Paladine (Dragonlance)

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Dragonlance character
Paladine

Created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
First appearance Dragons of Autumn Twilight (1984)
Character information
Alias Fizban the Fabulous
Race Deity
Alignment Lawful Good
Gender Male
Titles
  • Draco Paladin
  • E'li
  • The Platinum Dragon
  • Dragonlord
  • Valiant Warrior
  • The Dragon's Lord
  • Bah'mut
  • The Great Dragon
  • Skyblade
  • Platinum Father
  • Thak the Hammer

Paladine, "The Dragon's Lord", is a fictional deity from the Dragonlance fantasy novels written by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and numerous other authors.

Paladine represents all that is good. He is the patron Order of the Rose and is chief deity of the gods of good. He is the chief of the Gods of Light and the creator of the Elves. As such, he is their most respected god. His colors are silver and white. He is the patron god of charity, redemption, leadership, and greatness. He influences order, hope, light, rulership and guardianship, as well as law, wards, thought, and war. His earthly avatars (a Material Plane manifestation of any deity) include the Platinum Dragon and the muddled old wizard, Fizban the Fabulous.

Paladine is elder brother to Takhisis and Gilean. He and Mishakal are the parents of the gods Kiri-Jolith, Habbakuk, and Solinari.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] War of Souls

After the Chaos War, Takhisis stole the world from the rest of the Gods and became the "One God" of the world. When the rest of the gods returned to Krynn, they realized that Takhisis had gone too far. The punishment was for Takhisis to be stripped of her godhood and immortality, though for balance to be kept, a god of opposite faction had to also become mortal. Paladine saw this need for balance between good and evil, and so made the sacrifice, taking the guise of an elf named Valthonis while Takhisis was killed by Silvanoshei. The authors of the series have yet to reveal his fate thereafter.

[edit] Symbols and titles

Paladine is also called Draco Paladin, E'li, the Platinum Dragon, Dragonlord, Valiant Warrior, The Dragon's Lord, Bah'mut (strikingly similar to traditional mythological creature Bahamut), the Great Dragon, Skyblade, Platinum Father, and Thak the Hammer. After the conclusion of the War of the Lance, the deity himself became known as Fizban--also the name of his most famous avatar, the befuddled wizard--among the kender; thus, referring to "Fizban" by kender can be somewhat ambiguous!

His symbols include the anvil, a silver triangle, a pine tree, and the platinum dragon. In the night sky of Krynn, he can be viewed as the constellation known as the Valiant Warrior, sometimes referred to as the Platinum Dragon. Raistlin Majere, in the first chapters of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, noted that this constellation as well as the Dark Queen, constellation of Takhisis, were missing, symbolizing that Paladine was on Krynn.

[edit] Related characters

[edit] Fizban

Fizban on the left, (mis)casting fireball
Fizban on the left, (mis)casting fireball

Fizban "The Fabulous" is secretly the mortal avatar of Paladine. Though he is wise and powerful, he disguises his true purpose in the form of a clumsy and absent-minded wizard. During the Chronicles Trilogy, the kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot, one of the heroes, became a close friend of Fizban. This occurs when Fizban meets up with the Companions as they are traveling to Pax Tharkas in a slave caravan. He is fond of the spell fireball, which (perhaps fortunately) he can rarely remember the words to. He and Tasslehoff Burrfoot become "close, personal friends" (as Tas is wont to say) along the journey. He "dies" in Pax Tharkas, apparently miscasting a feather fall spell and producing a pile of chicken feathers. He later comes back in the Silver Dragon Mountain to aid in the forging of dragonlances. He claims Flint Fireforge's body in Godshome, taking him to the afterlife. After the defeat of Takhisis, he is revealed for who he truly is and departs.

Weis and Hickman later introduced a similar character in the Death Gate Cycle named Zifnab, and in The Mantle of Kendis-Dai named Zanfib. Both names are anagrams of Fizban, and both bear strong similarities to him.

[edit] References

  • Holy Orders of the Stars
  • Dragonlance Campaign Setting

[edit] See also

List of Dragonlance deities
Good: Paladine Majere Kiri-Jolith Mishakal Habbakuk Branchala Solinari
Neutral: Gilean Sirrion Reorx Chislev Zivilyn Shinare Lunitari
Evil: Takhisis Sargonnas Morgion Chemosh Zeboim Hiddukel Nuitari
Other: Chaos Mina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PANTHEON OF DRAGONLANCE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chaos
 
High God
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paladine
 
Mishakal
 
 
 
 
Gilean
 
 
 
 
Takhisis
 
Sargonnas
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Branchala
 
 
 
Majere
 
 
Reorx
 
 
Morgion
 
 
Chemosh
 
 
 
Hiddukel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shinare
 
Sirrion
 
 
Chislev
 
Zivilyn
 
 
 
¿Mina?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kiri-Jolith
 
Habbakuk
 
Solinari
 
Lunitari
 
 
Nuitari
 
Zeboim
 
 
 
Dragonlance
 Books  Dragons of Autumn Twilight | Dragons of Winter Night | Dragons of Spring Dawning more...
 Characters Tasslehoff Burrfoot | Dalamar | Flint Fireforge | Tanis Half-Elven | Steel Brightblade | Sturm Brightblade | Goldmoon | Riverwind | Caramon Majere | Raistlin Majere | Kitiara Uth Matar | more...
 Deities Paladine | Gilean | Takhisis | Mishakal | Sargonnas | Reorx | Solinari | Lunitari | Nuitari | more...
 Authors Margaret Weis | Tracy Hickman | Stan! | Don Perrin | Jean Rabe | more...
 Other Dragons of Autumn Twilight (film adaptation) | Dragonlance Portal | Dragonlance WikiProject
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