Dungeons & Dragons Has To Solve Its Controversial Drow Problem Before A Legend Of Drizzt TV Show Can Be Made

Dungeons & Dragons has to confront its drow problem so it can finally reward
the adventuring parties loyal to The Legend of Drizzt books with an
adaptation, which has been overdue since 1988. Dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden was
introduced in 1988 in R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard, the first book in
The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Drizzt is the center of a lot of D&D gameplay and
is also important to many who have never played a D&D game in their lives.
Adapting Drizzt for the screen may be D&D's biggest commercial opportunity,
but a drow controversy stands in its way.

Salvatore's books frequently appear on The New York Times bestseller lists
and have sold upwards of 30,000,000 copies. The powerful drow ranger Drizzt
Do'Urden is a dark fantasy institution in his own right beyond D&D, and a
movie or TV adaptation may be the awareness spike that D&D needs to finally
break the mainstream in a meaningful way. Vox Machina is slaying dragons and
competition on Amazon Prime Video's The Legend of Vox Machina, but D&D won't
unlock the next level with all these skeletons in its closet. D&D must tackle
its problematic drow before it can adapt Drizzt.

Dungeons & Dragons Has To Address Its Drow Controversy Once & For All
Dungeons & Dragons Has A Drow Problem

A live-action Legend of Drizzt adaptation would entail confronting the nature
of drow and the color of their skin, which have been divisive in Dungeons &
Dragons since 2020. However, the politically dubious nature of the drow
started being discussed in the fandom long before 2020. Based on Norse
folklore, drow were invented by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax and first
introduced in 1977's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual as an evil,
black-skinned race. Needless to say, D&D had to rethink that. In a 2020 blog
post they have since removed, Hasbro finally addressed the mounting
controversy over its drow problem:

Throughout the... history of D&D ... drow... have been characterized
as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully
reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to
be denigrated. That's... not right... Despite our conscious efforts
to the contrary, we have allowed some of those old descriptions to
reappear in the game... If we make mistakes, our priority is to make
things right... We present... drow in a new light in two of our most
recent books... In those books... drow are just as morally and
culturally complex as other peoples. We will continue that approach
in future books...

A Drizzt Do'Urden TV adaptation would draw attention to this and could create
more problems for D&D than sales. Cancel culture looms large. D&D publisher
Wizards of the Coast LLC - bought by Hasbro in 1997 - didn't just make drow
less evil, it also retreated from presenting drow as a race. D&D began using
the word "species" instead of "race" for all its peoples to closer align with
their real-world parallels and avoid uncomfortable comparisons. This is
another skeleton that a Drizzt adaptation could free from the closet. But the
flesh hasn't even rotted off the bones of the drow skin color scandal.

D&D hasn't yet tackled drow nature or skin color as openly as it should have,
but it can do so through a Legend of Drizzt adaptation with a wry sense of
humor. The Drizzt books are dark fantasy and an adaptation would wear gothic
styling well. But D&D tried dark and gritty in its first three movies, which
didn't have the depth to pull it off. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
and The Legend of Vox Machina prove satirical fantasy as D&D's style. Satire
would allow a Drizzt adaptation to make fun of itself and expunge its dark
past.

D&D can't hide its skeletons in a closet anymore.

D&D gradually shifted its depiction of drow skin color from black to purple
and gray but never issued a clear, enduring declaration of what it actually
is. A Legend of Drizzt TV show - which would probably work better than a
movie - should make drow varying shades of purple to avoid the complications
of real-world parallels. Or, it can fully embrace its ebony-skinned drow and
use a majority black or PoC cast, a la Black Panther, as a statement against
whitewashing. Either way, it can make meta jokes with strong in-universe
logic that allude to the checkered past of the drow's appearance.

The Legend of Drizzt intended an anti-racist message, and an adaptation's
script, in the hands of smart writers, would be strengthened by D&D's dark
past, not weakened by it. Smart writers could tease out the liberating story
that there is to tell here. Whether its drow are purple or black, a Drizzt
adaptation has to stand against racism loudly. D&D can't hide its skeletons
in a closet anymore. If it wants to be an ally, it must own up to its
mistakes and compensate. In an awakening world, D&D may not reach its full
potential unless it takes this vital step.

Toril is a wide world, and it holds space for stories just as liberating as
the drow are problematic. Despite its dark past, D&D has become a beloved
space for many uniting through a shared interest, becoming whoever they
choose to be. D&D's drow problem notwithstanding, R.A. Salvatore's story is
about someone facing racial prejudice and trying to break free from it. Honor
Among Thieves was going to include Drizzt but backed out due to its drow
controversy, and he became Xenk instead. This was a mistake. A bold
showrunner would make this the empowerment story that D&D needs.

D&D's 2020 overhaul included changes to D&D 5e that allowed more flexible
Player Characters and the introduction of good drow cultures like the
Aevendrow and Lorendrow, but this was a faltering start to correcting its
errors. R.A. Salvatore addressed his part in the drow problem by adding
Aevendrow to The Legend of Drizzt in Starlight Enclave in 2021, confirming
that "if the drow are being portrayed as evil, that�s a trope that has to go
away" (Polygon). But the 5e changes didn't nip D&D's systemic racial
stereotyping in the bud, they just allowed players to make exceptions to the
rule.

A truly self-aware Drizzt adaptation would demonstrate that all
drow are complex from the start.

Meanwhile, Aevendrow and Lorendrow diluted the logic of former stories
somewhat. D&D could have amplified its complex drow goddess Eilistraee in
some other way, but this would have been difficult without huge retcons.
Aevendrow and Eilistraee are both vital in The Legend of Drizzt and must be
included in any adaptation along with Drizzt and his Artemis rivalry and the
Companions of the Hall. But a truly self-aware Drizzt adaptation would
demonstrate that all drow are complex from the start. With sensitive writing,
a goth-tinged aesthetic, and a heart of gold, this adaptation could be just
what Dungeons & Dragons needs.

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