Will Elminster be Black?

[Space Hamster Family]

I know they are bringing back some of the original Baldurs Gate NPcs. My question is based on recent developments. In the DnD movie WoTC insisted that Elminster be played by a black man. They wanted at least one black arch-wizard in the game because DnD originally lacked diversity. Elminster as we know was in recent times an old white man. Will Larian continue this identification? Im looking forward to more diversity in DnD.

[Metallicus]

He will probably be non-binary as well. Look for Disney to buy WotC.

[Red Shirt]

This is probably just a clown harvest but I'll ask. Why does it matter?

[RakiaTime]

no, he'll be purple, spell accident

[mutantbeth]

in a world full of magic changing your appearance just seems unheard of I guess

[MeatGolem]

Elminster is a character in a fantasy. He isn't real. It doesn't matter what his skin color is. It could be plaid or polka dot. You're welcome.

[2]

He'll be blue dabadee dabadie dabadee dabadie

[ihatevnecks]

Nobody tell this guy about the time Elminster became Elmara.

[EruWan]

hope not

[Space Hamster Family]

Originally posted by ihatevnecks:

Nobody tell this guy about the time Elminster became Elmara.

I read the book, Mystra transformed him. She pretty much saved him. The outlook of being a woman changed his life. He was also a drow woman at one time, well technically she had his essence, but in terms of the lore he was one of princes of Athalantar. They were caucasian. I was just curious about the change in general its a good thing to mix it up. I hope they go the distance and make Valygar from BG2 an asian female.

[Nattfare]

He was a minor character in BG1, but only referenced in a memory in BG2.
But I suppose there is always a chance that he will be back.

[Yojo0o]

Other than a few unofficial websites reporting it, I see no indication that the character credited as "Ethereal Plane Sorcerer" was supposed to be Elminster. Other than him being black, no other effort was made to make the character recognizable as Elminster, who has a very distinct look regardless of skin color.

Simon is descended from Elminster, but Elminster is over a thousand years old, and we don't know when he had the kid who Simon is descended from.

Edit: Nevermind, this isn't a sincere thread.

[MarkFranz]

Originally posted by Space Hamster Family:

I know they are bringing back some of the original Baldurs Gate NPcs. My question is based on recent developments. In the DnD movie WoTC insisted that Elminster be played by a black man. They wanted at least one black arch-wizard in the game because DnD originally lacked diversity. Elminster as we know was in recent times an old white man. Will Larian continue this identification? Im looking forward to more diversity in DnD.

Isn't he originally has white skincolor? Wouldn't it be blackface if they made him black?

[Dovahbear]

Plot twist: Elminster came to save Volo but the Absolute gets an epic sucker punch curse off on him, polymorphing him into a goblin, feeble minded with false memories.

Elminster was Sazza all along.

[Cruddy]

Knowing how he was written he is likely all races, all genders and receives all the stat benefits of them at once becuz he just so cool and epic. He also forcibly seduces your PC and the narrator at the same time.

[Moon Goose]

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

Simon is descended from Elminster, but Elminster is over a thousand years old, and we don't know when he had the kid who Simon is descended from.

No, Simon THINKS he is descended from Elminster, but he is clearly not. Simon probably THINKS he is an Aumar, but he also believes his grandfather to be Black and he apparently believes he is dead (judging from his comments in the movie).

In truth he is not a true Aumar, there's multiple facts to support this. Elminster Aumar never married, so he never passed his family name on to anyone, furthermore Elminster doesn't even use his family name himself anymore, which makes it exceedingly unlikely he'd pass it on to someone else. Elminster is also well established as being White, so the image Simon saw when trying to attune the helmet was just a projection of his own subconscious, which is why it turned into a vision of himself when he finally succeeded. Finally, the real Elminster is very much alive in the present canon, although he was dead (kinda) for a period.

What's much more likely is that one of Simon's ancestors was as big of a charlatan as he is and simply claimed to be related to Elminster to trade off his name. The story was probably passed on through the family and they believed it. Family fiction like this isn't particularly uncommon in the real world (100% real Native American Elizabeth Warren for example), so I don't see why it would be in the Forgotten Realms.