Hi, everyone! I'm working in a series of articles for my blog dedicated to each of the 13 classes, and I plan to finish each one with a short list famous examples of such class in fantasy tropes, be it novels, movies, TV shows, comics or video games.
(Extra XP if you also include some details about the reason for your ideas and what you like or don't like about the class, both as a player or DM)
Having said that, what characters come to your mind when thinking of PALADINS?
Thinking about PALADINS it comes to my mind the Knights of the Temple from Poland ( in the Middleage ).
Also the Maltesse Guardians of the Cross, and the Legend of Saint George ( who defeated the Dragon, and rescued a girl from being eated by that Dragon ).
Also the Zodiac's Cavaliers ( that manga/anime saga SAINT SEYA ....) xD.
He seems to be a multiclass from 2 levels of Wizard + 2 levels of Fighter + 12 levels of Paladin.... then I could understand why he's so OP, and why he don't uses the POWER WORD spell.
I think the Doomguy referred to here is from the more recent entries who could be perhaps a Paladin/Artificer multiclass. There’s lore reasons for that, and I don’t want to put down anything else that would spoil the games.
REMEMBER: Wizards Of The Coast does not own DDB, they are two different companies. When you buy a physical book, WotC receives the money you bought it for, not DDB and vice versa. If you want a digital key to get an online book for free because you have the hardcopy book then DDB makes no money because you don't buy off DDB you buy off WotC, so please stop making threads about this issue. DDB needs money to continue helping people and servers aren't cheap.
King Arthur, most of his knights, esp lancelot & galahad. These are of course the primary conceptual foundation for the paladin class/archetype in D&D, and should feature most heavily in any look at the folklore / pop cultural basis for paladins.
She-Ra - the original, sure, but also and especially the recent netflix version, who is a D&D paladin through and through - struggling to do the right thing, a tendency towards physical and emotional self sacrifice bordering on the outright unhealthy, special mount, healing magic, super high strength, constitution, and charisma stats, but distinctly lower intelligence and wisdom scores. The impression is very much that this version of She-Ra was in part inspired by D&D paladins, role playing games are referenced a couple times in the show itself, so using her as inspiration for paladin characters or class design might be a bit circular.
Sailor Moon, most magical girl genre characters, especially lead protagonists and 'dark magical girl' style foils/antagonists. Again with the mix of magical and martial ability, paragon defenders of justice, themes of self sacrifice, light vs. darkness aesthetics. You could throw Utena Tenjou in here, too. She's represents something of a deconstructive subversion of the genre, but still has that sort of paragon / champion of virtue character, and the princely ideal she tries to emulate, while never explicitely codified, feels very much like a paladin's oath.
From video games there is of course Cecil Harvey from ff4 - both before and after his redemptive class change, since paladin is the best 5e class for dark knights as well. Though, like remake she-ra, D&D paladins are a direct inspiration of the character, so using Cecil as an inspiration for paladins might be a bit circular. Most of the magical knights from FF Tactics could also count - Agrias, Cid, Gaffgarion (again, paladins are also the best dark knight class, radiant damage not withstanding), etc, several in particular make good inspiration for oath of the crown Paladins, due to the political themes of that game. Wanting to play a D&D version of Gaffgarion is one of the reasons I was disappointed that the 'oath of treachery' never made it out of UA. Solair and Artorias from Dark Souls also work well, incorporating both the magical holy knight concepts and the danger of falling to darkness aspects of the paladin concept.
Jedi in general from the star wars universe also have a lot of paladinish flavor to them, despite the lack of armor in their aesthetic. As with D&D paladins, they draw heavily from King Arthur folklore as their primary inspiration - Luke is a pretty direct young King Arthur analog in the original series which makes his characterization in the sequel trilogy - disappearing to a remote island connected to the spiritual roots of his magical order after a tragic downfall due to personal failings and family drama, at least thematically fitting, even if the dissappointment of some fans at that direction is understandable. Regardless, you've got magical swordsmen with themes of light vs. darkness and adherence to a code of conduct, with those who fail to live up to it often flipping 180 degrees to pure evil. The Emperor might be better represented as some sort of wizard or sorcerer, but there's no doubt that tge D&D class to represent vader is an antipaladin / blackguard / oath breaker.
Hi, everyone! I'm working in a series of articles for my blog dedicated to each of the 13 classes, and I plan to finish each one with a short list famous examples of such class in fantasy tropes, be it novels, movies, TV shows, comics or video games.
(Extra XP if you also include some details about the reason for your ideas and what you like or don't like about the class, both as a player or DM)
Having said that, what characters come to your mind when thinking of PALADINS?
"Let your dice roll"
codexanathema.com
The Knights Templar
Captain America
Thor (possibly a cleric or barbarian, though)
Darth Vader (as an anti-paladin/oathbreaker)
Conquistadors as conquest paladins
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Twelve Peers of Charlemagne
King Arthur
Sir Galahad
Thinking about PALADINS it comes to my mind the Knights of the Temple from Poland ( in the Middleage ).
Also the Maltesse Guardians of the Cross, and the Legend of Saint George ( who defeated the Dragon, and rescued a girl from being eated by that Dragon ).
Also the Zodiac's Cavaliers ( that manga/anime saga SAINT SEYA ....) xD.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Shield Hero Naofumi
Holger Carlson (The original paladins in D&D from Greyhawk times was based mostly on him)
He seems to be a multiclass from 2 levels of Wizard + 2 levels of Fighter + 12 levels of Paladin.... then I could understand why he's so OP, and why he don't uses the POWER WORD spell.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Mashu Kyrielight Fate
The Black Knight from Marvel Comics
Moonknight from Marvel
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Never played dark souls, but maybe the guy from that and doom guy
The guy from DOOM game ??? WTF..... at least he's a gunner Knight, or an Artificier gunner.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
I think the Doomguy referred to here is from the more recent entries who could be perhaps a Paladin/Artificer multiclass. There’s lore reasons for that, and I don’t want to put down anything else that would spoil the games.
Ahhh.... The Rohan character from Ragnarök Animation anime serial. I loved that Shield Boomerang skill.... hahaha.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
She-Ra! (Whether Mara or Adora.)
Superman
And I’d even go for Batman (oath of vengeance)
The Knights Of Ni
REMEMBER: Wizards Of The Coast does not own DDB, they are two different companies. When you buy a physical book, WotC receives the money you bought it for, not DDB and vice versa. If you want a digital key to get an online book for free because you have the hardcopy book then DDB makes no money because you don't buy off DDB you buy off WotC, so please stop making threads about this issue. DDB needs money to continue helping people and servers aren't cheap.
The Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy I could count. He’s a heavily armored individual with some magic, typically healing and radiant damage.
King Arthur, most of his knights, esp lancelot & galahad. These are of course the primary conceptual foundation for the paladin class/archetype in D&D, and should feature most heavily in any look at the folklore / pop cultural basis for paladins.
She-Ra - the original, sure, but also and especially the recent netflix version, who is a D&D paladin through and through - struggling to do the right thing, a tendency towards physical and emotional self sacrifice bordering on the outright unhealthy, special mount, healing magic, super high strength, constitution, and charisma stats, but distinctly lower intelligence and wisdom scores. The impression is very much that this version of She-Ra was in part inspired by D&D paladins, role playing games are referenced a couple times in the show itself, so using her as inspiration for paladin characters or class design might be a bit circular.
Sailor Moon, most magical girl genre characters, especially lead protagonists and 'dark magical girl' style foils/antagonists. Again with the mix of magical and martial ability, paragon defenders of justice, themes of self sacrifice, light vs. darkness aesthetics. You could throw Utena Tenjou in here, too. She's represents something of a deconstructive subversion of the genre, but still has that sort of paragon / champion of virtue character, and the princely ideal she tries to emulate, while never explicitely codified, feels very much like a paladin's oath.
From video games there is of course Cecil Harvey from ff4 - both before and after his redemptive class change, since paladin is the best 5e class for dark knights as well. Though, like remake she-ra, D&D paladins are a direct inspiration of the character, so using Cecil as an inspiration for paladins might be a bit circular. Most of the magical knights from FF Tactics could also count - Agrias, Cid, Gaffgarion (again, paladins are also the best dark knight class, radiant damage not withstanding), etc, several in particular make good inspiration for oath of the crown Paladins, due to the political themes of that game. Wanting to play a D&D version of Gaffgarion is one of the reasons I was disappointed that the 'oath of treachery' never made it out of UA. Solair and Artorias from Dark Souls also work well, incorporating both the magical holy knight concepts and the danger of falling to darkness aspects of the paladin concept.
Jedi in general from the star wars universe also have a lot of paladinish flavor to them, despite the lack of armor in their aesthetic. As with D&D paladins, they draw heavily from King Arthur folklore as their primary inspiration - Luke is a pretty direct young King Arthur analog in the original series which makes his characterization in the sequel trilogy - disappearing to a remote island connected to the spiritual roots of his magical order after a tragic downfall due to personal failings and family drama, at least thematically fitting, even if the dissappointment of some fans at that direction is understandable. Regardless, you've got magical swordsmen with themes of light vs. darkness and adherence to a code of conduct, with those who fail to live up to it often flipping 180 degrees to pure evil. The Emperor might be better represented as some sort of wizard or sorcerer, but there's no doubt that tge D&D class to represent vader is an antipaladin / blackguard / oath breaker.
Darth Vader is definitely some kind of psionic fallen paladin.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms