The Top 5: In Memoriam of Gary Gygax

Being a strange kid myself, I grew up inside the multitude of fantasy worlds where slaying the supernatural and going on a date with a succubus was part of the deal. For all the many adventures I’ve had in these worlds, there was one man behind it all; a man to which a generation of gamers, nerds, strange kids, manga readers, comic book fans owe tribute… Gary Gygax.

On March 4 2008, Gygax, the co-father of Dungeons & Dragons and the modern Role Playing Game, passed away. In his wake he left behind a legacy for strange kids everywhere that no man will ever be able to live up to. After Gygax’s passing tributes spawned up everywhere and as another year passes I cannot help but to be reminded of 5 particular tributes that remind us of one of the Strangest Kids to have ever walked on this Earth. This is one is from all your fans to you, Mr. Gygax, to remind you that we still roll on.

5) XKCD: The Ultimate Game

There is no easier way to rend tribute to a master than show him in action. XKCD decides to take this a step beyond by taking a page from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and giving Gygax one last game with death, D&D style! In the strip Gygax enjoys a last game, the game that made his life.

4) Dork Tower: Thanks for the World-building Rules

Good tributes come from the heart, and there is no better tribute to a man than saying to him “Thank You.” A simple thank you can mean so much, express how you owe so much to someone, how he helped build your life, your world. Dork Tower as a webcomic based on Dungeons and Dragons, and they use a single panel to show the influence a single man had on so many lives.

3) Futurama Remembers Gary

Yeah, I am kinda cheating myself here but I couldn’t stop I when I read all the commentaries about the appearance of Gary Gygax on Futurama and how everyone enjoyed playing D&D, especially with Gary himself there. It’s for that same reason that when Gary died during the production of Bender’s Game they decided to add a little bit more to the movie by offering a tribute to Gygax with his best moment in the series. Truly fan love has no reach.

2) Steven Colbert: Honoring Gygax on National TV

Many people can’t believe when they hear that some celebrities are actually hardcore D&D fans. Heck, even Vin Diesel has said that he has played D&D for the last 20 years! But when Mr. Gygax was gone, only Stephen Colbert gave a big nationwide goodbye to the man of fantasy. Thanks Mr. Colbert.

1) KILLJOYCOMICS.COM Gathers All Tributes to Gary Gygax

How many times it has happened to you that you see so many expressions of love towards someone or something that you want to gather them all and put your arms around it?

Killjoycomics.com blessed us by gathering so much of the love for Gary Gygax in its website so we can see and hear what so many fans had to say as a farewell to the big man of RPG’s itself. Gary is not dead; he just went into his next adventure.

I would like to end this tribute to the man of Dungeons & Dragons itself by adding a quote of my own… “Einstein was right on one thing God didn’t play the game of life with mere dices; God plays life with Dungeons & Dragons.”