Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had a lot to live up to in terms of game material, but did so particularly well with Xenk the Paladin’s (Regé-Jean Page) alignment, honoring an original Dungeons & Dragons rule. Dungeons & Dragons classes can be played any way imaginable, but each character class lends itself to certain archetypes that can be fun to adhere to or break. For example, wizards don’t have to be classically wise and rogues can be honorable instead of shifty and untrustworthy. But as long as all the players are on the same page and having fun, adhering to these tropes can be gratifying too, as Honor Among Thieves illustrates.
Honor Among Thieves depicts a cast of adventurers, including Edgin the Bard (Chris Pine), Holga the Barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez), Simon the Sorcerer (Justice Smith), and Doric the Druid (Sophia Lillis) while they’re on a quest to save Edgin’s daughter and take down a corrupt lord. On their travels, they need the help of Xenk the Paladin, a well-known hero who fulfills the archetype of a knight in shining armor to a T. He’s straight-laced, gallant, and does heroic deeds for their own sake. While he does clash a bit with Edgin’s more chaotic, morally-gray perspective, in the end, the group comes to appreciate Xenk’s inner and exterior strength.
Xenk's D&D Class Explains His Entire Personality In Honor Among Thieves
This portrayal of Xenk as a by-the-book character in Honor Among Thieves aligns very well with the expectations of the class that often arise in Dungeons & Dragons. Up until the fifth edition, all paladins in D&D were limited to the Lawful Good alignment, meaning they needed to adhere to the societal laws and rules that a typical party mind otherwise take a flexible approach to in their adventures. For that reason, paladins are commonly viewed as goody-two-shoes who never do anything wrong and always follow the law to the letter, even to the detriment of those around them.
While there are many interesting ways to engage with a paladin who is such an archetypal paragon, this has given them something of a bad reputation amongst players. But whether the paladin in question fights for justice and goodness or for vengeance and retribution, to them, most everything boils down to black and white, with little gray area. This, then fully explains Xenk’s heroic personality, and his inflexible devotion to doing good in the world, even so much that he would not help the group in Honor Among Thieves if they were going to steal for themselves.
Xenk's D&D Alignment Made Him A Better Character
While including such a rigid character can be a risky move for a film such as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Xenk is the perfect embodiment of the Lawful Good alignment done well. He could have been a boring character, but the movie leaned into his moral code just hard enough that it looped around into humor. And adding a few other character traits such as Xenk's deceptively old age and having a tragic backstory helped make Xenk’s mannerisms approachable, too. But even more so, Xenk’s alignment allowed him to be a foil to Edgin. Their relationship of begrudging respect from Edgin and faith in his abilities from Xenk made both men better characters overall.