Raistlin Majere (326 - 356 AC) is a fictional character from the Dragonlance series of books. He is one of the most memorable characters in the series.

Early Life

As a young boy, Raistlin was picked on for being thin and weak. He was a twin—his brother was the robust Caramon Majere—and also has a half sister, Kitiara, with whom their friend Tanis Half-Elven (otherwise named Tanthalas) was in love.

Raistlin was for a time a street performer doing coin tricks and the like. Also as a "youngling" he was enrolled in the apprenticeship of older wizards by his half sister. He excelled and was Tested at the Towers of High Sorcery in the form of a fight to the death with a banshee (in the world of Dragonlance banshees are dead dark elven women that are doomed to protect treasure until their second death), passing and becoming a mage or wizard. During the Test, he was contacted telepathically by the powerful dead archwizard Fistandantilus, who offered Raistlin access to his vast stores of magical power in exchange for some of Raistlin's life energy, so that his spirit could survive. Though the Test is carefully designed by the elder mages to be within the capabilities of the individual accepted for Testing to pass (if only just), Raistlin accepted Fistandantilus' offer. He passed his Test.

Already weak physically, after his Test his health was shattered almost completely due to the life energy he gave to Fistandantilus. The wizards of the Tower cursed Raistlin for his arrogance with hourglass shaped pupils that forced him to see time as it affects all things, in an attempt to teach him humility and compassion for others. Plants he looked at would wither and die before his eyes; mortals would grow old and rot in his sight. Their plan backfired, however, and Rastlin grew ever more bitter and angry because of this curse. His skin was also rendered a golden color as a result of magic employed in his battle with the banshee, leaving him even more socially outcast. But, with Fistandantilus' magical power at his disposal, he rapidly became by far the most powerful magic-user on Krynn, outstripping even Elven mages centuries his elder.

Raistlin wields the staff of Magius and the dagger of Magius. After the Test, he bought the dagger and was gifted with the staff, as well as with the recipe for a foul-smelling herbal mixture to help alleviate his severe asthma.

Originally he wore red robes, symbolising neutrality or the indecisive, but as time and events wore on he swapped them for the black robes of evil mages such as Fistandantilus.

The staff of Magius belonged originally to Magius, a friend of Huma. Magius was killed, and Huma, being a king of sorts, enacted laws that Mages be alowed one bladed implement for their safety due to the unique ways of magic in the world of Krynn.

Raistlin during the War of the Lance

It was not long after Raistlin passed his test that the world was engulfed in the conflict that would be known as the War of the Lance.

During this time, Raistlin helped to fight the darkness threatening to consume all of Krynn. He and his companions played a critical role, and would collectively become known as the Heroes of the Lance. Raistlin's magic powers increased at a dramatic rate as the war progressed. He gained control of a potent artefact known as the Dragon Orb of Silvanesti which he took from the dying elven King Lorac.

More importantly, the full nature of the bargain he had made with Fistandantilus became apparent to him, and he used it to further prolong his life when he lay dying at the library of Palanthas. He turned away from the Red Robes of Lunitari, donned the Black Robes of Nuitari, and pledged his loyalty to Takhisis, the goddess of evil.

Fistandantilus was able to petition the Dark Queen for a mysterious item known as the Key of Knowledge, which Raistlin was able to use to unlock a number of ancient tomes and gain vast power in the process. His ambition, however, was such that he betrayed the Dark Queen, ultimately bringing the War of the Lance to an end and leaving him as the most powerful force on Krynn.

He then took up residence in the Tower of Palanthas, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that had foreseen his appearance as "the master of past and present".

There he remained for two years whilst the world held its breath waiting to see what his next action would be.

Attempt at Godhood

Although the conclave thought that Raistlin harboured plans to conquer the world, Raistlin's ambition stretched much further than this.

He studied Fistandantilus's voluminous works on crossing the threshold between god and man, and decided to embark on usurping Takhisis, the Dark Queen. Much of Fistandantilus' work had been lost in the global ravages that Krynn had endured during the Cataclysm, and so he embarked on an ambitious plan to travel backwards through time to the reign of the Kingpriest.

Once there, he confronted Fistandantilus, and the two fought for supremacy. Raistlin apparently won, stealing not only the archmage's identity and lifeforce, but also the vast knowledge that Fistandantilus had accumulated over the course of his 1000 year lifespan.

In a drastic attempt to stop him, the conclave sent Raistlin's twin Caramon back in time along with the cleric Crysania and the kender Tasselhoff Burrfoot. Raistlin, however, beguiled Crysania, as he needed her help at a later time to further his plans. Only a true cleric of Paladine working together with a mage of the Black Robes could open the great portal to the Abyss where Takhisis had been imprisoned, and in this way, the mages of old had hoped to forever seal her there.

Escaping the Cataclysm, Raistlin travelled forward in time, where he initiated the Dwarfgate Wars (in the guise of Fistandantilus), in attempt to reach the magical citadel of Zhaman, where the Portal lay.

Caring nothing for the war itself or those around him, he relentlessly pursued his objective. To him, everyone was simply a pawn to be used as he saw fit in the greater game he played with the Dark Queen, everyone, including his brother, could be sacrificed if it furthered his aim. His plans were almost foiled when his brother activated a time travel device whilst Raistlin was attempting to open the great portal.

The result was a spectacular explosion that ended the Dwarfgate War and catapulted Caramon and Tasslehoff into the future. Raistlin, though, entered the Abyss with Crysania, where he prepared to face his greatest challenge yet, the Dark Queen herself.

Leaving Crysania for dead after she had protected him to the best of her abilities from the Dark Queen's assaults, he confronted the Dark Queen before defeating her vast armies of minions. He then retreated to the portal, hoping to draw the Dark Queen back into the prime plane, where he reasoned he would be the stronger of the two.

It was here that he encountered his brother, who had travelled into the future and had seen the end result of Raistlin's bid for godhood. The battle between Raistlin and Takhisis had destroyed nearly everything in Krynn, leaving Raistlin a world which he ruled alone, a world populated by bloated corpses and shattered lands, and a world ultimately where he was doomed to dwindle to nothingness by consuming himself.

According to Caramon, Raistlin then realised the folly of his actions and made the greatest possible sacrifice he could. He gave up his life to block the Dark Queen's entrance to the world by remaining in the Abyss and confronting her in front of the Portal, to allow his brother the time needed to return through to Krynn, close the portal, and prevent the Dark Queen from entering the world. Caramon had a vision of Raistlin's spirit being rescued by Paladine from the Dark Queen's grasp and finally granted peace as a result of his sacrifice. This version of events was retold throughout Krynn, and Raistlin became a popular hero for his self-sacrifice to save the world from evil.

Although Raistlin's doomed attempt for godhood perhaps indicated the flawed nature of his personality, it was his final sacrifice that in many ways redeemed him. For all of his accomplishments, both intellectual and material, it was his victory over the darker side of his own nature that probably was his greatest achievement. It is perhaps for this reason that he was granted peace in death by Paladine, or so the legends said.

Raistlin's Return

In the later short story The Legacy, Caramon's son Palin is summoned for his Test, winding up at the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas. Dalamar conjures an illusion of Raistlin as part of his Test of Palin, but his spell inadvertently allows Raistlin's actual spirit access to the prime material plane (though he does not realize this himself until well after the Test has concluded.) Dalamar magically sealed Raistlin's laboratory at the top of the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas, so that no mortal could ever again enter and discover Fistandantilus' and Raistlin's research on how to become a god. Dalamar endeavors to create the illusion that Palin enters the laboratory, and travels through the portal inside into the Abyss, where he finds that the Dark Queen has been messily torturing and killing Raistlin every day since he prevented her from entering the Portal to Krynn, and bringing him back to life every evening so that she can kill him again the next day.

Palin goes to his uncle's aid, and the two return to Krynn, where Raistlin decides to renounce his former ambitions of godhood, and merely rule the world instead. He collapses into a fit of choking asthmatic laughter when Palin tells him of the legendary hero status of the name "Raistlin", and how everyone on Krynn believes that he sacrificed himself to save the world from the Dark Queen. He tells Palin that he had kept Takhisis in the Abyss only so that he himself would not dwindle to nothingness, as would have happened if he had fought her on the prime material plane, where he would have won and destroyed the world in the process. Raistlin gifts Palin with the Staff of Magius, and offers to make Palin his apprentice, so the two can rule Krynn together, but Palin refuses, and tries to close the Portal by himself, whereupon Raistlin attacks him and he becomes unconscious.

Caramon finds Palin unconscious before the locked and magically sealed door to Raistlin's laboratory, and takes him to Dalamar's study, where Dalamar explains that the entire adventure was an illusion he'd created. A Guardian of the tower appears in the study with the Staff of Magius, and presents it to Palin. Dalamar flies into a rage, since he had given the spirit strict orders to never allow any living thing into the laboratory, even he himself. The guardian spirit replies that he has been commanded to bring the Staff of Magius from inside the laboratory by the true Master of the tower, whereupon Dalamar becomes terrified.

Raistlin returned again, a year later, during the Chaos War. He was instrumental in the defeat of Chaos, even though the gods had stripped him of his power as the price for his hubris.

Raistlin's spirit also assisted the gods to find Krynn at the conclusion of the War of Souls. Then, with his brother Caramon and the Heroes of the Lance, Raistlin finally joined the River of Souls, and disappeared for the final time.