More thought candy: Which wizard wins? The New York Times ponders that question, giving the nod to the comparatively obscure wizard Ged from Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea stories. (Well, Ged’s obscure at least as compared to, say, Dumbledore or Gandalf.) Fortunately, Bureau 42 is hosting a rematch… who wins this round?
No way!
My vote for best Wizard; Hearld-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron of Valdemar. Hands down the best, and my fav. Of course, Rastlin was pretty cool to, but a little mainstream for my tastes.
Discworld
Gee, I thought the obvious winner would have been Rincewind, largely by dint of obscenely good luck, fast feet, and the Luggage. Just me, I guess.
Re: Discworld
Well unfortunately it is for wizards or I would really have to abraid you for not picking Granny Weatherwax. Now there is some kick-ass magic skill :)
Re: Discworld
How about the Sourcerer? The eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son? He seemed to have a pretty impressive aresenal of power at his command.
eddings
i’d have to see belgarath in there somewhere, no matter what anyone else thinks of the hack
Re: eddings
I’d certainly vote for Belgarath. He certainly out classes Gandalf in style and personality.
Re: eddings
Whether I’m Right Or Not, I’m Going To Assume that Comment Is Based On Movie Gandlaf. In The Book, Gandlaf Has More Style. Like When The River Floods And Overtakes The Dark Riders, The Horses You See Are Gandlaf Addition. The Floods Were There, In This Moment Of Bleak Fear And Terror, And Galdalf Takes A Moment To Make It Look Kewl. What More Style Do You Need than That?
Re: eddings
Well nothing says style to me quite like the most powerful wizard in the world spending his days as a wandering unknown vagabond. The way Belgarath’s morals shy into some grey areas here and there make him much more exciting.
But, it’s all just opinion.
Where’s Skeeve?
What no mention of the Great Skeeve?! You can’t fault
him
for his choice of friends and he has connections with the
Mob. OK, drinking problem aside, he’s a really great guy.
For a more serious entry, I’d have to say Belgarath
takes it by judges’ decision.
PerlStalker
Re: Where’s Skeeve?
Heck ya! It’s truly a mythtery why he wasn’t mentioned before. :)
Re: Where’s Skeeve?
Why The Deevil Didn’t I Think OF That?
It Wasn’t Necessarily A Problem, Just Some people Thought So. He Was Kind Enough To Humour Them, Just In Case.
Good Vote.
Link broken & my vote
The link in the article has exceeded it’s reference limit, or some such. If you go to the main page and search for “wizard” it’s the second link or so.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned John Constantine. Cooler than hell, a place he knows well, this man has set up an archangel and defeated Satan himself, directly, three times. All without much more effort than just being a vicious git.
Another One for Hellraser
John Constantine. OH YAEH.
But don’t forget Mad Hettie.
One of my fave’s is the Sandman series
Re: Link broken & my vote
Weird. As of right now, it works for me, although you now have to have a
NYT account and log in to see it.
Other contenders
Morgon, from the Riddlemaster trilogy for infinite possibility of his magic and the old Welsh feel of the whole affair.
Camber of Culdi, from the Deryni series, for being the only wizard I know of to be canonized a saint, while still alive.
Evaine, Camber’s daughter, for figuring out the Forbidden Spell of bringing Life out of Death, which partially eluded Camber.
Tobas
If you don’t know who this is… read Lawrence Watt-Evans ‘With a Single Spell’. Nothing like a wizard that goes from below class 1 to class 7 in under a year… Now that is potential :)
Pshaw. All these visible wizards.
What about Belboz? A powerful, mysterious, instructive, advisory, ass-kicking wizard.
For those who don’t know him, he is your instructor and head of the Enchanter’s Circle in the Infocom games Enchanter, Sorceror and Spellbreaker.
What about…
Alfred? He was pretty powerful, and kinda cool in his own way…..
Hehe…… I’s really thinking about going back and reading those… hhmmmmmmmm….
Re: What about…
Okay, nobody say anything about the I’s! Please!? *LOL*
Are we sticking to people who call themselves “Wizard” or even “Wizzard?”
Because that narrows the field a bit. However, if we’re not, then one name that must appear would have to be the ever-popular Pug, from the pen of Feist.
However, I’m also a fan of Ivanson Jaric, from the Cycle of Fire trilogy by Janny Wurts. He packs some serious wallop.
Hey now…
Wizard-rankers ought to account not just for the power of a wizard, but for his/her effect on wizards thereafter.
With that in mind, I pick Richard Garfield.