History Characters / DragonAgeOriginsPlayableCharactersTheWarden

** The Warden is indirectly responsible for [[spoiler: the Mage-Templar War]], having canonically recruited Anders and the Spirit of Justice in ''Awakening''. This takes on a much darker tone after the events of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' when Anders, who has become Justice's new host, ends up [[spoiler:blowing up the Kirkwall Chantry in order to force a confrontation between the Mages and the Templars, setting up the means for ''every'' Circle in Thedas to rise up in rebellion. It's made worse by the fact that this was likely due to the Grey Wardens' philosophy teaching him that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans.]]

** Lampshaded by Loghain during the Landsmeet, who [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation suggests]] that while Arl Eamon might believe that putting [[spoiler: Alistair]] on the throne would guarantee him a PuppetKing to control and influence, in reality even ''his'' strings are being pulled by the Warden.

*** A Dwarf Noble who sides with Bhelen in the Orzammar arc can leverage their support into both your own title and name being restored as well as that of a possible casteless son. By the end of the game you can be declared [[spoiler:a Paragon, required to be revered as a living god. This puts Bhelen's own line of succession in jeopardy in favor of the far more popular and revered Warden and his progeny, all while Bhelen takes the heat for actually reforming Orzammar.]]

** Discussed at the Landsmeet. [[spoiler:If Alistair is romanced and becomes King, he'll express doubt over whether he and the Warden can be together. The whole point to this event was to prevent a SuccessionCrisis, but Wardens have extremely low fertility, and two have an extremely poor chance of conceiving together. If he becomes king, the female Warden would be a very poor choice for a mate because sooner or later, Ferelden will be back where they started.]]

** The conclusion of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has Leliana claiming that the Warden and Hawke's disappearances are no coincidence and Cassandra says in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Inquisition]]'' they thought they were connected after they couldn't find either of them. This is all well and good unless a Warden who romanced Morrigan [[spoiler: goes through the Eluvian]] with her [[Timeline/DragonAge eight years ago]] at the end of ''Witch Hunt''. So why did Cassandra and Leliana expect or even bother trying to find someone who had been missing for almost a decade, and why would they think their disappearances were connected if they'd have been five to eight years apart from each other?

** The after-mentioned also applies to a Warden who romances Zevran, as they left to reunite with him in Antiva and join him in his personal war against the Antivan Crows, taking them to places far outside of Ferelden. It is very unlikely the Warden would have the time or means to be leading an organization in another country.

** The conclusion of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has Leliana claiming that the Warden and Hawke's disappearances are no coincidence and Cassandra says in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Inquisition]]'' they thought they were connected after they couldn't find either of them. This is all well and good unless a Warden who romanced Morrigan [[spoiler: goes through the Eluvian]] with her [[Timeline/DragonAge eight years ago]] at the end of ''Witch Hunt''. So why did they expect or even bother trying to find someone who had been missing for almost a decade, and why would they think their disappearances were connected if they'd have been five to eight years apart from each other?

** The conclusion of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has Leliana claiming that the Warden and Hawke's disappearances are no coincidence and Cassandra says in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Inquisition]]'' they thought they were connected after they couldn't find either of them. This is all well and good unless the Warden [[spoiler: goes through the Eluvian]] with Morrigan [[Timeline/DragonAge eight years ago]] at the end of ''Witch Hunt''. So why did they expect or even bother trying to find someone who had been missing for almost a decade, and why would they think their disappearances were connected if they'd have been five to eight years apart from each other?

** Their codex if they survive the Fifth Blight and don't become [[spoiler:queen or prince-consort of Ferelden]] is they served as commander for several years rebuilding the Order in Ferelden before disappearing, but depending on who they romance,[[note]]Zevran or Morrigan[[/note]] they can leave the Order and Ferelden altogether after only holding the title for a few months.
** At the end of ''Dragon Age II'', Leliana will claim that the Warden and [[spoiler:Hawke's]] disappearances are no coincidence and Cassandra says they thought it was connected when they couldn't find either of them. This makes no sense for a Warden who went through the [[spoiler:Eluvian with Morrigan as their disappearance wouldn't have been anywhere near the time frame of Hawke's and Cassandra shouldn't have expected to have found someone who had been missing for eight years at that point.]]
*** Also, during a King Alistair's visit to Kirkwall, Teagan will say: "The Hero of Ferelden should be back in Denerim by now."

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: There are a number of powerful horrors that The Warden can take down before and after slaying the Archdemon and end of the game. [[spoiler:Unless you disagree to Morrigan Dark ritual, [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu then The Warden will be dead]]]]. In ''Origins'' there are two OptionalBoss Fights that take place before the PointOfNoReturn, specifically [[Flemeth WickedWitch]] and Gaxkang the Unbound. In ''[[ExpansionPack Awakening]]'' you take down the The Mother, ([[SkippableBoss potentially]]) The Architect, and (again [[SkippableBoss potentially]]) [[Superboss The Queen of the Blackmarsh]]. In ''[[{{DLC}} Golems of Amgarrak]]'' there's the Harvester, and in ''[[{{DLC}} Witch Hunt]]'' there's the Varterral.

* NobleSavage: Invoked about a heroic Dalish Warden by Leliana, who admits to being glad the stories of Dalish being savages aren't true and expresses her admiration of their people's closeness to the land. You can respond by pointing out the rather [[FantasticRacism racist]] [[UnfortunateImplications undertones]] to this, causing her to apologise for her [[InnocentBigot rather sheltered worldview]].

** Elf Mage: Elim/Neria Surana

** Dwarf Commoner: Faren/Nadia Brosca

* CelibateHero [=and/or=] ReallyGetsAround: As with the hero[=/=]anti-hero status, the Warden can be anywhere in between these two. The Warden can get this UpToEleven by having a foursome with Zevran, Leliana, and Pirate Queen Isabela. And then taking the edge off by sleeping with male hookers, female hookers, nugs, a transvestite ''dwarf'', or having some rather unusual things done to you using some rather [[NoodleImplements interesting tools]]. The tragic turn in the Human Noble's origin prologue can happen in the afterglow of a tryst with the son or servant girl of a visiting vassal noble.

* KnifeNut: The PC always uses the same knife to murder people in dialogue scenes. Examples include some off-duty guards in the City Elf Origin, the hungry deserter in Ostagar, the Elven Messenger, [[spoiler:Brother Genitivi, Avernus]].

*** Likewise, a male Human Noble can [[spoiler:[[ArrangedMarriage marry Anora]] and become her Prince Consort.]]

** Further subverted if they're [[spoiler:Queen or Prince Consort of Ferelden]] as they'll permanently return to court to resume their duties after ''Awakening''.

* CanonName: Each Warden has a default name.

* AnythingThatMoves: The Warden can definitely be played this way. Some of the origins offer the opportunity to hit on/sleep with someone; you have four potential romances among your companions; female Wardens can flirt with Arl Teagan, who seems interested; Male wardens can kiss Bella, the waitress of Redcliff's tavern; you can hire employees at the Pearl in Denerim, and there's even a chance to sleep with certain members of the Dalish clan you meet in the Brecilian Forest. You can also claim after finding out [[spoiler: Shale was once a dwarven woman that suddenly, she's ''very'' cute.]]

* AnythingThatMoves: The Warden can definitely be played this way. Some of the origins offer the opportunity to hit on/sleep with someone; you have four potential romances among your companions; female Wardens can flirt with Arl Teagan, who seems interested; you can hire employees at the Pearl in Denerim, and there's even a chance to sleep with certain members of the Dalish clan you meet in the Brecilian Forest. You can also claim after finding out [[spoiler: Shale was once a dwarven woman that suddenly, she's ''very'' cute.]]

** Further subverted if there [[spoiler:Queen or Prince Consort of Ferelden]] as they'll permanently return to court to resume their duties after ''Awakening''.

** Also subverted if Zevran is romanced. The Warden pretty much runs off to Antiva to reunite with him not long after defeating [[spoiler:The Mother]] and joins him in his effort to dismantle the [[spoiler:Crows]].

* BadassFamily: It'd be easier to list the Wardens who ''don't'' come from one.

* LikeParentLikeChild: The Human Noble and Dwarf Noble are heavily implied to greatly take after their fathers.

** In ''Inquisition'', the Warden is occasionally referenced and, if a certain sidequest is done (and the Warden is alive), even writes a letter to Leliana, but never actually shows up in person. They are [[spoiler:on a quest to cure the Wardens of the taint]].

** The reason the Warden isn't seen in ''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition''? [[spoiler:They're looking for a way to cure the darkspawn taint.]] The tone of the letter they send suggests they see the impossibility of this as a mere ''inconvenience''.

** The ''Dwarf Noble's'' father plays a central role in the plot during the origin story, but after that he is never seen again, because when the player returns to Orzammar later on, they learn that he has already passed away. The player's mother is never seen or mentioned, save for when the subject comes up in a conversation with Morrigan; a Dwarf Noble player can simply tell her that their mother died a long time ago.
** The ''City Elf’s'' mother was murdered by humans sometime prior to the beginning of the story. Their father is still alive and well, and actually ''doesn't'' end up dying, but after the prologue he isn't seen again until very near the end of the story, because the Alienage is closed off and inaccessible for most of the game. If the player chooses to abandon Shianni to be raped by Vaughn in the prologue, [[IHaveNoSon he will completely disown the PC and refuse to speak to them ever again]].

** Warriors can become a ''[[YourSoulIsMine Reaver]]'' and inverted as a ''[[AntiMagic Templar]]''.

* UndyingLoyalty: The Human Noble is from a family of ardent royalists, with Bryce Cousland being rumored to have turned down the throne when it was offered to him, in favor of the ''true'' heir to the throne. Their loyalty is such that the only time we ever see Bryce even get remotely angry is when Arl Howe ''[[BerserkButton insults]]'' their King. Historically, they've only ever turned on tyrants, but fought to the death to defend their OneTrueKing and/or homeland.

* OneManArmy: The tales of the First Blight say that every Grey Warden is able to fight ten or twenty darkspawn at once. The Warden is TheDreaded because of this. Duncan states, if you ask about the danger if the Joining, that he wouldn't have recruited you unless he thought you could handle it, implying good Warden recruiters look specifically for people who have the rare fortitude that affords them a chance at surviving the ritual. While this doesn't directly translate into combat prowess, it certainly would help. All the potential Wardens were superlative badasses before they were recruited.

[[center:[-[[Characters/DragonAge Main Character Index]] > Dragon Age: Origins > '''The Warden''' | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsPlayableCharactersTheCompanions Companions]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharacters Non-Playable Characters]] ( [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersGreyWardens Grey Wardens]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersFereldanNobles Fereldan Nobles]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersOrzammar Orzammar]]) | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsDLCCharacters DLC Characters]] -]]]