Who Is The Best Wizard Of All Time?

[Kenny]

Belgarath , the eternal man. David Eddings ; Elric of Melnibone, Michael Moorcock.

[yojharobed || I have no sword. I don't need a sword. Because I am the Doctor and this is my spoon. En garde!]

Daniel wrote: "Deborah~1 John 4:4~Greater Is HE! wrote: "GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG..."

No, never. Sauron is evil. Not to mention dead. Gandalf is awesome, and he died and now he is BACK!!! HA!

[B.evil]

traditional wizards id say its between Pug of Crydee, Belgarath (one of my favs) or dumbledore.

if we are going with weilders of power that i wouldnt traditionally call a wizard the THE LORD OF THE MORNING, THE CAR'CARN, THE DRAGON LEWS THERON TELAMON, aka RAND motherfuggin AL'THOR!

dont get me wrong i love gandalf, but he never did that much magic in the trilogy or the hobbit that i can recall.

elric all i will say is BOO!

allanon is a bobo gandalf, though still pretty badass.

[B.evil]

Liz wrote: "Will wrote: "Dude, Gandalf battled a fucking Balrog for like 10 days straight. I promise he didn't do it with brute strength."

This might be the most hilarious thing I've read on a goodreads discu..."

i totally agree i just laughed outloud...thats fuggin hilarous!!!

[Pratiti]

Jaye wrote: "Did anyone vote for Voldemort? He was a bad guy and all but still, he was a pretty awesome wizard."

Next to Sauron, Voldemort is a complete wimp. Just sayin'...

[Daniel]

Titi wrote: "Jaye wrote: "Did anyone vote for Voldemort? He was a bad guy and all but still, he was a pretty awesome wizard."

Next to Sauron, Voldemort is a complete wimp. Just sayin'..."

YES!

[Nicole]

Merlin of course :)

[Hazel]

feck it, I'm just gonna go for Rincewind and have done at this point. Nothing can kill him.

[Mike]

Jaye wrote: "Did anyone vote for Voldemort? He was a bad guy and all but still, he was a pretty awesome wizard."

Voldemort was beaten by Harry Potter. My cat is a better wizard than Voldemort.

[[deleted user]]

Merlin of course. He may be based on an actual person or persons who existed. The others are just made up.

[Daniel]

Lisa wrote: "Merlin of course. He may be based on an actual person or persons who existed. The others are just made up."
you never know, sauron could have represented tolkien's least favourite childhood role model, just saying...

[[deleted user]]

Daniel wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Merlin of course. He may be based on an actual person or persons who existed. The others are just made up."
you never know, sauron could have represented tolkien's least favourite ch..."

Anything is possible. It doesn't change my answer though. :)

[K.]

Gandalf I first read the books in college and I cried when he died.

[^Green Pnanda O.o]

Definately Dumbledore! :D

[Jacqui]

Gandalf. No contest.

[Pratiti]

Robertson wrote: "I think it is Oz who is the best Wizard of all times..."

Totally--Oz the non-wizard.
Although I will say he was a pretty cool character...

[Jacqui]

Oz? He wasn't a wizard. He was a con-man.

[William]

Geek dream team: Gandalf, Dumbledore, Samantha from Bewitched, and Hermione after she finishes wizard graduate school.

[Zenodotus]

Sparrowhawk easily the best, obviously. Old Nemmerle also had class, Kurremkarmerruk had an awesome name, and Elric ripped upon doors between dimensions at will, calling in and controlling hordes of demons and elementals... but the Gontish Archmage tore open a gate between the living and the dead while still a boy, and closed a still greater rift even when robbed of all but the last vestiges of his power. He sailed the dragon's run by magewind, and went alone into the realm of the shadows. Others might be better at destroying, but Ged was the master of healing, repairing, binding, making whole what was broken.

[FAT MAN]

I have to go with Dumbledore... He was Kind cool calculating and is honorable....

Admits when he has made mistakes and that always says much more about a person than someone accepting praise.

[^Green Pnanda O.o]

But mor than that i like Elrond best

[Gwynhwyfar]

Jaye wrote: "Gandalf Rocks! In my opinion, he is better than Dumbledore, Merlin, Tim the Enchanter, Voldemort –everyone! Am I wrong? Who is your favorite?"

I was about to say "Gandalf", until I read "Merlin"! I'd have to say it's a toss-up, though you really can't compare the two. Gandalf is one of the Maiar--basically a god sent to help the people of Middle Earth. He's much more powerful than Merlin, who's grounded in Celtic and British mythology, more of the Earth. If i had to hang out with one of them, I'd choose Gandalf; he likes fireworks, dancing, Hobbits and has a gorgeous best friend (Aragorn). Merlin has Arthur, who by most accounts was a real screw-up, depending whose version you read. (By the way--Sauron's not a wizard, not one of the "Istari").

[Gwynhwyfar]

Hazel wrote: "wait a minute, what about Sauron? He's a damned good wizard, he takes over large areas of land, he bends mortals to his will, he may be defeated by a puny little hobbit, but he got a good innings i..."

Sauron: Not a wizard at all. Go to www.theonering.net or www.tolkienonline. They'll explain it better than I can.

[Gwynhwyfar]

Hazel wrote: "things that merlin did...

he transformed Uther into the likeness of his enemy so that he could sleep with Igraine, thus producing arthur. He can see the future. He can produce glamours. The thin..."

Good analysis. Merlin is "low-tech". In the end Viviane/Niniane drains him of his power whereas Gandalf sails off the Valinor with Elrond & Galadriel. His "work is done", he says, but not his power.

[Gerd]

Best Wizard?
Catweazle, no doubt. :D

But wow, four pages already and no one mentioned Schmendrick?

[[deleted user]]

Harry Potter, of course!

Gandalf, Dumbledore, Hermione Granger, and Tim the Enchanter are pretty cool too, though.

[Daniel]

look how outnumbered harry potter is!

[Mark]

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the only one you can find in the phone book. Just look under Wizards. Gandalf meets Philip Marlowe. Doesn't do birthday parties and fireworks like Gandalf. Cheapens the image you know.

[Sara]

Rincewind from Discworld!

[Will]

I just started reading Discworld :]

Halfway through the first book!

[Sara]

Discworld is the best thing ever! And like Hazel said earlier Rincewind is the best because nothing can kill him.

[Will]

Yeah but he's got Lady helping him out.

[Emil]

Raistlin Majere

[Jimbo]

How about the best anti-wizard? Thomas Covenant.

[Stephen Livingston]

Of all the wizard's that I'm aware of in literature, Gandalf is my favourite.
Best wishes, Stephen Livingston.

[Sara]

Most wizards have some God or Higher Being giving them a hand!

[Gary]

I would nominate just about any wizard created by Clark Ashton Smith...

[Kate]

To address the Merlin card, as a product of folklore rather than of straight up fiction, I don't think he and, say - Gandalf, can really be compared in the context of "Who Is The Best Wizard Of All Time?" - they were of different times; different media, so it seems slightly meaningless to examine them in contrast. I mean, Merlin might well have existed.

Within fictional literature, I would award Gandalf that honour, for he is the archetypal wizard as has been stated already, and his words in Middle Earth have moved me to laughter and tears in equal measure. But in a close second place - and I'm surprised his name has been left out of this discussion 'till now - would be Nevyn (from Katherine Kerr's Deverry Cycle) because he is a very human kind of wizard, who has made mistakes and suffered loss. This is what drives him to such brilliance and benevolence.

(Tip of the hat also to the faculty of Unseen University and to Dumbledore & co.)

[Daniel]

Cam Browder+Vala Mal Doran=Love! (Deborah) wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Deborah~1 John 4:4~Greater Is HE! wrote: "GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG..."
but then... so is Sauron, because he was definitely around at the time of The Hobbit

[Eve]

Oz of course.

[Bjoern]

Bridget wrote: "Belgarath in David Eddings' 5-book series that begins with The Pawn of Prophecy."

12 books ;) don't forget the Malloreon (Starts with "Guardians of the West") and the two stand alone Novels about Polgara and Belgarath tieing into both these series.

And yes, i'm also all for Belgarath.

And maybe as a honorary second Schmendrick from the last unicorn. Just because.

[Hazel]

I'm changing my vote again, to Richard from Looking for Group. He gets all the best lines.

[Astraea]

Jaye wrote: "Gandalf Rocks! In my opinion, he is better than Dumbledore, Merlin, Tim the Enchanter, Voldemort –everyone! Am I wrong? Who is your favorite?"

I am.

Andy

[Brandon]

I can't the first to mention Elminster Aumar am I. wow, he is a powerhouse.

[Brandon]

Will wrote: "It's like the resurrection myth of Jesus. You could say he died and came back, but he didn't really die. It depends on how you think of it. He, according to the myth, also just "went someplace else..."

Though Tolkien hated allegory, so....

[Will]

And your point? The symbolism is still there whether or not Tolkien likes it.

[Hazel]

I could take Baldricks war poem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci6Cw8...

and add loads of symbolism and allegory, its all about peoples interpretation no matter what the author intended.

[Kurt]

The one in Oz behind the smoke and mirrors.

[Yefim]

And the greatest Wizard of all time??

If you say any wizard other than Merlin, you are too yo..."
Believe me, Merlin is not all that well known outside the English-speaking world. Since I am not from it, I will have to stick with Gandalf, the wizard of whom all the other fantasy wizards you name are but imitations of.

[Mari]

Kurt wrote: "The one in Oz behind the smoke and mirrors."

Absolutely. The Wizard of Oz. He made everyone believe in him without using magic, only the force of his will. If that's not a great wizard, I don't know what is :)