Summary
Baldur’s Gate 3has gained a lot of love for its beautifully developed characters, whether they are companions or NPCs. Not all of these beloved characters come as a solo act, though. Plenty of fan favorites come as part of a familial package bond, with these families sometimes being vital to the game’s intricate and complex storyline and lore.
Regarding these relationships, the various families will be discussed in relation to their power and strength, the depth of their bonds, and their overall relevance to the overarching storyline. Regardless of their rank, though,Baldur’s Gate 3doesn’t shy away from the importance of family.
10Owlbear Cub & Mother
Classic DnD Monsters With A Tragically Endearing Encounter
This duo proves that a family doesn’t need to be human for it to be meaningful. The owlbear cub and her mother can be encountered in a cave in the forest of Act One. The mother owlbear is aggressive if approached, partly down to her injuries, and partly because she is protecting her cub. Unfortunately, the fate of this family isn’t a pleasant one, asthe mother is destined to die.
Her cub will either die at the player’s hands or be stolen by goblins, but kindhearted players can rescue and adopt the cub. While they’re not exactly integral to the game, owlbears are an iconic part ofDungeons and Dragonsculture, and they are powerful creatures. The bond between mother and cub is also tragically endearing, at least until the cub gets the chance to eat her poor dead mother. That’s the circle of life.
9Balthazar & Flesh
Powerful Necromantic Brothers With An Unusual Past
Balthazar is a necromancer that players meet inThe Gauntlet of Sharin Act Two. His brother, Flesh, is a flesh golem, created by his brother. Flesh is actually Balthazar’s biological sibling! Flesh was stillborn, and their mother blamed Balthazar for killing him in the womb.
Devastated, Balthazar turned Flesh into a flesh golem. To be expected, their mother wasn’t any happier. Balthazar plays a short but integral role in the story andprovides a tough boss fight, but both are powerful, and their backstory provides enough of a bond to give them emotional weight.
8Lora & Vanra
Mother And Daughter Relationship Developed Through A Kidnapping Side Quest
This mother-and-daughter duo can be encountered in Act Three. Lora can be found in the Basilisk Gate Barracks, frantically inquiring about her missing daughter, Vanra. The investigation can be picked up in The Blushing Mermaid, but the patron, Captain Grisly, describes Lora as an aggressive pirate who needs subduing.
Players who dig a little deeper will find that Grisly is the green hag, Auntie Ethel, who has swallowed Vanra to rebirth her as a new hag. Luckily, players can put a stop to this and reunite mother, who was once a pirate, and daughter. While they’re not integral to the overall plot, the bond between the pair is clear and strong, and they’re fairly tough between them.
7Mayrina & Brothers
Tragic, Loving Family With A Quest Spanning Multiple Acts
Another family affected by the workings of Auntie Ethel, Mayrina sought out the hag to exchange her unborn baby forthe life of her deceased husband. While not the best parenting, it speaks of her love for her husband. That’s not the only love in the family, either.
Players first encounter this quest when meeting brothers, Johl and Demir, outside the Sunlit Wetlands, who are desperately searching for their sister, even willing to fight a hag for her. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go well for them, and they are doomed to die. But the strength of love within this family is displayed, in a hag quest that spans multiple acts, just stealing the show from Lora and Vanra.
6Rolan & Siblings
Powerful Ally Gained Through Family-Oriented Quests
There are a few sibling relationships within the tiefling refugees found in Act One’s Druid Grove, with the other notable ones being Arka and Kanon. With Kanon’s life cut tragically short, the story of Rolan and his siblings, Lia and Cal, becomes the far more prevalent one.
Players can assist Rolan in Act Two when he risks the shadow curse to save his siblings from being kept as prisoners in Moonrise Towers. The relationship between the three is developed beautifully so that, despite their bickering, their love for each other is apparent. If assisted through all three acts, Rolan can also become a powerful ally, assisting players in their final battles.
5Bhaal’s Progeny
Sadistic Family Of Powerful And Important Villains
While this family isn’t going to win any points for morality, the Bhaalspawn, relations of the evil murder deity, are undeniably powerfuland essential to the plot. From Helena, the mother murdered by her baby, Orin, to Sarevok, Orin’s grandfather who ordered the baby’s murder, the family has a lot of messed up history. That is to say nothing of the violence between siblings, Orin and the Dark Urge.
Love isn’t this family’s strong suit. But their evil patron, alongside their formidable slayer form and general bloodlust, makes them a force to be reckoned with. On top of this, even without the Dark Urge origin character, which makes the player character part of the family, the Bhaal family is an integral thorn in the side of the player throughout the plot.
4Wyll & Duke Ravenguard
Paternal Relationship With Ongoing Quest And Arc
Wyll is a warlock companion character who can be encountered in Act One in the Druid Grove. He has a complicated relationship with his father, Duke Ravenguard, who is an influential person in Faerun andDungeons and Dragonslore. He was banished after forming his devilish pact.
Despite this, Wyll can repeatedly put everything on the line to save his father when he is kidnapped by the cult of the Absolute, even sacrificing his soul for a second time. They have a powerful bond and are integral to the overall plot. Between Ravenguard’s influence and Wyll’s pact, they also make a powerful family.
3The Thorm Family
Complicated Villainous Family With Enormous Plot Significance And Power
Another (mostly) villainous family who are integral to the plot is the Thorms. The primary plot relationship is between Ketheric, a chosen of the necromantic god, Myrkul, and his holy cleric daughter, Isobel, who he brought back from the dead. Players can also meet Malus, Thisobald, and Gerringothe Thorm, who have all been twisted by Ketheric’s shadow curse, and provide someterrifyingly challenging boss fights.
Between the lot of them, holy daughter included, they are an incredibly dangerous family. They are also vital to the plot of the game, particularly Act Two. But the love between Ketheric and Isobel adds to the fascination with this family. After all, it is his love for her and sickening grief at her death that turns him from a pious man into a tragic villain.
2Shadowheart & Parents
Showcases Parental Love
Shadowheart is another companion character with a powerful familial bond. As a cleric of Shar, Shadowheart has her memories routinely erased, obscuring her past as a follower of Shar’s benevolent sister, Selune. It also hides that her parents are being tortured within the temple. Upon learning the truth, Shadowheart can undertake a quest to save her parents. But Shar provides one last ultimatum.
Shadowheart can spare her parents but live under Shar’s constant shadow, or kill her parents and be free of Shar. Her parents have such a strong love for Shadowheart that they beg her to kill them and be free. Shadowheart is a strong and beloved companion, and this relationship is integral to her arc and plot involvement. But it is the overwhelming parental love that is so powerful in this relationship.
1Arabella & Parents
Ongoing Tragic Parent And Daughter Relationship Resulting In A Powerful Young Ally
Players first encounter Locke and Komira, tiefling refugees, challenging the druids for apprehending their daughter, who attempted to steal an idol to prevent the refugees' eviction. There are many tragic ends to this scenario. Arabella can be killed by the temporary Archdruid, Kagha, and her grief-stricken parents can poison her as vengeance for their daughter.
Should players save Arabella, her parents will be ecstatic. Unfortunately, in Act Two players have to break the news to Arabellathat her parents were killed. Arabella can be important to the plot, and surprisingly powerful, even acting as an ally in the final battles. But the family’s love, strong enough that they will steal to protect each other or kill as retribution, is significant enough to earn the top spot.
