Summary
Full-formed characters with deep nuances madeDragon Ageone of the best Western RPG series in decades. Chief among them is Solas, whose shocking turn led to the fourth and finalDragon Age: The Veilguard. Solas is undoubtedly a villain at this point and even his fans are quick to say he’s got tunnel vision and dead set on a genocidal plan for Thedas. Naturally, Solas continues to draw mixed responses from the player base.
Some outright hate him for his betrayal, especially toward a romanced Lavellan, arrogance for feeling like the new world has nothing and no one of value, and pride at presuming that his way is the only way. Others sympathize with his situation, like moments where they feel intellectually on par with him, or feel ambivalent as they can see where he’s coming from. Mileage varies among fans on what theyfeel towards Solas. Aside from him, there are characters with misaligned goals with the Warden, Hawke, or Inquisitor rather than purely malefic plans.
Jowan and similar foes almost had no choice in antagonizing the hero. Anora and her ilk had different goals from the hero and would only act in opposition if need be. But other characters have pure evil in their hearts or were driven by despair to do heinous things that make it difficult to empathize with them or their cause.
Quest Appearances
Dissent
Ser Otto Alrikis comically evil, yet uncomfortably true-to-life in how he carries on. His “peaceful solution” is to render all adult mages Tranquil, thereby becoming utterly emotionless. Alrik prefaced his plan as a way to make rogue mages obey the Chantry and laws. But in truth, he wanted to abuse, rape, and turn mages into pliant slaves.
In the larger scheme of Thedas’ history, Alrik is a footnote and another example of why the Templar Order needs reforms. But witnessing the corruption of the order first-hand drives home how root-deep the Templar’s problems are.
On the flip side, Danarius is almost a parody of how debauched the Tevinter Imperium is, and why people fear mages in the first place. Like other Tevinter magisters, he treats slaves like possessions and uses themin inhumane experiments. Fenris, then known as the slave Leto, was one such slave tortured to perfect Danarius’ experiments.
Gamers can actually play into Danarius’ cruelty by returning Fenris to him. Almost certainly due to a glitch, players don’t receive any of the reward Danarius promised to give them. Whether or not Danarius is allowed to live, he always acts like he’s in the right and that Hawke will agree with him eventually.
Magister Gereon Alexius had an excuse in the form of his son and grief to side with Corypheus, but Magister Livius Erimond is straight-up power-hungry. But unlike his bosom buddy Danarius, Erimond’s actions had far-reaching consequences for Thedas. His bootlicking for The Conductor of the Choir of Silence almost destroyed the Grey Wardens and Thedas’ defense against the Darkspawn.
Erimond’s arrogance is incredible as heremains smug even in chains. The only judgment that strikes fear in him is Tranquility, which only a mage Inquisitor can call. Tranquility would cut Erimond off from the Fade, where Corypheus can potentially find his spirit after death.
Petrice is as hardcore bigoted as Alrik but with a slightly bigger brain and better political savvy. Her first encounter with the player is a textbook scheme designed to ignite hatred towards a religion other than Andrastianism. Though she dies or is rendered powerless at the end ofDragon Age 2, her attempts to have the Qunari destroyed killed innocents and created palpable unrest.
The Arishok, on the other hand, isn’t much better. The Qunari at the time had already infiltrated political institutions in opposing nations and were slowly creeping into countries for invasion. As the military leader of the Qunari, the Arishok represents the militant religious quest of the Qun to “correct” Thedas’ corruption, even if it means thousands of deaths.
Pyral Harrowmont is a just and straightforward dwarf who represents what good Orzammar nobility looks like. But he’s also an extreme traditionalist who looks inwards at what his caste deems best, leaving everyone else to suffer the consequences. If crowned king, he closes almost all surface contact, which leads to fatal riots for the casteless and commonfolk and eventual starvation among nobles.
Wardens who played the Dwarf Noble origin already know how ruthless Bhelen Aeducan can be for his ambitions. Bhelen had Dwarf Noble wardens sent to the Deep Roads to become his house’s heir. And ifraised to kingship, Bhelen will gladly allow Branka to make golems and is implied to supply her with living bases. He will also dissolve the Assembly to become the sole judge, jury, and executioner of Orzammar.
5Knight-Commander Meredith & First Enchanter Orsino
Driven To Villainy By Paranoia, Pride, And Hatred
Knight Commander Meredith acted more antagonistic at the beginning than First Enchanter Orsino, who initially appeared sympathetic. Orsino was emboldened by years of witnessing his peers commit suicide rather than suffer confinement. For Meredith’s part, her sister’s panicked pact with a demon that resulted in her family and village’s slaughter left a scar on her psyche.
But as the years rolled on in Kirkwall, their backstories became more likeexcuses as they succumbedto their sense of duty and fear. Meredith surrendered to the power of red lyrium and became the abomination she always saw mages as. In the same way, Orsino gave in and used the notes by a serial killer to harvest his fellow mages for blood magic.
4Lord Seeker Lambert & Grand Enchanter Fiona
No Plans Beyond “My Way Or The Highway”
It’s extremely easy to hate Lord Seeker Lambert and Grand Enchanter Fiona at a glance. Lambert almost prevented the news that the Rite of Tranquility, the most harrowing punishment for mages, could be reversed from getting out. He also participated in a bloody coup d’etat to replace Orlais’ Black Divine with a friend, which ended in more corruption. More damningly, he started the mage-templar rebellion, though Fiona also played a part in that.
Fiona earned the ire ofInquisitionplayers and book readers for essentially selling the mages she rebelled with to Tevinter Magister Alexius, abandoning Tranquil mages, betraying Ferelden after it gave her and her mages sanctuary, and having zero concrete plans for the welfare of mages after voting to dissolve the Circles.
Yet Fiona’s actions were driven by despair. She experienced hell on Thedas from childhood and, in the end, was almost certainly railroaded by Alexius through time magic to do what she did at Ferelden. Despite this, Fiona only says “I’m not proud of our choice” and that she would do it all again at Skyhold if she and the mages were enjoined to the Inquisition.
Lambert, on the other hand, was disillusioned when his then-friend Magister Urian Nihalias became as corrupt as the rest of the Tevinter Imperium. The betrayal, along with thedebauchery and cruelty of Tevinter mages, turned Lambert away from his ideal that mages can self-govern. Still, his fanatical need to start a war and all-too-joyful fights with mages make him far from heroic.
Rendon Howe is arguably the most straightforward, non-archdemon villain ofDragon Age: Origins. Whereas Loghain, Anora, and even Flemeth, among others, have depth to their unsavory actions, Howe has nothing going on but his pure ego.
Howe insists all the riches he embezzled and power gained as Loghain’s political hand is his to wield. He believes he should have risen in affluence and status along with the Couslands and his peers for participating in the same war as them. Of course, Howe conveniently omits that he had to be evacuated from said war and didn’t have a part in its resolution.
Howe’s focus on getting what he believes he’s entitled to is almost as powerful as an Inquisitor who declares the Inquisition to betheir personal army. Until the very end, “The Butcher of Denerim” insisted that he deserved more, and died unmourned, especially if the Warden tells his son of his fate in theAwakeningDLC.
Corypheus rose from DLC villainy to the main role inInquisition, and for good reason. He was one of seven magisters to enter the Golden City in ancient history. Their attempt to colonize theDragon Ageversion of heaven was for the Old Gods, or dragon-formed spirits who hated the Maker.
Millennia after corrupting the Golden City, and the formerly unremarkable and mid-magister-turned-immortal darkspawn is still at it. In terms of power, he represented the greatest threat to Thedas, even when he was used by Solas or Fen’Harel to unlock his little gadget. Had the Inquisitor failed to kill Corypheus, Solas would have raced to render Corypheus mortal before he regained access to the Golden City.
A Paragon of Her Kind
It takes a lot for a mortal character to rank above the millennia-old abomination whose evil acts contributed to the modern world’s reality. But Paragon Branka lived up to her exceptional status. Branka could be said to have lost some control of her faculties to madness, but she has consistently shown that her monstrous actions were ofher design and volition.
Branka’s obsession with the Anvil of the Void subjected dozens of dwarves who followed her to unimaginable torture. Dwarves were used like animals to test traps or tossed to the darkspawn as food. Women had it far worse, as Branka allowed them to be mutated into Broodmothers to create cannon fodder.
Wardens who allow her to live would see Branka self-immolate if the Anvil is destroyed, as she sees no path forward. Those who allow her to use the Anvil would hear reports of dwarven, elvish, and human lives wasted to create golem slaves. Either way, Branka isruthless in her ambition, and her newfound power can easily be abused by the Orzammar elite, as they did in the past.
