Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a 2023 film that tells an original story set in the broader Dungeons and Dragons tabletop RPG universe. This gives the fandom many elements of overlap with wider D&D fandom as well as with other D&D-related canons and productions (such as Critical Role, Dimension 20, The Adventure Zone, etc.) while also being a separate fandom in its own right.
D&D: Honor Among Thieves tells the story of Edgin Darvis, a bard who was imprisoned in icy fortress Revel's End for two years alongside his best friend, barbarian Holga Kilgore, and his quest to re-unite with his daughter and revive his deceased wife, Zia. Along the way, the two ally with sorceror Simon Aumar and druid Doric to take down the film's villain, Sofia, and her accomplice Forge Fitzgerald. They are also assisted by a paladin, Xenk Yendar, who is treated as a member of the film's primary cast in promotional material. Xenk forms one half of the film's juggernaut ship, Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar (or Xedgin).
The film was well-received by fans and enjoys a high level of fan engagement through Tumblr post interactions, kudos and comments on fanworks, etc. although the fanwork-producing portion of the fandom is smaller. D&D: HAT was eligible for Yuletide in 2023.
==Canon==
==Fandom==
Fans have celebrated the film for its humour and refusal to take itself too seriously, while still having a great deal of heart. One major appeal to fans has been the unexpected dynamic between Edgin and Holga: a male lead and his closest female friend who explicitly don't have a romantic relationship, but are shown to be platonically very close and are raising a child together. Fans enjoyed the found family themes of the film and the antagonistic chemistry between Edgin and Xenk, although many lamented that it wasn't textually queer.
The film's use of practical effects was also greatly appreciated in an era where most major blockbusters rely heavily on CG. D&D fans also enjoyed the film's homages towards the game and its clever inclusion of Easter eggs and nods to past D&D media like the 80s cartoon.
===Tumblr tagging===
Honor Among Thieves fandom on Tumblr frequently jokes about the fandom's inability to align on a single tag (and abbreviation) for the fandom, with numerous variants in circulation and fans often tagging posts with every possible variant for visibility. 
On April 27, 2023, handwrittenhello made a fandom tag poll that received nearly 700 votes with no clear consensus (the two most-voted-for options were #dndhat and #honor among thieves).
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*symbiosis by marquis. (In which Kira wants to be a rogue, Doric is the closest thing around, and she's not exactly pleased to be playing mentor. She gets over it.) (Post-movie, Kira & Doric friendship)
*scrap yarn by waveridden. “Edgin,” Holga sighs. “You don’t have to bright-side this one. You can just live with being fucked for a little bit.” Edgin has problems with being stuck in prison. Holga has problems with his problems. (Pre-movie, Edgin & Holga friendship)
*O happy dagger! This is thy sheath by Kabbal. "Ed wants to bash his face in with his lute, just to shatter that perfect, flawless skin, see if there’s flesh and blood running under that pristine marble. He wants to flee to the end of the world, to never be reminded of the existence of a being who seems to never have failed at anything, ever. He also wants to crush his lips against his, cling to that steady neck and feel the weight of all that perfection over him, spearing him like it could make him holy‒ Hm. Strange thought to have. Let’s forget it ever existed." (Post-movie, Xenk/Edgin)
*Walls instead of Bridges by TheHoardingPuffin. In an echoing cave, Simon breaks down. Xend recognizes the signs and helps him through it. (Xenk & Simon friendship)
*Did You Waste It? by Uniasus. The tablet had been ear-marked for Zia from the beginning. Holga needs to make sure Edgin doesn't regret using it for her instead. (Holga & Edgin friendship)
*roll of the dice by dotsayers. “I wanted a chameleon,” said Dora. Ed fought the urge to roll his eyes. “And you said that wasn’t ‘in keeping with the tone of the campaign’.” She did air quotes as she said it, as well as a stupid nasal voice. Zach sighed heavily. “And I wanted to have fun.” He glanced at Ed, who did his best to look like he wasn’t holding back laughter. (Modern AU featuring the D&D players behind the cast)
===Fanart & Fancomics===
*A DND movie comic about grief and love by the joxaren. (Post-movie, Xenk/Edgin)
*The Question by min0uze. Xenk tries his best to answer Edgin's question (Xenk/Edgin)
*Untitled fanart & fancomic by rabdoidal. i saw the new D&D movie and instead of drawing fanart of the characters, im just gonna imagine who the people are that are playing the meta campaign <3 defne is the DM and xenk is her DM NPC lmao
*Untitled fancomic by bamboocarbon-ver-2-0. Simon and Doric. They’re so cute I need more of them😭❤️
*Jarnathan fanart by gavanzude. Poor Jarnathan, the crazy stuff he has to deal with on the daily at Revel's End is a pain.
===Fanvids===
*Disaster Party by scribe (created for Festivids 2023). Adventuring party? Check. Disaster? Absolutely.
===Meta===
*Edgin’s resentment towards Xenk is absolutely twofold... by voyagesoftheenterprise-d: Meta on Edgin's resentment of Xenk (and what Xenk represents).
*What’s fasinating about the d&d movie is that it is all the fun of d&d removed from the rigid restraints of the the clunky game system..., by dailyadventureprompts: Meta on how the D&D mechanics as represented in the film compare to how they might be played in a game.
*"We have everything we need" by iffeelscouldkill: Meta highlighting that a theme throughout the film is Edgin's desire to obtain things for his family that he believes they need to be happy, not realising that they are content as they are.
==Links==
* Wikipedia:Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
* Tumblr tags: #dungeons and dragons honor among thieves, #dnd honor among thieves, #dndhat, #d&d hat, #dnd movieThere have been previous D&D movies which had minor-to-moderate fanac in their day but if you look at the tumblr tag for "#dnd movie" the vast majority of it will be for Honor Among Thieves due to either larger fandom or recency bias
* AO3: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) works on AO3
==Notes==
==References==