Badass & Otherwise Cool Wizards/Witches/Etc.

[Twisted Crow]

Subject is in the title. Talk about your favorite characters that fit the Wizard/Mage archetype. Or those that are close enough to it. So...



Gandalf the Grey/White (The Hobbit, LotR)

I mean, come on now. This is easy. ::)

Gandalf is essentially the mold many of us borrow from when we create characters of this archetype. Particularly in the fantasy genre. Some of my favorite wizards seem to emulate Gandalf in some form or fashion. They might be flashier in terms of magic, but Gandalf seems like the balanced sagacious mage. He's not blasting everything in sight because he can. If he can get around an obstacle with a bit of prestigitation, he'll go for that as opposed to breaking out the most powerful spell in his arsenal. Of course, Tolkien's magic was different (arguably more 'druidic') in nature when compared to how many settings divide magics between Arcane, Spirit, etc.

Even Ian McKellen's portrayal in the Peter Jackson movies seemed pretty spot on with how conservative Gandalf was in using his power. He isn't breaking mountains down with his magic because he does not have to. His reservations, his will to not use magic for everything (whether he can or can't)... make him a badass wizard in my book.

Elminster (Forgotten Realms)

My favorite wizard of all time, really. But yes... Elminster is essentially the Gandalf of Forgotten Realms and among the most powerful beings to ever walk Faerun. Pretty much the same could be said of him that I have said for Gandalf, though Elminster might not be as shy about using his power... he is still pretty reserved about it. If the problem only needs a hammer to drive a nail, he isn't normally whipping out a Bigby's Crushing Hand to take care of a minor problem.



Other characters I might delve into later: Snape, Yoda (Yes, Yoda. :P), Edwin & Xan from Baldur's Gate, Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom... countless others that I am now drawing a blank on. By the way, we can still talk about one's already mentioned. I figured this goes without saying. I might still say my piece on thse characters if others bring them up. So... let's talk wizards!

[Rinzler]

Gentle, aka John Furie Zacharias from Imajica.

Truth be told, I don't remember much in the way of details because I read the book a long, long time ago. But I do recall John Furie as being a cool as all hell wizard, master art forger and absolute shagmeister. He did have a pretty neat trick of being able to maim folks by blowing a puff of air through his fist. But even for the name alone - John Furie Zacharias, which really does resonate with mystic cool and grandiosity - I'd have to nominate this feller for inclusion in the grand hall of top notch magicians.

[Mathim]

Of all the versions of him, I'm going with this one of Merlin:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

He's the epitome of brains over brawn, doesn't let his power corrupt him, takes down sorcerers of dubious moral character and seemingly equivalent power using his intellect without killing them and hoping to teach them a lesson in the process. He's got a chipper predisposition even when being dumped on repeatedly by nearly everyone around him, and it takes a LOT to push him over the edge, and even then he doesn't take out his anger on anyone in a way that actually hurts them. And he's always got a song in his heart. Can't wait for the live-action remake even though they'll probably fuck it up all to hell.

[Twisted Crow]

How in GREEN HELL did I forget about Merlin!? Great mention!

[HairyHeretic]

Harry Dresden, Wizard Private Eye (though as the series goes on, less Private Eye and way more wizard).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Dresden

One of my favourite Dresden Files quotes (from Harry) is "The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault"

Then we had this

Serious Spoiler

Yes, he's using a zombie T Rex as a mount, because perfectly good plot reasons in the book :)

[Mathim]

How in GREEN HELL did I forget about Merlin!? Great mention!

Well given how many hundreds of versions of him there were I almost hesitated to even go for it just because of that. But since I picked a specific one, I figured it would be acceptable. But I'll leave someone like Dumbledore or Grindelwald or Voldemort up to someone else.

Anyone read the manga Rave Master? It's by the same guy who did Fairy Tail so most people are probably more familiar with that one (because it's the newer of the two). While Fairy Tail is about nothing but badass wizards, I thought I'd go with one from a series that isn't strictly about magic-wielders. There's a character in Rave Master, Sieghart Caesar, who has some amazing feats under his belt and is cool as a cucumber all the while. Here's the relevant wiki article: https://ravemaster.fandom.com/wiki/Sieghart_Caeser

My main thing is, in addition to him controlling all elements rather than specializing in one or just a handful, he once defeated an army of 1000 other mages without using any of his own magic, instead using an enchanted sword to drain away all of their magic energy to fuel his own so that he could then go on to battle a mage whose magical energy was infinite. Their battle went on to last seven straight days and nights with no food or sleep, and ended only when Sieghart managed to find his opponent's weakness, a non-magical weapon that was unable to be repelled by his own magic-blocking spells, and stabbed him with it. Sieghart is also a guardian of the time-space continuum and, in a show of both loyalty to his friends and preserving the uncertain future, stood guard over a sacred place for the remainder of his life, never leaving the spot until his death. Such dedication and humility in spite of his amazing feats gets him a top spot in my book.

[Wolfling72]

Gentle, aka John Furie Zacharias from Imajica.

Truth be told, I don't remember much in the way of details because I read the book a long, long time ago. But I do recall John Furie as being a cool as all hell wizard, master art forger and absolute shagmeister. He did have a pretty neat trick of being able to maim folks by blowing a puff of air through his fist. But even for the name alone - John Furie Zacharias, which really does resonate with mystic cool and grandiosity - I'd have to nominate this feller for inclusion in the grand hall of top notch magicians.

So epic (and now must pull out my copy and read it yet again)

ETA: as an aside: I always thought of the Crimson King from Stephen King's The Dark Tower to be the epitome of bad-assitude. He is a natural shapeshifter, is capable of stealing people away from the Key World, a dab hand with tricks and magic. The fact that he was crazy, held a direct line of descent from Arthur of the Eld and managed to GET to the dark tower WHILE getting others to work on the beams only underlines his awe inspiring abilities. 

[Mathim]

So epic (and now must pull out my copy and read it yet again)

ETA: as an aside: I always thought of the Crimson King from Stephen King's The Dark Tower to be the epitome of bad-assitude. He is a natural shapeshifter, is capable of stealing people away from the Key World, a dab hand with tricks and magic. The fact that he was crazy, held a direct line of descent from Arthur of the Eld and managed to GET to the dark tower WHILE getting others to work on the beams only underlines his awe inspiring abilities.

Too bad the movie didn't do a good job going into that. But then Stephen King stories are usually hard to adapt into a single movie and still be good (depending on the length of the book).

[Oniya]

The fact that the Dark Tower cycle is 8 books (and potentially counting) getting that into a single movie would have involved serious time-compression.  As in, you walk into the theater, spend a whole week in there, but somehow manage not to be late for work.

[Mathim]

No, I knew that, I just meant they probably should have gone in with the intent that it be the movie of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger in order to show that it was supposed to be an adaptation of the first book and to imply that the other books would be adapted as well, or that it was at least the intent behind it. Disney made that mistake with John Carter; they ought to have at least called it John Carter of Mars or John Carter and the Princess of Mars. Anyway, off-topic so I'll refrain until I can come up with another cool mage to report on.

[Callie Del Noire]

Daniel Faust (written by Craig Schaefer) Bad Ass mage but NOT a good guy..does good but mostly he is trying to make cash and get by

[Lady Shadow]

I think it is worth mentioning- but growing up "The Secret of NIMH" had great influence on me as a kid. Nicodemus in particular. Now he may not be the more traditional wizard with great power like Gandalf or Merlin, but he still was very magical and mystical in his own way. I hope people know who I am talking about or remember him too.

[Mathim]

I'm going to throw in Kvothe from the Name of the Wind/Kingkiller Chronicle. This kid who went from humble beginnings and a horribly tragic past rises up to become a literal legend, so much so that he has to literally fake his death to avoid all the notoriety that followed from his actions. I won't spoil too many things of great import but I'll outline a few of his deeds (that may or may not have direct ties to his budding sorcery):
-He takes revenge on a young ruffian who robbed him in his adolescence by setting him on fire
-He helps kill a dragon almost single-handedly before he's 20
-A legendary fae woman chooses him to share her bed for a great deal of time
-He calls down a lightning storm that gets him compared to that world's version of Merlin in terms of prowess and power

Those all happen in just the first two books. I have no idea what the fuck is taking the third book so long to be released but I'm not even excited for it at this point, I'll just read it when I get around to it.

[Shivery]

Any Ursula K. LeGuin fans here? Earthsea?

Ged, the protagonist, has a wild journey - around the world, and discovering himself. He goes from impatient and impetuous in developing his power, to foolhardy with it, then fearful and fleeing, and finally grasps the nature of his strength and the responsible ways to act - as a wizard, and as a person. It's great!

Shout out to his hermit mentor, Ogion, who turns his back on academic circles, prestige, and civilization, and chooses to cultivate his knowledge close to nature. By living simply and staying grounded, he winds up being one of the most powerful wizards, and seemingly the wisest by far.

[Giantmutantcrab]

Uncle Iroh from Avatar, the Last Airbender.

In a world of "magic-users" (benders), Iroh stands out as uniquely skilled and wise beyond his years. Take the first major antagonist and turns him into a protagonist over a deep soul-searching travel that drags the two across their world.

The Dragon of the West is awesome.

[Remiel]

Are witches allowed?  I've been re-reading some of my Terry Pratchett books lately and, well, there is no witch more badass than Granny Weatherwax.

[Twisted Crow]

I think we could go with witches, too. I know there are some differences according to some worlds in fiction, but I always looked at them as a different kind of wizard in the sense we're talking about.  :-)

[HannibalBarca]

Another Mako wizard--Akiro from Conan the Barbarian:



Akiro was in the vein of Gandalf--not flashy, filled with wisdom, sometimes cranky and taciturn, but you could count on him when the chips were down.

[Twisted Crow]

Modified the title a tiny bit.