Character Cloning
I know it’s terrible to return to comics with something that resembles an inside joke, but it’s more of an obscure reference. It’s no secret that I am a long time player of role playing games, and this comic comes from something that irritated me and several of my peers in this hobby.
At issue is people – gamers – with no imagination. There was a novelist who introduced a character that became phenomenally popular. So popular, in fact, that it spawned a whole “generation” of players who wanted to try out the obscure (and classically evil) dark-elves. The problem is none of these players could figure out how to make a fresh and interesting character, so they copied the one they liked… verbatim.
Legions of dual wielding dark elves marched forth from their implausible subterranean cities, renouncing their race to become outcasts of both worlds, trying to make amends for the the evil nature of their kin. Exactly how one becomes a ranger while being raised underground, they don’t quite think to address, just as they never considered an original name. Dritz, Ridtz, Ziddt, Zzdirt, Trizzy-D, et al. convinced DMs everywhere that dark elves had a separate alphabet for names, and it included only four consonants and one vowel.
In fairness to the dark elf and those that did make original characters from them, this problem with gamers is not limited to Drizzt Do’Urden. Unimaginative and inexperienced players often clone the characters they like from popular sources. It’s just annoying when they try to pretend it’s original. A late artist friend of mine was once commissioned to paint a superhero character that another gamer had “created.” The hero, “Labec” was described as looking “just like, Cable” (of X-Men fame). His powers? “Just like Cable!” (of course) Though he could use the money, my friend suggested the guy just buy a poster, it would be cheaper. “Wait, you were going to charge me [for a commissioned original oil painting]?”
So, yeah, if you are a cloned character, don’t sit next to an armored psychopath, lest you be punched in the throat.