by 2 each level, but you only get + 1 to make the check a level (Soulknife and CW Samurai also fall into this for similar reasons, but Monk gets the worst because it is "core" and part of the base game and truenamer is just that … JustForFun/{{egregious}}).
** Complete Warrior Samurai deserves special mention in that is the absolute lowest Tier. In the original outline of the various Tiers, CW Samurai is so low that it is actually ranked lower than Expert, an NPC-only class with versatile skill selection and ''no class features''. There is literally nothing that a Samurai can do that a Fighter (already considered one of the lowest tiered classes) cannot do better ''while simultaneously doing many other things better than the Samurai''. Its primary abilities are receiving the Improved and Greater Two-weapon fighting feats for free five levels after someone building their character around such a style could, being M.A.D. and having a weak crowd control ability via AreaOfEffect Intimidate skill check. The best suggestion for playing a CW Samurai given by many is to get enough levels so that you can trade 10 levels in and become an Ex-Samurai 1/Ronin 10. Or better yet, don't play a Samurai at all.
** Most of the Far-East themed classes from the ''Complete'' series were this way. Shugenja had ''incredibly'' limited spell selection to the point that the player chose very little of his character's core abilities. The fact that they were Divine casters (and thus able to cast in armor) was negated by their lack of armor proficiency and by having the worst Base Attack Bonus in the game (for comparison, most Divine casters get the medium Base Attack and medium or heavy armor proficiency). Wu Jen had weaker casting than wizards, and their "Spell Secret" class feature left them BlessedWithSuck as it gave them free metamagic feats at the cost of crippling RP restrictions (each one came with a "taboo" that shut off the character's spell casting for the day if violated. And the metamagic feats weren't even the good ones!), meaning it holds the dubious honor of being the only class where Prestiging out is the only way to ''avoid crippling drawbacks.''
*** To further explain how these classes ended up so sub-par (beyond LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards for the Samurai anyways): Early in 3.0's life time, the 3.0 version of ''Oriental Adventures'' was published, which was basically a combination of information for a standard Asian-themed campaign setting, as well as some stuff from the Legend of the Five Rings/Rokugan setting. As such, due to societal standards in said lands, some classes would either not exist or be banned outright from the setting, while others (such as fighters, barbarians, wizards, and sorcerers) often face various social stigmas for not being of the Noble caste classes (i.e. the Samurai or Shugenja class). This means that a class like Shugenja is meant to fill in for the role of both the Cleric and Wizard classes in such settings, while a Samurai is able to deal with other nobles more easily than a fighter. Unfortunately, when the Complete series came along, it just directly ported most of the OA magic user classes to a standard medieval Europe setting without any of the roleplay protections afforded to them, meaning the only reason to play them in such settings is either a self-imposed challenge or to roleplay as a "visitor from Far-Eastern lands". The spell casting classes pretty much received no changes to their design. In the Samurai's case, the ''Complete Warrior'' version took away most of the things that made the ''OA'' Samurai a decent or good choice with benefits such as better skill selection, higher social standing, and replacing [[IaijutsuPractitioner Iaijutsu]] [[SingleStrokeBattle Focus skill]] with a combination of Quick Draw and Improved Initiative that only works with certain weapons, or even the thematic roleplay of empowering their ancestral starting masterwork weapons (which could be done by reducing the gold cost for enchanting in exchange for time cost via meditation and prayers), or even the theme of different fighting schools based upon the various kingdoms. However, the class got the aforementioned issues instead.

!!!Cleric / Priest
* GameBreaker: So much so in 3.5 that [=CoDZilla=] (a portmanteau of "cleric or druid" and "Godzilla") used to be a subtrope page.

!!!Fighter
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Various Alternate Class Features both improved the fighter's overall power and gave it actual, unique skills. The two most beloved are the Dungeoncrasher and the [[TerrorHero Zhentarim Soldier]] — particularly since they can be used in tandem. Before those came along, a character with more than four levels in fighter was considered a {{Scrub}}; now, ninth-level fighters aren't uncommon.
* TierInducedScrappy: In 3.5, primarily. The preponderance of EmptyLevels, generic fluff, lack of real features, and [[DumbMuscle general incapability outside of combat]] give the Fighter something of a poor reputation among casual players and optimizers alike. One fan called it "a class two levels long for thugs."

[[folder:Other 3rd Edition Classes]]
!!!Archivist
* GameBreaker: Its spell mechanics are similar to a Wizard (a GameBreaker in its own right), and it has access to ''every'' divine spell (Clerics and Druids manage to be incredibly powerful with more limited spell lists). And the class has some useful abilities on the side. Every bit as potent as its fellow full casters. Not to mention, you can take Mystic Theurge (advances casting in two spellcasting classes) with both classes' spellcasting tied to Intelligence, the most useful mental ability score.

!!!Ardent
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Because of how well-balanced and unique it was, the Ardent was one of the few fondly-remembered things about ''Complete Psionic''.

!!!Binder
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Fandom find the other 2 classes in [=ToM=] to be awful, if not impossible to use. The Binder however is considered to hit the "Powerful enough to be fun to play, but weak enough to not be a GameBreaker", and easily one of the most supported non-core classes by homebrew (possibly the most outside of Tome of Battle).

!!!Crusader
* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Crusader is one of the three martial adepts, all of which have this going on. Fans love it for its combat effectiveness, its fun playstyle, its versatility, and being a melee class that can actually hold its own a little compared to casters. Detractors hate it for its CharlesAtlasSuperpower traits feeling "silly" or "anime", its effective obsoleting of prior classes (Paladin, in the Crusader's case), its adoption of a system reminiscent of casting, and its somewhat weak lore. It's undeniably better than its predecessor, but the division is whether that makes it a well-balanced class because the original was kind of garbage, or an overpowered class due to this being textbook PowerCreep.

!!!Divine Mind
* TierInducedScrappy: A very poorly designed class, even from a flavor standpoint.

!!!Erudite
* GameBreaker: It's one of the Big 6, and stands as one of two members of the Big 6 that can use both Arcane and Psionic abilities (the other being the Psionic-variant Artificer). The Erudite is nearly unmatched in flexibility, as you are able to spontaneously manifest any power you know (though there is a debate on how this is supposed to work due to poor wording).

!!!Healer
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Giving them access to Sanctified Spells from the Book of Exalted Deeds gives them a fair amount of additional options in combat other than healing (which is perfectly legal by the rules of Sanctified Spells, as Healers are all good-aligned spellcasters who [[VancianMagic prepare their spells]]).
* TierInducedScrappy: Due to its limited ability to do anything but heal, Healers tend to get a poor reputation.

!!!Lurk
* TierInducedScrappy: While it is a Rogue with psychic powers, the Psychic Rogue is considered better due to not having their sneak attack rely on psionic focus. This class is still pretty good, but most people will point you towards the Psychic Rogue.

!!!Psion / Psionicist
* GameBreaker: Sits up very high, almost one of the Big 6, but not quite. On the other hand it wins the award for being the most accessible class for committing human rights violations.

!!!Samurai

** The Samurai is like the Fighter, but with fewer options.
** The Lawful over Good trait was another [[SarcasmMode ''popular'' class feature]].
** A [=TWFing=] Ranger outclasses a Complete Warrior Samurai. At least the Oriental Adventures one was decent! When a class is designed around one of the weakest combat mechanics...

!!!Shadowcaster
* TierInducedScrappy: The early levels are murder on a Shadowcaster. They aren't too powerful late-game either, but they are still capable of contributing to the party.

!!!Soulborn
* TierInducedScrappy: It ends up being the worst of the three Meldshapers. It's even weaker than a Core Paladin!

!!!Soulknife
* TierInducedScrappy:
** Because you can't enchant a Mind Blade like you can a physical weapon, a Soulknife tends to do less damage than a fighter of equal level.
** Also, see Samurai, "less options". Having the Whirlwind Attack feat without the [[AwesomeYetImpractical ridiculous prerequisites]] is neat, though.

!!!Swordsage
* BaseBreakingCharacter: As a martial adept. It's also the most overtly pseudomagical of the three, so haters who know what they're talking about hate the Swordsage the most.

!!!Truenamer
* GameBreaker: This was the intention according to the GameBreaker page definition and it can at level 20, but instead it breaks the game by being poorly designed. This would be considered a TierInducedScrappy except it literally is the only class not to be rated on the tier system for 3.X due to the simple fact that its completely incompatible with the rest of D&D. For starters, as it gains levels, it becomes much harder to use its core mechanics. Only by min-maxing to the extreme can it be viable, and the turnaround point is level 20, at which point it can contribute to combat.
* ScrappyMechanic: The Law of Resistance, which makes it harder to use the same utterance in a day, and the Law of Sequence, which makes it impossible to use an utterance again while an earlier casting of it is still active. If you've jacked up Truespeak enough to not worry about the inherent GameBreakingBug, one or both of these is going to be a serious problem in your near future.

!!!Warblade
* BaseBreakingCharacter: For the same reasons as the Crusader.
* ReplacementScrappy: The warblade does everything the core fighter does better, and plenty of other things besides. This led some to complain that there was no reason to play a fighter anymore, outside of niche builds.

!!!Warlock
* AuthorsSavingThrow: Some believe the Hellfire Warlock prestige class was one of these; nearly all warlocks can qualify by its level, and the hellfire bonus puts to bed the most common criticism of a warlock — 9d6 damage at 20th level is piddley, but 15d6 in exchange for a tiny bit of Con damage can still pack a wallop.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:4th Edition Classes]]
!!!Battlemind
* TierInducedScrappy: The way ''Blurred Step'' and ''Mind Spike'' originally worked didn't make the battlemind a very good defender. This has been mostly relieved with the July 2010 errata.

!!!Warlord
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Well-liked for being an effective magic-less support class, including unique mechanics for bolstering, rearranging, and supporting allies by giving them more options ([[MemeticMutation "a Barbarian hits you with his axe, a Warlord hits you with his Barbarian"]]). Vanished in the transition from 4e to 5e, and one of the more common complaints of the new edition is that [[AlasPoorScrappy they miss it]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:5th Edition Classes]]
!!!Barbarian
* BrokenBase: The Storm Herald is a perfectly fine Primal Path with spectacular, unique abilties that makes good use of the Barbarian's bonus action, which generally won't see much use after a Barbarian has started its rage. The main contention with Storm Herald is story consistency vs gameplay consistency. Unlike the Totem Warrior, which doesn't need to stick entirely to the Bear to be a game-breaker (It's allowed to take the Bear ability to resist all damage and then choose any other animal for future subclass specific features), the Storm Herald is married to the type of storm it chooses from the start, meaning that if it chose to ''start'' with the Sea Storm Aura, well, that's what it's sticking with for its Storm Soul and Raging Storm. It ''can'' change which Storm it's connected to every level, but it cannot mix-and-match like the Totem Warrior can. The contention here is if it ''should'' be allowed to mix-and-match for the sake of gameplay, or if it only makes sense that a Barbarian tied to a sandstorm would continue to gain powers linked to the sandstorm. Some [=DMs=] are willing to break the rules for the former, while others prefer the logic of the latter.
* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
** Expect to hear "I would like to Rage" a lot if you're at a table with a barbarian in the party. Rage is pretty much the go-to move for barbarians, but they do it so well that there's really not much need to do anything else.
** The Totem Warrior, and specifically the Bear Totem, is unquestionably the most popular barbarian primal path, and for one reason: resistance versus all damage except psychic. In other words, if no enemy on the field possesses an attack with a fairly uncommon damage type, that Bear Totem barbarian enjoys effectively ''doubled HP'' when they Rage, rather than only versus weapon attacks. Also, as barbarians have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against nasty damage spells like the dreaded ''fireball'', they can quite easily get a ''cumulative'' chance to halve received damage again. It's commonly thought that the mass infusions of spells and monsters that deal psychic damage in ''Xanathar's Guide to Everything'' and ''Mordekainen's Tome of Foes'', respectively, are an attempt to "stealth nerf" it. Let's not forget that a ring of resistance can ''also'' fix that little psychic problem.
*** If it's not a Totem Warrior, the Barbarian is probably a Zealot. The Zealot is widely considered to be the second-best class behind the Totem Warrior, and it does a few things better than the Totem Warrior. The Zealot barbarian can be brought back from the dead without material components for revival spells, reroll failed saving throws, inspire the party with advantage rolls, and deals extra radiant or necrotic damage with each attack. Plus, the "Rage Beyond Death" ability means that the barbarian outright ''won't die'' if they hit zero HP, even if they fail three death saves, as long as they're raging. They're effectively the idea of "Man Literally Too Angry to Die" given form. The Totem Warrior still gets more useful abilities for out-of-combat roleplaying and is a better defensive powerhouse, even if the Zealot can deal more damage and be brought back to life more easily.
** Race wise, if the player is only using the base races for playing a Barbarian, expect it to be a Half-Orc. Half-Orc's gain a +2 in Strength and +1 in Constitution, the ability to get back up if reduced to zero HP, and the ability to add an additional weapon roll if they crit with a melee weapon. These all combined make a Half-Orc Barbarian hard to kill while giving them a high damage output potential, as with their starting modifiers, they can reach high Strength and Con modifiers with ease. Mountain Dwarves are a close second because of their +2 to Constitution and Strength, however they lack the extra combat bonuses' the Half-Orc gets, as they instead get resistance to poison and a history of stone-like skill instead. Outside of those two, the most common pick for a Barbarian is Goliath due to the race being tailor-made to be one.
* TierInducedScrappy:

** Until 3rd Edition, the description for the Cube of Frost Resistance said that inside the 10-foot cube it creates, "The temperature is always 65 degrees Fahrenheit," and that the cube only degrades if exposed to damaging cold. So, you could [[NotTheIntendedUse use it to walk through an unlimited amount of molten lava unharmed]].

[[folder:From the Film]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Marina: most of her humorous moments involve her trying to keep up her posh aristocratic personality and it falling flat in the world of the commoners, leaving her awkwardly bumbling around trying to keep up.
* AlasPoorScrappy: Snails may have been annoying, but his death was just ''brutal'', and it sends the formerly-unshakable Ridley into a HeroicBSOD just shy of the DespairEventHorizon.
* AnticlimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Profion is [[JustDesserts devoured]] by a dragon while gloating.]]
* AuthorsSavingThrow: Tried with the film's {{Novelization}}, which changed several aspects for the better. Snails becomes here the OnlySaneMan (the polar opposite of his role in the movie), the Dwarf's name is actually used, and the film's good deleted scenes are reinserted.
* AwardSnub: As [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9yYVyrEmxA highlighted by]] Webvideo/CinematicExcrement, the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward didn't nominate the movie for anything, even with some egregiously questionable acting between Thora Birch's DullSurprise and everyone else's HamAndCheese. (the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, on the other hand, nominated it a lot, though [[Film/BattlefieldEarth stiff competition]] led to no awards)
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The Main Suite, which provides both the opening AND the closing of the film, and a portion of the action music during Ridley's soirée through the "maze" in the Thieves' Guild. It is, sadly, the only really good music to come from the film.
* CompleteMonster: The wicked [[EvilSorcerer Damodar]] is [[Film/DungeonsAndDragons first]] the [[TheDragon right-hand-man]] of Profion, seeking to dominate all Izmir. Damodar kills those in his path to recover a map that leads to the staff of dragons, torturing the heroine Marina for its location as well. Seemingly slain, Damodar [[Film/DungeonsAndDragonsWrathOfTheDragonGod returns]] a century hence while killing more people to obtain the Dragon Orb to awaken the evil Faluzure, the DragonGod of Decay and Undeath. Killing and torturing even more people, Damodar requests the dragon burn all Izmir to massacre the people, all for petty revenge on their ancestors for his first and well-deserved end.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Xilus, leader of the Thieves' Guild, is fondly remembered despite appearing in only scene. This is most likely because Creator/RichardOBrien makes him just so entertaining to watch.
* EthnicScrappy: Snails' UncleTomfoolery endeared him to few.
* EvilIsCool: The villains are ''way'' more entertaining than the heroes, and nothing speaks this trope more than having TheDragon [[spoiler: kill TheScrappy]]. WebVideo/TheDistressedWatcher compared that scene to as if Darth Maul had killed Jar Jar Binks in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
* FashionVictimVillain: Damodar's blue lipstick, although it may have been due to a drug problem (the [[FantasticDrug in-setting drug]] Sannish — think morphine if it came from dogs instead of poppies — dyes the users lips blue). Either way, you see it and think,[[Series/{{Friends}} "Ichiban Lipstick for Men!"]]
** Sannish was first mentioned in the 3rd edition ''Book of Vile Darkness''-- which came out 2 years after the movie, suggesting that the book may have been trying to justify Damodar's look.
* FridgeLogic: The Empress attacks with a flock of Golden Dragons, AKA Fire monsters. The Mages counterattack with … fireballs and Red Dragons!? So, you're attacking a creature immune to fire with fire!? WTF!?
* HamAndCheese: Jeremy Irons revels in ChewingTheScenery here. As such, some people who have seen the film consider him the only good part of it.
** This film also contains Creator/RichardOBrien. This is notable for one very significant reason: he might be ''the most understated actor in the whole film''. Think about that for a minute.
* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/TomBaker's OneSceneWonder moment of the film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K5kDwVYbJs features]] him as Halvarth using magic to heal Ridley; said magic appears in the form of a golden glow near-identical to that of regeneration energy from the Revival Series of ''Series/DoctorWho'', which wouldn't start until five years after this movie's release. Considering that Baker is best known for playing [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor the fourth incarnation of the Doctor]] in the Classic Series of ''Doctor Who'' (which had already been cancelled for 11 years by the time this movie came out), this makes the similarity all the more hilarious.
* LoveToHate: Okay Profion's not really a good villain, but Creator/JeremyIrons' beautifully over the top performance makes him the most entertaining part of the film.
* {{Narm}}: Ridley's BigNo when [[spoiler:Damodar kills Snails]], complete with dropping to his knees and a SkywardScream. [[SoundtrackDissonance The triumphant-sounding music playing during that scene doesn't make it any better]], almost as if the movie was ''celebrating'' [[spoiler:the death of Snails]].
** ''Every word out of Damodar's mouth.''
*** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuTUgkhfXmU "Do not let them escape"]] scene is a good example. It looks like he's about to laugh and it's not helped by the fact [[WhatAnIdiot that he's really slowly telling them to hurry]].
*** Not to mention his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVjE-WdGm2Q&feature=related utterly ridiculous facial expressions]] when Profion puts that worm … thing in his brain.
*** "Just like you thieves. [[CaptainObvious Always taking things that don't belong to you]]."
** Again, the [[FashionVictimVillain bright blue]] ''[[WTHCostumingDepartment lipstick]]''. Combine that with Damodar's bald head, heavily shadowed eyebrows, and his actor's [[ColdHam preeningly gloating facial expressions]], and he comes across less like a brutish evil warrior and more like a drag queen who can't find his wig.
** That noise that the dwarf makes after his helmet is shot off. It's a high-pitched "Nyur! Nyur!" sort of sound. Some think it was a mating call.
** Similarily, Marina screaming "I'M NOT!" Sounds like a goose honking.
** Damodar [[MindRape mind-raping]] Marina with the mind worm... thing, coming out of his ears.
** As WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic puts it, "Profion" sounds like a name for a heartburn medication.
** In a movie filled with much scenery chewing, Creator/ThoraBirch stands out as the worst performance by putting in as little effort as humanly possible.
*** Of particular note is the scene where Empress Savina verbally spares with Profion. Creator/JeremyIrons hamming it up like there's no tomorrow contrasting with Birch showing not an ounce of emotion is a sight to behold.
* NightmareFuel: Profion is normally such an over-the-top ham that it's pretty much impossible to take him seriously, but when Damodar reports back to him after losing the scroll to Marina, he lapses into [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness icy, soft-spoken, affable,]] ''[[TranquilFury terrifying]]'' anger. He curses Damodar with a parasite that will slowly kill him from the inside-out, watches impassively as Damodar writhes in agony, and warns him that he will not tolerate another failure.
-->'''Damodar:''' It was...a mistake. It will not happen again.
-->'''Profion:''' Now there you are right. ''And here's why...''
* OneSceneWonder: Creator/TomBaker and Creator/RichardOBrien both steal the film in what little screentime they have.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: After spending his screen-time being goofy, annoying and cowardly, Snails [[CowardlyLion shows his true colors]] when he's cornered by Damodar. Despite looking like he's about to piss himself the whole time, he slowly turns to face the evil Mage, steps forward to meet him, pulls a knife out of his boot and [[BringIt takes a fighting stance.]] Even when Damodar beats him to a pulp and demands the Dragon's Eye, Snails tells him [[DefiantToTheEnd where to stick it]] and charges him again. Then, when Ridley is about to hand over the Dragon's Eye in hopes of saving him, Snails pulls the map out, grins, and tosses it to Ridley, sealing his fate so that his friend can continue his quest. Whether this absolved him entirely is a matter of debate, but Snails undeniably went out with honor, proving himself a brave hero deep down.
* SoBadItsGood: Much of the movie is hilarious in its cheesiness, hamminess and dated effects (and genuinely hilarious on rare occasions), unless you're a {{serious|Business}} ''D&D'' fan, in which case it's like being eaten feet first by rats.
* TheScrappy: Snails is quite hated. It's rather telling that everyone else in the film gets more laughs than [[PluckyComicRelief the intended comic relief]], even if those laughs are unintentional. His stereotypical and obnoxious nature feels horribly out of place and even more annoying, with Marlon Wayans' performance doing little to alleviate this. While some people felt [[spoiler: his final scene]] [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeems him a bit]], [[AlasPoorScrappy or at least makes him pitiable]], [[TakeThatScrappy others celebrated him]] [[spoiler: exiting the film]].
* SoBadItWasBetter: The film was an absolute train wreck, but it also had a lot of heart. It was the pet project and a true labor of love for Courtney Solomon and it shows with some truly impactful moments and endearingly bad performances. If anything, the film's problems mostly come down to Solomon trying way too hard to make the best movie possible when it was clearly beyond his means. Comparatively, the sequel ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsWrathOfTheDragonGod'' was infinitely more competent but often considered SoOkayItsAverage. The word there is "often" of course - [[BrokenBase there are some fans who prefer the sequel and would rather this movie didn't even exist]].
* TakeThatScrappy: Snails getting brutally beaten [[spoiler:to death by Damodar]] scored the latter points by those who hated Snails. However, note AlasPoorScrappy. [[spoiler: Snails's]] agonized screams as Damodar [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown practically tortures him to an inch of his life]] are ''way'' too real...
* TearJerker: Whatever your opinion on Snails was, Ridley's anguished BigNo at his death and subsequent HeroicBSOD at the Elf village was still sobering, especially when he reveals he blames himself for getting them involved, and when Marina tries to console him and [[InnocentlyInsensitive ends up making him feel even worse.]]
-->'''Marina:''' I'm sorry about Snails.
-->'''Ridley:''' I'm sure you are.
-->'''Marina:''' He died for a good cause.
-->'''Ridley:''' ''[[TranquilFury A good cause?]]'' What cause is that? The Empress against Profion? ''Politics.'' I'm through with all that. I'm not going to die over some power struggle...between a couple of greedy Mages.
-->'''Marina:''' No, you're wrong-
-->'''Ridley:''' No, ''you're'' wrong! '''''Mage!''''' You never had to live on the other side. You know what? Snails was right. [[DespairEventHorizon There is nothing we can do to change it]]...[[ItsAllMyFault and if I had listened to him, he would still be alive.]]
** Again at the end, when Ridley is giving last rites to his friend. He tries to brag about how he finally got the recognition he wanted...and nearly breaks down in tears.
-->'''Ridley:''' Well, I'd...I'd better get going. Don't want to be late for my own knighting ceremony. '[[IronicEcho Ridley the Savior]]', heheh...heh...heh...''I'm gonna miss you, pal.''
* TookTheBadFilmSeriously:
** Creator/ThoraBirch, unlike Creator/JeremyIrons, who just [[HamAndCheese had fun going over-the-top with his role]].
** Also Creator/TomBaker. Though he is immune to this trope, [[AdamWesting in the same way]] Creator/WilliamShatner is.
* WTHCostumingDepartment: The costume design is cheap and shoddy all around, but bonus points go to Damodar's entire look. ''Bright blue lipstick'' in a fantasy setting would be tacky even on a female character, putting it on the villain's [[TheDragon burly main henchman]] is a whole separate level of laughable.
* VindicatedByHistory: Well...''kind of''. A growing trend among watchers is to take the movie as the visualization of a session of the tabletop game, the argument being that 'your standard D&D game contains tons of plot holes, cheesy acting and a tenuously-coherent story'. Once you imagine the movie taking place in the heads of a bunch of schoolkids playing D&D, the DM playing Profion and hamming it up and [[RuleOfFun everyone just goofing around and having fun,]] it becomes easier to swallow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:From the Animated Series]]
* AnimationAgeGhetto: The writers were obviously pushing the envelope as far as they could, but ExecutiveMeddling still shows.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Uni: either you like her because she's [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cute]] or hate her due to her annoying voice.
* EpilepticTrees: So many theories behind the reason why the series was canceled … possibly because the actual reason (ratings were dropping and the show was quite expensive) is disappointingly ordinary.
* FanPreferredCouple:
** A [[WildMassGuessing surprising]] number of fans have a rather [[DieForOurShip drastic view]] of Kosar for standing between Diana and her "[[SlapSlapKiss true love]]," Eric. That almost no evidence exists to support this ship does not deter them. And it's also noteworthy that [[spoiler: even when Kosar and Diana liked each other … [[StarCrossedLovers they didn't stay together]].]]
** Many fans feel that Hank and Sheila should be together. The series offers a few moments where they appear close, in addition to Sheila's extreme reaction to Hank's apparent betrayal in ''The Traitor" (hers is easily the strongest reaction in the group, though that's likely because she also fears for her brother's safety), and her reaction to his disappearence and return in "The Winds of Darkness." Mark Evanier's series bible says that Sheila "admires Hank a lot" and that the two might one day be "an item" if circumstances were to allow it. The series bible also says Presto has a crush on Sheila, mostly because she's consistently nice to him, but there's no actual evidence for this in the show.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: This series is ''obscenely'' popular in Brazil. TV Globo aired reruns on their Monday-to-Friday morning block even 25 to 30 years after its debut.
** It's so popular that the car company Renault [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHoG3RS4QL8 created a live-action commercial using the animated series' characters]], and gave it the full cinematic treatment. Fans cheered it as an incredibly faithful rendition [[spoiler:and especially loved the fact that the commercial ended with the kids (and Uni) making it home]].
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The impressions some fundamentalist Christians tend to have of ''D&D'' and [[Series/{{Bibleman}} what Hank's voice actor went on to do]] a few years down the road.
** Also the fact that Sheila's voice actress had had a role on ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'', which in one episode actually said it was OK to steal and destroy someone else's D&D gear since D&D was immoral.
** The evil mastermind that is behind everything is a god known as [[VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment The Nameless One]].
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: During its original run, the show was considered the most violent children's cartoon on television. Nowadays, even preschool-level shows tend to have more action than this show ever had.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Eric is pretty much always portrayed as the stupid character, and he tends to have mishaps that serve as comic relief. As a result, it seems the audience isn't meant to take his comments seriously. Yet he usually has a good point, e.g. when he's complaining about how it makes no sense for the Dungeon Master to be speaking in useless riddles like that.
** Mark Evanier, writer of the series bible, famously disliked Eric's character, and hated the circumstances --pressure to create a contrarian who was always proven wrong, in an attempt to promote "getting along"--that required his inclusion. As such, while Eric's complaints over whether and how the gang approached danger were ignored by the group--the group ''has'' to engage in Dungeon Master's missions if they're to have any chance of getting home, after all--and might generally be dismissed as the results of Eric's fractious nature, the show's writers were careful to to give him a point every now and then, usually in regards to interpreting the Dungeon Master's pronouncements.
* {{Woolseyism}}: When Bobby questions the [[WiseTree Know Tree]], the Brazilian dub replaces a reference to an American sporting event with a reference to a comparable Brazilian event. (In both cases it goes on to say the correct answer, preceded by "However, if you mean <competition name> in ''your world...''")
-->'''US original:'''
--->'''Bobby:''' OK, who won the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_World_Series '81]] [[{{UsefulNotes/Baseball}} World Series?]]
--->'''Know Tree:''' Simple, the Grey Wood Elves.
-->'''Brazilian dub:'''
--->'''Bobby:''' All right, who won the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Campeonato_Brasileiro_Série_A '84]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campeonato_Brasileiro_Série_A Golden Cup?]]
--->'''Know Tree:''' Easy, the Grey Forest Elves.
[[/folder]]

* LGBTFanbase: 5th edition saw a surge in popularity for the entire game, which included a disproportionately large amount of LGBT fans. A possible reason is that the surge in popularity was caused by podcasts like ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' and ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'', both of which are very LGBT friendly. Tieflings in particular are popular among gay and {{Transgender}} fans.

** Pact of the Fiend is considered the weakest of the starting lineup for Warlock Patrons. On paper the subclass focuses on giving you more tools to survive, such as getting temporary HP when you defeat an enemy, ability to add a 1d10 to any saving throw or check, and the ability to chose a element and become resistant to it until you want to change it. The issue is that it doesn't give you anything truly powerful, as each of the abilities mentioned are weak abilities that don't scale well, or have such limited use that by later on, they become useless (such as the resistance being cancelled if hit by magic weapons or silvered weapons). The last ability you get, Hurl Through Hell, is certainly strong since once you hit an enemy you can banish them to the Lower Planes until your next turn and deals a pretty good amount of damage (10d10 psychic damage, something very few enemies can NoSell), it can only be used once until you take a long rest, and is the only truly powerful ability one would get out of it. Compared to the Pact of the Archfey and Great Old Ones, which gives various abilities that can greatly help a Warlock out by incapacitate their foes, confuse them, or provides them means of surviving better, the only thing the Fiend offers of value are some fairly solid offensive spells, and a powerful late game skill.

* CreatorsPet: Kender are depicted as not just a good race, but ''the'' good race. They are presented as curious, playful ''[[CuteCrittersActChildlike children]]'' with [[WouldHurtAChild all the associated moral compunctions to those who harm them]]. It's said that only the AlwaysChaoticEvil races hate the kender while the good races say that "the world would lose something precious if the kender were ever to leave it". This is the given description for a race that casually rifles through other people's stuff ([[TooDumbToLive often sabotaging their own allies by "borrowing" equipment]]), [[{{Hypocrite}} gets offended when people accuse them of being thieves]], and [[ConsummateLiar has a strange talent for lying]]. Yet the books say this behavior is supposed to be endearing. One problem with them is that novelists like kender because they add comic relief and the ability to instigate plot by doing something reckless. The other characters love or at least tolerate the kender because the writers say they do. Conversely, in a tabletop game, having [[{{Griefer}} a player who recklessly starts conflicts and/or steals from other players]] just creates friction, along with causing certain world-building issues -- how did this race survive more than one generation, given how much trouble they cause? The Creator's Pet issue is just the cherry on top, essentially telling players that if they object to these annoyances, they are bad people, therefore creating a shield for toxic players to misbehave while insisting they are only playing their characters "as intended".

* TheScrappy: No race in the entire ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' franchise has inspired such sheer loathing among the playerbase as [[PluckyComicRelief kender]] from the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' setting. Their negative reputation comes from their intrinsic attraction to {{griefer}}s. In theory, the kender are supposed to be childlike and innocent -- their racial [[PlanetOfHats hat]], being impulsive thieves, is supposed to be the result of a lack of understanding of boundaries and [[CuriousAsAMonkey limitless curiosity]] rather than greed or malice. In practice, kender attract the sorts of people who love stealing party members' stuff for the explicit purpose of disrupting the game and screwing with other players by badgering them with annoying questions while hiding behind "roleplaying" as an excuse, all with the material's implicit sanction. And while the kender are childlike and innocent, their players know ''exactly'' what they're doing. Many [=DMs=] take a dim view of anyone wanting to play a kender, and many players wish that the race as a whole would just ''go away''. It's widely thought that the reason the kender have never been released in playable form (despite allegedly being in playtesting at one time) is because the designers are wise enough to know it would be extremely negatively received.

* CreatorsPet: Kender are depicted in the sourcebook as not just a good race but ''the'' good race; they are presented as curious, playful ''[[CuteCrittersActChildlike children]]'' with [[WouldHurtAChild all the associated moral compunctions to those who harm or wrong them]]. It's said that only the AlwaysChaoticEvil races hate the Kender while the wisest among the good races see them as the pinnacle of the world's innocence, and that "the world would lose something precious if the kender were ever to leave it". This is the given description for a race of people who casually rifle through other people's pockets, bags and homes out of boredom ([[TooDumbToLive often sabotaging their own allies by "borrowing" equipment they need to operate effectively]]) and [[{{Hypocrite}} then getting offended and upset when people accuse them of being thieves]]. Kender are also known for their ConsummateLiar tendencies. Yet the books are adamant that this behavior is supposed to be ''endearing''.
** One problem with them, as implied down below under UnpopularPopularCharacter, is that the novelists like them because they add comic relief and the ability to instigate plot by suddenly doing something reckless to get things moving. They can also provide the ConflictBall, where conflict is the heart of the story. Finally, the other characters love or at least tolerate the Kender because the writers say they do. Conversely, in a Table-top game, having [[{{Griefer}} a player who just recklessly starts conflicts, badgers others with questions, and/or steals from the other players]] just creates friction at the table (with no author requiring the other characters to tolerate the Kender), along with causing certain world-building issues (how did this race survive more than one generation, and how do any settlements not have Kill or Imprison on sight orders?). The Creator's Pet issue is just the cherry on top, essentially telling players that if they actively object to these annoyances, they are bad people, and therefore creating a shield for toxic players to misbehave while insisting they are only playing their characters as intended.

* TierInducedScrappy: Way of the Four Elements is generally seen as the worst subclass in all of Fifth Edition. The goal of the Four Elements is to give players abilities that [[JackOfAllStats allow them to adapt to any situation, even if they aren't quite as good as dedicated classes]]. The problem is just how harshly this cuts into the Monk's natural resource pool. Unlike the Sorcerer, who only uses its Sorcery on the abilities it gets in its base class, the Monk has useful features that make use of its Ki both in its base form and in the various subclasses it uses. This isn't normally a problem for most Monk subclasses, where they tend to only need to use a few of the Ki-sapping features a subclass offers within a given situation, and usually at a relatively cheap cost. The Four Elements abilities ''all'' use Ki, and most of the beneficial ones utterly price-gouge the Monk. While four Ki points have the potential to kill someone instantly or do incredible damage as an Open Hand Monk, a Four Elements Monk only gets one use of Fireball. The most tragic aspect of this, however, is Water Whip. When first introduced, Water Whip was a bonus action attack a Monk could use before their own natural two attacks, did decent damage, pulled an enemy closer, and potentially knocked them prone, allowing the Monk to make full use of their hit-and-run playstyle. When the errata came around changing Water Whip's cost to a full action, the subclass lost any remaining luster; making Water Whip an action defeats the entire purpose of using it, since the Monk can't capitalize on the effects of the Whip itself, and 3d10 + Wisdom Mod is simply not that great for the cost of a full action. All of this makes the Way of the Four Elements Monk into [[MasterOfNone a class that can do anything but can't do any of it well, and is outdone in every area by another class or subclass]].

** It is usually advised that anyone who plans to play a Sorcerer should multiclass to one of the other Charisma-focused classes in order to bump up their strength, as the Sorcerer's limited abilities need help in order to offset their flaws. In particular, Warlock is often the go-to class because of the power they get from the class's abilities, including the ability to get spells back on a short rest. When combined with the Sorcerer's ability to convert spells into Sorcery Points, this essentially allows them to convert Warlock spells into Sorcerer Points, then convert those Sorcery Points into Sorcerer spells, aiding them in get around the fact that Sorcerers need a long rest to regain both resources (outside of their capstone ability, but this method will help them out more in the longrun).

** The [[https://media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downloads/UA-ClassFeatures.pdf Unearthed Arcana revisions]] released for the Sorcerer have been very well received due to giving the class some needed buffs. To clarify; the two largest changes they received were Spell Versatility (during a long, rest they can change a spell to a different one of the same level) and three more ways to use their Sorcery Points (give themselves advantage on a check, make a weapon magical, and give themselves temporary HP based on amount spent). Both of those additions have made the class more viable since they now can swap out useless spells for better ones, as well as use their Sorcery Points for more useful situations then simply attacking. While the class is still regarded as deeply flawed, it's considered a step in the right direction. However, Sorcerers did not keep Spell Versatility once ''Tasha's Cauldron to Everything'' came out with alternative class features, something that some Sorcerer fans have chosen to ignore and include anyway because of how much it fixes some of the core issues they have.

[[folder:1st Through 3rd Edition Classes]]

* CreatorsPet: One accusation the class gets is that it's favored heavily by the developers to the point of absurdity compared to the other magic-focused classes. In almost every major update or playtest material, the wizard gets either a bunch of new spells, or gets a new subclass, despite already having a pretty good starting set of subclasses. To put into perspective how many subclasses they have, most classes have between seven or nine official subclasses as of 2021. The wizard has ''thirteen'', the second highest number of officially published subclasses after the Cleric, and unlike the Cleric which has domain's that offer unique gameplay advantages and play styles, the Wizard's all make minor adjustments with only one or two unique abilities. This seems to be because unlike the sorcerer, druid, and warlock, wizards are easy to make new abilities for since they are so basic in playstyle, but fans of the other classes are often vocal about their dislike of the favoritism. Part of the hate is ''also'' that said subclasses are often comically overpowered, janky or poorly designed, or both, and sorcerer fans in particular are extremely resentful of many poorly-received attempts to create a "metamagic wizard" in an edition where the sorcerer class is already seen as flawed and troubled and metamagic is one of their very small number of unique tricks. At the very least, when it's the only class in the game with ''multiple'' subclass options that can turn all damage they deal into neigh-irresistible [[NonElemental force damage]], there's ''something'' there.

* TierInducedScrappy: If the Ranger is the worst ''Class'' in 5e, then the Way of the Four Elements is the worst ''subclass.'' The goal of the Four Elements is to give players a lot of fun abilities that allows them to adapt to any situation, like a Cleric or a Wizard. The problem with this is just how harshly this cuts into the Monk's natural resource pool. Unlike the Sorcerer, who only uses its Sorcery on the abilities it gets in its base class, the Monk has useful features that make use of its Ki both in its base form and in the various subclasses it uses. This isn't normally a problem for most Monk subclasses, where they tend to only need to use a few of the Ki-sapping features a subclass offers (Such as the Open Hand actually comboing with Flurry of Blows to give Flurry of Blows neat extra features, or asking for four Ki points to get a chance to ''kill someone instantly'', or the Shadow Monk spending 2 Ki points to cast ''Pass Without Trace,'' something they won't have to do all the time if they just make use of their Ki-free features and their naturally high stealth) within a given situation, and usually at a relatively cheap resource cost. The Four Elements abilities, however, ''all'' use Ki, and most of the beneficial ones utterly price-gouge the Monk. For example, those 4 Ki points that have the potential to kill someone instantly or do incredible damage as an Open Hand Monk is apparently equal to a single use of ''Fireball'' for the Elemental Monk, and it's actually ''more'' expensive to cast ''Fire Wall.'' The most tragic aspect of this, however, is Water Whip. When first introduced, the Way of the Four Elements was considered sub-par at best, though Water Whip was considered one shining reason to use it - a bonus action attack a Monk could use before their own natural two attacks that did decent damage, pulled an enemy closer, and potentially knocked them prone, allowing the Monk to make full use of their hit-and-run playstyle to bully a prone target. It only cost 2 Ki points, which still meant the Monk guzzled Ki points if used on a round-by-round basis, but this was considered an acceptable cost. When the errata came around declaring that Water Whip was an ''action,'' the subclass lost any remaining luster; making it an action defeats the entire purpose of using it, since the Monk can't capitalize on the effects of the Whip itself, and 3d10 + Wisdom Mod is simply not that great for the cost of a full action.

** As WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic puts it, "Profion" sounds like a a name for a heartburn medication.

* TheScrappy: Snails is quite hated. It's rather telling that everyone else in the film gets more laughs than [[PluckyComicRelief the intended comic relief]], even if those laughs are unintentional. He stereotypical and obnoxious nature feels horribly out of place and even more annoying, with Marlon Wayans' performance doing little to alleviate this. While some people felt [[spoiler: his final scene]] [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeems him a bit]], [[AlasPoorScrappy or at least makes him pitiable]], [[TakeThatScrappy others celebrated him]] [[spoiler: exiting the film]].

-->'''Ridley:''' No, ''you're'' wrong! '''''Mage!''''' You never had to live on the other side. You know what? Snails was right. [[DespairEventHorizon There is nothing we can do to change it]]...[[ItsAllMyFault and if I had listened to him,he would still be alive.]]

* TheScrappy: [[BlackBestFriend Snails]] is quite hated. It's rather telling that everyone else in the film gets more laughs than [[PluckyComicRelief the intended comic relief]], even if those laughs are unintentional. He stereotypical and obnoxious nature feels horribly out of place and even more annoying, with Marlon Wayans' performance doing little to alleviate this. While some people felt [[spoiler: his final scene]] [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeems him a bit]], [[AlasPoorScrappy or at least makes him pitiable]], [[TakeThatScrappy others celebrated him]] [[spoiler: exiting the film]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything introduced a new Eldritch Invocation, Investment of the Chain Master, that addressed many of the complaints with Pact of the Chain. The Warlock's familiar only takes a bonus action to command to attack rather the Warlock's entire action, the damage it deals is considered magical (bypassing the resistance to non-magic piercing/bludgeoning/slashing damage that most enemies past early game have), any save that it forces an opponent to make, such as a puesdodragon's poisoned stinger tail or quasit's scare ability, use the Warlock's own spell save DC rather than the (low) DC that the familiar has by default, and the Warlock can use their reaction to grant their familiar resistance to damage when it's injured to help compensate for how fragile the familiar is.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The [[https://media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downloads/UA-ClassFeatures.pdf Unearthed Arcana revisions]] released for the Sorcerer have been very well received due to giving the class some needed buffs. To clarify; the largest changes they received were Spell Versatility (during a long rest they can change a spell to a different one of the same level), and received three more ways to use their Sorcery Points (give themselves advantage on a check, make a weapon Magical, and give themselves temporary hit-points based on amount spent). The two additions have made the class more useful since they now can swap out useless spells for better ones, and can use their Sorcery Points for more useful situations then simply attacking. While the class is still regarded as deeply flawed, it's considered a step in the right direction. However, Sorcerers did not keep Spell Versatility once Tasha's Cauldron came out with alternative class features, something that some Sorcerer fans have chosen to ignore and include anyway because of how much it fixes some of the core issues they have.
** The Origins introduced in ''Tasha's Guide to Everything'' address one of the biggest complaints regarding the Sorcerer - versatility. Both Clockwork Soul and Aberrant Mind come with ten spells (and, in Abberant Mind's case, a cantrip) that are added at the thresholds for each spell level up to fifth, like what Cleric Domains get. And, in a departure from any other features like this, ''the Sorcerer can retrain these spells, even outside the Sorcerer class.'' The only caveats are the schools of magic, the level of the spell, and what classes the spells can be drawn from, but that's still a lot of variety to work with. Now, Sorcerers, beings almost literally made of magic, can have more known spells than Bards. The features for each subclass are also incredibly diverse and unique, such as eliminating a creature's advantage to saving throws (something most mages groan about, given how every Fiend has magic resistance), creative body modifications, and a way to immediately end spell effects.

** It's so popular that the car company Renault [[https://youtu.be/kC9-bfsNne8 created a live-action commercial using the animated series' characters]], and gave it the full cinematic treatment. Fans cheered it as an incredibly faithful rendition [[spoiler:and especially loved the fact that the commercial ended with the kids (and Uni) making it home]].

* AngstWhatAngst: Averted in most of the Michael Reaves-written episodes, most notably "The Dragon's Graveyard".

* FanPreferredCouple: A [[WildMassGuessing surprising]] number of fans have a rather [[DieForOurShip drastic view]] of Kosar for standing between Diana and her "[[SlapSlapKiss true love]]," Eric. That almost no evidence exists to support this ship does not deter them. And it's also noteworthy that [[spoiler: even when Kosar and Diana liked each other … [[StarCrossedLovers they didn't stay together]].]]

* HilariousInHindsight: The impressions some fundamentalist Christians tend to have of ''D&D'' and [[Series/{{Bibleman}} what Hank's voice actor went on to do]] a few years down the road.

** Most Bards end up going the route of College of Lore for the simple fact you can pick two spells from ''any'' class at level six, which allows Bards to use some of the best spells in the game such as Counterspell or Mass Healing Word, and not have to worry about it not synergizing with their stats since it counts as a Bard spell. You also gain three additional proficiencies choosing it, meaning you can have around ''eight'' skills to be good in before feats are thrown in. Cutting Words is also considered a decent use of your Bardic Inspirations since it can help reduce the chances of someone being hurt.

** As far as playable races go, [[BirdPeople Kenku]] are one of the more polarizing ones released. This is because of their [[TheSpeechless inability to speak normally]], instead they mimic sounds in order to communicate. A divide naturally sprung up over this aspect: a good roleplayer can easily make a fun and interesting character with this handicap, while a less confidant roleplayer will likely be stuck feeling frustrated they can't speak or communicate their thoughts clearly. This also presents a major issue in the form of a {{Griefer}}; a player can quickly use a Kenku as an excuse to be annoying to the other players or disrupt the session with random noises or phrases taken out of context. Due to this, there is a divide in Kenku being seen as a difficult but rewarding race to play, or being an annoying and gimmicky race that is too difficult to handle.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: During its original, run the show was considered the most violent children's cartoon on television. Nowadays even preschool level shows tend to have more action than this show ever had.

** Mark Evanier, writer of the series bible, famously disliked Eric's character, and hated the circumstances -pressure to create a contrarian who was always proven wrong, in an attempt to promote "getting along"--that required his inclusion. As such, while Eric's complaints over whether and how the gang approached danger were ignored by the group--the group ''has'' to engage in Dungeon Master's missions if they're to have any chance of getting home, after all--and might generally be dismissed as the results of Eric's fractious nature, the show's writers were careful to to give him a point evey now and then, usually in regards to interpreting Dungeon Master's pronouncements.

** Many fans feel that Hank and Shiela should be together. The series offers a few moments where they appear close, in addition to Shiela's extreme reaction to Hank's apparent betrayal in ''The Traitor" (hers is easily the strongest reaction in the group, though that's likely because she also fears for her brother's safety), and her reaction to his disappearence and return in "The Winds of Darkness." Mark Evanier's series bible says that Sheila "admires Hank a lot" and that the two might one day be "an item" if circumstances were to allow it. The series bible also says Presto has a crush on Shiela, mostly because she's consistently nice to him, but there's no actual evidence on this in the show.

** It's so popular that the car company Renault [[https://youtu.be/kC9-bfsNne8 created a live-action commercial using the animated series characters]], and gave it the full cinematic treatment. Fans cheered it as an incredibly faithful rendition [[spoiler:and especially loved the fact that the commercial ended with the kids (and Uni) making it home]].

*** To further explanation a bit how these classes ended up so sub-par (beyond LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards for the Samurai anyways): Early in 3.0's life time, the 3.0 version of ''Oriental Adventures'' was published, which was basically a combination of information for a standard Asian themed campaign setting, as well as some stuff from Legend of the Five Rings/Rokugan setting. As such, due to societal standards in such lands, some classes would either not exist or be banned outright from the setting, while others (such as fighters, barbarians, wizards, and sorcerers) often face various social stigmas for not being of the Noble caste classes (i.e. the Samurai or Shugenja class). This means that a class like Shugenja is meant to fill in for the role of both the Cleric and Wizard classes in such settings, while a Samurai is able to deal with other nobles more easily than a fighter. Unfortunately, when the Complete series came along, it just directly ported most of the OA magic user classes to a standard medieval Europe setting without any of the roleplay protections afforded to them, meaning the only reason to play them in such settings is either a self-imposed challenge or to roleplay as a "visitor from Far-Eastern lands". The spell casting classes pretty much received no changes to their design. In the Samurai's case, the ''Complete Warrior'' version took away most of the things that made the ''OA'' Samurai a decent or good choice with benefits such as better skill selection, higher social standing, and replacing [[IaijutsuPractitioner Iaijutsu]] [[SingleStrokeBattle Focus skill]] with a combination of Quick Draw and Improved Initiative that only works with certain weapons, or even the thematic roleplay of empowering their ancestral starting masterwork weapons (which could be done by reducing the gold cost for enchanting in exchange for time cost via meditation and prayers), or even the theme of different fighting schools based upon the various kingdoms. However, the class got the aforementioned issues instead.

*** To further explanation a bit how these classes ended up so sub-par (beyond LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards for the Samurai anyways): Early in 3.0's life time, the 3.0 version of ''Oriental Adventures'' was published, which was basically a combination of information for a standard Asian themed campaign setting, as well as some stuff from Legend of the Five Rings/Rokugan setting. As such, due to societal standards in such lands, some classes would not exist/banned outright from the setting, while others (such as fighters, barbarians, wizards, and sorcerers) often face various social stigmas for not being of the Noble caste classes (i.e. the Samurai or Shugenja class). This means that a class like Shugenja, is meant to fill in for the role both the cleric, and Wizard class in such settings, while a Samurai, is able to deal with other nobles more easily than a fighter. Unfortunately, when the Complete series came along, it just directly ported most of the OA magic user classes in a standard medieval Europe setting, without any of the roleplay protections afforded to them, meaning the only reason to play them in such settings is either a self-imposed challenge or to roleplay as a "visitor from Far-Eastern lands". The spell casting classes pretty much received no changes to the design. In the Samurai's case, the ''Complete Warrior'' version took away most of the things that made ''OA'' Samurai a decent or good choice, such as better skill selection, higher social standing, and replacing [[IaijutsuPractitioner Iaijutsu]] [[SingleStrokeBattle Focus skill]] instead as a combination Quick Draw and Improved Initiative ability that only works with certain weapons, or even the thematic roleplay of empowering their ancestral starting masterwork weapons (which could be done so by reducing the gold cost for enchanting, in exchange for time cost via meditation and prayers), or even the theme of different fighting schools based upon the various kingdoms. Instead, getting the above listed issue.

** Complete Warrior Samurai deserves special mention in that is the absolute lowest Tier. In original outline of the various Tiers, CW Samurai is so low that it is actually ranked lower than Expert, an NPC-only class with versatile skill selection and ''no class features''. There is literally nothing that a Samurai can do that a Fighter (already considered one of the lowest tiered classes) cannot do better ''while simultaneously doing many other things better than the Samurai''. Its primary abilities are receiving the Improved and Greater Two-weapon fighting feats for free five levels after someone building their character around such a style could, being M.A.D. and having a weak crowd control ability via AreaOfEffect Intimidate skill check. The best suggestion for playing a CW Samurai given by many is to get enough levels so that you can trade 10 levels in and become an Ex-Samurai 1/Ronin 10. Or better yet, don't play a Samurai at all.

** Verging on a BoringButPractical version of GameBreaker and dependant on what kind of DM is running the game, diplomacy skills and tactics, while not flashy, are some of the easiest ways to deal with many problems involving [=NPCs=] and hostile characters. There exists many, ''many'' stories on the net of players managing to successfully derail entire campaigns simply by having their characters talk the BigBad out of going through with their EvilPlan.