# The 9 Greatest Mentors in Fantasy Fiction

> Wizards, witches and at least one talking animal share the same job here: getting a reluctant hero ready for a fight they never asked for.

*By YPB Team · Published November 11, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-9-greatest-mentors-in-fantasy-fiction*

---

## Current results (1 vote)

1. **Gandalf** — score 1000/1000
   The wizard who sends Bilbo on his journey in The Hobbit and guides the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings, played on film by Ian McKellen.
2. **Albus Dumbledore** — score 833/1000
   The Hogwarts headmaster who prepares Harry for his fight against Voldemort in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
3. **Merlin** — score 625/1000
   The wizard of Arthurian legend who tutors and advises the young Arthur, most famously in T.H. White's The Once and Future King.
4. **Rubeus Hagrid** — score 423/1000
   The Hogwarts gamekeeper who tells Harry he is a wizard and becomes his loyal friend in the Harry Potter books.
5. **Aslan** — score 333/1000
   The great lion who creates Narnia and guides the Pevensie children in C.S. Lewis's seven-book Chronicles of Narnia.
6. **Severus Snape** — score 227/1000
   The Hogwarts Potions master who secretly protects Harry for years and gives him Occlumency lessons in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
7. **Glinda the Good Witch** — score 227/1000
   The Good Witch of the North who sets Dorothy on the yellow brick road and shows her the way home in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, played by Billie Burke.
8. **Geralt of Rivia** — score 227/1000
   The witcher who trains and protects the young princess Ciri in Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher saga and its Netflix adaptation.
9. **Uncle Iroh** — score 0/1000
   The retired Fire Nation general who guides his nephew Zuko in the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008).

Tags: fantasy, movies, books, characters, mentors