D&D General D&D Red Box: Who Is The Warrior?

The Dungeons & Dragons Red Box, famously illustrated by Larry Elmore in 1983, featured cover art of a warrior fighting a red dragon. The piece is an iconic part of D&D's history.

WizKids is creating a 50th Anniversary D&D miniatures set for the D&D Icons of the Realms line which includes models based on classic art from the game, such as the AD&D Player's Handbook's famous 'A Paladin In Hell' piece by David Sutherland in 1978, along with various monsters and other iconic images. The set will be available in July 2024.

Amongst the collection is Elmore's dragon-fighting warrior. This character has only ever been seen from behind, and has never been named or identified. However, WizKids’ miniature gives us our first look at them from the front. The warrior is a woman; the view from behind is identical to the original art, while the view from the front--the first time the character's face has ever been seen--is, as WizKids told ComicBook.com, "purposefully and clearly" a woman. This will be one of 10 secret rare miniatures included in the D&D Icons of the Realms: 50th Anniversary booster boxes.

The original artist, Larry Elmore, says otherwise. (Update—the linked post has since been edited).

It's a man!

Gary didn't know what he wanted, all he wanted was something simple that would jump out at you. He wanted a male warrior. If it was a woman, you would know it for I'm pretty famous for painting women.

There was never a question in all these years about the male warrior.

No one thought it was a female warrior. "Whoever thought it was a female warrior is quite crazy and do not know what they are talking about."

This is stupid. I painted it, I should know.

- Larry Elmore​

Whether or not Elmore's intent was for the character to be a man, it seems that officially she's a woman. Either way, it's an awesome miniature. And for those who love the art, you can buy a print from Larry Elmore's official website.

 

[AstroCat]

"Don't have a coronary" means calm down, it doesn't mean "Don't die."

All of which is completely irrelevant. I hope every bigoted sexist in the RPG world is furious right now. That was what I intended. You all can argue parts of speech all you want. It wasn't literal - pick your favorite vocabulary word.

Explain the sexist part. What about connecting with the original art as a male, makes that sexist? There are tons of iconic Elmore and other classic D&D women they could have made amazing minis out of. I am 100% all for it, it would be awesome. It's not a woman warrior that is an issue, that would be ridiculous for D&D. But changing this one particular already established and "beloved" image for no good reason I can see, seems disrespectful and mean spirited.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Wizkids changed it deliberately. WOtC did not.

I dont think WK can just do whatever they want with other peoples stuff. My thread about the minis being later than the books has several people mention there is a whole approval process before WK prints minis

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Everyone that thinks that this is “ruins the original art” is a 100% a bigot. Everyone that thinks it’s disrespectful to the artist or that Elmore should have been consulted has a poor understanding of how art interpretation works. It does not matter if the artist intended for the adventurer to be male. Death of the Author states that the intentions of the artist do not matter for how their art is interpreted. Some people saw it as female, and the author has no greater say in how their art should be interpreted than anyone else. I can easily see how people would view it as a strong woman, like Holga from the D&D movie. Elmore calling people that disagree with his interpretation crazy is a bad look. Even if the original art made it explicit that it was supposed to be a man, it is neither disrespectful nor “ruining” to change the sex to a woman for a mini adaptation.

 

[DarkCrisis]

You know what else subverted expectations and went over like a lead balloon for half the fans? Go on guess.

 

[jayoungr]

And representation matters.

Speaking as a woman, I don't feel that this is some huge deal for representation. It's a somewhat uncommon body type for female warrior minis, but even there, it's not a first or anything.

In my personal opinion, making a mini that accurately reflected the original artist's vision would have been more important than "representation" in this specific case.

 

[Cadence]

The strangest part to me is making a mini out of art where you only see the subject's back side.

 

[Queer Venger]

Speaking as a woman, I don't feel that this is some huge deal for representation. It's a somewhat uncommon body type for female warrior minis, but even there, it's not a first or anything.

In my personal opinion, making a mini that accurately reflected the original artist's vision would have been more important than "representation" in this specific case.

Speaking as a man (cisgender) opportunities to increase representation matters.
Simple.

A woman can have a masculine gender expression.
A man can have a feminine gender expression.

Simple.

I try not to get hung up on minutiae about a miniature, but it's important. to me that it could be represented as a woman just as easily as a man.

 

[J.Quondam]

The strangest part to me is making a mini out of art where you only see the subject's back side.

Speaking of backsides, what D&D needs is a shirime mini.

 

[jayoungr]

Everyone that thinks it’s disrespectful to the artist or that Elmore should have been consulted has a poor understanding of how art interpretation works.

I understand perfectly how art interpretation works. But if you're hyping up how you are making 3-D versions of iconic paintings, that's the time to stick to the original intention.

In other words, it's not that nobody can ever make free interpretations of other people's art without consulting them--it's that this specific situation was not an appropriate time to do so.

Speaking as a man (cisgender) opportunities to increase representation matters.
Simple.

It's not like there is a shortage of available female minis, even female warrior minis. I've painted quite a lot of them myself.

I just don't see this as a representation issue, period.

 

[pawsplay]

I've seen enough enough Elmore art to know that wasn't a woman, because I've seen how he paints women. As a kid, I was quite sure it was a man. However, looking back at it, and setting aside my familiarity with Elmore, there actually isn't a lot to indicate one way or another. To me, the fact that it subverts what was Elmore's obvious intent is actually a plus. Pretty much every woman he ever painted or drew looks like a jazzercise model. I think any time you have the opportunity to grapple with the iconographic sexism of the 1970s and 1980s, you should take it. Think of it as playful criticism.

Anyway, the artists don't generally get to decide what happens with their art. Plenty of iconic D&D images were cropped in weird ways. Regdar turned into a white person.