Raistlin Majere and his twin brother Caramon were born into the small farming community of Solace in the year 326 A.C. (After Cataclysm). Due to their mother Rosamun's illnesses, the twins were cared for by their half-sister Kitiara Uth Mata during their early years. Caramon and Raistlin were different as night and day. Caramon was a muscular warrior, cheerful and loud. Raistlin was a sickly scholar, reserved and cynical. Caramon always stood up for his brother when he was threatened with physical harm and Raistlin resented having to depend on Caramon for protection.

Raistlin discovered his talent for magic at an early age after watching an illusionist perform at a local fair. He was able to copy each and every one of the illusionist's tricks perfectly.

Enrolled in the local mage school at age 6, Raistlin astounded his teachers with his arcane abilities. As one of his teachers simply put it: "How do you teach someone who knows more than the teacher?"

At the age of 21, Raistlin was invited by the archmage Par-Salian to take the Test of High Sorcery. The Test was a challenge that all potential wizards had to face. It was process designed to weed out inexperienced and irresponsible people who aspired to learn the ways of magic. The punishment for failure was death. Only in this way could the wizards protect the magic that was so dear to them.

Raistlin and Caramon traveled to the Tower of High Sorcery in the Forest of Wayreth. There, Raistlin faced numerous challenges that are to this day unknown to us mortals. After a hard fought battle with a dark elf, Raistlin lay weak and dying in a darkened corner of the tower. His brother came into the room and proceeded to carry him away from the tower. Raistlin pleaded with Caramon to leave him, to let him complete his Test or at least to let him die in peace. Caramon refused, simply telling Raistlin "Nothing is worth this." As they walked across the dark room, a shadowy form appeared before them--a wraith. Caramon set Raistlin on the floor and walked toward the wraith. Raistlin looked up at his brother, expected to see him fight the wraith with sword and shield. Instead, he saw Caramon holding a magical rod in his hand, which he used to cast a lightning bolt on the wraith to destroy it.

Raistlin was furious. He demanded to know where Caramon had learned how to cast the lightning bolt. Caramon coolly replied that he had known it all the time, but had never needed to use it, thanks to his excellent fighting skills. Raistlin released his rage and anger on Caramon in the form of a Burning Hands spell, his twin burst into flames and died within moments. Raistlin slipped into unconsciousness.

When he awoke sometime later, Par-Salian informed Raistlin that he had passed his Test. The final Test was merely an illusion, Par-Salian's personal challenge for Raistlin. His failure did not count against him. Caramon had watched the entire incident.

Raistlin's already frail health was shattered as a result of his Test. His skin and eyes had turned a golden color and his hair was unnaturally grayed. He was frequently overcome with coughing spasms which threatened to tear his body apart. His pupils were now shaped like hourglasses. As a result, Raistlin saw time as it affected all things, he saw things dying and decaying wherever he looked for the rest of his life. In Raistlin's eyes, it was always winter and always night. Raistlin's abnormal vision was bestowed upon the mage by Par-Salian, in an attempt to instill compassion in Raistlin by showing him his own mortality. His odd skin coloration and coughing spasms, however, were not Par-Salian's doing. During his Test, Raistlin made a pact with an evil wizard named Fistandantilus, who threatened to take over the young mage's body.

As a reward for completing the Test and to compensate for his wrecked health, Raistlin was given a powerful magical item, the Staff of Magius. Created by the great wizard Magius hundreds of years earlier, the staff is made of polished mahogany at the top of which is a crystal clutched in a disembodied bronze dragon claw, its powers were many, only limited by its user's intelligence.

Raistlin donned the red robes of neutrality and swore to uphold the balance between good and evil in the world. He and Caramon returned to Solace for a reunion with their long-time companions who had split up to make their own separate journeys five years earlier.

Raistlin and his companions, later known as the Heroes of the Lance, would eventually become key figures in the War of the Lance, a fight to keep Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, from re-entering and enslaving the world of Krynn. Raistlin's knowledge and skill was invaluable to ending the war. Near the time when the war ended, Raistlin chose to take the black robes of evil. Raistlin parted ways with Caramon and the companions after the war, in order to further his ambitions, which had grown along with his power.

His journeys took him to Palanthas, where he took over the Tower of High Sorcery there which had been abandoned since its fall to Istarian forces. He took in a young outcast Silvanesti elf named Dalamar (who was really a spy of the Conclave of Mages) as his apprentice. Together, they served the Dark Queen, although Raistlin's allegiance and loyalty to her were highly questionable.

Aspiring to become a god, Raistlin gained the trust of a cleric of Paladine, manipulated both her and his brother to this end. Going back in time before the Cataclysm, he gained the trust of the wizard Fistandantilus, known to be the most powerful wizard that ever lived. After serving as an apprentice for him, Raistlin betrayed him and became him, possessing his body and spirit. Raistlin was now the most powerful magic user that had ever lived.

Once having the power he needed, Raistlin sought entrance to the Abyss where he planned to battle Takhisis, then, after defeating her, replace her. There was only one person on Krynn who could put an end to Raistlin's dark quest, his twin brother. Using a magical time traveling device Caramon traveled forward in time, into the future where Raistlin had become a god and destroyed all the other gods, and in his effort to conquer Krynn, Raistlin destroyed every living thing.

Caramon followed his brother into the Abyss, intent on killing him to keep him from re-entering Krynn. The Queen of Darkness could only enter the world if someone exited through the Portal to the Abyss ahead of her. Caramon's plan was to keep Raistlin from doing that. He told Raistlin about the future he had witnessed, that he would rule over a dead world if he succeeded. Raistlin gave Caramon the Staff of Magius to close The Portal and sacrificed his life to prevent the Dark Queen from returning to Krynn. Caramon went back thorough the Portal and closed it with the staff, but Raistlin remained, sacrificing his own life for the future of Krynn.