Takhisis - Other Publications

Other Publications

Takhisis is considered to be a central part of the Dragonlance world creation myth as the primordial source of evil. This central role is crucial to how creation myths are presented.

In the neo-pagan press a series of books published by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart looks at Takhisis in the Dragonlance world and compares her to the Babylonian and Dungeons and Dragons version of Tiamat. The book is written as a school book for young wizards and witches of the neo-pagan sort. Takhisis is described for her role in the wars of good vs. evil.

This ultimate source of evil theme is looked into again in a presentation by Dr. Stefan Ekman of Lund University in Sweden. Dr. Ekman compares Takhisis and other fantasy "dark lords" such as Lord Foul and Sauron to the biblical Satan. In particular he states, "Even though not all of the Dark Lords above signify the ultimate source of evil, Lord Foul, the Dark One, and Takhisis certainly do. And all of thema re ultimately actants, characters whose raison d’être is to provide the final threat".

This theme of good versus evil, and human versus gods, is expanded in Dragonlance, a Shared World of Fantasy Fiction and Role-Playing Games. The central focus of this thesis is the struggle of the human characters versus Takhisis. This struggle is compared with the human, or at least mortal, heroes of the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.

Tiamat, in her Dragonlance/Krynn incarnation is also the subject of in the Dragon Gods and Evil dragons sections of the Practical Guide to Dragons. She is discussed in universe style with sidebars detailing her real-world publishing significance. This is continued in the follow-up series The Dragon Codices, in which Takhisis is the main, if somewhat hidden, antagonist.