Summary

• Elminster's importance in Dungeons & Dragons lore is undeniable, with deep roots in the franchise's history.
• A possible spinoff featuring Elminster could explore his character development and unique relationship with the gods.
• Honor Among Thieves set the stage for a potential Elminster spinoff by hinting at his legendary status and possible resurrection.

Out of all the characters in Honor Among Thieves cast. Introduced in the film as the legendary wizard whose reputation Simon can't live up to, Elminster held a small role in the live-action Dungeons & Dragons movie, with David Durham playing the character.

Elminister's only purpose in Honor Among Thieves' ending was to advance Simon's character arc. Because Simon struggled with low self-esteem and meeting the bar set by his ancestor, Elminster's legacy and image was used to personify Simon's journey in the movie. But despite the movie never even attempting to make Elminister a fully developed character, he's arguably the most appealing option for a future Dungeons & Dragons spinoff.

Elminster's Importance To Dungeons & Dragons Fully Explained

Elminster Is One Dungeons & Dragons' Biggest Characters

Thanks to decades of Dungeons of Dragons media, its world boasts legions of fantasy characters, yet Elminster is easily one of its two most famous heroes, the other being Drizzt Do'Urden. After all, there are characters associated with Dungeons & Dragons with more book appearances under their belts than the two of them. Headlining over 30 Legend of Drizzt books, the dark elf ranger holds the record, but Elminister has an impressive history as well. Over the years, the wizard has been the focus of 12 novels published in the Forgotten Realms line.

Elminster's significance has a lot to do with his roots. He was created by Ed Greenwood, the fantasy author who developed Forgotten Realms in the first place. When Wizards of the Coast began accompanying its game material for Forgotten Realms with fantasy novels set in that world in the early 1990s, Greenwood's Elminster books and R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books were among the earliest installments. This allowed both characters (and their respective stories) to help create a foundation for much of the Forgotten Realms' lore.

What makes Drizzt and Elminster stand out above everyone else is their extreme visibility in the franchise; both in-universe and with fans of the tabletop game, both are incredibly well-known, hence why they're referenced across several D&D campaigns and other forms of media. Name recognition would be a boon to either if they were to appear in a future Dungeons & Dragons movie or show. Since Drizzt was cut from Honor Among Thieves, he'd be completely new territory. As for the case with Elminster, he could be used to expand greatly on an existing part of its new live-action universe.

How Dungeons & Dragons Could Easily Reboot Elminster

Dungeons & Dragons Can Reinvent Honor Among Thieves' Version (Without Defying Canon)

An Honor Among Thieves follow-up following Elminster would enjoy a great deal of creative freedom with the character, regardless of the identity it's already established for him. That's because the Elminster seen in the film was really just a manifestation of Simon's fear. Simon has never actually met Elminster, meaning that the version seen in the film was just Simon's idea of what Elminster looked like. With that in mind, Dungeons & Dragons could easily recast Elminster, change his personality, or adjust his costume design to whatever fits the path it wants to take with the character.

As someone who has carried 12 books and appeared in several others, there's enough source material to a variety of possible storylines it could hand the character.

All things considered, Honor Among Thieves doesn't set much in stone when it comes to how Elminster can be portrayed. What it does establish, though, is that Eliminster is (or was) a great and legendary wizard. However, that's consistent with his image in the books and would surely be a part of his image in any other movie or TV adaptation. That wouldn't stand in the way of a show about a younger Elminster who hasn't risen to that level yet, as it could always be an Honor Among Thieves prequel set at an earlier point in the Dungeons & Dragons timeline.

How An Elminster Movie Or TV Show Would Work

Elminster Could Be Reintroduced As A Young Wizard

There's no shortage of possibilities of what Dungeons & Dragons could do with Elminster, whether it's on the big or small screen. As someone who has carried 12 books and appeared in several others, there's enough source material to a variety of possible storylines it could hand the character. The most obvious choice would be Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Greenwood's first Elminster novel. The book covers his tragic origin story, beginning with his youth and gradually shaping him into the peerless wizard he's later renowned to be in Dungeons & Dragons.

Most likely, any live-action story involving Elminister would deal heavily with a side of Dungeons & Dragons that Honor Among Thieves acknowledged but never explored in depth: the gods. The pantheon of gods and goddesses in Forgotten Realms is a crucial part of the worldbuilding; who characters choose to worship naturally have a heavy influence on their ideas and goals. Many Forgotten Realms games and Dungeons & Dragons books often go deeper than that, though, often allowing the gods themselves to interact with the characters, with Elminster being a major example of this.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Elminster is known for being a devout follower of Mystra, with whom he shares a unique relationship. Mystra chose Elminster as her Chosen, making him her champion. They share a deep, intimate connection that mortals and gods don't typically share, which results in Elminster experiencing moral dilemmas and challenges that would be unfamiliar to most Dungeons & Dragons heroes. An Elminister movie could really lean on this particular element of his stories.

Mystra is the Mother of All Magic in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

Elminister's Apparent Death Could Be The Basis Of A Spinoff

Is Elminster Still Alive In Honor Among Thieves?

An interesting aspect of Honor Among Thieves' references to the wizard that may or not come into play in an Elminster project is the impression it gives about his fate. Honor Among Thieves avoids stating it directly, but there's certainly a sense in the film that Elminster represents a part of the world's past. That could mean that Elminister is either dead or presumed dead in the film. Elminster has died before, so that wouldn't necessarily be an obstacle; a spinoff could explore Elminster's resurrection or the character emerge after years of false assumptions about his death.

Such a story could pull directly from The Temptation of Elminster. The third installment in his book series, the Ed Greenwood novel created a new status quo for the character by having him wake up from a tomb, having been absent from the world for centuries. With Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves implying that Elminster is a figure of legend, an adaptation of The Temptation of Elminster could be a great way to follow his movie cameo and introduce him properly.