Iconic
In Pathfinder, the Iconics are the pregenerated Player Characters that appear in the art of almost every adventure path, sourcebook, splatbook, or what have you that Paizo publishes.
The Iconics were originally created so that Paizo could have a detailed go-to reference for each class to show illustrators instead of having to repeatedly explain to each artist what equipment, weapons and armor each class would typically have. But over time the gained a life of their own, and have had their backstories fleshed out in novels and short stories. They also star in the Pathfinder comic book series, as well as 2 of them appearing in the video game adaptations of Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous. For some reason, you can't romance them in the video games, despite most of the cast able to be. The writers tend to have the Iconics subvert the tropes of how their classes are typically portrayed in popular culture, whether by having them be an unusual gender or body-type for that class, or having world views or backstory that clashes with how one would typically see it playing out.
Meet the Team
- Amiri the Barbarian, CN follower of Gorum: One of the more popular Iconics due to being a badass musclebound woman who shows a good amount of skin and revels in kicking ass, but is still loyal to her friends and is reasonable enough to be a team player. Was kicked out of her tribe in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords (ie, Ice Age North America with Frost Giants) due to defying gender norms and slaying a giant. She took the giant's sword and now travels around with 3 things on her mind: Food, drink, and beating people up!
- Alahazra the Oracle, LG Atheist : That's right, an atheistic oracle! Growing up a pampered brat of a rich nobleman in a nation who forbade the worship of any religion, she lost her eyesight and gained great divine fire-power when she was 16. Now an outcast, she was forced to grow up fast and leave her father and nation behind. Years later, she still doesn't follow any god, but developed a strong moral compass. Standoffish and temperamental, she sees the gods only as strategic allies in the fight against evil. Also apparently has quite a healthy sex-life for such a serious character. Replaced by the Tengu oracle Korakai in 2E.
- Alain the Cavalier, LN follower of Abadar: You know the classic image of a knight in shining armor, heroically riding atop a valiant steed? This... is not that guy! Alain grew up from a rich spoiled brat into an even bigger rich spoiled brat who only cares about increasing his own fame. He doesn't even care if the world sees him as a hero or villain. As long as they've heard of him and how handsome and awesome he is, he'll be happy. He even thinks little of women and of elves! He is 100% certified dick and couldn't be more proud of it!
- Balazar the Gnome Summoner, TN Agnostic: Was once a good-natured prankster (as is typical for gnomes), a run-in with some mages attempting to harness the power of the void left him so horrified that it literally aged him until his hair turned white. On the plus side, he got a sweet eidolon out of the ordeal named Padrig. Padrig resembles a cockatrice with a serpent's body, good for intimidating enemies or biting their heads off. Patient, wise, and a pretty cool old guy.
- Damiel the Elf Alchemist, CN follower of Norgorber: Damiel dosen't really play with many tropes, being your bog-standard "mad scientist" alchemist with a bit of Jekyll and Hyde thrown in. Sees knowledge as the ultimate drug and seeks to never stop learning to feed this insatiable knowledge. When he uses mutagens his other side comes out which is even more violent. Never really popular with players or writers, so he was replaced in 2E with the much more fun goblin alchemist, Fumbus.
- Ezren the Wizard, NG Atheist: Your typical kindly wizard with a white beard, coat, and staff. What makes him unique is his backstory, where a plot by his asshole brother kept him out of any and all wizarding schools. Now much older, he's happy to finally start becoming a real wizard like he'd always dreamed of as a kid. It goes to show that you're never too old to start pursuing your dreams.