[deecee4]

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Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

Like I said I wasn't into the LJN line but I did some research into it recently enough (because of NECA's Warduke) and it seems like an interesting story that is probably missing some pieces. So far as I found every LJN toy was an original concept except for Warduke, who did not have a name before the toys but showed up in magazines for DnD, and they were pretty much all conceived as toys before trying to fit them all in to the DnD formula. Warduke was the only one who really stuck though, apparently most of the others were too similar to existing NPCs so players didn't see the appeal to having basically two of the same character. Recently-ish some of them were used in the 5e adventure 'Wild Beyond the Witchlight' and some are included in a DnD themed mobile-game, but most recently they got a bit of a heavier presence. The 2024 Player's Handbook features Strongheart, Mercion, and Elkhorn in key art (including the front cover and 'classes' title page) but I have no clue if any are mentioned by name anywhere within.

I believe Warduke was specifically made for the toyline as well. He was a Tim Truman design. There's that notion that a character appearing in the background of an old Dragon magazine cover with a similar helmet & wearing chainmail is an unnamed proto-warduke but I dont know....maybe? That seems more like fantasy villain trope that just happens to share some similar triats. Then again i suppose maybe Truman was given that cover and told to refine it and make it more specific.