Dungeons and Dragons has a huge LGBTQI+ community, but it could reach a much broader segment of that audience with a character who is a queer icon waiting to happen. This character began life in The Legend of Drizzt books by American writer RA Salvatore. Although Dungeons and Dragons is most famous as a 1970s tabletop game, but has expanded into books, films, TV series, video games, and more. And yet, this franchise’s enormous potential remains significantly untapped. Adapting the Drizzt books, and this character, is a great next step for D&D.
The Legend of Drizzt books started in 1988 The crystal shardthe first of The Icewind Dale trilogy. It introduced the drow Drizzt Do’Urden, although he was not the focus of the trilogy. Noticing his popularity, Salvatore made Drizzt the main character in a prequel series called The Dark Elves trilogywhich introduced a renegade drow named Jarlaxle. Throughout Drizzt’s books, Jarlaxle is, in turn, Drizzt’s enemy, Drizzt’s friend, and a wild card. Fascinating, varied, strange and fundamental to The Legend of DrizztJarlaxle can be huge for D&D in a live-action TV adaptation.
Jarlaxle has huge potential as a D&D character
Jeremy Crawford (lead designer of D&D 5e) confirmed that Jarlaxle was pansexual (X). Vax’ildan The Legend of Vox Machina is a bisexual hero, but a Legend of Drizzt live-action TV adaptation could boost D&D queer representation to new heights. This would boost sales and loyalty among D&D LGBTQI+ community and reach new supporters. 56% of Monmouth University D&D club identified as LGBTQI+, offering an idea of ​​the potential. Despite initial problems, gaming has long provided a safe space for queersas explained in Thom James Carter’s excellent book They Came to Kill: Queer D&D Culture.
Jarlaxle could be one of the main pillars of a Drizzt TV show or movie
Jarlaxle is an enemy and an ally in the legend of Drizzt
Drizzt finds many enemies and many friends, but Jarlaxle, along with the assassin Artemis Entreri, is the biggest character in the books to swing between enemy and ally. This makes Jarlaxle, along with Artemis, the most versatile and useful character to include in any Legend of Drizzt live-action adaptation, after Companheiros do Salão. A live-action adaptation would need strong heroes and villains, and Jarlaxle and Artemis could provide both. Focusing on these two while cutting out some of the book series’ countless other heroes and villains could work well.
Fantasy TV adaptations often encounter the dilemma of a wide range of main and secondary characters, and Dividing the focus between many different characters can reduce the emotional impact of the main characters. Focusing on building your main characters first is key to the success of any adaptation. A sharp focus on Jarlaxle and Artemis would be necessary in an adaptation and would allow for cutting book heroes and villains, since both can fulfill either role. Jarlaxle, moreover, could approach and grow D&D queer community. Commercially and socially, this community offers Dungeons and Dragons huge rewards.
Source: X, Monmouth University