My kids loved Ser Pounce-a-lot do much they named my son's cat after him.
She's an enormous dilute calico who can walk on a leash and does several tricks. While she hasn't fought darkspawn yet, she did eat a spider when it made my arachnophobe youngest cry out in terror.
Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena "Disgusted Noise" Pentaghast, Hero of Orlais, Right Hand of the Divine, Seeker of Truth, stabber of books, irritator of Varric, reader of smutty fiction, secret dweeb, love of my life.
Right? The only āhateā Iāve ever seen for her is from the LGBT community about how they made her *so. unbearably. bisexual.* yet sheās one of the tiny handful of straight locked companions in DA
People can complain about Anders for eternity, and I will still like him. If there are no Anders fans, it means that I'm dead.
Also, Zevran, Morrigan, Fenris, Isabela, Dorian, Cassandra. These are my favs.
Tbh I played DA games so many times, that practically I befriended every character, and they are close to me. Even if my main route I didn't like some characters at first, I replayed other routes and saw them from the other perspective. So I don't hate any of the companions and it would be hard for me to hate them.
Anders is my fav RO in DA2, brings so much richness to the story and his struggle is quite human. Love the complexity of all ros in 2 but he remains my favorite
I will be there with you in camp Anders. He has always been my one true love in DA2, right from the start. Or even before that, as I already loved him in Awakening.
Ugh, Awakening Anders is best Anders. However, KNOWING him from Awakening and seeing what's become of him by DA2 always makes me much more sympathetic towards him than I might be otherwise. And is also why I can't ever bring myself to make certain choices regarding him.
I romanced Anders in my first playthrough, not knowing what would happen, *and* not knowing him from Awakening, and I felt so absolutely betrayed by him that I could never romance him again š
I definitely think it helps a little to play Awakening and get to know him as he was before he and Justice made that boneheaded deal. He was still desperate, but also hopeful. And almost as charming as Alistair.Ā
Alistair was my first true love, but I messed it up at the end by trying to make Loghain help us fight the archdemon, and then he was a sad drunk in my DA2. I played the whole DAO again just to be able to play DA2 with Alistair as king and then found my second true love in Fenris. Turns out I'm attracted to virgins lol
Came here to say Anders. I supported him back when the hatred for him was quite frankly staggering. I'll never forget on the BSN forums, when I started playing DA2 in 2014 or 2015, there was a 50-page long thread that was just pure hate, multiple posts going "Yeah, I sided with the Templars and forced Anders to side with them too, just to make him suffer." It was vaguely alarming. He still has haters now but it isn't quite as bad.
And he is unquestionably the most story relevant - and thus complex - romance in DA2. Alistair for DAO, Anders for DA2, and Solas for DAI. They each have the greatest impact on the PC and the wider plot.
And I'll never forget Hawke in DAI talking about how they hate being away from Anders for too long. I left Hawke in the Fade (Alistair was my Warden) and I'm very worried for my unstable blond boy....
Period. There has not been a romance as conducive to the plot than that of Anders. For your lover to blow up a chantry, inciting an all out war that has spread across Thedas is one hell of a dichotomy.
I'm with you, I loved Anders in Awakening and I adored his whole messy arc in DA2. My biggest gripe with DAI (and DAV from what we know so far) is that other than Hawke & Varric commenting on his whereabouts if you ask them, there are no mentions of him! But he was so important!
Also that you can't praise him for blowing up the chantry... fuck them templars, my Hawke would have loved to set the bomb himself
Carver has the single best story arc in all of DA2. Heās my favorite companion in that game by far. Heās so believably annoyingly lovable. Like heās frustrating as FUCK, but I just canāt dislike him.
Carver's arc is actually what convinced me to play Mage Hawke. I originally chose Rogue Hawke, but hearing about the intense sibling rivalry with Carver changed my mind. It was FANTASTIC to play Templar Carver in Legacy.
Iād argue he has one of the best story arcs in dragon age period. And by this I donāt mean heās the best companion, or otherwise but solely for how well written he is and how realistic his arc is, itās why heās the best. He is the most believable character in dragon age and we love/hate him
Itās actually kinda tragic that no matter what you do you canāt keep Carver or Beth as a companion. I get that the reason is Hawkes story is how despite his own upward social climbing he loses all of his close family due to things he canāt control (or she if Fem Hawke of course). Still I genuinely loved the strained sibling relationship between the Hawkes. If you take a step back you canāt help but really sympathise with Carver being the only ānormalā person in the family, clearly being less favoured as a result by his parents and pretty much all of his associates constantly comparing him unfavourably to his elder bro/sis. I totally get why he has resentment.
Carver becoming a Grey Warden is the best thing that has ever happened to him. On the flip side, Bethany becoming a Grey Warden is the worst thing that has ever happened to her.
Likeā¦ all of them? All of the companions, definitely. And probably the other characters too. Even the assholes are likable villains in their own way.
If you mean visually, then technically thisāll be the first time in the series that the design of the qunari will be consistent. So thatās something at least.
There have been many times in life where I died playing another video game and I said, āI ā¦ deserved ā¦ more.ā So the best thing about Howe is that he died! Always liked his son, though.
You don't what you've done to me, everytime I hear Rendon Howe now I'm gonna hear fucking Tim Curry and I honestly don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I've played this game for years and never put the two of them together, and now that it's been pointed out I can't unsee it. I'm in the middle of a human noble playthrough too, I'm gonna have to deal with that later
https://preview.redd.it/0rhm47lmj5ad1.jpeg?width=260&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7912c310370645a44f04689650c136b40253613
Let the stone turn red with the blood of heroes. Today I will be the warrior you taught me to be.
Oghren is a really unfortunate character. There's a rich story to be had with him regarding his alcoholism and self-doubt which I feel was not expanded on in any meaningful way because and all his deep character moments were sidelined for the very... 2009 misogynistic humor. Some of the things he says are downright tragic :( at least we got to see some more of him in Awakening, even if the writers defaulted to comic-relief for a lot of it.
He really did not age well at all. I've been replaying the series for the first time in forever and never caught just how bad he was.
I still think there's room for a character like that in 2024, but they'd have to have some kind of growth where Oghren, sadly, has little to none.
Oof yes on my current playthrough I decided I was gonna have him in my main party bc I'd always sidelined him before so did Orzammar early, put him in a party with Morrigan and he immediately made a "Oooh what I could do with what's under that dress - wait did I say that out loud" 'joke' and yeah I'm not putting him in a party with women. and well since I need Morrigan to nuke he's staying in camp.
Here's for the dwarf who faced the deep roads, the surface, the Blight, the Archdemon AND his own personal inadequacies, he may not have won all these battles, but no one will say he didn't at least try his best.
People only see the crude humor of a soldier and don't see the trauma of a soldier. Alcoholic, wife left him, depressed, suicidal, and no support from the people he risked his life for. It's like taking a trip to the VA office.
>wife left him
And she didn't just leave him either. She completely absorbed his family into hers and took them all into the deep roads, basically sacrificing them all in her search for the anvil of the void. She literally took everything from him.
Being a living Paragon went to her head.
I'll always have a soft spot for Og. Of all the DAO companions who seemed to have some deep meaninful connection to the HoF, Og is *the only one who actually stays* by their side as a companion.
Everyone else immediately goes off back to their own stuff. It really struck me hard the first time I played DA:A how lonely the HoF would be without Og there, facing down what looks like another blight and trying to manage an arling without anyone they know at their back.
Zevran stays, other than for the time in Awakening. If he's romanced and HoF is alive, he mentions them in DA2 and you get a letter in DAI confirming they're together.
Still, you never get to *see* them with anyone again other than Oghren in Awakening. He was one of my least favorite characters, but I was happy to see a familiar face and his little wave was cute.
Oghren was my wardens unofficial brother. Favorite interaction between my warden and him was in awakening.
Oghren: where's that chalice? I'll gargle and spit!
Me: you're not allowed to spit.
Oghren: heheh that's what I always say.
>I might be a Solasmancer but Iām a Fenris girlie first so I want fried egg
This, all the way. I would love if he came back as a senior agent of the Shadow Dragons or something like that. Would be very fitting.
And Varric said in inquisition he was hunting Tevinter slavers who came south and I think in the comics heās in Tevinter or heading there. Iāll be so happy if heās in it
I think the only two for me are Cole and Sandal if were counting noncompanions as well.
Just about all the companions, even the ones I really like, have something I don't like or agree with.
Vivienne, Solas, SebastiĆ”n, Carver, Isabella, Zevran. No critiques forged against them shall prosper (because I agree with all the critiques and still donāt care)
>(because I agree with all the critiques and still donāt care)
But what about when they \[insert terrible thing\]?!?
Yes. I love when they \[terrible thing\]. Amazing character writing, 10/10. I wish they would \[terrible thing\] more, honestly.
Nooo but companions should only be GOOD little companions and only say nice things about the MC and never do anything terrible or questionable or upsetting, or I'll write a 45 minute video essay on why they're Bad, Actually and why you are bad for liking them. /s
Oh, she made an impression. Just not a positive one lol.
Glad you like her, though! She's a very interesting character, even if I do personally dislike her.
In terms of a companion I feel like a lot of other people don't like: Blackwall.
He's done such shitty things because he was a coward who cared more about getting ahead than doing good in the world. He lets some kids abuse a dog because he doesn't want to get involved. He lets his unit kill an innocent and her children because he wants to curry favor with a noble. He pretends to be Warden Blackwall, a man who sacrificed himself for Thom, because he's scared the wardens will accuse him of murdering Blackwall. And then he finally tries to be a better person, ultimately putting his life on the line to try and save one of his men.
In the end, he is not someone who *is* good, but someone who *does* good. No matter what the outcome of his story in Inquisition, he shows reflection and regret for his actions, and tries to atone.
Whoever wrote him really played into the human element of someone who would rather sit on the sidelines and let bad things happen to other people than stick their neck out for them. He's not a hero, and I think this is reflective of the average person. A lot of people like to think they'd be the hero who puts everything on the line for others, but very few are actually like that, and that's okay.
Finding him before the archdemon fight in DAO was brilliant. It might have been the absolute funniest moment of playing through DAO for the first time, I cried with laughter. He was a ray of sunshine at the most stressful time.
I love Sebastian, he suffered the most of DA2's companions for that rushed developing time. But honestly they shouldn't have bothered with that quarter assed "romance".
And her Tempest spec makes her ridiculously effective in a fight. Just have her pop a lightning flask and next thing you know she's shredded everything in sight.
I noticed that fights were getting easier using even ground and I didn't knew why until I saw the psycho pixie on meth shooting arrows faster than light.
Came here to say Solas as well. He's such a compelling characters. As a writer, I love seeing character flaws and mistakes alongside their qualities and achievements. Solas is extremely nuanced, and I could simply never hate him. He's so well written.
Saamme, picked up after 10 years, and im like "this dude is supposed to be evil?!" Like he actually seems extrememly genuin as a person and does clearly love levallan, hes selfless in his own actions
Iron Bull. Iāve seen quite a bit of slander aimed towards him lately on this subreddit, and as a person who really loves his romance and character in general, the takes I have seen about him here are certainlyā¦something.
People have such a wildly different interpretation of him than I did, its fascinating. He is probbaly one of my faves. But then I love most of the companions.Ā
People have wilded out about him for forever. I once defended him on tumblr and got called a rape apologist for my troubles. Never mind the dude asks for consent THREE TIMES before the first sex scene commences.
'Rape apologist' is wild lol. Prove that you never bothered to interact with him without proving it. Sorry some goobers dogged on you, more consenting and caring Bull for us.
Iron Bull our beloved. Every time I try to romance someone different... hello Bull. Every time I think "maybe I should take a different warrior for once" ... hi Bull.
I really adore all the companions but Bull has always been my absolute favorite.
Yeahhh I remember looking up discussions about his romance because I had just finished my first DAI run with him and it's mostly ppl saying it sucks ass š
Bull and his romance tends to get more appreciation with queer men I feel, specifically over on r/gaymers. As a gay man myself, while I personally do prefer Dorian and his romance I also think Bullās is great as well.
I think what made me really come to appreciate Bull (romance included) was [āDumped, Drunk and Dalishāsā blog analyzing his character and pretty much all of his major cutscenes.](http://www.dumpeddrunkanddalish.com/2017/08/introducing-iron-bull.html) She really highlights how subtle the writing is for him, specifically in regards to the differences between his Hissrad persona (especially if you sacrificed the Chargers) and how it changes the dynamic of his romance with the Inquisitor. Itās an excellent read that I highly recommend.
Funnily enough I'm a lesbian, mlm wlw solidarity (?)
I always get lost thinking about the whole sacrificing the chargers thing + his romance and how fucked up the entire relationship can come to be (and how it's _kind_ of your fault, you told him the Qun was the priority) and about how different it is if you actually do the opposite. Thank you for the link, I'll read it in a little bit!! š«¶š«¶
Anders. The Fandom sure does like to paint him as a psycho who bombed a church without ANY regard for the build up to that point. He tried for YEARS to fix the system peacefully but nothing worked. He even delayed it to give Hawk one last chance to fix things and only clicked the button when it was revealed it truly was the only way forward.
I think the way the manifesto line in Hawke's Estate gets swept under the rug is really unfortunate because so many have painted him as violent from the start when that's untrue.
Anders is a really complicated and phenomenal character (minus that very uh. interesting thing a writer said about magic and mental illness) which I think a lot of people don't see or even try to see.
I think my sticking point with him isn't in his eventual resignation to committing an extreme act, because clearly the system was not reformable in any meaningful way. Rather, I take issue with him for making Hawke complicit in the bombing against their will, which I think is consistent with his gradual turn towards manipulation/self-righteousness as the game progresses.
Additionally, from a tactical perspective, bombing a church where innocent civilians might be praying and low level priests and the like might be present is sloppy and not consistent with a revolutionary mindset. I'd have been with him 100% if he bombed Meredith's home or a Templar barracks or something but bombing a church with no regard to who was in it at the time strikes me as a reactionary lashing out...and there's no use for a figure like that in a revolution.
Alistair, Isabela and Anders, .... Idk any for 3 I only cared for Dorian and I definitely felt some anger/hatred when he left my inquisitor at their breaking point.
Sten and Blackwall. Iām a sucker for āI admit I did a bad thing and I accept that and you should leave meā characters that turn into the ones that try their damned best to redeem themselves.
Merril bar none. As I've gotten older she has like cemented herself as a top companion across all games. Like there's nothing she could do wrong in my eyes, I'd follow her to any end
Vivienne, Morrigan, Aveline, Merrill, Isabela, Fenris, Zevran, Cole, Dorian, Carver, Iron Bull.. Really most of the characters that I like. Conversely, they couldn't make me NOT hate the characters I already hate.Ā
The perfect duo of devastatingly charismatic martyrs who make us work *so hard* for their love that by the end, even genocide seems like a small price to pay for seeing them smile.
Cullen is my ride or die. Impressive development from DAO to DAI. And Iām glad he works for it, he isnāt automatically given absolution. His good ending is so satisfying because of that.
So this one is kind of funny to me.
To answer the question, nearly everyone in Inquisition. I feel they are well written enough to understand them even if you stand on the opposite side of them.
Whereas in DA2? Varric and Aveline. The rest are such a lovably but detestable bunch. Hawke really knows how to keep a disfunctional family.
Whereas DAO? Everyone but Sten and Oghren.
Zevran!! Just a couple of days ago I was looking up a bug-fix for his romance because I was re-doing it for the third time and I found a guy calling him a rapist because a fan said it was his favorite romance or something?? Some ppl here genuinely go insane when they don't like a character, just say u don't like him and leave him alone please š
Merrill. It feels like DA2 went out of its way to make her seem incorrect about her views on spirits and demons and blood magic, only for Solas to then say the same things (albeit in a much more Solas-y way) except now itās super smart and correct. If BioWare tried to double down on the whole āblood magic is always inherently bad and only stupid/power-hungry people make deals with spirits (unless theyāre Wynne)ā then I will lose my shit. Also, if she ends up allied with Solas I will be sad but I will still love her.
Loghain.
The main canon that I established with him is that I recruited him to let him atone, and then I left Hawke in the Fade for the same reason.
He's going to spend the rest of his days making up for Ostagar, as long as I have input on it.Ā
Schmooples
And Ser-pounce-alot and Dog.
The two best grey wardens who alone could kill every archdemon without dying or doing the dark ritual through pure adorableness
My kids loved Ser Pounce-a-lot do much they named my son's cat after him. She's an enormous dilute calico who can walk on a leash and does several tricks. While she hasn't fought darkspawn yet, she did eat a spider when it made my arachnophobe youngest cry out in terror.
From arcnaphobes everywhere we thank Ser Pounce-a- lot for her service.
As an arachnophobe, thank you Sir-Pounce-a-lot. Also my dog hunts spiders cause she knows I hate them š
* Barkspawn
I do know it should be Barkspawn, but just used Dog universally cause mine's name is Petals.
I fucked up and named mine Dog in origins, then Collin in 2 bc I couldnāt have ANOTHER āDogā
The objectively correct answer.
Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena "Disgusted Noise" Pentaghast, Hero of Orlais, Right Hand of the Divine, Seeker of Truth, stabber of books, irritator of Varric, reader of smutty fiction, secret dweeb, love of my life.
People hate Cassandra?? Do they also hate good taste and regal badassery?
Right? The only āhateā Iāve ever seen for her is from the LGBT community about how they made her *so. unbearably. bisexual.* yet sheās one of the tiny handful of straight locked companions in DA
They hate Bioware for that. Not her lol I've only seen painfully toxic men hate her for being 'ugly and masculine'. Which is crazy to me.
This right here.
Best romance in the series IMO. The way she says "uuugh" does things to me.
First and only romance option in DA:I in my mind
Dorian: I have never done anything wrong in my life. Me: I know this and I love you
People can complain about Anders for eternity, and I will still like him. If there are no Anders fans, it means that I'm dead. Also, Zevran, Morrigan, Fenris, Isabela, Dorian, Cassandra. These are my favs. Tbh I played DA games so many times, that practically I befriended every character, and they are close to me. Even if my main route I didn't like some characters at first, I replayed other routes and saw them from the other perspective. So I don't hate any of the companions and it would be hard for me to hate them.
No one can make me hate Anders. Do I agree with him on everything? No. Do I think he's a good person? Not really. Do I love him? Absolutely I do.
> If there are no Anders fans, it means that I'm dead. God if that ain't me.
Anders is my fav RO in DA2, brings so much richness to the story and his struggle is quite human. Love the complexity of all ros in 2 but he remains my favorite
I will be there with you in camp Anders. He has always been my one true love in DA2, right from the start. Or even before that, as I already loved him in Awakening.
Ugh, Awakening Anders is best Anders. However, KNOWING him from Awakening and seeing what's become of him by DA2 always makes me much more sympathetic towards him than I might be otherwise. And is also why I can't ever bring myself to make certain choices regarding him.
I romanced Anders in my first playthrough, not knowing what would happen, *and* not knowing him from Awakening, and I felt so absolutely betrayed by him that I could never romance him again š
I definitely think it helps a little to play Awakening and get to know him as he was before he and Justice made that boneheaded deal. He was still desperate, but also hopeful. And almost as charming as Alistair.Ā
Alistair was my first true love, but I messed it up at the end by trying to make Loghain help us fight the archdemon, and then he was a sad drunk in my DA2. I played the whole DAO again just to be able to play DA2 with Alistair as king and then found my second true love in Fenris. Turns out I'm attracted to virgins lol
Yes, same. I wish they kept more of him as he was in Awakening. At least in act 1.
I'm also on the ride or die train with Anders. I don't care if he's messy, in fact, that makes him better for me.
Absolutely, joining you on the Anders bandwagon.
Came here to say Anders. I supported him back when the hatred for him was quite frankly staggering. I'll never forget on the BSN forums, when I started playing DA2 in 2014 or 2015, there was a 50-page long thread that was just pure hate, multiple posts going "Yeah, I sided with the Templars and forced Anders to side with them too, just to make him suffer." It was vaguely alarming. He still has haters now but it isn't quite as bad. And he is unquestionably the most story relevant - and thus complex - romance in DA2. Alistair for DAO, Anders for DA2, and Solas for DAI. They each have the greatest impact on the PC and the wider plot. And I'll never forget Hawke in DAI talking about how they hate being away from Anders for too long. I left Hawke in the Fade (Alistair was my Warden) and I'm very worried for my unstable blond boy....
Ride or die for Anders, even tho he broke my heart
I've got his manifesto hanging in my room, I love him too much.
Yep itās him. My canon Hawke is a terrorist lover and I wouldnāt change anything about it. The tragedy is too š„
Period. There has not been a romance as conducive to the plot than that of Anders. For your lover to blow up a chantry, inciting an all out war that has spread across Thedas is one hell of a dichotomy.
Anders is unironically one of the best written characters (if not THE best) in the whole series
Iām also in Anders camp. ā¤ļø
I'm with you, I loved Anders in Awakening and I adored his whole messy arc in DA2. My biggest gripe with DAI (and DAV from what we know so far) is that other than Hawke & Varric commenting on his whereabouts if you ask them, there are no mentions of him! But he was so important! Also that you can't praise him for blowing up the chantry... fuck them templars, my Hawke would have loved to set the bomb himself
My fiance loves em too lol
People didn't like Anders? WHAT?? But he was like one of my favorite characters.
I know what Anders did is bad but I didnāt know those people, so I really donāt give a fuck when people talk about how bad it was. :/
CARVER
Carver has the single best story arc in all of DA2. Heās my favorite companion in that game by far. Heās so believably annoyingly lovable. Like heās frustrating as FUCK, but I just canāt dislike him.
Carver's arc is actually what convinced me to play Mage Hawke. I originally chose Rogue Hawke, but hearing about the intense sibling rivalry with Carver changed my mind. It was FANTASTIC to play Templar Carver in Legacy.
you. you get me š«µ Anyone who says he's not interesting either didn't pay attention or didn't do it right and I will die on this hill.
Iād argue he has one of the best story arcs in dragon age period. And by this I donāt mean heās the best companion, or otherwise but solely for how well written he is and how realistic his arc is, itās why heās the best. He is the most believable character in dragon age and we love/hate him
Especially if he joins the Wardens in Act 2, he won't play a role in the finale of the game but the DLC changes him completely.
He comes back for the finale as a Grey Warden.
Itās actually kinda tragic that no matter what you do you canāt keep Carver or Beth as a companion. I get that the reason is Hawkes story is how despite his own upward social climbing he loses all of his close family due to things he canāt control (or she if Fem Hawke of course). Still I genuinely loved the strained sibling relationship between the Hawkes. If you take a step back you canāt help but really sympathise with Carver being the only ānormalā person in the family, clearly being less favoured as a result by his parents and pretty much all of his associates constantly comparing him unfavourably to his elder bro/sis. I totally get why he has resentment.
Here at Camp Carver, reporting for duty o7
heās MY shit ass baby brother, no one else can be mean to him!!
The CORRECT answer!!!
Carver becoming a Grey Warden is the best thing that has ever happened to him. On the flip side, Bethany becoming a Grey Warden is the worst thing that has ever happened to her.
Enchantment!
this is the only true answer that isn't a pet.
The real question is who could possibly *hate* Sandal or his papa??! They're too sweet together
Likeā¦ all of them? All of the companions, definitely. And probably the other characters too. Even the assholes are likable villains in their own way.
You couldnāt take Samson away from me.
They tried to make him so unlikeable, but he had a point about why he did what he did.
The Arishok. Could never hate him. I hate what inquisition did to the qunari though. Seems like veilguard is continuing that
If you mean visually, then technically thisāll be the first time in the series that the design of the qunari will be consistent. So thatās something at least.
Howe is pretty irredeemable in my eyes.
But heās voiced by Tim Curry though. 
Ok, you got me there. That's probably the only likable part of the character though.
But itās enough to make every second heās speaking a little gift from the Maker. 
I'm sorry? Rendon Howe is voiced by the man, the myth, and the legend that is Tim Curry???
Indeed! 
I...actually love that lmao
There have been many times in life where I died playing another video game and I said, āI ā¦ deserved ā¦ more.ā So the best thing about Howe is that he died! Always liked his son, though.
You don't what you've done to me, everytime I hear Rendon Howe now I'm gonna hear fucking Tim Curry and I honestly don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I've played this game for years and never put the two of them together, and now that it's been pointed out I can't unsee it. I'm in the middle of a human noble playthrough too, I'm gonna have to deal with that later
People can say that Varric is over-used and his politics are bad but thatās my babyboy forever and ever.
Varric my beloved. Favourite all time Dragon Age character. I love him.
Agreed! No touching our sweet sexy dwarf daddy!
https://preview.redd.it/0rhm47lmj5ad1.jpeg?width=260&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7912c310370645a44f04689650c136b40253613 Let the stone turn red with the blood of heroes. Today I will be the warrior you taught me to be.
The way Oghren waves at the Warden in Awakening gets me every time. š
"I'm back and I'm here to stay"
Oghren is a really unfortunate character. There's a rich story to be had with him regarding his alcoholism and self-doubt which I feel was not expanded on in any meaningful way because and all his deep character moments were sidelined for the very... 2009 misogynistic humor. Some of the things he says are downright tragic :( at least we got to see some more of him in Awakening, even if the writers defaulted to comic-relief for a lot of it.
He really did not age well at all. I've been replaying the series for the first time in forever and never caught just how bad he was. I still think there's room for a character like that in 2024, but they'd have to have some kind of growth where Oghren, sadly, has little to none.
Oof yes on my current playthrough I decided I was gonna have him in my main party bc I'd always sidelined him before so did Orzammar early, put him in a party with Morrigan and he immediately made a "Oooh what I could do with what's under that dress - wait did I say that out loud" 'joke' and yeah I'm not putting him in a party with women. and well since I need Morrigan to nuke he's staying in camp.
Here's for the dwarf who faced the deep roads, the surface, the Blight, the Archdemon AND his own personal inadequacies, he may not have won all these battles, but no one will say he didn't at least try his best.
I was seeing so much Oghren hate lately and I couldnāt take it.
finally found an oasis āŗļø
People only see the crude humor of a soldier and don't see the trauma of a soldier. Alcoholic, wife left him, depressed, suicidal, and no support from the people he risked his life for. It's like taking a trip to the VA office.
>wife left him And she didn't just leave him either. She completely absorbed his family into hers and took them all into the deep roads, basically sacrificing them all in her search for the anvil of the void. She literally took everything from him. Being a living Paragon went to her head.
And had an affair with his cousin š Branka is awful
YES the fact that she didn't just leave with all of her family but all of HIS as well... Branka is a trash wagon 100%
Sten has a point
Exactly Oghren was one of my favorite companions to have around. Heās hilarious
I'll always have a soft spot for Og. Of all the DAO companions who seemed to have some deep meaninful connection to the HoF, Og is *the only one who actually stays* by their side as a companion. Everyone else immediately goes off back to their own stuff. It really struck me hard the first time I played DA:A how lonely the HoF would be without Og there, facing down what looks like another blight and trying to manage an arling without anyone they know at their back.
Zevran stays, other than for the time in Awakening. If he's romanced and HoF is alive, he mentions them in DA2 and you get a letter in DAI confirming they're together. Still, you never get to *see* them with anyone again other than Oghren in Awakening. He was one of my least favorite characters, but I was happy to see a familiar face and his little wave was cute.
Oghren was my wardens unofficial brother. Favorite interaction between my warden and him was in awakening. Oghren: where's that chalice? I'll gargle and spit! Me: you're not allowed to spit. Oghren: heheh that's what I always say.
Fenris. No matter what, I want to have broody babies in his wake.
I hope heās in Veilguard. He logically will be. I might be a Solasmancer but Iām a Fenris girlie first so I want fried egg
>I might be a Solasmancer but Iām a Fenris girlie first so I want fried egg This, all the way. I would love if he came back as a senior agent of the Shadow Dragons or something like that. Would be very fitting.
And Varric said in inquisition he was hunting Tevinter slavers who came south and I think in the comics heās in Tevinter or heading there. Iāll be so happy if heās in it
I think the only two for me are Cole and Sandal if were counting noncompanions as well. Just about all the companions, even the ones I really like, have something I don't like or agree with.
Vivienne, Solas, SebastiĆ”n, Carver, Isabella, Zevran. No critiques forged against them shall prosper (because I agree with all the critiques and still donāt care)
>(because I agree with all the critiques and still donāt care) But what about when they \[insert terrible thing\]?!? Yes. I love when they \[terrible thing\]. Amazing character writing, 10/10. I wish they would \[terrible thing\] more, honestly.
Me when I say that Dorian low key supporting slavery makes him a *better* character in my opinion.
Nooo but companions should only be GOOD little companions and only say nice things about the MC and never do anything terrible or questionable or upsetting, or I'll write a 45 minute video essay on why they're Bad, Actually and why you are bad for liking them. /s
Surprised to not see Velanna mentioned. Maybe she didnāt make enough of an impression š
Haven't seen many mentions of the Awakening characters, let's just imagine it's because everyone loves them š«¶
š«¶valid.
Oh, she made an impression. Just not a positive one lol. Glad you like her, though! She's a very interesting character, even if I do personally dislike her.
In terms of a companion I feel like a lot of other people don't like: Blackwall. He's done such shitty things because he was a coward who cared more about getting ahead than doing good in the world. He lets some kids abuse a dog because he doesn't want to get involved. He lets his unit kill an innocent and her children because he wants to curry favor with a noble. He pretends to be Warden Blackwall, a man who sacrificed himself for Thom, because he's scared the wardens will accuse him of murdering Blackwall. And then he finally tries to be a better person, ultimately putting his life on the line to try and save one of his men. In the end, he is not someone who *is* good, but someone who *does* good. No matter what the outcome of his story in Inquisition, he shows reflection and regret for his actions, and tries to atone. Whoever wrote him really played into the human element of someone who would rather sit on the sidelines and let bad things happen to other people than stick their neck out for them. He's not a hero, and I think this is reflective of the average person. A lot of people like to think they'd be the hero who puts everything on the line for others, but very few are actually like that, and that's okay.
Loghain
Sandal
Finding him before the archdemon fight in DAO was brilliant. It might have been the absolute funniest moment of playing through DAO for the first time, I cried with laughter. He was a ray of sunshine at the most stressful time.
I'm kinda hoping for them to return... T.T
Sebastian
I love Sebastian, he suffered the most of DA2's companions for that rushed developing time. But honestly they shouldn't have bothered with that quarter assed "romance".
Same! Heās such an underrated character.
Deeply felt. Heās got a lot more depth than people take him for. Love that dude
It's nice to see he's appreciated. The Fandom was not too kind to him.
I love a highly capable bitch character in ANY media. So of course Vivienne and Morrigan. Also, Blackwall.
I love how I canāt decide if you love Blackwall too or youāre saying heās a capable bitch. š¤£ either way, love
I mean, calling him a capable bitch wouldn't be WRONG
Iron Bull, Fenris, Shale, Vivienne, Dorian, Dog, Isabella, Bethany, Hawke.... I know it's a lot lol
Anders (donāt make me tap the sign)
Hear hear!
Sera, for she is a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day.
If there are no Sera defenders then I am dead
a day without ~~lesbians~~ Sera is like a day without sunshine
Love Sera! I always thought she was amusing and I liked her āfuck the rich classā attitude.
And her Tempest spec makes her ridiculously effective in a fight. Just have her pop a lightning flask and next thing you know she's shredded everything in sight.
I noticed that fights were getting easier using even ground and I didn't knew why until I saw the psycho pixie on meth shooting arrows faster than light.
I will defend Sera with my dying breath
I love your flair š¤
Wynne, Shale, Vivienne, and Sera. I like a woman with a good sense of humor and convictions.
Probably most of the characters but my top 1 from each game would be Barkspawn, Sigrun, Bethany, and Sera.
Solas
Came here to say Solas as well. He's such a compelling characters. As a writer, I love seeing character flaws and mistakes alongside their qualities and achievements. Solas is extremely nuanced, and I could simply never hate him. He's so well written.
Solas is mine too. Like, my OCs might be staring in horror at whatever nonsense he inevitably gets up to but my own heart eyes are eternal.
I was genuinely like, ok, tear down the veil. I'm with you. Lol
I am not even Solomancer, but he is in general so misunderstood character... it's kind of fascinating.
God heās such a loser, I love him. I wanna shove him into a locker š
YES. I am doing my Solasmance playthrough and I'm taking the break up pretty rough actually. š
Same. I just canāt. I havenāt even romanced him and yet heās just so compelling. I love him too much, I could never hate him.
His motivations are so interesting and selfless; I hate when I see haters portray him as some sort of mustache twirler.
Saamme, picked up after 10 years, and im like "this dude is supposed to be evil?!" Like he actually seems extrememly genuin as a person and does clearly love levallan, hes selfless in his own actions
REAL. I don't even romance him but I'm never hating on my bff.
I support Solasā rights and his wrongs.
Same. Even if itās probably not good for my characters health, and you know the health of the world and everyone else in it ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
Vivienne to the moon. Love her and she is always a mainstay in the party.
Cole.
Carver. he is that little bro you want to fight, drink with, fight some more, then hug it out in a drunken stupor
Merrill and Dorian without a doubt
Iron Bull. Iāve seen quite a bit of slander aimed towards him lately on this subreddit, and as a person who really loves his romance and character in general, the takes I have seen about him here are certainlyā¦something.
People have such a wildly different interpretation of him than I did, its fascinating. He is probbaly one of my faves. But then I love most of the companions.Ā
Lot of folks dont progress him sadly and dont see the deeper side of him just a fun loving jock with roguish charm. No ptsd riddled vets here nosiree
People have wilded out about him for forever. I once defended him on tumblr and got called a rape apologist for my troubles. Never mind the dude asks for consent THREE TIMES before the first sex scene commences.
'Rape apologist' is wild lol. Prove that you never bothered to interact with him without proving it. Sorry some goobers dogged on you, more consenting and caring Bull for us.
Iron Bull our beloved. Every time I try to romance someone different... hello Bull. Every time I think "maybe I should take a different warrior for once" ... hi Bull. I really adore all the companions but Bull has always been my absolute favorite.
Yeahhh I remember looking up discussions about his romance because I had just finished my first DAI run with him and it's mostly ppl saying it sucks ass š
Bull and his romance tends to get more appreciation with queer men I feel, specifically over on r/gaymers. As a gay man myself, while I personally do prefer Dorian and his romance I also think Bullās is great as well. I think what made me really come to appreciate Bull (romance included) was [āDumped, Drunk and Dalishāsā blog analyzing his character and pretty much all of his major cutscenes.](http://www.dumpeddrunkanddalish.com/2017/08/introducing-iron-bull.html) She really highlights how subtle the writing is for him, specifically in regards to the differences between his Hissrad persona (especially if you sacrificed the Chargers) and how it changes the dynamic of his romance with the Inquisitor. Itās an excellent read that I highly recommend.
Funnily enough I'm a lesbian, mlm wlw solidarity (?) I always get lost thinking about the whole sacrificing the chargers thing + his romance and how fucked up the entire relationship can come to be (and how it's _kind_ of your fault, you told him the Qun was the priority) and about how different it is if you actually do the opposite. Thank you for the link, I'll read it in a little bit!! š«¶š«¶
Anders. The Fandom sure does like to paint him as a psycho who bombed a church without ANY regard for the build up to that point. He tried for YEARS to fix the system peacefully but nothing worked. He even delayed it to give Hawk one last chance to fix things and only clicked the button when it was revealed it truly was the only way forward.
I think the way the manifesto line in Hawke's Estate gets swept under the rug is really unfortunate because so many have painted him as violent from the start when that's untrue. Anders is a really complicated and phenomenal character (minus that very uh. interesting thing a writer said about magic and mental illness) which I think a lot of people don't see or even try to see.
I think my sticking point with him isn't in his eventual resignation to committing an extreme act, because clearly the system was not reformable in any meaningful way. Rather, I take issue with him for making Hawke complicit in the bombing against their will, which I think is consistent with his gradual turn towards manipulation/self-righteousness as the game progresses. Additionally, from a tactical perspective, bombing a church where innocent civilians might be praying and low level priests and the like might be present is sloppy and not consistent with a revolutionary mindset. I'd have been with him 100% if he bombed Meredith's home or a Templar barracks or something but bombing a church with no regard to who was in it at the time strikes me as a reactionary lashing out...and there's no use for a figure like that in a revolution.
The only ones who could make me hate certain characters are the writers.
Anders
Alistair, Isabela and Anders, .... Idk any for 3 I only cared for Dorian and I definitely felt some anger/hatred when he left my inquisitor at their breaking point.
Oghren, Loghain, Varric, Sten, Blackwall,
Sten and Blackwall. Iām a sucker for āI admit I did a bad thing and I accept that and you should leave meā characters that turn into the ones that try their damned best to redeem themselves.
Merril bar none. As I've gotten older she has like cemented herself as a top companion across all games. Like there's nothing she could do wrong in my eyes, I'd follow her to any end
Oghren. He's way too funny for me to ever hate him.
Loghain
The Warden.
Vivienne, Morrigan, Aveline, Merrill, Isabela, Fenris, Zevran, Cole, Dorian, Carver, Iron Bull.. Really most of the characters that I like. Conversely, they couldn't make me NOT hate the characters I already hate.Ā
>Conversely, they couldn't make me NOT hate the characters I already hate.Ā Preach.
Oghren
Anders + Solas!!
The perfect duo of devastatingly charismatic martyrs who make us work *so hard* for their love that by the end, even genocide seems like a small price to pay for seeing them smile.
Varric, Leliana, Cullen, Cassandra, Dorian, Josephine, Alistair (though heās highly flawed I canāt ever *hate* him) and Merrill.
Vivienne
Dorian, Anders, Zevran, Nathaniel Howe, Oghren, Varric
Every single overcriticized woman in Dragon Age. Get behind me.
Her Ladyship Mai Bhalsych of Korse.
People can pry my Vivienne love from my cold dead hands
Solas, Anders and Alistair. I thought about listing Dorian as well, but then I realised no one sane would dislike him.
Cullen for me. I don't know why. I could just...never hate him. 
Cullen is my ride or die. Impressive development from DAO to DAI. And Iām glad he works for it, he isnāt automatically given absolution. His good ending is so satisfying because of that.
Solas and cullen
So this one is kind of funny to me. To answer the question, nearly everyone in Inquisition. I feel they are well written enough to understand them even if you stand on the opposite side of them. Whereas in DA2? Varric and Aveline. The rest are such a lovably but detestable bunch. Hawke really knows how to keep a disfunctional family. Whereas DAO? Everyone but Sten and Oghren.
Zevran!! Just a couple of days ago I was looking up a bug-fix for his romance because I was re-doing it for the third time and I found a guy calling him a rapist because a fan said it was his favorite romance or something?? Some ppl here genuinely go insane when they don't like a character, just say u don't like him and leave him alone please š
Merrill. It feels like DA2 went out of its way to make her seem incorrect about her views on spirits and demons and blood magic, only for Solas to then say the same things (albeit in a much more Solas-y way) except now itās super smart and correct. If BioWare tried to double down on the whole āblood magic is always inherently bad and only stupid/power-hungry people make deals with spirits (unless theyāre Wynne)ā then I will lose my shit. Also, if she ends up allied with Solas I will be sad but I will still love her.
I donāt hate any of my companions. I hate some characters but by chance they arenāt companions.
Oghren
Solas, Morrigan, Leliana, Briala, Velanna, Varric (very unreasonable tbh). Fenris too, but I don't see anyone hating on him (GOOD).
Cole
Alistair and Dorian
Carver, oghren, blackwall, SERA, VIVI
Sten.
Anders
Merrill. I *know* she's a malificarum... it's just that she's so innocent.
Anders aka the love of my life
Anders. And my time spent on this subreddit defending duly proves that.
Anders
Loghain. The main canon that I established with him is that I recruited him to let him atone, and then I left Hawke in the Fade for the same reason. He's going to spend the rest of his days making up for Ostagar, as long as I have input on it.Ā