History Awesome / DragonAge

*** This is aided by [[TimCurry Tim Curry's]] excellent voice acting where you can really hear the anger in his voice as he can't deny what he sees in the Human Noble.

*** Yeah, not so much, all you need is the [[TookALevelinBadass Arcane]] [[MagicKnight Warrior]] specialization and you can practically solo the rest of the game, you don't even need BloodMagic, plus you can wield some seriously nice equipment, hack away at darkspawn and still toss around fireballs with the best of them. The whole [[PowerUp make-yourself-stronger]] spell helps a lot too, as well as the partial intangible upgrade.

**** And for those curious - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iFrHRaH0Os here it is]]. Yes, [[NeverTrustATrailer trailers lie]]... but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

** Also getting rid of Caldrius and his goons as an Elven Arcane Warrior: the Tevinter blood mage came to Ferelden to take advantage of its dire situation and take as many elven slaves as possible and ended up meating the first elf in centuries to master the Elvhenan's brand of magic [[KarmicDeath specifically tailored for war]]

* Have Wynne as a Arcane Mage (Mages who are suited to closer combat and have the option to use special swords instead of staffs). If she delivers the deathblow on something like an Ogre or a High Dragon, she brings her BadassGrandma status UptoEleven.

** A few other scenes during this origin make all the ass-whupping so much more satisfying. Walking in on a guard who murdered your betrothed who sneers at you and says he's going to show you "how men fight" and then beheading him a few seconds later is utterly satisfying. Then when you confront Vaughn, one of his cronies will mock you, only to have Vaughn shut him up by pointing out that "They're covered in enough blood to fill a tub!" Afterward, when the city guards come to the Alienage to arrest you, the leader will declare that "The Arl's son lies dead in a river of blood that runs through the entire palace!" Lines like that really drive home both the magnitude of your actions and just how utterly badass you were in the first twenty minutes of the game.

And then I remembered [[MamaBear how much ass Wynne kicked when protecting her apprentices from the demons at the Circle,]] and realized that yes, she '''would''' have gone after Vaughn, and she would have torn him apart. Holy crap. I think it's safe to say Wynne = BadassGrandma.
** Well she IS made of win after all...
** I now have an image in my head of Wynne beating Vaughn to death with her staff. And it is GLORIOUS.

* A city elf can rally his or her friends and family to defend the Alienage during the TheWarSequence. Any character can do this, but a city elf Warden can do it without any sort of check.
* Notice how the origins that begin the character at the lowest of the low also let them rock? The City Elf gets to hear a powerful noble of his/her city bargain for his life, and may enjoy the opportunity to cut his nuts off. The casteless starts as a vocational scumbag with a crapsack lifestyle, an abusive mother, a whore sister and an equally scummy buddy, but comes out a champion, massively pissing off the collective ruling class who, because of Duncan, ''can't do a thing about it!'' The ancestors smile on me, you think? ''My'' ancestors are laughing their asses off!
** Contrast the Human Noble origin, where the character begins with every advantage someone could have, and loses it all in the most {{Tearjerker}} way. But it makes later confrontations with Howe and Loghain pay off with much more satisfaction than any other origin, and far more Crowning.

* Though it's not canon, the Sacred Ashes clip has plenty of these. First, Sten pushes a crowd of darkspawn of a cliff in a very BadAss way. Next, Leliana takes down a ZergRush of darkspawn, delivers a PreAssKickingOneLiner and shoots an arrow at the darkspawn leader, hitting it in the chest. Following is The Warden and Morrigan acting as BackToBackBadasses. After which, Morrigan transforms into a giant spider (while flipping in the air)and takes down another ZergRush. Then there's the dragon (Archdemon?) fight, starting with The Warden acting as a [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu distraction]]; Leliana shoots the dragon from atop a pillar, flips off of it when the dragon destroys it, and shoots at the dragon while running, Sten jumps on its side and dragging his sword through its arm, Morrigan (after the dragon notices her) hits the dragon with lightning until its eyes pop, and the Warden finishes it by stabbing the dragon in the head.

*** And for those curious - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iFrHRaH0Os here it is]]. Yes, [[NeverTrustATrailer trailers lie]]... but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
*** Not ALL of it. A considerable number of those spells are in the game. Arrow of slaying, shapeshift (spider), taunt, lightning, walking bomb, indomitable, and overwhelm all make an appearance and are all usable in the game by one character or another.

** It has a little extra oomph after you learn that Grey Wardens [[spoiler:usually only visit the Deep Roads when they are nearing the end of their tainted life--and rather than withering away, they choose to take as many Darkspawn as they can down with them.]]

** As well as a melee character's slaying of an Ogre, which usually involves an [[{{Troy}} Achilles-like jump into the air before]] stabbing the ogre in the chest and bearing it to the ground before stabbing it again in the face, with a twist of the blade to finish. Did I mention that this is all done in slo-mo?
** The deathblow animation for melee killing a High Dragon or [[spoiler:Flemeth]] is also completely awesome: feint, leap astride neck, stab, get thrown into air as dragon rears in pain, do flip, land on neck again, hack away until dead.

** Also worth noting that the death blow animations are usually determined by the weapon skill set your using (two hander, one hander and shield, or dual wielding), not by the specific weapon you're holding. This means that these can show you stabbing a mace or axe through an ogre or dragon's skull. Strangely, it's more friggin' sweet than it is immersion-breaking.

* Destroying [[spoiler:the Anvil of the Void.]] Epic Hammer Smash.

** It becomes a true CMOA if you play a Dwarf Noble, and then openly support Bhelen. Make it clear you don't like him but believe he's the best choice to get the troops you need for your campaign. Bhelen, who is initially distrustful, finally starts to favor you, convinced that you've put the past behind you and are acting in the best interests of the Wardens, Orzammar, and the surface. Then, at the very end, before the Assembly, tell them that the Paragon chose ''you'' to make the decision on who should be King - and ''choose Harrowmount.'' Bhelen's reaction is ''priceless.'' Turning your manipulative, backstabbing brother with aspirations of {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry into a mere SmugSnake, ''and'' turning the tables on him with your own ruthless backstab using Orzammar's politics is just plain ''awesome.'' The subsequent brawl in the Assembly Hall where you can kill Bhelen in personal combat is just the icing on the cake.
* The Battle of Ostagar, where King Cailan and his men are positioned to crush [[TheHorde the Darkspawn]] once and for all. [[spoiler:It doesn't work, but]] the battle cinematic is truly awesome to see, especially on higher graphics settings and with the CrowningMusicOfAwesome blaring from your speakers at top volume.
* Riordan [[spoiler:leaping from the roof of the Fort Drakon tower to ride the archdemon, stab it a few times, and then tear a huge gash in its wing with his sword...it didn't work, but you can't fault him for trying. And it did do enough damage to the dragon's flying ability that it can't simply take wing and fly away once you're fighting it atop Fort Drakon.]] Best...[[OneSceneWonder Five Scene Wonder]]...Ever.

*** Denerim opens with the city in flames and the darkspawn outside casually executing Denerim's soldiers. The camera focuses on one soldier, on his knees, a nasty looking darkspawn sword to his throat. He looks up and is stunned to see the army that you've gathered charging towards them. The darkspawn slits his throat a moment later, grinning manically but I like to think that even though the soldier knew it was too late for him, his last sight gave him a flicker of hope for Denerim.

* One for the entire Grey Warden order in the game's intro movie: we see the darkspawn rampaging along, massacring the dwarven armies, with Duncan providing the commentary, and then we see the Wardens charging at a massive horde of darkspawn--a half-dozen Wardens, and they ''tear'' into the darkspawn, swords swinging, magical fire burning, arrows striking. Then we see the darkspawn attacking a village, and ''two'' Gray Wardens are shown holding off virtually the entire darkspawn army by themselves - all while some truly heroic and badass music is playing in the background. If ''that'' doesn't get you pumped up at the idea of joining this particular order of superheroic, near-suicidal, evil-slaying badasses, nothing can.

* A Mage possesses the ability to pull off one of these on their own if they have Master Coercion--after performing the blood magic ritual at Redcliffe to enter the Fade, and confronting the Desire Demon, if you have that skill, it's possible to not only ''browbeat the demon into leaving Connor's soul alone forever,'' but also get the Demon to cough up one of the 'favors', whether that's the [[BloodyMurder Blood Magic]] specialization, an extra spell, or [[PowerPerversionPotential spectacular sex]], free of charge. How's ''that'' for being persuasive?

* If your PC kills the Archdemon [[spoiler:and dies in the process]], Sten travels back to Par Vollen. He is asked if there was anyone honorable outside of Par Vollen. Sten replies that in all his travels, [[ItHasBeenAnHonor he only ever met one.]] If having TheStoic from a race of [[PlanetOfHats stoics]] praise you to his people isn't awesome, I don't know what is.

** The first is the 'Crosscut Drifters' a group of renegade dwarven miners who tell the assembly to piss off and go hunting for lyrium veins in high-risk areas. "Listening to the Stone", they break through a wall and find a cavern where a huge mass of Darkspawn about to surprise attack Orzammar. What do they do? Blow the entire cavern up, burying the darkspawn...and they did this knowing that it would bury them in there as well.
** Then there's the story behind the tale of 'Topsider's Honor.' An elf came down from the surface to fight Darkspawn with the Legion of the Dead. Just a regular city elf too, not a Warden. He was such a badass that not only did the Legion treat him as one of their own, but they gave him a full burial with honors. (Weirdly, his reassembled sword deals bonus damage not to darkspawn, but to undead, which makes him even more badass.)

** You yourself, a comparatively much stronger mage, will have to go through about three-fourths of the game before getting even remotely strong enough to solo so many enemies of that caliber, and Jowan has yet to go through his Harrowing...that's how angry and desperate he is.

** And then I remembered [[MamaBear how much ass Wynne kicked when protecting her apprentices from the demons at the Circle,]] and realized that yes, she '''would''' have gone after Vaughn, and she would have torn him apart. Holy crap. I think it's safe to say Wynne = BadassGrandma.
** Well she IS [[IncrediblyLamePun made of win]] after all...

--> '''Announcer''': Remove your helmet, Warrior, and let all who watched you see your face!\\
'''Warden''': I will not! My victories have earned me your respect!\\
'''Announcer''': Your skills are impressive, but you are one man. Show yourself, lest I call the guards and have them do it for you.\\
'''Warden''': Very well. Look, and see who I am.\\
* ''Removes helmet and reveals themselves to be Casteless''*

<<|CrowningMoment/VideoGames|>>

* A city elf can rally his or her friends and family to defend the Alienage during the TheWarSequence. Supposedly any character can do this, but it's especially satisfying for a city elf warden.
* Notice how the origins that begin the character at the lowest of the low also let them rock? The City Elf gets to hear the ruler of his/her city bargain for his life, and may enjoy the opportunity to cut his nuts off. The casteless starts as a vocational scumbag with a crapsack lifestyle, an abusive mother, a whore sister and an equally scummy buddy, but comes out a champion, massively pissing off the collective ruling class who, because of Duncan, ''can't do a thing about it!'' The ancestors smile on me, you think? ''My'' ancestors are laughing their asses off!
** Contrast the Human Noble origin, which begins with every advantage a character could have, and loses it all in the most {{Tearjerker}} way. But it makes later confrontations with Howe and Loghain pay off with much more satisfaction than any other origin, and far more Crowning.

* Though it's not canon, the Sacred Ashes clip has plenty of these. First, Sten pushes a crowd of darkspawn of a cliff in a very BadAss way. Next, Leliana takes down a ZergRush of darkspawn, delivers a PreAssKickingOneLiner and shoots an arrow at the darkspawn leader, hitting it in the chest. Following is The Warden and Morrigan acting as BackToBackBadasses. After which, Morrigan transforms into a giant spider (while flipping in the air)and takes down another ZergRush. Then there's the dragon fight, starting with The Warden acting as a [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu distraction]]; Leliana shoots the dragon from atop a pillar, flips off of it when the dragon destroys it, and shoots at the dragon while running, Sten jumps on its side and dragging his sword through its arm, Morrigan (after the dragon notices her) hits the dragon with lightning until its eyes pop, and the Warden finishes it by stabbing the dragon in the head.

**** And for those curious - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iFrHRaH0Os here it is]]. Yes, [[NeverTrustATrailer trailers lie]]... but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
*** Not ALL of it, but a considerable number of those spells are in the game. Arrow of slaying, shapeshift (spider), taunt, lightning, walking bomb, indomitable, and overwhelm all make an appearance and are all usable in the game.

** It has a little extra oomph after you learn that Grey Wardens [[spoiler:usually only visit the Deep Roads when they are nearing the end of their tainted life - and rather than withering away, they choose to take as many Darkspawn as they can down with them.]]"

** As well as a melee character's slaying of an Ogre, which involves an [[{{Troy}} Achilles-like jump into the air before]] stabbing the ogre in the chest and bearing it to the ground before stabbing it again in the face, with a twist of the blade to finish. Did I mention that this is all done in slo-mo?
** The deathblow animation for killing the High Dragon or [[spoiler:Flemeth]] is also completely awesome: feint, leap astride neck, stab, get thrown into air as dragon rears in pain, do flip, land on neck again, hack away until dead.

** Also worth noting that the death blow animations are determined by the weapon skill set your using (two hander, one hander and shield, or dual wielding), not by the specific weapon you're holding. This means that these can show you stabbing a mace or axe through an ogre or dragon's skull. It's friggin' sweet.

* Destroying [[spoiler: the Anvil of the Void.]] Epic Hammer Smash.

** It becomes a true CMOA if you play a Dwarf Noble, and then support Bhelen. Make it clear you don't like him but believe he's the best choice to get the troops you need for your campaign. Bhelen, who is initially distrustful, finally starts to favor you, convinced that you've put the past behind you and are acting in the best interests of the Wardens, Orzammar, and the surface. Then, at the very end, before the Assembly, tell them that the Paragon chose ''you'' to make the decision on who should be King - and ''choose Harrowmount.'' Bhelen's reaction is ''priceless.'' Turning your manipulative, backstabbing brother with aspirations of {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry into a mere SmugSnake, ''and'' turning the tables on him with your own ruthless backstab using Orzammar's politics is just plain ''awesome.'' The subsequent brawl in the Assembly Hall where you can kill Bhelen yourself is just the icing on the cake.
* The Battle of Ostagar, where King Cailan and his men are positioned to crush [[TheHorde the Darkspawn]] once and for all. [[spoiler:It doesn't work, but]] the battle cinematic is truly awesome to see, especially on higher graphics and with the CrowningMusicOfAwesome blaring from your speakers at top volume.
* Riordan [[spoiler: leaping from the roof of the Fort Drakon tower to ride the archdemon, stab it a few times, and then tear a huge gash in its wing with his sword...it didn't work, but you can't fault him for trying. And it did do enough damage to the dragon's flying ability that it can't simply take wing and fly away once you're fighting it atop Fort Drakon.]]

*** Denerim opens with the city in flames and the darkspawn outside casually executing Denerim's soldiers. The camera focuses on one soldier, on his knees, a nasty looking darkspawn sword to his throat. He looks up and is stunned to see the army that you've gathered charging towards them. The darkspawn slits his throat a moment later, but I like to think that even though the soldier knew it was too late for him, his last sight gave him a flicker of hope for Denerim.

* One for the entire Grey Warden order in the game's intro movie: we see the darkspawn rampaging along, massacring the dwarven armies, with Duncan providing the commentary, and then we see the Wardens charging at a massive horde of darkspawn - a half-dozen Wardens, and they ''tear'' into the darkspawn, swords swinging, magical fire burning, arrows striking. Then we see the darkspawn attacking a village, and ''two'' Gray Wardens are shown holding off virtually the entire darkspawn army by themselves - all while some truly heroic and badass music is playing in the background. If ''that'' doesn't get you pumped up at the idea of joining this particular order of heroic, near-suicidal, evil-slaying badasses, nothing can.

* A Mage possesses the ability to pull off one of these on their own if they have Master Coercion- after performing the blood magic ritual at Redcliffe to enter the Fade, and confronting the Desire Demon, if you have that skill, it's possible to not only ''browbeat the demon into leaving Connor's soul alone forever,'' but also get the Demon to cough up one of the 'favors', whether that's the [[BloodyMurder Blood Magic]] specialization or an extra spell, free of charge. How's ''that'' for being persuasive?

* If your PC kills the Archdemon [[spoiler: and dies in the process]], Sten travels back to Par Vollen. He is asked if there was anyone honorable outside of Par Vollen. Sten replies that in all his travels, [[ItHasBeenAnHonor he only ever met one.]] If having TheStoic from a race of [[PlanetOfHats stoics]] praise you to his people isn't awesome, I don't know what is.

** The first is the 'Crosscut Drifters' a group of renegade dwarven miners who tell the assembly to piss off and go hunting for lyrium veins in high-risk areas. They break through a wall and find a cavern where a huge mass of Darkspawn about to surprise attack Orzamarr. What do they do? Blow the entire cavern up, burying the darkspawn...and they did this knowing that it would bury them in there as well.
** Then there's the story behind the tale of 'Topsider's Honor.' An elf came down from the surface to fight Darkspawn with the Legion of the Dead. Just a regular elf too, not a warden. He was such a badass that not only did the Legion treat him as one of their own, but they gave him a full burial with honors.

** You yourself, a comparatively much stronger mage, will have to go through about three fourths of the game before getting even remotely strong enough to solo so many enemies of that caliber, and Jowan has yet to go through his Harrowing... That's how angry and desperate he is.

And then I remembered [[MamaBear how much ass Wynne kicked when protecting her apprentices from the demons at the Circle,]] and realized that yes, she '''would''' have gone after Vaughn, and she would have torn him apart. Holy crap. I think it's safe to say Wynne = BadassGrandma.
** Well she IS made of win after all...

--> '''Announcer''': Remove your helmet, Warrior, and let all who watched you see your face!
--> '''Warden''': I will not! My victories have earned me your respect!
--> '''Announcer''': Your skills are impressive, but you are one man. Show yourself, lest I call the guards and have them do it for you.
--> '''Warden''': Very well. Look, and see who I am.
--> *''Removes helmet and reveals themselves to be Casteless''*

<<|CrowningMoment/VideoGames|>>

* [[EnsembleDarkhorse Bann Teagan]] gets one near the beginning of the game right after the battle at Ostagar. When Loghain gets back to Denerim and is trying to set himself up as regent, Teagan is the only one out of the entire Bannorn to stand up to him and point out that his retreat at Ostagar was pretty goddamn convenient. Though the entire Landsmeet must have been thinking the exact same thing, Teagan is the only one with the balls to call Loghain out directly. When Loghain basically tells him to shut up and fall in line, Teagan hits him with the following.

** Keep in mind, Eamon is sick at this point, meaning Teagan is standing up to the most powerful man in the country, completely by himself, simply because it is the right thing to do. There's a reason some fans have dubbed him [[BadAss the Bannhammer.]]

* Jowan in the mage origin. A timid, lowspoken and somewhat pathetic guy, but the second his girlfriend is threatened with imprisonment he bellows with more force and rage than we ever see before or after: "NO!! I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER!", and then proceeds to stab through his own hand, raise his arms, and knock out the First Enchanter, Knight-Commander and an entire roomful of Templars with the sheer, brutal force of his own blood. Woe the day they gave up on the possibility of recruiting him to your party.

And then I remembered how much ass Wynne kicked when protecting her apprentices from the demons at the Circle, and realized that yes, she '''would''' have gone after Vaughn, and she would have torn him apart. Holy crap. I think it's safe to say Wynne = BadassGrandma.

-->'''Wynne:'''You say that with such cold conviction it frightens me. But I can find no fault in your actions. ''I would have done the same thing''