Ernest Gary Gygax, aka Gary Gygax, was an American game designer and author best known for his popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Known as the father of role-playing games, Gary sadly passed away on March 4, 2008, at 69. He co-founded Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) with his late friend Don Kaye.

Gygax and Kaye were childhood friends. They wrote Troll Lord Games together as they were interested in role-playing games. The duo started by playing miniature war games after developing mutual love and appreciation for fantasy and science fiction. Then, they began designing their own miniature rules for toy soldiers, including where they used firecrackers to simulate explosions.