Dragon Age II/Characters/Non Playable Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


This page is for listing the tropes related to Non Playable Characters who are found in Dragon Age II.

Chantry

Cassandra Pentaghast

I'm not interested in stories. I came to hear the truth.

A Templar Seeker who interrogates Varric about the Champion.

  • Action Girl: As you can see from the Anime, she can take down an Ogre single-handedly.
  • Boyish Short Hair
  • Character Development - Despite only being a part of the framing device, Cassandra seems to mellow out as Varric tells the story. In the beginning, she's rude and nasty, threatening Varric with a knife. By the end, she's quite willing to hear out Varric's story, and even lets him go without incident.
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Maybe not so much as the Chantry in general, but some of the ideas they have about the events of the game are a bit...out there.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: She's basically part of Thedas' equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition, wears all black, and is extremely grouchy... and she's also trying to stop a major war from breaking out for entirely selfless reasons.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Over the course of the Varric's tale, she becomes less irritable, softer-spoken and in the end, even decides to let Varric go.
  • Dual-Wielding: In the Anime.
  • Eyes of Gold
  • Foe Yay: Varric insinuates she develops a crush on a male Hawke after a point in his story. She denies it.
    • Particularly if male Hawke is a Mage, since Cassandra is technically on the other side of the Mage-Templar conflict.
  • General Ripper: She initially assumes that Hawke is the mastermind of the war that's about to tear the world apart and that everything that has led up to this point was all part of his/her Evil Plan. However...
  • Good Is Not Nice
  • Groin Attack: Comes close to doing this to Varric Tethras during the introduction when she shoves a sword through a book to get him to start talking about the Champion of Kirkwall.
  • Hero of Another Story: She will be the main character of Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker.
  • Hero Worshipper: Varric implies that Cassandra is being swept up in Hawke's legend. She'll deny it (and Varric's belief she's developing a crush) if it's male Hawke, but with female Hawke she will admit she has respect for a woman who built herself up from nothing.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though she's kind of a bitch to Varric in the beginning, it turns out that she's trying to prevent the Mage-Templar war.
  • Internal Affairs: The job of a Seeker is essentially to keep an eye on the templars and ensure they do not abuse their powers and/or stray from the will of the Chantry. The events of the game serve to indicate how bad things can get when the Seekers drop the ball.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite being essentially part of the Chantry's Inquisition, she does seem quite willing to hear Varric out, even if what he has to say doesn't put some parts of the Chantry in a very good light.
  • The Reveal: Finding out that she's working with Leliana in the last scene of the game.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: She is both a member of the Nevarran royal family and a Templar Seeker.
  • Throw the Book At Them: Does this to Varric to get him to start talking.
  • Tsundere: Especially if Hawke is male, as Varric will imply that she has a crush on him. Which she promptly denies.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: Between narrations she adamantly tries to pin the blame of all the events of the game on a Big Bad. There is none. Varric even says that Meredith, corrupted by the Artifact of Doom, was irrelevant.

Grand Cleric Elthina

We will never have peace unless we try to understand one another.

The Grand Cleric of Kirkwall. She is something of a mentor to Sebastian.

Sister/Mother Petrice

My order will soon realize the Qunari presence is more than a test of faith-it is an open challenge. But for now, I must act on my own.

A seemingly benign Chantry priest who is working to have the Qunari removed from Kirkwall so they don't interfere with Chantry rule.

  • The Bad Guy Wins: Even if she gets her comeuppance, Kirkwall eventually comes to war with the qunari, which ends with them being kicked out: exactly what she wanted.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
  • Blondes Are Evil
  • The Chessmaster
  • Corrupt Church: She's been spreading suspicion of the Qunari using her lectures, in and out of Chantry services. Many of the listeners end up her rather violent followers later, spurred by promises of "earning their place at the Maker's side".
  • Deceptive Disciple: If she survives Act II, dialogue in Act III indicates that she's planning to instigate a schism in the Chantry to regain power, against Elthina.
  • Devil in Plain Sight
  • Gray Eyes: Cold and unfeeling ones, to contrast with Elthina's.
  • Karmic Death: If you side against her. She's denounced by Elthina and then killed by a qunari.
  • Karma Houdini: Possibly subverted. If you side with her, she gets no serious comeuppance beyond a stern lecture from Elthina and a demotion. However, it's possible that she was killed in the Chantry explosion. Granted, that would be overkill on karma's part, but take what you can get.
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch: Fans cheered when Sister Petrice was shot in the head by a Qunari.
  • Knight Templar: A different flavor than the actual templars, and directed at a different place. The real moment that cemented it was killing Seamus for being "corrupted" by the Qun and using false information about the incident to try to start a holy war.
  • Manipulative Bitch
  • Oh Crap: If you side against her, you can expose how much of a colossal bitch she is before Grand Cleric Elthina. Her expression afterwards reeks of this trope.
  • Sinister Minister
  • Smug Snake: It's obvious she considers herself a Magnificent Bitch, and even more obvious that she doesn't have the chops.
    • Though when you first meet her, she admits she's new to the whole chessmaster thing.
    • It's actually possible for her to succeed in her plans... but only if Hawke decides to work with her. Considering that Petrice goes out of her way to antagonize Hawke early on... yeah, she didn't think this through.
  • Too Dumb to Live: When you first meet her she walks down an alley with a bunch of thugs. Subverted, in that she was testing the skill of her rescuers.
  • Unreliable Expositor: It quickly becomes obvious during "Shepherding Wolves" that her information isn't entirely accurate and the other party members point this out repeatedly. By the end of the quest, it's revealed she set up the whole ambush to further her own cause, and much of what she told you was entirely fabricated.
  • Villainous Breakdown
  • Villain with Good Publicity

Templars

Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard

Cold corpses speak louder than abstract freedoms, do they not?

Leader of the Kirkwall Templars. Since the current Viscount only holds power due to the support of the Templars, this makes her a very influential woman. Voiced by Jean Gilpin.

  • Artifact of Doom: Her lyrium broadsword is one.
  • And Your Little Dog, Too: During the Final Battle, Meredith may grab your Love Interest, stab him/her, and taunt Hawke about it.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Quoth David Gaider: "Meredith is not to be fucked with."
  • Big Bad: About as close that the game gets to having one given its Grey and Gray Morality and Evil Versus Evil conclusion.
  • Big Damn Heroes - How she first meets Hawke, pulling the party out of the fire as things started to look bad.
  • Blondes Are Evil
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Briefly seen at the beginning of Act I and occasionally mentioned. It's not until the end of Act II she starts gaining significance.
  • Church Militant
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Turns on Hawke in the endgame on both paths out of an insane belief that Hawke is somehow behind the entire conflict.
  • Cool Sword: Her lyrium broadsword.
  • Dark Action Girl
  • Death by Irony: During her boss fight, she animates statues to fight against you. She dies by accidentally turning herself into one.
  • Death Glare: When Hawke is proclaimed the Champion of Kirkwall. Becomes far more insidious if Hawke is also a Mage.
  • Deliberately Bad Example: As compared to Cullen, her second. You know things are bad when the guy that wanted to use the Right of Anullment on the Fereldan circle thinks someone is going kind of overboard.
  • Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Played with. Meredith clearly sees herself as the hero, but this doesn't stop her from realising just why testing a Paragon Mage Hawke's patience is clearly a bad idea.
    • After Hawke becomes the Champion, this appears to be why Merrill and Anders are left alone. In fact, should Hawke take Anders with them to the Gallows in Act III, he will chew out the Knight-Commander to her face, causing her to glare quietly and then remark that Anders' friendship with the Champion protects them only so far.
  • Enemy Mine: If you're playing a mage, she overlooks your status as an apostate without hesitation in order to help drive back the Qunari in Act II. Meredith will not fail to remind Hawke that their clemency is only at her discretion and her leniency does have its limits.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In one of Anders' loyalty mission, you'll find a letter that states that Meredith rejected a proposal by an especially extreme Templar to make all mages in the Free Marches Tranquil.
  • Evil Is Petty: In the templar campaign of The Last Straw, when Meredith calls for the slaughter of mages who surrendered unto the Champion, Silly!Hawke calls it out as being petty when s/he decides to spare them. Meredith angrily glares at Hawke while her men carry out Hawke's orders.
  • Evil Weapon: Her lyrium broadsword is melted down from an Artifact of Doom, with all of it's effects intact.
  • Fantastic Drug: As a Templar, she's been addicted to Lyrium. It's side effects include delusions, paranoia, dementia, obsessive behavior, and hallucinations.
  • Final Boss: Regardless of which side you take in the mage/templar conflict, Meredith is your final opponent.
  • Foe Yay: With First Enchanter Orsino, according to Snarky!Hawke.

Hawke: The way you two carry on. People will talk!.

  • Foreshadowing : One of the more common loading screnes shows a painting of her becoming dark and corrupted.
  • Freudian Excuse: Her sister was an apostate-turned-abomination who killed their family (Meredith survived, obviously) and many villagers before eventually being slain by the Templars.
  • Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Snarky!Hawke even comments on it.
  • General Ripper: Enemy X being blood mages.
  • Hypocrite: Sees magic as a curse, and mages as a major threat to her city who must be contained at all costs. So she uses an ancient magical artifact to give herself magical superpowers and animate statues to indiscriminately attack people in the final battle. While at least some of her decline can be attributed to the influence of the artifact, that she chose to purchase it from Bartrand (apparently without her colleges' knowledge) and use it to begin with is certainly suspect.
  • Ignored Epiphany: During the final battle with her, she openly wonders if she's doing the wrong thing by fighting against the mages. She then blows it off with her next line of dialogue, and goes straight back to fighting.
  • Iron Lady: Varric calls her such at one point.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Before she takes control of Kirkwall, she's implied to be one of the more lenient knight commanders as she doesn't oppress the mages at every turn, mostly because she's got much bigger fish to fry. She even admits to Orsino that she knows not all mages are villains and when you tell her that Emile de Launcet was lying about being a blood mage, she laughs it off. If you're playing a Mage Hawke, she basically shrugs off the fact that you can use magic so that you can both protect the city. Unfortunately, this doesn't last.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
  • Knight Templar
  • Lady of War: Subverted. Her first on-screen action is a Big Damn Heroes Back Stab that saves Hawke's life... but then she decapitates the attacker with a BFS. Grace and elegance be damned.
  • Light Is Not Good
  • Madness Mantra: As she finally loses it during the final battle, she starts quoting the Chant of Light.
  • Not So Different: Her backstory actually resembles a non-mage Hawke's in some places, from the mage younger sibling to being a Self-Made Woman.
  • One-Winged Angel: Subverted. She tries, but all she gets is petrified.
  • Pet the Dog: Siding with Meredith and working with her in Act III shows us a human side to her. If Emile de Launcet is convinced to surrender without incident, she thinks of executing him, but his father pleaded that he was merely an idiot. Hawke can comment that he said he was a blood mage just to impress girls. Meredith laughs, and simply imprisons him.
  • Properly Paranoid: She might seem unhinged, seeing blood mages and abominations right and left. Then again, seemingly half of all the mages you meet in the story are maleficars and/or blood mages, including two of your party members and even First Enchanter Orsino! Of course, acting on her paranoia led to the situation becoming exactly what she was paranoid about: it's outright stated by Anders that the Mage Underground, which was mostly composed of apostates using otherwise legal magic, was completely destroyed by her by Act III. Whoever was not made Tranquil was probably a blood mage, because it was the only way to survive an encounter with a Templar brigade.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning
  • Regent for Life: After Viscount Dumar's death, Meredith takes control of Kirkwall. She soon begins using her power to crack down harder on mages, causing further tension between mages and templars. She refuses to consider appointing a proper successor, claiming that as long as evil exists, Kirkwall needs its templars more than it needs a new viscount.
  • Sanity Slippage: At the end of the game.
  • Self Made Woman
  • Slave to PR: She claims to be this when invoking the Rite of Annulment, claiming that the people of Kirkwall will want blood in retaliation for the destruction of the Chantry. Ultimately, though, she reveals that she is pursuing her own agenda, as the destruction of the Kirkwall Circle is not enough to satisfy her sense of "justice".
  • Taken for Granite
  • Tautological Templar
  • This Is Sparta: "Blessed are those who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and DO! NOT! FALTER!"
  • Ungrateful Bitch: Even if you support the Templars, Meredith still tries to kill you.
  • Villainous Breakdown
  • Villainous Rescue: She is introduced saving Hawke from a qunari Saarebas.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
  • With Us or Against Us: As the conflict with the mages becomes more dire, she becomes convinced that anyone who doesn't completely support her is either a blood mage or a blood mage thrall.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: As mentioned above, Meredith seems to be under the impression that she's The Hero.
  • You Monster!: The first diplomatic dialogue option when confronting Meredith before the Final Boss Battle in the mage campaign of The Last Straw.

Knight-Captain Cullen

Mages cannot be treated like people! They are not like you and me.

A returning character from Origins, where he was one of the surviving templars of the Circle tower massacre. Sent to Kirkwall due to his newfound radical view on mages, he is now Meredith's second in command, and your primary contact in the Templar allegiance. Eventually gets freaked out by her increasing brutality, and turns on her.

It was too late for us to do anything about it and we decided that Cullen is just very oblivious.

  • Go Through Me: He says this when Meredith tries to have Hawke executed.
  • Hero Antagonist
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: The party first comes across him beating the hell out of a new recruit as he demands to know where he's been slipping off to. Turns out the recruit was possessed.
  • Knight Templar: Though he does have a line he won't cross.
    • Cullen actually could be seen as a Reconstruction of the Templar Order. He honestly believes Mages are dangerous, but nonetheless will stay his hand unless a Mage proves themselves to be a danger first. Unlike some of his other Templars, he understands that being a Mage is not a crime in of itself. Also that the role of a Templar not only calls for him to protect others from Mages, but should the situation demand it, also protect Mages from others.
  • Mind Rape: Why mages scare him.
  • Noble Bigot: He may not be particularly pro-Mage, particularly after what Uldred did in the first game, but he is willing to treat them fairly and ultimately stand up to Meredith and go to bat for Hawke. This is particularly telling if Hawke themself is a mage.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to most of the templars in the game, he's actually one of the more fair minded and level headed ones; he believes in the mission and the necessity of keeping watch over the mages, but he also believes they should be treated humanely. This is no more evident in the Templar ending, when he defies Meredith and orders three mages to be spared the Right of Annulment, since they are not blood mages. Not because they answered questions about Orsino's plan or anything, but because untainted mages do not deserve to be slaughtered.
    • He even believes that the Right of Annulment should be used only to kill known and suspected maleficar and let untainted mages live, and orders his templars to think likewise in direct defiance of Meredith if the Champion encourages him to mutiny. Which is a direct inversion of his attitude from DA1, showing his Character Development.
      • Also, in DA1 we were talking to Cullen after he'd been held prisoner and mind-raped by blood mages for several days, so we can't really hold anything he says against him as he's not remotely in his right mind at the time. It's telling that Greagoir's reactions to Cullen's recommendations are a simple 'You need to lie down and get some rest' type sentiment -- the man didn't get to be Knight-Commander without being able to tell when somebody's massively shellshocked.
  • Retcon: At the end of Origins, he is either a rogue templar, having murdered several mages and is now hunted by his own comrades, or he replaces Greagor as the Commander at the Ferelden Circle, using fear as his primary means of enforcement on mages. In the sequel, not only is he not a madman or totalitarian, but he can potentially defy Meredith when she becomes the very things the Origins endings portray Cullen as.
    • Well, there's an ending for Cullen where he does stay on without going crazy. Doesn't have the greatest reputation, though, which presumably explains why he's in Kirkwall now instead. The Codex mentions that Gregaoir sent him there because he was mentally unstable. Ends up being one of the best decisions he ever made.
  • Took a Level in Badass: The kid who ran away from the female mage Warden when she invited him for a quicky has come a long way, eventually raising his sword against Meredith and living to tell the tale.

Ser Thrask

A templar who has been stationed in Kirkwall since before Meredith came to power. While he is loyal to the order, he has doubts about Meredith's harsh methods.

Ser Wesley

Templar and Aveline's husband. He and his wife join the Hawke family when they flee Lothering. He has been infected with the Blight, and prior to escaping Lothering, must be mercy killed.

  • Battle Couple: With Aveline. Their first meeting actually entailed fighting side-by-side.
  • Enemy Mine: Despite Bethany (and possibly Hawke) being Apostates, is convinced to put aside his duty as a Templar while they escape the Darkspawn.
  • Fantastic Racism: Against mages. Pretty standard for a Templar.
  • Honor Before Reason: He threatens the apostate Bethany when they first meet, despite being heavily wounded. Fortunately, Aveline makes him see reason.
  • I Gave My Word: He admits that he will be forced to do his duty to arrest Bethany and Mage Hawke once they are safe out of danger, but pledges that until that time, he will protect them from danger as they have an accord.
  • Mauve Shirt
  • Mercy Kill: He is being slowly and painfully turned into a mindless ghoul. Either you or Aveline must kill him.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Averted, since he's married to Aveline.
  • Pet the Dog: Says a prayer for Hawke's fallen sibling; particularly poignant if it's Bethany.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Comes across as being one of the saner Temples. In fact his reaction to Snarky!Hawke's gentle ribbing of him being a Templar is to joke right back, even though Hawke possibly is a mage.

Snarky!Hawke: The wrath of the Templars is terrible indeed.
Wesley: More-so their wives! But as long as there is a greater danger, you and I have an accord.

Ser Otto Alrik

A sadistic templar whom Hawke and his/her companions encounter in the quest "Dissent".

Anders: The knight-commander is at least sincere in her convictions. However misguided, she believes she's helping people. Ser Alrik's a sadist. Cold-blooded as a lizard.

  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: Implied through his threatening Ella to make her Tranquil that he intends to use her as a sex slave.
    • A conversation between a recently-made Tranquil mage and her former lover in the Gallows in Act II strongly suggests that this isn't the first time.
  • Mind Rape: Is not above using the Rite of Tranquility on mages that have passed their Harrowing, especially on young females.
  • Obviously Evil: One of the few antagonists who is never portrayed in any shade of moral grey.
  • The Soulsaver: Some of the mages he's made Tranquil imply he views himself as such, saying he calls the Rite of Tranquility the only thing that can keep their souls from the Void. They refer to the ritual as rescuing them from their "sins".
  • Tranquilize Em All: Bear in mind that most mages view being made Tranquil as A Fate Worse Than Death.

Samson

A former templar who works in helping runaway mages.

  • Defector From Decadence: He left the mage-templar alliance against Meredith in Act III because he realized some of the mages were using Blood Magic the moment they felt backed into a corner. After that, he sort of saw the writing on the wall.
  • Fantastic Drug: Shown to be a lyrium addict. His getting back in good graces with Meredith to become a templar is basically just to feed his addictions.
  • Glory Days: Samson laments that he used to be a good templar back when he was with the Order.
  • Only in It For the Money: He'll help smuggle mages out of Kirkwall... but only the ones that can pay, because he needs to get his hands on more lyrium. Though it is implied he does sympathize with them (the whole reason he was kicked out of the templars was that he was caught delivering a letter from a Circle mage to their lover).
  • Pet the Dog: You can choose whether or not to request that Samson rejoin the Order.
  • Underground Railroad: Not part of the more organized efforts by certain Kirkwall residents to sneak mages out of the city, as far as we know, but he does give information or safe passage to some of the young people who have recently discovered their powers and are trying to flee before the templars find them. For a price, of course.

Mages

First Enchanter Orsino

Blood magic, where do you NOT see blood magic? My people cannot sneeze without you accusing us of corruption!

The First Enchanter of the Kirkwall Circle of Magi.

  • Ambiguously Evil: Orsino was clearly involved in some pretty shady stuff, like working with Quentin, harboring blood mages, and being one himself. However, his motives as well his exact actions are left so ambiguous that it's hard to really put a label on him.
  • The Archmage
  • Badass Bookworm
  • Blood Magic
  • Broken Pedestal: May become one to Bethany if she joined the Circle and Hawke take the Templar path. She can be convinced to switch sides if Hawke reveals that Orsino protected the Serial Killer Quentin. The very same Quentin that murdered her mother.
  • Despair Event Horizon: He reaches it in the Mage endgame when most of his mages get killed.

Orsino: Why don't they just drown us as infants? Why wait? Why give us the illusion of hope?

Hawke: So I shouldn't slit my wrists and dance naked under the moonlight just to fit in?
Orsino: Well, if that's what you intent, perhaps I'll join you after all.

  • Foe Yay: Silly!Hawke can call him and Meredith on it.

Hawke: The way you two carry on, people will talk.

  • Foreshadowing:
    • In the lair of Quentin, you find letters for him about getting him reference materials signed "O", meaning that Orsino is at least partly responsible for killing Hawke's mother.
    • His Staff of Violation has a three-headed snake/dragon motif. A similar design has been seen in the form of statues scattered throughout a Blood Mage hideout in Origins, plus one under Vigil's Keep in Awakening.
  • He Who Fights Monsters
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
  • Laughing Mad: In the Templar ending.
  • One-Man Army: The man annihilates a platoon of qunari by himself at the end of Act II.
  • One-Winged Angel: He turns himself into a Harvester.
  • The Rival: To Meredith
  • Schrödinger's Gun: In the Mage ending, he off handedly admits that he indeed knew of Quentin's experiments, but is clearly repulsed by them and only used Quentin's findings to turn into a Harvester out of desperation. In the Templar ending he is much more forthcoming when admitting the connection between himself and Quentin, claiming he kept the killer's existence a secret in order to avoid provoking Meredith and adding to the anti-mage fervor. It's possible a sense of guilt led him to downplay his involvement in the mage ending, while his anger and slipping sanity in the Templar ending resulted in a more embittered account.
  • Stupid Sacrifice: Going One-Winged Angel in the Mage path just meant the Champion had to waste time killing him.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Osino is introduced to the player at the tail end of Act II and only has a handful of scenes in Act III. Prior to that, he's not even mentioned.
  • Younger Than They Look: Apparently the youngest First Enchanter elected in the history of the Circle. Either all the rest of them were tremendously old upon assuming their positions, or contending with Meredith has really aged him.

Quentin

I have done the impossible. I have touched the face of the Maker and lived.

A maleficar serial killer who preys on Kirkwall's female populace.

Grace

An apostate who escaped from the Starkhaven Circle thanks to her blood mage lover.

  • Blood Magic
  • Irrational Hatred
  • Love Makes You Evil
  • Murder Is the Best Solution
  • Obviously Evil: Lets us count the ways. A crazed Blood Mage that forced Hawke to kill him was her lover. Immediately asks you to murder one of the only decent Templars around so she can escape. Despite your best efforts to help her escape she gets herself caught and bitterly blames Hawke for it when you meet her in the gallows. Surely there's no way this can possibly come back to haunt you?
  • Revenge by Proxy:: Attempts this with a hostage Hawke cares about.
  • Tattooed Crook: Inked and untrustworthy.
  • Ungrateful Bitch: She somehow convinces herself that her own failure to escape the templars is Hawke's fault.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Chew out Hawke for selling her out to the templars regardless of whether Hawke actually did.
    • Invokes this if Hawke is a Mage, accusing them of being a Templar puppet and betraying their own kind. Hawke can counter that they're not the one using blood magic to murder people.

Idunna

An "apostitute" who works at the Blooming Rose.

  • The Atoner: If she was spared, her letter says she devoted her life to serving the Maker. She also sends you information about dangerous spellbooks so you can find them before they fall into the wrong hands.
  • Blood Magic: Sensing a pattern yet?
  • Heel Face Turn: If allowed to live, a letter you receive later informs you that she regrets her actions, and points you towards several locations where the blood mage coven she was part of hid books pertaining to their spellwork.
  • Won't Work On Me: If Hawke is a mage, they can throw off her Psychic-Assisted Suicide. Leads to a wonderful Oh Crap reaction from her.

Mage Hawke: I... will NOT... be TOYED WITH!

  • Oh Crap: When either Mage Hawke or one of Mages in the Hawke's party stops her Psychic-Assisted Suicide.
  • Psychic-Assisted Suicide: Tries to do this to Hawke but fails.
  • Reliable Traitor: Turns on Tarohne the moment her spell on Hawke and co. fails and offers up all the information she knows in exchange for her life.
  • The Vamp: As soon as Hawke starts asking questions, she starts up with the overly flirtatious remarks and body-language. Then, when that doesn't work, in comes the Mind Manipulation.

Alain

You don't know what it's like! We're locked in our cells all day, no light, no air! The templars...ask things of us.

A hapless apostate from Starkhaven who seems to end up in the worst situations regularly.

  • Blood Magic: He's got some at least, judging by how he wakes up a hostage held under a spell later in the game. He never uses it to summon demons or attack others like the others as far as we can tell though.
  • Butt Monkey: Seriously, this guy is a pretty benign mage, but he always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • Rape as Drama: If you let Ser Karras live in Act I, some lines in Act II imply he's sexually abusing Alain and threatening to make him Tranquil if he tells anyone.
  • Token Good Teammate: Of the apostate group that Decimus and Grace lead.

Feynriel

A half-elven boy who's been dodging the attention of the Circle even as his magical powers grow harder and harder to disguise, making him the target of the Kirkwall Templars... and a gang of slavers... and several demons.

  • Big Damn Heroes: Offscreen, but worth mentioning. A noblewoman in the Act III quest "Who Needs Rescuing?" recounts how Feynriel saved her life from a pack of thugs; impressively, he managed this while his body was still in Tevinter.
  • Break the Cutie: Snapping him out of demonic illusions too quickly will result in him begging to be made Tranquil.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Hawke can pull this with him to make him control his Fade-walking powers.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: If you help him fight off the demons in the Fade, he journeys to Tevinter and learns to control his power from a magister, remaining a good mage at heart.
  • Disappeared Dad: Vincento walked out on Feynriel's mother when he discovered she was pregnant, partly because his work as a trader couldn't allow family time, but mostly because he wasn't interested in having a son. It obviously had quite an effect on Feynriel, because in "Night Terrors," the Desire Demon's Lotus Eater Machine scenario involves him being accepted by Vincento and taken along with him on his travels.
  • Dream Weaver: As a dreamer, or "somniari," he can enter the Fade without Lyrium and exercise a certain degree of control over it- to the point that he can kill people in their dreams.
    • Hell, one quest reveals he can make people kill each other while they're still awake. From a different continent.
  • The Dreaded: If he is possessed by a demon in "Night Terrors," a terrified Guardsman in Act III calls him The Dreamstalker.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: He can be made Tranquil at the end of "Night Terrors"
  • Fish Out of Water: The Circle, the Templars, and the Dalish all lack the will or the knowledge to help him cope with his powers and to control them. Eventually he goes to Tevinter, where he finally master his powers; sadly, he also feels out-of-place place here due to the ruthlessness and cruelty of the magisters.
  • Heroic Bastard
  • Hero Worshipper: Demonstrates shades of this behaviour to Hawke in his letters.
  • Human Dad Nonhuman Mom: Dalish mother, Antivan father.
  • Took a Level in Badass
  • You Are Not Alone: How Mage Hawke's reassures him that they understand what he's going through.

Feynriel: Why do you care? You don't even know me!

  • Hawke creates a blinding ball of light in their palm*

Mage Hawke: *Gently* I am you.

Marethari

The Keeper of the Sabrae clan, newly settled by Sundermount to flee the Blight in Ferelden. The Dalish Warden of the first game came from her clan, as did the unfortunate Tamlen.

  • The Archmage
  • Big Good: To the core.
  • Demonic Possession
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Claims to have been aware of Hawke's arrival in Kirkwall long in advance. Of course, its entirely possible that Flemeth informed her that she'd be sending someone during the Noodle Incident which caused Marethari to have an undisclosed debt to her.
  • Eccentric Mentor
  • Figure It Out Yourself: When it comes to Merrill, she expects Hawke to do what she would do without properly informing her/him of the truth behind the eluvian.
  • Heroic Sacrifice
  • Hope Spot: Do enough damage to the pride demon and Marethari will turn back to normal, expressing disbelief that the party decided to Take a Third Option by simply being strong enough to kill the demon itself. This is a lie and falling for it will result in the fight resuming and Merrill getting stabbed for letting her guard down.
  • Idiot Ball: Yes, she's a wise and benevolent leader for the Dalish, but in Act III it's revealed that she knew that a demon was manipulating Merrill into trying to restore the eluvian and, no, it never occurred to her to explain it. Doubles up as an Out of Character moment when you consider how much unrelated stuff she does share with Hawke.
    • Although, she doesn't share this with Hawke either. If she simply explained to Hawke why she wants to keep Merrill out of harms way, it'd have been nipped in the bud very early on. While you could argue that she might not have trusted Hawke as a Shemlen, you'd think that after befriending Merrill, sending Feynriel to the Dalish in Act I and after "Night Terrors" in Act II, she'd realise that Hawke is a friend to the Dalish.
      • Not to mention that anybody short of an outright blood mage psychopath still has a vested interest in avoiding a fecking Pride Demon physically coming to Thedas, so Marethari wouldn't even need a strong measure of trust to bring Hawke in on this.
  • The Mentor: To Merrill
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard
  • Noodle Incident: We never find out what happened that caused her to owe a debt to Flemeth.
    • With the revelation in DA3 that Flemeth is actually the fallen remnant of Mythal, the elven mother-goddess, its looking pretty obvious what sort of obligation Marethari might have felt she owed. Admittedly, most elves (including Merrill) don't know that one, but if anybody would it would be the Keeper.
  • Not-So Simple Staff: The thing's ordained with several sharp blades and it's fire-elemental as well.
  • The Obi-Wan: Again, to Merrill
  • Obi-Wan Moment: The Act III quest Pride's End
  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • Team Mom: To the whole clan, especially Merrill.

Tarohne

The head maleficar in the quest "Enemies Among Us"

Tarohne: Good, good, the demons like spirit!

  • You're Insane!: A snarky Hawke may comment to her: "Good to know you're barking mad."
  • You Monster!: Hawke has the option of calling her "worse than a monster."

Qunari

The Arishok

I am here to satisfy a demand you cannot understand.

The leader of the qunari army. He appeared in the "Destiny" trailer as Hawke's opponent.

Arishok: (to Hawke) "You alone are Basalit-an." (to nobles) "This is what respect looks like, bas! Some of you will never earn it!"

  • Blue and Orange Morality: Comes with being a qunari.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Initially just wanting to complete his task and get the hell out of Kirkwall, most of the populace really seem to do their hardest to try to piss him off, particularly Sister Petrice, which just serves to make him hate the city even more to the point where he's finally had enough. It is played with, however, as most of the anti-Qunari Muggles feel like the dragon is bullying them as qunari are best known to the general public as conquerors who kill anyone that doesn't follow the Qun.
  • Catch Phrase: According to the Viscount, it's "Begone".
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The Arishok was mentioned in the previous game as Sten's superior.
  • The Chessmaster: Shows signs of this when he explains that the theft of the poison gas formula instead of the blackpowder formula in Blackpowder Courtesy was entirely planned by the Arishok, knowing he could then get Hawke to track it down and deal with it, and that the gas would kill the thieves anyway. It worked.
  • Climax Boss: His defeat is your Finest Hour, and the setup for the real final battle.
  • Disc One Final Boss
  • Dual-Wielding: Dual-wields a longsword and an ax.
  • Duel Boss: Hawke can choose to challenge him to a Combat by Champion. Either that or fight him and his guards with your party members.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Arishok is not his name, it is his title/rank. Qunari names are more akin to social security numbers, and they go by their titles in everyday life.
  • Foregone Conclusion: The Destiny trailer reveals that you'll have to fight him.
  • Hannibal Lecture: Delivers one to the nobility of Kirkwall at the climax of Act 2.
  • Honesty Is the Best Policy: One way to gain his respect is by being honest with him and not lying or trying to cover up things. He himself makes no effort to hide how he feels about the city and its people, and that its corruption may force him to make a drastic change. Although, he doesn't reveal the real reason they've arrived is to reclaim the relic Isabela stole.
  • Horned Humanoid
  • Hypocrite: While the Arishok justifies, and may indeed sincerely believe, all of his actions in Kirkwall by invoking his duty to the Qun, the entire mess is ultimately caused by the Arishok's failing to obey the Qun. The most fundamental tenet of the Qun is that everyone has a purpose and that jobs should be done by those whose purpose it is to do them, rather than force people to be what they are not. And pursuing the fugitive Isabela is not within the Arishok's job description. He is the commander of the Antaam, the qunari military branch. His job is to defend qunari lands, command armies, kill people, and break things. Sten in DA1 shows that field reconnaissance is also within the Antaam's bailiwick, but urban reconnaissance? Investigation? Navigating through human intrigue and lies to find the truth? Stealing something back, or assassinating a selected target? That's a Ben-Hassrath mission. That's what the qunari espionage service is for. Going after Isabela should have been a job for operators like Tallis or the Iron Bull from DA3, and given their ability to operate within Thedan society they'd have been far more successful at it in far less time. But the Arishok instead invokes his authority as a senior official of the Qun to make it his job, because he lost the artifact in the first place and wants to get it back himself. He ignored a fundamental principle of the Qun and circumvented procedure for the sake of his own pride or career... and, ultimately, he destroyed himself by forcing himself into dealing with situations he was entirely mentally unequipped to handle. Which is precisely what the Qun is intended to avoid doing to people.
  • Knight Templar: In a sense, but not the same as the rest of them. Every day he's in Kirkwall he sees the corruption, depravity, weakness, chaos, and foolishness that spits in the face of the Qun. Eventually he decides to do something about it.
  • Lawful Stupid: He even cops to it if you call him out.

Hawke: I see a man willing to start a war on principle.
The Arishok: And what would the Qunari be without principle? You, I expect.

  • Lightning Bruiser: The guy is big, he hits hard, and he hits fast.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The Arishok is featured extensively is all marketing for the game, making it seem as if he's the Big Bad. While important to the story, he has nothing to do with the game's final act.
  • Not So Different: Combined with Worthy Opponent, this is very explicitly spelled out as the relationship between him and Hawke. Even if you don't get the achievement and his respect, he still acknowledges this.
  • Not So Stoic: Generally acts calm and reserved, beneath which lies a terrible rage that really shows when unbridled.
  • Obviously Evil: Deconstructed. Almost everybody hates the Qunari and makes them out to be monsters because of their reputation for being militaristic heathens. Because of this, the Arishok and his followers get the blame for almost everything from destroying culture to deception and murder, no matter how much the Arishok tries to make it clear that converting Kirkwall to the Qun is the last thing on his mind until he decides he's taken enough crap from Kirkwall and launches a full-scale invasion; turning him into the antagonist many accused him of being.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Implied and then outright stated to everyone, the only person in Kirkwall he believes is worthy enough to defeat him is Hawke.
  • Orcus on His Throne: For three years he and his people mostly keep to themselves in their corner of the docks. He turns out to be a subversion, as he spent most of the six years he was stuck in Kirkwall searching for the relic Isabela stole and on the side, planning his take over after he became fed up with the corruption of the city.
  • Perpetual Frowner
  • Principles Zealot
  • Shoulders of Doom
  • Shoot the Messenger: After you tell him that his envoy was killed he actually says that if anyone else had delivered that message, they'd be dead right now.
  • Suicide by Cop: If Hawke has his respect, he reveals strong implications of this. He doesn't believe the takeover of Kirkwall will have lasting success, nor does he want it to; he just doesn't see any other way to extricate himself from it. Killing him is one way to grant him release from his own principles.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil
  • Underestimating Badassery: Kirkwall is full of Badasses, on both sides of the field, but the Arishok couldn't care less about anybody who isn't Hawke. This is made abundantly clear when Aveline, a woman hardcore enough to beat darkspawn to death with her bare hands, confronts him about the elven fugitives; he all but ignores her and focuses on talking to Hawke instead.
  • Worthy Opponent: He identifies Hawke as the most "promising" in Kirkwall early on. You can earn this as an achievement from being honest with him and gaining his respect.

"I don't call anyone in Kirkwall an ally or even a good rival. But you have shown competence."
"Panahaden, Hawke. I do not hope you die."

  • You Can't Go Home Again: He can't return to his homeland unless he completes his mission: capturing Isabela and the relic she stole. A lot of his more villainous actions are partly motivated by his frustrations over this.
  • You Do NOT Want to Know: Subverted. The Arishok refuses to tell you what he plans to do with Isabela after capturing her, though it clearly won't be pleasant. Afterwards, party banter between Fenris and Isabela reveals that if taken, Isabela would've likely been brutally Brainwashed into an empty menial worker for the Qun.
    • That's actually an either/or situation. Either either she'll be converted into a follower of the qun, in which case she'd probably be put into a spiritual or administrative position; i.e., she'll be a leader, or if she refuses to be converted, she'll be sent to the mines and worked to death. The Qunari waste nothing.

Ketojan

"Ketojan" is the name given to a Saarebas, a qunari mage, by Sister Petrice.

Tal'Vashoth

Maraas

A minor character and Tal'Vashoth, Maraas leaves the Qun to take up life as a mercenary.

  • Defector From Decadence: Leaves the Tal'Vashoth raiders because he's doesn't want to steal or murder from caravans, and becomes a mercenary. In his words, this makes him worse than the Tal'Vashoth; he's selling his sword and his honor for coin.
  • Hired Spears
  • Meaningful Name: After leaving the Tal'Vashoth, he chose to name himself Maraas, making him the first kossith encountered to explicitly have a name rather than just a rank/role. Maraas means "Nothing" in the Qunari language, referring to how he has no role or purpose beyond that which he chooses.
  • My Species Doth Protest Too Much: His original reason for leaving the Qun, as he was tired of strict adherence to purpose and a role in life.
  • Only in It For the Money: Refuses to work for people with titles, as they "don't have jobs, they have causes."

Other Characters

Bartrand Tethras

Varric's brother, who leads an expedition to the Deep Roads that Hawke joins as a partner.

Donnic Hendyr

Aveline? You're a beautiful sight. I mean, uh, I was on patrol and they came out of nowhere...

A member of the Kirkwall city guard.

  • Aloof Ally: Donnic and Hawke's relationship, implied to be due to tension caused by Hawke being the "other wo/man" in Aveline's life. Even if Hawke indicates in dialogue s/he thinks of Donnic highly, Act III indicates the two never became close friends or socialise with each other unless its via Aveline.
  • Badass Normal: As normal as the setting gets; no magic, no legendary weapons and armor, only as much martial training as Aveline introduces to the guard, and faces throngs of gangsters on what he considers to be a good day. He gets a Dude in Distress moment when Aveline rescues him in Act I, but after that he's a dedicated asskicker.
    • He helps out in the Final Battle, if Aveline is in your active party.
  • Brown Eyes
  • By-The-Book Cop
  • City Guards: Holds the rank of Guardsman.
  • Happily Married: If you finish the quest correctly, to Aveline.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Completely averted; he clearly has the hots for Aveline from his very first appearance, and he explicitly states when he thinks Lady Hawke is hitting on him that he prefers women with "backbone."
    • On the other hand, Donnic will think Hawke is trying to use him as a go between/matchmaker to Aveline and states that he doesn't like someone without backbone... when in fact Aveline was the one who's trying to do exactly that!
  • Odd Friendship: With Fenris, apparently he comes over once a week for a round of cards.
  • Rescue Romance

Lord Viscount Marlowe Dumar

I am losing my sense of how to balance this nightmare.

The Viscount of Kirkwall is appointed after the death of Lord Viscount Perrin Threnhold at the hands of the templars. During his reign, the Templar Order has grown extremely powerful in Kirkwall, and have become the center of Chantry strength in eastern Thedas, holding their Circle of Magi in a terrifying, iron grip.

  • Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster: He starts out as this...
  • Authority in Name Only:...then gets reduced to this. See below.
  • Big Good: In Act II.
  • Decapitation Presentation: The Arishok calmly throws his severed head down a flight of stairs.
  • Heroic BSOD: Suffers one when his son dies. Sadly, he never recovers, leaving the city vulnarable to the qunari.
  • Killed Off for Real: He is killed during the qunari invasion of Kirkwall. May also count as Oh, and X Dies given that the Destiny trailer and the introductory sequence both strongly indicate it.
  • Our Viscounts Are Different: Viscount Focus Group, mainly. Also Viscount Personable and Viscount Target.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Along with the Grand Cleric, Dumar is one of the few politically powerful players (for a given definition of powerful) in Kirkwall who doesn't seem bent on sending the whole place to hell.
  • Slave to PR: A good man at heart, but afraid of taking any decisive action for fear of assassination by one of the extremist Kirkwall factions.
  • Trailers Always Spoil: The Destiny trailer shows him being killed by the Arishok.
  • Trauma Conga Line: Not as much as some of the other characters, but he gets one. He's powerless to do anything about problems he knows full well are coming but is still held responsible for them, his son runs away to join the Qunari, is rescued, then kidnapped again and murdered by a Chantry priestess to provoke a war with the Qunari, and when that war finally happens, he gets executed by the Arishok even though he had little if anything to do with it. His life more or less goes downhill from the start of the game onwards.


Saemus Dumar

The son of the viscount, Seamus is rebellious and idealistic in his political views. He is also very sympathetic to the qunari, making him something of a controversial figure.

Flemeth

We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment... and when it comes, do not hestitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly.

A returning character from Origins, who rescues the Hawkes from darkspawn in Lothering, and asks them to deliver a package to the Dalish for her in exchange. Voiced by Kate Mulgrew.

  • Affably Evil: Despite supposedly being a villain, Flemeth not only saves Hawke's life but escorts their family safetly to Gwaren as promised and offers free advice (and consolation) to Hawke and companions at Sundermount.

Flemeth: You have my thanks... and my sympathies.

  • Ambiguous Situation: She states lightly that she may not be an old woman but instead an actual dragon and hints to Merrill that there is more to know about who she is than just Flemeth. This and some other implications suggest she might very well be a dragon or even an Old God, if you remember that Morrigan learned the ritual from her in the first place and her statements at the end of Witch Hunt. Yet everything about her is indeed ambiguous and by the end of the second game you still don't really know what's up with her.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Despite what we are told, she really hasn't done a single villainous thing.[1] Yet what we're told isn't exactly pleasant.
    • Trickster Mentor: Despite the above, much of the advice she gives to Hawke, Bethany, and Merrill actually makes a lot of sense. You know things are bad when Flemeth, of all people, is counted among the reasonable.
  • Big Damn Heroes/Villainous Rescue: She saves the party from a seemingly unending army of darkspawn during the prologue.
  • Broken Aesop: Hawke can point this out on her advice.

Flemeth: It is only when you fall you learn whether you can fly.
Hawke: Cheap advice... from a dragon

Flemeth: [Morrigan] is a girl who thinks she knows what is what better than I, or anyone. Ha ha! And why not? I raised her to be as she is, I cannot expect her to be less.
Hawke: I'm not sure whether she's your daughter or your enemy.
Flemeth: Neither is she...

Flemeth: Oh I like you!

  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: It's possible that she was playing this straight with the Warden-Commander in Origins, where she appeared as a harmless old woman, but the two forms Hawke sees are both pretty scary. She even does a bit of Lampshade Hanging after Hawke assumes that the badass witch-queen version is her Shapeshifter Default Form.
    • Of course, her new form could easily be explained that given her rather grand introduction, pretending to be a harmless old woman like she had initially done with the Warden, wouldn't exactly fool Hawke now, would it?
  • Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Her character model certainly got in upgrade from crazy old wild woman, though she still does look old. May just be an art upgrade coupled with actually taking care of hair.
  • Horned Hairdo: Her hair is wrapped up into a set of horns. Dragonish looking ones.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Explicitly stated when she appears. Aveline describes her as a "Witch of the wilds", and Bethany muses that she's an apostate, but anyone who's played Witch Hunt will know that she's neither. Fenris also notes that he has seen many blood mages, demons, and abominations while in Tevinter...but Flemeth is none of those things.
    • Even Anders is immediately tuned into the fact that she is neither abomination, demon, or mage, and given that the man sharing a mind and memories of a spirit who has been around for Maker only knows how long has no idea what she is certainly says something...
    • Inexplicably Awesome: So far, anyway. No-one, including her own daughter, has a clear answer to "What the heck is she?"
      • Dragon Age: Inquisition finally provides the answer. Ironically, considering Anders' failure to recognize her as what she was, she is much like Justice was. Flemeth is the corpse of a human woman possessed by a spirit, who maintains many of that woman's memories. However, in Flemeth's case the spirit in question is Mythal, the elven goddess... or at least what was left of her after the fall of the Evanauris and Mythal's own death. No wonder she has a relationship with the Dalish, even if they have no inkling of the truth.
  • I Have Many Names: She says this to Hawke after being asked who she is.
  • If I Wanted You Dead...: "Let me? If I wished you harm, I daresay you could not stop me."
  • Me's a Crowd: We only see one of her at a time, but she considers bodies "limiting things" and asks "must I be in only one place?" Considering the number of people who want to kill her, this is a good idea (although the backup doesn't know if the original survived the first game or not).
  • One-Scene Wonder
  • Staying Alive: Morrigan makes it quite apparent in the first game that Flemeth was not killed by the Warden. It turns out she kept a contingency via the amulet she gave to Hawke.
  • Trickster Mentor: Exhibits some of the traits of this trope, particularly in her advice for Hawke, Bethany/Carver, and Merrill.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: In both Origins and II, she can be seen turning into a High Dragon. Although she will point out to a snarky Hawke that for all he/she knows she really is a dragon and the old woman is the shifted form.

Xenon

A living corpse with a loud, echoing voice hidden in the underbelly of Kirkwall. He is the mysterious merchant who runs The Black Emporium, which houses many powerful but expensive items. One of it's most important features is providing easy access to rare items, such as Maker's Sigh. Voiced by Nicholas Boulton.

  • Age Without Youth: He sought immortality and got it...but not for his body.
  • And I Must Scream: Though he doesn't seem to mind.
    • Oh he minds, he just doesn't show it in front of the customers. The codex mentions that the only reason he runs the Emporium is that he's desperately looking for a cure for his condition.
  • Arms Dealer
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Shoplifting is punishable by golems.
    • Xenon also mentions that the templars occasionally make the mistake of coming to the Emporium. "The bloodstains take just weeks to clean up."
  • Body Horror: Due to numerous attempts at magically restoring his youth, he has a number of extra appendages on his corpse-like body.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: His mind has began to decay long with his body.
  • Collector of the Strange: And exhibitor of them.
  • Cool Old Guy
  • Deal with the Devil: Got his immortality through a deal with the Antivan Witch of the Weyrs.
    • Depending on her age, it may have been Yavana, the Antivan Witch of the Wilds and Flemeth's other daughter.
  • Large Ham
  • One-Scene Wonder
  • Our Zombies Are Different
  • This Is Sparta: PLEEEEEEASE. DON'T FONDLE ANDRASTE.
    • DON'T! MANHANDLLLLLLLLLE! The URRRRRRRRRRRRRCHIN!
  1. ↑ At least on-screen.
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