The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
discussion
Who Is The Best Wizard Of All Time?
Hands down Milamber from the Feist Books at the height of his power is one of the strongest wizards I have ever read about.But Harry Dresden is my absolute favorite. Jim Butcher really brings him to life in a nicely parallel world.
There are also many wizards from the D&D worlds that are amazing and powerful.
Gary wrote: "There are also many wizards from the D&D worlds that are amazing and powerful."Paul Kemp writes some pretty badass characters.
On tricks alone, I like Saruman. I mean Gandalf is more counsel than wizard much of the time. Though he was predicted by Cirdan to be the greatest. Dumbledore is a continuation of the LOTR wizard tradition and he had some good tricks.Honestly the whole question is subjective. Do you like tricks or are we discussing pure magical pedigree? Sure, Gandalf has excellent magical pedigree but tricks? A few.
It really is a tie between Gandalf and Dumbledore I think. For one the two characters are in completely different time settings and apply their skills and knowledge to different sets of circumstances. Yet, in each book (of both series) there is the overall fight between good and evil that we see in most fantasy novels. Also in both series, each character sacrifices their own life in the rescue of others, while Gandalf does return as Gandalf the White and Dumbledore remains deceased. For me at least it is a super hard decision. I feel like because Dumbledore willing allowed himself to be killed without much of a fight, we didn't get to see all of his potential. I also say this because he more than effectively fought off Voldemort and his death eaters in the Ministry of Magic to save Harry, which goes to say that there is no way that Snape could've taken him out alone. I'm going to go with Gandalf just because I felt his wisdom was far surpassed anything that we ever saw from Dumbledore, which is saying quite a bit over the 8 book series of Harry Potter.
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 agree. I sat here and laughed for at least 60 seconds. I read it to my husband, and he didn't quite see the humor.
Dumbledore is perhaps the softest wizard ever imagined, second only to Harry Potter. Bayaz, First of the Magi, for the win, if only for his skills at being a manipulative mastermind.
Raistlin! I love Gandolf and Allanon but for pure magic it has to be Raistlin!
Achamian from the Prince of Nothing.Actually, Merlin, the first and foremost, but I had to get in Akka because all the Gandalf/Dumbledore lackeys are so predictable.
Voldemort could have taken Dumbledore any time, or there would have been no need for Harry - duh!
Most of the rest come from fantasy so juvenile I shan't even bother commenting... Belgarath - hahahahaha!
Rhys wrote: "Bayaz, First of the Magi, for the win, if only for his skills at being a manipulative mastermind."Agreed.
As for Gandalf the Grey... he is killed by the Balrog. So he fails. He is sent back, and he can't really count, as he's not even human.If he counts, so does the Archangel Michael, who will smite Satan at the End Times.
Or Odin himself, the Allfather....
Clearly Tom Bombadil has more power than the rest of history's literary wizards have combined. He was so powerful in fact, that cameras couldn't film a replica of him and Steven Jackson was told by Bombadil "to go ahead and film your silly movie - but if I'm in it - I'll destroy your entire worldly existence." Bombadil's arch nemesis? Old Man Willow
If Fëanor counts as a wizard he gets my vote, also if Turin Turumbar was a wizard he would have my vote. But ill just say The Beyonder from the Marvel Universe maybe not a wizard but hey the guy could erase existence.
Gandalf is by far the Best! One does not simply walk into Morodor. Gandalf is able to become two separate wizards, he battled Balrog, He avoided the temptation of the ring from the very start, and he is just a total badass.
I like to pretend that Gandalf is Dumbledore's great great great great great great grandfather. However, if you're going to compare Gandalf:Middle Earth, Dumbledore:Wizarding World and Merlin:Camelot, I think Merlin ends up having the greatest relative power to his surroundings, but the details of Merlin are so foggy given the mythology there.
However, it's very possible that Dumbledore is the most cunning of all of them. Gandalf the most insightful. Merlin the most innovative.
Not that I think he is the greatest wizard but in A New Hope Kenobi is referred to as a wizard. Does the wizard in question actually have to refer to themselves as a wizard? Or, is 'wizard' the label that non-wizards give those with certain kinds of power that are difficult to explain any other way?Perhaps not the greatest wizard but Richard Rahl is my favorite.
Lindsey wrote: "Gandalf is by far the Best! One does not simply walk into Morodor. Gandalf is able to become two separate wizards, he battled Balrog, He avoided the temptation of the ring from the very start, and ..."when did gandalf become two separate wizards?
Hey guys, go to google maps and click "Get Directions"Enter:
A- The Shire
B- Mordor
Be sure and click the "walking" icon.
Prepare for lulz
I was showing that to someone just yesterday:D
Haha. Also enter:A USA
B Japan
Check out the directions for crossing the ocean XD
thats instruction no556, so a bbit of scolling, but with lulz.
Oh yeah, forgot to say turn the option back to "By Car" and it's step 32 :]
Winnie-the-Pooh, of course. :)
Best wizard in terms of cool powers: Quick Ben from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Or possibly the One-Eye/Goblin combo of wizards from the Black Company books. Despite having rather modest powers, they're just too amusing and cunning to be ignored.
Gandalf the Grey!!
Gellert Grindelwald and Gandalf the Grey
Harry Dresden!!Oh and Tim the Enchanter
It is interesting that for most serious fantasy that the Wizard element is drowned out by some clever fellow either with a sword or sharp thievery. Even in LOTR it is a little halfling fellow that steals the glamour from Gandalf.Greatest Wizard of alltime? I might toss my hat towards Raistlin. He was bad but good and was so sickly and yet he still managed to always kick butt even to the point of death. Gandalf gets props for the coolest beard and staff but save from riding on a giant moth doesn't do anything that impressive in my mind. Aragon taking on the ghost army using the "magic" of duty actually is the most powerful act of magic in the book if you ask me.
Merlin... nah he is too predictable, to vanilla for me. Harry Potter? just to dorky for me so yeah that is pretty much why I give it to Raistlin.
A lot of good, interesting choices. I'm going to go with Belgarath and Polgara simply because I enjoyed the dynamic between them as characters. They were also powerful in their own right, which added another dimension to their father/daughter relationship. I loved the interaction in the first part of the first book where Belgarath is trying to steal food from her kitchen. Its the characters that stand out most to me about the Belgariad, Malleroean and related solo novels.Honorable mention to Ristlin who is a complex, powerful and character. Particularly when he falls in love(in his own way) with the cleric (my apologies, I haven't read the book in a long time, title and name of cleric escapes me.)
Look i'm biased i'm a Huge fan of LotR and so gandalf is my favorite but Merlin, Dresden, Raistlin and others i love also like authors for me hard to pick just one =)
Gandalf without a doubt. A great strategist which is made evident if you've already read the Hobbit. He took out what could have been a powerful ally to Sauron. But Gandalf the Grey is always two steps ahead!
Hardly any wizardry needed.
Dumbledore close second
I think you're probably right about Gandalf. But I'm GONNA CHANGE that.In my book
Merlin has a private jet and may or may not have had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. :)
i see what you did there J.D. =)
Rhys wrote: "Dumbledore is perhaps the softest wizard ever imagined, second only to Harry Potter. Bayaz, First of the Magi, for the win, if only for his skills at being a manipulative mastermind."I can't believe it took 8 pages for Bayaz to surface... when it came time for him to use his powers (in Last Argument of Kings) he didn't sit in a tree tossing flaming pine cones, did he?
Gandalf just sat back and let people do what they felt like... sort of a passive/aggressive Prophet of Doom kind of guy. He's still one of my favorite characters, but as a wizard he makes a nice pyrotechnician... and that's about all we get to see.
Bayaz was a lot less passive. That's about as much as I feel like saying without spoiling 3 books and 2 sequels. He was also hilarious in a dark sort of way.
A lot of the other mages and wizards mentioned just kind of bleed together in a sort of generic "we're like Gandalf" sort of way, the exceptions being Harry Dresden (who seems to be a more hard-core version of van Helsing from Dracula... that's not necessarily a bad thing) and Richard Rahl (who always seems to have an issue with actually using his powers... see Gandalf and the flaming pine cones).
Bill wrote: "Rhys wrote: "Dumbledore is perhaps the softest wizard ever imagined, second only to Harry Potter. Bayaz, First of the Magi, for the win, if only for his skills at being a manipulative mastermind."..."
Good point about Richard Rahl but he is still my favorite because he is all potential and he still saves the day in the end every time.
John wrote:"Good point about Richard Rahl but he is still my favorite because he is all potential and he still saves the day in the end every time."I don't dislike Richard. He was at the top of my list until Bayaz showed up and showed me what a real wizard can do, as opposed to the overused "kindly old wizard" stereotype that has been completely beaten to death.
At some point, however, Goodkind needs to let him open the floodgates and actually be a wizard, instead of "all potential." Through 11 books, I waited for some sign that he knew magic as something other than "what I can do when I grow up to be a war wizard." ELEVEN. Freakin'. Books. Wave a wand... throw a fireball... hell, sit in a tree and throw flaming pine cones... do SOMETHING.
I have to say that I agree with Lady's comment in December - anyone who does not say Merlin is just too young.....Merlin is THE WIZARD and to add spice to the situation there is historical evidence (some of it slight,I will admit) that Merlin actually existed. I will quickly add that I love Gandalf - Grey and White and Albus Dumbledore.
Eleanor wrote: "I have to say that I agree with Lady's comment in December - anyone who does not say Merlin is just too young.....Merlin is THE WIZARD"...at least, he was until he let his... er... heart (yeah, I'll go with that :-P) do his thinking for him.
Gandalf stuck it out until Middle-Earth was safe. Merlin didn't make it to Arthur's confrontation with Mordred, thanks to his... er... heart.
Bill wrote: "John wrote:"Good point about Richard Rahl but he is still my favorite because he is all potential and he still saves the day in the end every time."I don't dislike Richard. He was at the top of m..."
I've read through Chainfire so far and I like Nicci more than any other character including Richard. She provides that kind of wizardly stuff in the kind of way that I would use such power. You know, walk into the enemies camp, cut them up with concentrated air, toss a few fireballs all because I have other things to do and defeating 20,000 soldiers needs to be done sooner than later so I can get on with it. But alas, she is a sorceress not a wizard.
It is obviously Rincewind. It says "Wizzard" right on his hat.
its a tie between gandalf because hes a classic and awesome and dubldore cause hes got a Phoenix duh
Wizards are cool. - Jim ButcherI've read just about every book I can get my hands that has a wizard, of course my first Wizard was Gandalf from way back when I read the hobbit.
I've forgotten more than I will ever remember but when you get to slinging power around there is no one that does it like Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden from the Dresden files.
I loved them all but Harry Dresden is the wizard for me.
The Spook from Last Apprentice. Not the best book ever, but cool character.
HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!!!!!
Dumbeldore or Gandalf
Merlin AND Gandalf. There is no doubt. They were the first- and therefore the most fantastic wizards ever. End of discussion.
I think Dumbeldore deserves a fighting chance. Yet, alas, Merlin and gandolf would moste likely prove superior.
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[Beings] of divine origin and possessing great power, the Maiar can wander the world unseen or shape themselves in fashion of Elves or other creatures; these "veils", called fanar in Quenya, could be destroyed, but their true-being could not [note, this does not address whether they die naturally or not]