At the risk of drawing the wrath of our mighty Board Overlords I'd like to start a discussion on Bards in fiction since we've danced around it in a few other threads.

To start us off a few I've mentioned elsewhere (And a few new ones).

Michael Westen - Burn Notice
We'll start off with what I suspect will be my most controversial. A master of combat and tactics, but just as importantly his ability to understand and manipulate people, slide into any persona, improvise and so much more. Heck, even his motivations are all about the greater good of society.

Sazed - Mistborn Trilogy
While many would call him a cleric, he is very clearly a Lorekeeper style Bard.

Hoid - Warbreaker (Specifically, he's not very Bardly in Sanderson's other works)
A fairly minor character, but the scene with him in is an exceptional example of a Taleweaver.

Thom - Wheel of Time
While I classified him as a Taleweaver Bard in the past, after more consideration he's actually very much a blend of all the Heritages.

Mat - Wheel of Time
Yes, he's a Bard too - sharing many of Michael Weston's traits in a more classic Bard setting.

Rojer - The Warded Man/The Desert Spear
Possibly the best example of a Taleweaver on this list.

Kvothe - The Name of the Wind
I just started this book so I can't say much yet other than he clearly has earned a spot on this list.

Leliana - Dragon Age: Origins
The term "Bard" has an interesting implication in Dragon Age. I'd view her as a sort of blend of a Songsworn and a Lorekeeper.
Apparently more DLC was released this month with her backstory - I smell an excuse to go back to that game!

Meera Reed - Song of Ice and Fire
Kinda borderline between a Taleweaver and a Lorekeeper - I'd lean towards Lorekeeper at this point.

Interestingly almost all of these examples are something I've come across in the last year or two. I'm unsure if it's because they're fresher in my memory, or if I actually have just come across more memorable Bard style characters recently. Thoughts?

-Raesh

Warded Man/Desert Spear are some of the best books i've read recently. Rojer playing a tune to soothe the demons was pretty inline with the 'soothe the savage beast' idea, but i love that he also apparently can play Chorus of Madmen and make them all go insane.

The Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster. Great books and were a fun read.

I agree about the Harpers of Pern as well, that is exactly the kind of Bard I like to think of myself as. :P

And of course for me my Bard inspiration comes from The Bards Tale video game...loved it.

I have to say though the reason I started playing a Bard in DR was because of D&D, so really a Bard to me has already been at least partially a Rogue. :P

The Kushiel Legacy has several characters that could easily classify as bards, starting with main characters such as Phedre and Anafiel but with some of the minor ones as well.
I'd be hard pressed to classify them into our planned heritages, but I'd lean towards taleweavers. The performance however, is of a different type.

I've gone through the first trilogy and read the first book on the second so far, and I'd recommend it to anyone of an appropriate age. It's quite different from your average, run of the mill fanatasy book.

---

* Malik was just struck down!

The Druids of Shanara as a whole.


---Thya Telle
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Remember the La Li Lu Le Lo are watching

Allanon was Gandolf. Who was secretly Dumbledore.

If one was a Bard, all three are. I leave you to decide if they are.

-Raesh

PS: All three may have also been Ganon.

I think Zedd from The Sword of Truth series was pretty bardlike in many ways, particularly when he's incognito. He plays different roles to manipulate those around him, from the bumbling old crazy man on the edge of town to the successful merchant, and can talk himself out of almost anything.

I think Morphius from the Sandman series would be a Bard, as well. He keeps stock of all the stories ever told and uses their power and the power of dreams (stories in their own way) to keep stories alive.

I think most "trickster" gods in mythology are pretty Bardic. Loki was not nearly as powerful as his brethren but used his cunning to guide others to his own ends. Anansi as described by Neil Gaiman in the book "Anansi Boys" was very bardic to me, as well.




-=Issus=-

Both Alessan and Devin from Guy Gaverial Kays_Tigana_ perfectly represent two of the planned heritages. If you havent read this book yet, I must recommend it. In fact almost all of Kays book tend to involve at least one Bardic type of character, which is most likely why I like them so much.

<<Kvothe - The Name of the Wind
I just started this book so I can't say much yet other than he clearly has earned a spot on this list.

Yeah he seems to represent all three at some points in the book.

Regards,
Vteec

Leovigild Ackenzal and Cazio. LEovigild reminds me of what the Performing side of the guild would be like... while Cazio puts me in mind of a good Songsworn


The Dragon priest hisses, "We'd have won, too, if it weren't for thossse meddling kidsss."
>

Milla Talonhand from The Seventh Tower.

__
~Leilond
http://www.elanthipedia.com/wiki/Leilond
http://soundsoftime.bravehost.com

Oh, hah, speaking of pirates has anyone mentioned Captain Jack Sparrow? Because, he's totally a Bard. My original Bard mentor(Kilke) modeled his character after Jack.

__
~Leilond
http://www.elanthipedia.com/wiki/Leilond
http://soundsoftime.bravehost.com

Collan Rosvenier - Exiles by Melanie Rawn. (not recommended, book 3 has been forthcoming since 1997)

Tom Bombadil - Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein

Both are classic Performance Bards.

Tom and Matt and occasionally Rand from Wheel of Time. Performance Bard for Tom, Battle Bard for Matt and both for Rand.

Brom - Heritage Cycle by Christopher Paolini - Lorekeeper

Oh you went there.

You did.

Elan. Order of the Stick.

-Raesh

The Nameless One - Planescape: Torment.

Because, why not?

-Raesh

>>The Nameless One - Planescape: Torment.

>>Because, why not?
There are very few people who are masochistic enough to have played an epic level Bard under AD&D rules.

Morte, honestly, would be a closer fit.

>>There's a couple of characters from Planescape: Torment you could argue are kinda bardly.

No, they're just well-developed NPCs, essentially. Except for one that I am pretty sure was actually supposed to be a Bard.

Morte really legitimately strikes me as "could have been a Bard." What with the unending cynicism, the quips, the biting people, the taunting et al. Plus the fact that he holds his current incarnation because someone died due to his lies pretty much wraps him up and puts a bow on him.

I'm not disagreeing on Morte, I'm just saying The Nameless One's story has a lot of bardly features to it too. Searching for lost knowledge and understanding of what happened, causing drastic changes in the lives of many he encounters, sometimes with only a few words. Never mind the whole fighter/mage/thief jack of all trades aspect.

I think an argument could also be made for Fall-From-Grace but it's been too long for me to really make the argument.

-Raesh

No reason you can't have more than one Bard in any given work.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on TNO.

-Raesh

>>Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Antonio) in the movie the 13th Warrior.

I'm curious how you consider him a bard. It's been awhile since I saw the movie, but I remember that character as being more 'intelligent' than 'bardic'.

---

This idea may have worked in another time and another place, but here it immediately fell on its face and went "Durp durp." - Armifer

Heh, Antonio made me remember "El Mariachi," and he was as bardly as they come. Machine gun guitar cases please!


-=Issus=-