Tasslehoff Burrfoot (often called Tas) is a fictional character of the kender race from the Dragonlance series of novels, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

[1] In the novel Kendermore, Tasslehoff is "collared by a lady bounty hunter and charged with violating the kender laws of prearranged marriage.

What no one knows is that the Dark Queen is inciting the riots in Kendermore as part of her plan for the battle of good versus evil.

However, when he drew maps, his short patience led him to draw them inaccurately and make up names for certain places on Ansalon.

This is a behaviour typical to kender, who as a species steadfastly, and with some indignation, maintain they do not steal, but "find" things that "just happen" to have been left out, or fallen into their pouches.

When the companions separated, Tas had no intention of leaving his friends but a bounty hunter (who was a beautiful dwarven woman, and was later killed by the half-orc Denzil) came to arrest him and bring him back to Kendermore.

He was rescued by a Woolly Mammoth he released (this later prompted endless stories he told to the other Heroes of the Lance, whether they wanted to hear them or not).

He was then kidnapped by a half-orc named Denzil, who needed a map of Tas' to find a treasure located in The Ruins.

In revenge, she asked her son, Nuitari, the god of dark magic, to cause natural disasters on Kendermore.

Paladine, leader of the white pantheon of gods in Dragonlance and brother to Takhisis, becomes mortal and takes the form of a wizard named Fizban, who is very fond of kenders in general and Tasslehoff in particular, with the two developing a father and son relationship.

Tasslehoff was sent by Tika Majere to help Caramon escort a cleric of Paladine, Crysania to the tower of High Sorcery.

Anxious to keep his promise to protect Caramon and not miss out on any adventures, Tasslehoff, having been transformed into a mouse, manages to sneak into the laboratory of the great Par Salian, leader of the white robed magicians of Good, as he is casting the time traveling spell.

Through Tasslehoff's interference, Raistlin (as Fistandantilus) is able to change the past and successfully enter the Abyss to challenge Takhisis along with the Paladine cleric Crysania.

Tasslehoff then ran up and stabbed Chaos in his big toe with a magical knife Caramon Majere had dubbed "Rabbitslayer".

Kender also have a trait called "Taunting", by insulting their opponents to the point of enraging them to killing intent, and thus lowering their accuracy in attacking but increasing their strength as a result.

This is especially shown during Chronicles Book 2: Dragons of Winter Night when the companions were tied up and escorted to the mayor and while walking the street under the jeering of the crowd, Tas, as the master of taunting, managed to enrage the crowd into a riot and managed to be saved by the knights on covert mission in the chaos.

He is even immune to dragonfear, except that caused by the great dragons of the fourth age, but the Shoikan Grove's piercing aura of fear managed to break through and affect him, though he did not recognize the feeling.

He is also fiercely loyal to his friends, has enough sense (largely thanks to lecturing from Tanis Half-Elven) to avoid overly dangerous situations, and above all, has a conscience in the form of Flint Fireforge's voice.

Like all of his race, he carries a good number of pouches, which he never takes off, except just prior to his death at the hands of Chaos, so that he could run faster.

[6] Tasslehoff also appears as a player character in Dragons of Flame, where one reviewer describes him as "a rather fat mamma with ginormous ears".

[7] Tasslehoff was included in Ral Partha's Dragonlance Heroes boxed figures set of lead miniatures.

[9] The 2002 winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award Mel Odom reviewed the film and described Tasslehoff as "a kleptomaniac".

Club, notes that Tasslehoff, "the group's token member of the hobbit-like kender race, winds up being a source of real pathos after a rocky start as a kleptomaniac punchline.

"[11] Lauren Davis of io9 describes Tasslehoff as "endlessly resourceful and his tendency to steal any small object in sight proves more useful than annoying.

Plus, his cheerful demeanor is often a welcome ray of light in the books' darker moments, though his gradual journey to maturity is one of the series' most satisfying arcs—and the reason he becomes such a heroic figure in later volumes.

"[12] In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken commented that "A kender, a race particular to the Dragonlance setting that are hobbit-sized but not interested in creature comforts and Elevensies.

Instead, they're innately curious, playful to the occasional point of meanness, and generally so happy-go-lucky they genuinely don't feel fear.