Dragon Age: Origins/Tropes L to Q

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • The Last Dance: The Calling ritual.
  • Lampshade Hanging:
    • In the Human Noble origin, your first fight is against a bunch of giant rats that have invaded your castle's pantry. After you're done, your party mate says it looks like "the start of every bad adventure tale [his] grandfather used to tell".
    • Zevran asks Oghren if they should now engage in some stereotypical elf-to-dwarf banter/rivalry. Oghren's response? "Nah."
    • Morrigan's response to stopping the merchant in Lothering from setting high prices. "Must we solve every little problem in this town?"
      • Similarly, if you ask the Ostagar merchant about his AWOL servants, he'll say he's sure someone like you has more important things to do than worry about his inane personal problems.
    • During one random encounter, you sneak up on a few bandits planning a sloppy ambush. One of the actions you can take is "Rush them and spring your own ambush for a change!"
    • If you romance Zevran, and either turn down or ask too many questions about the gift he offers you, he will eventually exclaim, "We pick up every other bit of treasure we come across, but not this? You don't want the earring, you don't get the earring. Very simple."
  • Large Ham: If no one else, Father Kolgrim of the Cult of Andraste. Also Wade.
    • ...Cailan, Uldred, even Loghain, Bhelen, and Teagan at times.
  • Last Kiss: At the end for a female who romanced Alistair, if you stayed together and you didn't take the third option, since one of you has to die to finish off the Archdemon. What happens next is... well...

Warden: I can't let you do this, it's insane!
Alistair: Sanest thing I've ever done.

  • Last of His Kind: After Ostagar, the Warden and Alistair are the only two Grey Wardens left in Ferelden.
    • Several Wardens leave them as the last members of their family.
      • The Human Noble is the last of the Couslands after their family is betrayed and murdered by Arl Howe in the Origin. Your brother Fergus, however, is revealed near the end-game to have survived Ostagar.
      • The Dalish Elf's father was killed by human bandits, which left the Dalish Warden's mother so grief-struck, she simply disappeared into the moonlight to die of grief, shortly after the Warden's birth. Their mother's friend Ashalle and the rest of the clan therefore raised them.
      • If the Dwarf Noble decides to support Harrowmont over Bhelen for the crown of Orzammar, then Bhelen foolishly attacks and ends up dead, leaving the Dwarf Noble as the last Aeducan (aside from distant cousins).
    • Alistair is revealed to be the illegitimate son of King Maric, thus making them the last living member of the royal house of Theirin.
  • Late Arrival Spoiler: The advertising for the Return to Ostagar DLC spoils the outcome of the battle that took place there.
  • Law of Conservation of Detail: Exhaustingly averted. The majority of Codexes are nothing but fluff that flesh out the world but are ultimately irrelevant from a gameplay standpoint. There are a number of named NPCs who, likewise, serve no purpose other than elaborating the setting. YMMV on whether this is a bad thing.
  • Lazy Backup
  • Leaked Experience: Party members are never more than one level lower than the main character.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: At the landing that leads to the Mage Tower, if you completed the Broken Circle quest, there are a pair of NPC's beyond a fence that are discussing how they could be merely "in a play", prompting one to dismiss the idea that they're being watched by "enlightened cosmic beings" for amusement by pointing out that he has a boil on his big toe that proves the theory wrong -- at which point he claims that anyone doing so are simply sick, twisted bastards.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: If you don't use the right tactics, your party members will often act like this in combat, rushing headlong into the fray even when they're poorly suited to close combat. Of course, there's a reason why you have the "Hold" option that keeps the party from blindly charging, and there are several behavioral routines (Ranged, for example) that will have AI-controlled party members keep their distance.
  • Left Hanging/Sequel Hook: The Witch Hunt DLC, the last material relased for the game and chronologically set after the rest, ends with Morrigan making some cryptic references to upcoming threats and new plans from Flemeth, then disappearing through a mysterious portal.
  • Legion of Lost Souls: The Dwarven Legion of the Dead, who will accept anyone into their ranks no matter their background and hold a funeral for the new recruit upon their induction.
  • Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: The Antivan Crows' contact in Denerim talks almost completely in innuendo in order to disguise what business he is actually discussing, nevermind that the only eavesdropper his verbiage could fool would be a deaf one. You, as the player, can lampshade this very fact and he'll simply explain that he has no idea who's listening in and just wants an out in case he's questioned. If you keep ignoring his attempts at innuendo, he snaps at you. It's worth it. After you complete the questline, he's willing to speak more openly.
  • Leitmotif: The darkspawn have a main theme, and several remixes of that theme for special encounters. The elves also have their own leitmotif, with various remixes of In Uthenera.
    • Leliana's song - no, not the DLC - is in the menu music, the romance theme, and during some of the more tender moments. Keep in mind, the song is about mortality and sacrifice.
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: The foursome/threesome option. Subverted when Zevran notes that he doesn't mind not speaking of it, as long as they can do it again.
  • Level Scaling: each area has an upper and lower limit to the level of enemies you'll face, and in the areas that have enemeies that are around your level, those enemies will level up with you.
  • Level Up At Intimacy 5: Your party members get boosts in their primary stat proportional to how much they like you.
    • In Zevran's case, sleeping with him and making kinky suggestions directly result in dexterity bonuses.
    • Female Wardens romancing Alistair can enjoy his Massive Constitution.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Leliana is the Light Feminine, while Morrigan is the Dark Feminine. As their character arcs progress, standard BioWare deconstruction occurs, especially on Leliana's side.
  • Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: If you take full advantage of specializations and area effect attacks. Warriors and rogues are hardly slouches by comparison even at high levels, but it still doesn't keep people from referring to the game as "Dragon Mage: Origins". You should take a look at the Dragon Age entry on the trope page.
    • Consider it also a case of Gameplay and Story Integration. Everyone in the setting is scared of magic for a reason.
      • Usually, Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards has mages kind of sucking at low levels; it's worth pointing out that this isn't true for Dragon Age. Low level casters in DA are squishy, but still powerful and useful compared to rogues or warriors. They just become very strong at high levels, and completely, ridiculously overpowered if intentionally twinked.
      • Subverted hard in Awakening. At higher ends, mages are only the best if you use the auto-level options and wear whatever equipment comes in the prettiest colors. The most mind-bogglingly powerful builds are all rogues and (even more so) warriors. It is possible to make a spirit warrior archer who does three thousand damage with an arrow of slaying, a rogue who does more than three hundred damage per second backstabbing, or an nigh-invincibly murder machine warrior who has 100% resistance to magic AND normal attacks, clad in armor of invulnerability, regenerating 8 health per second and still dealing a good 150 damage per second.
      • Oghren in particular, when dual-wielding a Tier 7 weapon, berserking, and using Peon's Plight, will regularly deal almost 450 damage to a single target. It only gets more ridiculous as his weapons get more powerful. And god help the bad guys if you start screwing with his specializations...
  • Literally Shattered Lives: Freeze an enemy solid, or petrify them, then land a critical on them. They break.
    • Or Rocket Punch them with a stone, or cast Crushing Prison on them.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: Defeating The Harvester causes Amgarrak's forge area to collapse.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: And most have individual voice actors, including some well-known ones. See the sub-page.
  • Loads and Loads of Loading: Especially on the PC version, where thanks to a memory leak these stretch into epic lengths if you play long enough at a time.
    • The console versions are not better: the longer you play, the longer it will take save games to save and load. And if you get all the downloadable content, you have to wait almost five minutes for the game to check your save game data, then downloadable content, at the beginning of the game.
  • Loophole Abuse: How the Dwarf Noble likely regains their name after being unpersonned during their Origin. Dwarves who become Grey Wardens retain their name and caste despite venturing to the surface. Given how being a Grey Warden supercedes their exile and the Shaper later comments on adding their visit to the memories, its possible that this allowed the Dwarf Noble's name and caste to be returned to the records once more.
    • How a Mage Warden becomes Arl of Amarathine in Awakening. Legally Mages are forbidden from holding lands and titles, but technically, the Arling itself is stated to belong to the Wardens, not themself. The title of Arl falls to whomever is appointed Warden-Commander of Ferelden, which in this case, just happens to be a Mage.
  • Lost Forever: If you talk to the smuggler in Dust Town and don't accept his quest (for instance, if you don't have the money), he'll be gone the next time you enter Dust Town, denying you the opportunity to make 65 gold plus a tier 7 item in a single quest.
    • Any item or other goodie located in a one time only area, such as Lothering (destroyed after completing one of the main quests) and The Fade.
      • Lothering is a prime example. It's still in the early stages of the game, so the player is inclined to think of it as a recurring location. But if you leave without looking around, you miss out on not one, but two party members, Leliana and Sten, both of which are never seen again once the village is lost.
    • The Ancient Elven Armor set can certainly be this. One of the pieces is in the aforementioned Lothering, while the second is in the possession of an NPC who will stop speaking to you after you complete "The Nature of the Beast." That's 50% of a very nice armor set that you can easily miss if you don't know to look for it.
  • Lotus Eater Machine: When you're trapped in the Fade in the Tower Of Magi, the demon of sloth tries do do this trick on you and your party. It doesn't work only on you, and you have to save them. In a subversion, some party members are trapped in painful visions/memories (such as Wynne and Zevran) in comparison to the idyllic illusions (Alistair). It should be noted that Morrigan and Sten are also immune to the illusions, but can't or don't leave.
  • Love Hurts: Any attempt at a romance during one of the Origin stories ends badly.
    • Practically a theme of the expansion, as several sidequests, including two companion quests, centre around a love story that ends horribly. Oghren joins the Grey Wardens after having split with Felsi, with whom he had a child, after failing to reconcile his Blood Knight nature. In one sidequest, the Warden can track down a young man who hanged himself after failing to provide a dream home for his wife; the Warden must then deliver the horrible news. Another man’s attempt at a Wacky Marriage Proposal resulted in his would-be fiancée misunderstanding it and leaving him; he then poisoned himself. In the Silverite Mine, a dying Grey Warden begs the main character to bring his wife his ring, but when the Warden tracks her down, it turns out that she’s cheating on him. Finally, a young woman named Aura discovers that her husband, a Grey Warden named Kristoff, has died in the worst possible way: by encountering his animated corpse, which is possessed by a Spirit of Justice.
      • If the female PC is romancing Alistair, the only way the two of you can survive the ending to be with each other is to make him sleep with Morrigan so he can sire her child. The game makes you watch.
      • If the male PC is romancing Morrigan, there is no way to get a traditionally happy ending, no matter what you do. If you don't take her up on her offer at the end, she leaves the party immediately. If you do comply with her plan, she vanishes anyway after the final battle. The Witch Hunt DLC does allow the Warden to travel with her, though.
  • Low Fantasy: According to Bioware, anyway. This is a little questionable, however, when you consider that it has rampant magic, a classic Good Vs Evil conflict against a great evil, an epic scale, The Quest, and plenty of heroics.
  • Luck-Based Mission: Oddly common considering the focus on strategy and tactics the game is supposed to have.
    • Most prevalent anytime you encounter mages, especially if the fight started immediately after opening a door or after dialogue. Enemy mages generally cast a spell at random. They have so many different damage types that buffing the right elemental resistance is random. If 2 or more mages happen to cast the right spells at the same time, it will virtually always kill off any character outside those with extreme resistances (most likely Templar or Arcane Warriors, but potentially any Human, Elf, or Dwarf character with the right stats or spells).
    • Needless to say, the game's difficulty is rather inconsistent. Some trash mob encounters may utterly curb-stomp you, while boss battles you can just walk right past, especially later in the game.
    • One of the game's hardest battles is a random pack of wolves met on the road. The difficulty of the battle depends entirely on how often the wolves use their 'Overwhelm' ability.
  • Lured into a Trap: As the Warden and party are travelling, a woman will run up to them and ask for help. Going along with her will lead to a trap sprung by Zevran and his fellow assassins.
  • Made of Explodium: Abominations will explode a few seconds after being killed.
  • Madness Mantra: Hespith.
  • Mage Killer: Templars. Although they have shown on multiple occasions they aren't too competent in their job.
  • Mage Tower: The Circle of Magi is housed in one. First Enchanter Irving lampshades the trope when he grumbles about all the stairs that it necessitates. (Unusually, the tower itself predates the Circle.)
  • Magical Society: The Circle of Magi, naturally. Unlike some instances, not all mages are happy to belong to it.
  • Magic Is a Monster Magnet: Mages risk demonic possesion.
  • Magic Knight:
    • The Arcane Warrior specialization.
    • The Reaver (a soul-devouring warrior specialization)
    • The Templar (anti-magic focused DPS/tank warrior sub-class)
    • The Spirit Warrior (warrior with magic powers)
    • The Battlemage (a mage that actually benefits from being in the thick of battle)
  • Magic Versus Science: After their conquests, the Qunari were repelled by the Chantry-led forces in good measure thanks to the advantage given to them by the use of Magic applied to warfare. In the Qunari culture, magic, albeit known, was regarded nearly as an abomination, and their warfare relied heavily on their superior technology (like cannons) which proved to be no match for the Chantry-controlled mages. The Qunari have also been unable to conquer the remnant of the Tevinter Imperium.
    • That's selling them a little short. The qunari war lasted over a hundred years, and only ended when the Chantry declared an Exalted March (fantasy Crusade) which itself lasted more than fifty years. And the war ended with Thedas suing for peace. And numerous people who have been to Par Vollen have said the qunari are not so much fighting the Tevinter Imperium as fending off the occasional attack.

Fenris: When the qunari want war, we will all know it.

  • Magic Wand: Mage staffs. According to the Witch Hunt DLC, mages find the idea of using actual wands to be silly.
  • Magikarp Power: Archery. When you start out, it deals mediocre damage (generally lower than you'd get from pulling a sword or a mace and hitting the target). But then you get to the fourth-tier talents and you get Arrow of Slaying (which can dish out damage that rivals or exceeds anything the party mages have to offer) and Scattershot (which can both injure and stun an entire crowd of foes). And then you get to Awakening, at which point an archer with high dexterity and decent armor basically becomes a One-Man Army.
  • The Magnificent Seven Samurai: Defending Redcliffe.
  • The Magocracy: The Tevinter Imperium, of course.
  • Malaproper: Sister Theohild in the Denerim Chantry, much to Mother Perpetua's consternation.

Sister Theohild: The Veal holds no uncertainty for her, and she will know no fear of death, for the Maker shall be her bacon and her shield, her foundation and her-
Mother Perpetua: There is no veal in the Chant! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

  • Malevolent Architecture: Bioware seems to really like this trope.
  • Mana Shield: Spell Shield. Only works against spells, though. Forcefield also works, but renders the enclosed person immobile and unable to do damage to anyone outside it.
  • Match Maker Quest
  • Mate or Die: The Archdemon can only be slain by a Grey Warden, who then dies. Morrigan has a plan that involves getting a male player character or Alistair (or Loghain) to impregnate her, so none of you will die when you kill it.
  • Meaningful Name: The Antivan Crows. A group of crows is referred to as a murder.
  • Meat Moss: Shows up in the Circle of Magi tower as a symptom of the abominations' presence. One can hear wet, squelching noises in the background as it continues to grow and expand. Some rooms are just filled with it. The Deep Roads are filled with this, presumably due to the darkspawn taint.
  • Medieval European Fantasy: With some alterations, of course
  • Medieval Stasis:
    • As explained here, magic pretty much prevents progress, while the Qunari, who are squeamish at best with regard to magic, have access to gunpowder. The dwarves, completely unable to use magic, are advancing too, but slowly. The smokeless fuel they use was invented within living memory, and the ancestral Shield Of Aeducan is pretty much identical to early-game junk shields.
  • Medium Awareness: The Warden responds to player input, but the Violent voice gets personal:

The Grey Warden': Can I get you a ladder, so you can get off my back?

  • Melee a Trois: The final dungeon in the Awakening questline is a slog a dragon graveyard which the Mother territory while the Architect's forces are also trying to invade for the same reason. So you have the Grey Wardens trying to plow through two factions of warring darkspawn, and just in case you were getting bored, a High Dragon drops out of the sky in the middle of a fight and begins attacking everything indiscriminately.
  • Men Are the Expendable Gender: During the main quest, the player can choose to help the villagers of Redcliffe defend from an undead attack. The women remain in the chantry along with the elderly and children, while the men (militia) fight (this is stated by Murdock and Mother Hannah). While helping the villagers prepare for the attack, you can persuade (or intimidate) a few more men into joining the militia, but no mention is made of arming the women. Quite the opposite -- a dialogue option with a village woman is "Shouldn't you be in the chantry?", whereas with the man she works for it is something like "Why aren't you with the militia?". Considering that you can play as a female warrior, there are women in the army (including many fighting at Ostagar, who were doubtless slaughtered with the men), there are female party members, there are female enemies, and character creation states that men and women are generally considered to be equal, it is odd that the women were portrayed as defenseless and did not fight to defend their village from certain destruction.
    • Arguably justified in that the town has been under siege for a while at this point and people are being dragged off left and right. Counting, there aren't as many women left as the men, and while most of the villagers aren't optimistic about their chances, there might still be somebody in charge thinking about the future of the village should all or most of the remaining women be killed. Or it could simply be that just because women are generally considered equal across Ferelden doesn't mean that they're considered as equal everywhere. The initial reaction to a female warden from at least one NPC seems to support that Redcliffe Village is probably one of those places.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Can be used as a threat at one point. "Hundreds have died in my wake, you're just a number."
  • Mind Control: This is why Blood Mages are feared by everyone. It acts as in-universe Paranoia Fuel, especially for Cullen.
  • Mistaken for Granite: Whenever you see a deactivated but otherwise intact golem, rest assured that it will start attacking as soon as you do something important.
  • Money Spider: Played perfectly literally with the spiders themselves, but mostly averted elsewhere.
    • Childer Larva and Hatchlings seem to have a pretty big allowance for being a week old. They can drop over 2 sovereigns.
  • Monty Haul: All of Awakening throws more loot at you than you'll ever need. The sticker shock of the building upgrade and dream items in shops fades pretty quickly when you notice how quickly your purse is refilling.
  • Mook Maker: Broodmothers.
  • Moral Myopia: The Dragon to the Tevinter slavers in the Denerim Alienage will demand to know your reasons for attacking her soldiers, then piously announce her intention to "halt your slaughter" as she attacks you.
  • More Than Mind Control: Those tempted into deals with demons of Pride, Sloth, and especially Desire become to some degree a willing party to their own possession.

Desire Demon: Happiness is bewitching.

  • Motif: You could make a drinking game out of how many times blood becomes a subject of importance in this game, to say nothing of how much of it gets splattered around.
  • Muggle and Magical Love Triangle: It's entirely possible for a male Warden to end up in a love triangle with Leliana (Muggle) and Morrigan (Mage).
  • Multiple Endings: Tenfold.
  • Mutant Draft Board: The Circle of Magi. Unlike most examples of the trope, the Circle don't control themselves; the Chantry keeps legal magi as virtual slaves and kills the whole Circle off and starts over whenever they become too much to handle accidentally let a demon into the world.
  • Mutual Kill: Happens whenever a Grey Warden kills an archdemon.
  • My God, You Are Serious: Alistair's reaction to being told he has to sleep with Morrigan to keep one of you from dying.
  • My Species Doth Protest Too Much:
    • In the Circle Tower, you run into a Desire Demon who claims to truly love her Templar "captive". It's up to you whether to give her a chance or kill her (and the Templar).
    • There's also a Sylvan (a demon-possessed tree) in the Brecilian forest called the Grand Oak, who unlike all the others, will not attack the party if approached. It speaks in rhyme (complete with Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe), and is more interested in simply living in peace than anything else, and will offer assistance in return for a favor. Since it's possible for other, more benevolent Fade creatures to possess people, probably it makes sense that a more benevolent one might possess a tree.
      • Justice, a spirit who was forced by magical mishap into the body of a newly-dead Grey Warden, explains in Awakening that most benevolent spirits have no interest in the material world, especially since all those who go there never return.
  • Mythology Gag: Bioware has made a lot of RPGs, and they won't stop telling you about it.
    • In a tavern in Denerim is a bitter, bitter serving wench by the name of Edwina.
    • You can summon one Arl Foreshadow in the Circle of Magi.
    • Also, "When in doubt, remember to go for the eyes!"
    • A sailor named Casavir in The Pearl brothel.
    • Spend some quality time with the right "craftswoman" in The Pearl, and she'll ask you, "Hey, sexy! Wanna take a look at me ditties?"
    • Shale isn't too fond of "Organics".
    • There is an obscenely powerful optional boss, a lich expy called Gaxkang who drops one of the best items in the game. Suspiciously similar to the obscenely powerful optional boss lich Kangaxx who drops one of the best items in that game.
    • When going to the world map after leaving Lothering -- as well as some other times, which seem to be triggered when you click on an area exit and then click on a point on the ground within the area--you're asked if you would like to "Gather your party and venture forth". Very similar to the "You must gather your party before venturing forth" that every Baldur's Gate player still has ringing in their ears.
    • Alistair occasionally yells "Down you go!" in battle.
    • The game shares a minor plot point with Jade Empire: Golems are made from people.
    • Your dog can bring you a pair of dirty abandoned pantaloons that according to the description seem to have been "either gold or silver in colour" at one time.
    • You can find a note in the Deep Roads saying "Mass will have an effect," and wondering about a dwarf named Shepard.
  • Multishot: Done by splintering the arrow.
  • Mystical Plague: The Blight disease spread by the Darkspawn is said to be a curse by the Maker upon the Tevinter Magisters, who turned into the first Darkspawn themselves under its influence.
  • Mythopoeia
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The CGI trailers, which were done by Blur instead of Bioware, place a heavier emphasis on action than actually appears in game, in addition to the characters looking much different.
    • The trailers for Awakening, which touted The Architect as the Big Bad. In reality, he only appears a couple times throughout the expansion and has very few lines. You don't even have to fight him.
  • New Game+: Each specialization, such as Arcane Warrior or Berserker, has to be unlocked once in the game. However, as soon as it is unlocked, it can be freely used not just by the character who unlocked it, but also by any character of the same account or profile. Unlike a true new game plus, you do not get to reuse your character from the last game (levels, gear, and all). However, by completing DLC campaigns like Witch Hunt, you can get new items -- often extremely powerful, or at least good to sell for some coin.
  • NGO Superpower: The Grey Wardens.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In some of the origins, the PC's actions end up making life (either for themselves or others) difficult later on.
    • In the Magi origin, the Mage assists Jowan into escaping from the Circle. He then proceeds to poison Arl Eamon at Loghain's behest, and set off a chain of events that nearly destroy Redcliffe.
    • In the Dwarven Noble origin, it's possible for the Player Character to fall for Bhelen's deception and kill the eldest brother, bringing their subsequent exile upon him/herself, leading to King Aeducan's grief-induced death, and the following deadlock on the new king candidates.
    • In the City Elf origin, the Player Character effectively sparks a riot that prompts the Alienage to be purged.
    • Meanwhile, completing some quests can lead to disastrous consequences in the epilogue. Helping to construct a Chantry in Orzammar might lead to a religious conflict between the dwarves, concluding in an Exalted March.
    • Completing a sidequest in the Circle Tower called "Summoning Sciences" will result in the escape of a Fade spirit that will then begin slaughtering innocent people on the road between the Tower and Redcliffe.
  • Nintendo Hard: Higher difficulties will strongly punish players who don't properly use tactics. The game also gives a very minimal introduction to the combat, causing a Difficulty Spike when players get into battles designed to be won with strategy.
    • Given the focus the game has on tactics, there are a few design decisions that are a bit odd, almost to the point of being Fake Difficulty. The game makes some fights significantly harder by porting the entire party directly in front of the bad guys for a mandatory conversation before the fight starts; in extreme cases, this means the party walks directly into an ambush/crossfire/killzone.
  • Noble Male, Roguish Male: Alistair and Zevran, the two male love interests, with Alistair being the Noble aspect and Zevran the Roguish.
  • No Campaign for the Wicked: The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC averts this by allowing you to play as as a Hurlock Vanguard during the Battle of Denerim in an alternate universe where the Warden failed the Joining.
  • No Fair Cheating: There was a glitch to raise your levels to the cap in Ostagar. Using it makes the game Unwinnable; the Dynamic Difficulty means that while your party levels up, without matching equipment for your level, you'll be far outgunned by the enemy. It can be averted while playing a warrior, since low level enemies will start immediately dropping silverite and dragonbone equipment and leveling up early means early access to the bonus items (blood dragon armor, etc.)
    • Wonderfully lampshaded when the PC reaches the paranoid hermit in the Brecillian Forest and has a mage in the party, who immediately points out this isn't just your average old loon. "No fair, bringing mages to a guessing game!"
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Averted in the Human Noble Origin. If you choose female for your character's sex, both your mother and your sister-in-law imply (rather heavily in Mom's case) that if you don't lay down your sword and become a proper lady, you'll never appeal to men. Mom says that while she was a real Badass when she was single, she had to give it up and learn the "softer arts" to bag a husband. In Mom's case, one of your dialogue options is to answer her by inviting a hunky nobleman to talk privately later right in front of her. If you do this, you end up meeting him in the study and teasing him about a forbidden sex book you read and offer to show him what you learned if he visits your room later. He eagerly accepts the offer, though if you pursue this, it doesn't end well for him when Howe's men attack.
  • No Hero Discount: Mostly played straight -- despite the fact that the Warden goes around saving the bacon of pretty much everyone in Ferelden, most of the merchants you encounter won't offer you so much as a minor discount in return, and the game even goes out of its way to rub this in the player's face by having one of the few who claims to be doing so (Bodahn) charge you some of the highest prices of anyone for his goods.
    • Gorim is an exception to this rule, but only if you play as a Dwarf Noble. If you did then he does give you a discount and buys your items for higher prices too.
  • "No. Just... No" Reaction:
    • If you suggest to Alistair a threesome with Isabela and he is not hardened.
    • If you suggest that Alistair resolve the dispute over the succession by marrying Anora, the current queen; hardened or not, he'll go along with it, but he's against at it first.
  • Nominal Importance: If they have a name, or even an unusual description, they most certainly have important, or at least interesting, things to say -- if not worthy of a side quest. Some temporary party members with no particular dialogue of their own are named "Circle Mage" and "Tower Guard". They die.
    • Also works in battle; most named NPCs on your side are literally invincible.
  • No Ontological Inertia: Subverted with Zathrian and Witherfang. Killing Witherfang will not end the werewolf curse. It would only provide Zathrian with a cure for his Dalish kin, allowing the humans afflicted to continue suffering. Killing Zathrian will not end the curse either. If Zathrian willingly removes the curse, however, it will kill both him and Witherfang. Also with Flemeth (stays a dragon after you kill her), mind-controlled templars, some spells who survive the casters (the swarm of insects one, for example), and so on. The dev team like subverting this one, apparently.
  • No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus: Averted. Everything from Andraste to the origins of the darkspawn have alternate explanations suggested that go against the Chantry's canon in favor of non-divine explanations suggested in codex entries. Sten and Morrigan (a follower of the Qun philosophy and an atheist witch, respectively) occasionally bring these up as well.
  • No Sympathy: You can play your character as this if you're feeling heartless. The game provides you with cold or cruel responses, which may gain favour with the pragmatists (Sten), but are more likely to hurt your relationships with characters -- even Morrigan demands a certain level of respect for her beliefs and upbringing. More significantly, your group generally dismisses or ignores your character's woes. Occasionally, however, the game will surprise you by averting the trope when least expected -- it's possible to be cheered up by amoral Zevran, or receive approval for your romance from sharp-tongued Morrigan.
  • Non-Indicative Name: As Sten can note about the Crows in a conversation with Zevran.

Sten: Why do you call yourselves "Crows"? Crows are scavengers, not killers.
Zevran: I heard that at one time they considered calling us the Kestrels. But you know. It didn't sing. It didn't dance.

  • Non-Lethal KO: Unless your whole party gets wiped out, a downed character is only unconscious, though with an injury that needs treatment. They'll haul themselves upright (usually with a one-liner) when the battle is over.
  • Noodle Incident: Bann Teagan instantly recognizes Alistair when Alistair tells him he was covered in mud last time they met. No further details are given.

Leliana: I once drank a thimble of dwarven ale. Woke up a week later in Jader wearing nothing but my shoes and a towel.
Alistair: What? Lead? Me? No, no, no. No leading. Bad things happen when I lead. We get lost, people die, and the next thing you know I'm stranded somewhere without any pants.

  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Neither Susan Boyd Joyce (Wynne) nor Kate Mulgrew use the English-sounding Ferelden/Tevinter accent used by of the humans in the (first) game.
  • Not Quite the Right Thing: Hoo, boy, Orzammar is just chock full of opportunities for disastrous, but well-intentioned meddling. Often to the point where it seems like the whole sodding town is baiting a good-aligned character.
  • Not So Different: Prince Bhelen and Lord Harrowmont. Both hire criers to spread lies and slander about their opponents, both are willing to use deceit and fraud to win the support of the deshyrs, both have armed bands of supporters roaming the streets and assaulting their opponents, both hire mercenaries to assassinate the Warden if he/she sides with the other...
  • Not So Stoic: A minor example, but if you bug the calm-speaking Master Ignacio about his innuendo of stating what he wants you to do and where your payment will be, he gets annoyed by your lack of subtlety and bursts out: "All right, yes. You kill them, look in the bleeding chest."
  • Not That There's Anything Wrong with That: If a male Warden is romancing Leliana and Zevran simultaneously, Leliana will be quick to say this to clarify that it's the cheating she has a problem with, not the Warden liking other men.
  • Nothing Personal: Said by a group of desperate refugees who ambush you in Lothering, and invoked by Zevran after his failed assassination attempt, who says that he has no issues with you personally and was just fulfilling a contract.
  • Notice This: The game uses sparkles to point out containers and lootable enemies.
  • The Nudifier: Dragon Age: Origins Awakening can start an imported character save from the previous game in their underwear if they were wearing DLC armor.
    • There is also a prominent glitch that destroys the player character's equipment in the same expansion.
  • Nuke'Em: The Grey Wardens have no problem with burning down entire villages if they believe this would help defeat the Blight.
  • Oblivious Guilt Slinging: In the Human Noble Origin, you can pull Arl Howe aside to wish him well. This makes him very embarrassed for some reason. He's planning to murder you, your whole family, And Your Little Dog, Too. And he totally goes through with it.
  • Obvious Beta: The critically bugged and broken endgame sequence.
  • Oh My Gods:
    • Dear Maker!
    • Maker's Breath!
    • Andraste's Flaming Sword!
    • Andraste's Light!
    • Andraste's Holy Knickers!
    • Andraste's Sanctified Girdle!
    • By My Ancestors!

Oghren: By the tits of my Ancestors!

    • As well as various less polite variations such as "Andraste's Ass" and "Andraste's Knicker-Weasels".
    • Dalish Elves have suspiciously Christian blessings and creeds where "Creators" is hastily substituted for "God" -- "Creators speed/guide you on your way", "It seems the will of the Creators", "Gods bless you", etc.
  • Omnicidal Neutral: "Soldier's Peak" can end with the Warden slaying Avernus on behalf of the demon, then turning around and killing the demon, too. Or the other way around. Similarly, the "A Paragon of Her Kind" quest can end with the Warden killing Caridin, then talking Branka into committing suicide.
  • One Stat to Rule Them All: For Mages, it's obviously the Magic stat. You don't even need the stats that give hit points or mana because hey, Magic improves your health and mana potions. And if you pick the Arcane Warrior specilization, you really don't have a use for Strength.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder: Any Darkspawn with "Grunt" in their name. Grunts are suspiciously weaker than other Darkspawn, which is strange because they only appear in the endgame, when you're at your most powerful.
  • One-Woman Wail: "I Am the One" during the end credits.
  • Only One Female Mold: Putting Wynne (60-ish with all gray hair) next to Morrigan (early 20s with a figure that's lampshaded by Liara) and having them wear the same outfit (as long as it's not a formless robe) is...disturbing, to say the least.
  • Only Smart People May Pass: The Gauntlet from the Urn of Sacred Ashes questline. Lampshaded by Alistair: "Andraste only favored the clever, it seems."
  • Only the Worthy May Pass: When doing the last part of the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest line, the Guardian practically states this word for word and puts you through tests of faith. And by faith, he means logic.
  • Optional Sexual Encounter: Many.
  • The Order: The Grey Wardens, the Templars, the Circle of Magi, the Legion of the Dead...
  • Order Reborn: The Grey Wardens of Ferelden are wiped out near the beginning of the game, and rebuilding them remains a concern even after the defeat of the Blight. (The start of Awakening doesn't help matters...)
  • Organ Drops: Demonic ichor, spider toxin extract, corpse galls (the latter of which the Chantry collects after an apparent outbreak of zombism).
  • Our Demons Are Different: They've got a few of the standard traits and tactics, but rather than being diabolic monsters, they're merely the evil half of the population of spirits inhabiting the Fade, the setting's Spirit World.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Dragons in Dragon Age are quite a rare sight overall, having only recently reappeared after they were long believed to be extinct -– heck, the present Dragon Age was only named as such because of the dragons' reappearance! Most of them are fairly small juveniles and drakes; only impregnated female dragons get huge like the beasts of legend and grow wings, and are extremely rare. (In Origins, there's a single true dragon, in the classical fantasy sense, in the game; there are at least two other winged females, but they're much younger and smaller.)
    • There's one in Awakening, or two if you reawaken the Queen of the Blackmarsh.
  • Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Subverted. Although they still possess a few of the standard traits, their rigid caste society and customs make them very different from Tolkien-esque dwarves. One of the classics is completely avoided: dwarven beer is horrible because it is brewed from lichen. The human king acts like that isn't true, but he's kind of a moron. The dwarves also have American accents, as opposed to the traditonal Scottish ones. Only a third of them have huge beards as well.
    • They also seem to be quite sexual for standard fantasy dwarves. "Noble hunting", which is a nice way of saying "gold digging", is openly encouraged in dwarven society. There are as many dwarven prostitutes at the Pearl as there are elven prostitutes. And tellingly, the PC can get shagged in only two of the six origin stories, but only one of them -— the Dwarf Noble origin —- lets the main character have a three-way with two noble hunters. Oh, and it produces an heir. So good luck with that...
  • Our Elves Are Better: Brutally subverted. Elves are discriminated against, have lost their immortality (according to elvish folklore), and were enslaved for a thousand years. The slavery may have ended, but the discrimination, segregation, and second-class citizenry certainly didn't.
  • Our Orcs Are Different: Darkspawn fit the classic Tolkein orc criteria enough to fit and look enough like Orcs as well. Indeed, they're closer to Tolkien Orcs than most of the Proud Warrior Race Orcs now in fantasy. The Deep Roads is Moria, and the Broodmother hints at the idea in the Silmarillion that orcs are corrupted elves. Due to the very real threat they pose to entire nations, they're closer to Tolkien's orcs than most standard fantasy orcs you find these days. They get a whole lot worse when you meet the first Broodmother. And it manages to get even worse when you meet The Mother in Awakening, who is different from broodmothers in that she is 1) fully sentient, 2) capable of commanding other darkspawn, including broodmothers, and 3) cacklingly insane.
  • Our Vampires Are Different: They're people possessed by hunger demons. Since hunger demons are barely sentient, they're not as cunning as traditional vampires.
    • Not Using the Z Word -- they're never referred to in-game as vampires. Indeed, they're counted more as walking corpses, rather than their own kind of undead, though they are among the most powerful of the walking dead.
  • Our Werebeasts Are Different: Said to be the result of demonic interference which may be true, but the ones you meet are the innocent victims of an indiscriminate Roaring Rampage of Revenge who were brought back to sanity by the very spirit who was forced into it. They can even join you.
  • Out-of-Clothes Experience: How a player could start off playing Dragon Age: Origins Awakening if they imported a character save from the previous game who's wearing DLC armor that doesn't transfer.
  • The Paladin: Templars are this game's Church Militant Magic Knights (or Anti-Magic Knights, as the case may be). If you want a classic Paladin (magic knight with mostly healing spells), you could give your mage the Spirit Healer spec along with Arcane Warrior and/or Battlemage.
  • Parental Abandonment: In spades.
    • The lost child in Lothering who can be heard crying out for his mother (who is likely the woman that you find dead in the fields during a certain sidequest).
    • Poor, poor Amethyne. When you meet her in the Denerim Alienage, she is completely unaware of the events that occurred in Highever (during which her mother was murdered), and the fact that she is now an orphan. And no matter your relationship with her mother, you can't do jack for her.
    • Every single mage who gets sent to the Circle Tower is affected by this trope. Mainly because mages generally have to live out pretty much the rest of their whole lives locked away in that tower. And besides that, most of them are utterly rejected by their families anyway when their magical powers surface in childhood, since magic is so feared and despised in Ferelden.
  • Party Scattering: In the Fade section, the Warden's active party is scattered across a demon's otherworldly realm and s/he has to find and free them before they can fight the demon.
  • Path of Inspiration: The Disciples of Andraste used to be a peaceful cult dedicated to protecting the Urn of Sacred Ashes from the unfaithful, but eventually became an Axe Crazy Dragon Cult.
  • Perfectly Cromulent Word: Averted most of the time. Chantry? Apostate? Maleficar? All real words. Well, except maleficar, but you can call that a modernization of maleficus.
  • Player Headquarters: The party's campsites in Origins, and Vigil's Keep in Awakening.
  • Playing Against Type: Arl Howe is a fairly low-key and forgettable villain... so why is Tim Curry voicing him?
    • Of course, if you play the Human Noble Warden, things are a bit more personal between the PC and Arl Howe.
  • Playing Possum: The rogue ability "Feign Death."
  • Point and Click Map
  • Polyamory: If the Warden is romancing Morrigan and another companion simultaneously, the Warden can suggest this to her when she calls him out on it. As it turns out, Morrigan disapproves.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: Literally. The third option to destroy the archdemon involves impregnating Morrigan to use her child as a conduit for the archdemon's soul, transferring the soul into the child and leaving the Warden who slays it alive. Morrigan claims that the archdemon's soul is purified in this process and the child will not be hurt. She does refuse to elaborate and scrams with the child later.
    • There's also the golems, less literally.
  • Power Floats: Desire Demons and Arcane Horrors.
  • Practical Taunt: Taunt is a generic Warrior class skill used to instantly boost all nearby enemies' aggro, making them attack the tank instead of weaker party members.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Though the villain part is debatable for both of them, Morrigan and Flemeth qualify. Well, Morrigan tries, anyway, but ends up coming across as Stupid Evil as, for example, she'll complain about you helping the villagers of Redcliff with their undead problem despite it being the most direct, not to mention safest, way to the castle. Flemeth, on the other hand, despite her Grand Theft Me plot with all of her daughters, fits to a T as she couldn't care less about the Grey Wardens except for the fact that they're the only ones capable of stopping the Darkspawn, plus there's her Xanatos Gambit involving getting Morrigan pregnant with a Reborn Old God. So naturally she gives them as much help as possible on their quest, including saving the player's and Alistair's lives as she can afford, since even she would succumb to a Darkspawn horde.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Several of Alistair's comments upon encountering a group of enemies.

All right, who ordered death?\

Is that death you're wearing? It really suits you!

  • Preorder Bonus: Rather ridiculously, every major vendor had a pre-order bonus for Origins that's exclusive to them. Amazon.com had The Lion's Paw boots, Direct2Drive had the Dalish Ring, EA Store had the Fire Band, Game Crazy had the Guildmaster's Belt, GameStop and Play.com had the Feral Wolf Charm,Steam had The Wicked Oath... Those who pre-ordered were forced to pick one and miss out on all the other items. Some items, however, have been made available for manual installation.
  • Prolonged Prologue: There are 6 origin stories and they can take an hour or longer to complete. And then that prologue is followed by another prologue in Ostagar, which will probably run between one and two hours, depending on one's thoroughness and efficiency. And if you want to get technical, you can also include Lothering, which will take at least fifteen minutes and can stretch to over an hour if you're thorough, since you have to get through that town if you want to go anywhere else in the game.
  • Promethean Punishment: According to the Chantry, the mages who tried to usurp heaven were turned into the first darkspawn by the Maker and that the darkspawn taint is the physical embodiment of their sin. Considering everything that happened afterwards, it makes one wonder why the Maker simply didn't smite them with lightning instead.
    • Because he wanted their punishment to be all of humanity's punishment as well. One thing the Chantry's lore (if accurate) makes perfectly clear about the Maker: he's a real bastard.
  • Promoted Fangirl: Aimo, whose Deviant ART work caught the attention of David Gaider, who worked with her to create Dragon Age: The Revelation, depicting a cutscene Gaider wrote for Origins but which didn't make it into the game.
  • Proud Warrior Race: The qunari, to a lesser extent the Warrior and Noble Caste Dwarves.
    • Although we've only seen the qunari invasion vanguard and rogue qunari mercenaries in game. It's strongly suggested qunari who fulfill a non-warrior role in qunari society according to the Qun are also respected... except mages.
  • Puberty Superpower: Though not a hard and fast rule, mages generally come into their powers at the onset of puberty.
  • Purely Aesthetic Gender: The gender of your character has no effect whatsoever on your stats. Gender is not completely aesthetic, but it mostly affects some conversation options.
  • The Quest: You have to kill the archdemon.
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