History DragonAgeOrigins / TropesFToK

** * The Orzammar chapter involves the player selecting one of two candidates vying for the throne. You'll do a couple of tasks meant to improve their bid for kingship, but ultimately, the last quest, which involves [[spoiler: securing the decision of a Paragon in the Deep Roads]] is the only one that will definitively secure the position without question. So important is it, that you can easily switch candidates at the last minute.

* GoldDigger: Noble-hunting - practically a profession amongst the casteless dwarves, as children inherit the caste of the parent of the same sex. Such a child is a valuable commodity which benefits both parents. The casteless family is adopted into the noble house and the nobles receive another heir, which, due to low fertility rates and casualties from the darkspawn and political backstabbing, are in rather short supply.

** The killing of [[spoiler:Connor]] is shown off-screen. This is presumably because showing the deliberate murder of a young boy, even a possessed one, even in an M-rated game, would have upset the {{Media Watchdog}}s. The killing of [[spoiler:Oren, the PC's young nephew]], in the Human Noble origin is given the same treatment.

* GrailInTheGarbage: Far Song, generally considered one of if not the best bow in the game, has apparently spent decades sitting buried in the stockroom of a tiny podunk blacksmith shop in Redcliffe.

** The succession arc in Orzammar. Harrowmont is an honorable man but believes in preserving dwarven traditions, most notably the oppressive caste system. He also acquiesces too easily to the demands of Nobles (of which Oghren half-jokingly says "They've been trying to destroy Orzammar for years"). On the other hand, Bhelen may be a scheming bastard ([[spoiler:and if he wins, he immediately executes Harrowmont]]), but he wants to abolish the caste system and end Orzammar's policy of isolationism. According to the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, [[spoiler:if Harrowmont becomes King, the dwarven kingdom becomes isolationist and cuts itself off from human contact (and keeps the caste system) and ends up assassinated, whereas if Bhelen becomes King, he becomes a benevolent dictator who does indeed curtail the caste system as well as open the kingdom up to the rest of the world, and strong-arms the self-serving, traditionalist nobility into compliance.]]

** Also, seemingly innocuous actions can have severe consequences. For instance, attempting to enter Arl Eamon's bedroom for the first time leads to [[spoiler:Conner's death]], and choosing Alistair as your champion at the [[spoiler:Landsmeet leads to him executing Loghain immediately after the duel, thus preventing you from recruiting Loghain and/or marrying Anora to Alistair]]. The [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything wide variety of finishing options]] means that if you want a specific ending you have to take ''very'' specific actions.

* HauntedCastle: Soldier's Peak.

* HaveYouSeenMyGod: The existence of the Maker that the Chantry speaks of is never given irrefutable proof in-game. For that matter, the elven Creators aren't obviously real, either. The Chantry preaches that the Maker did, in fact, abandon Thedas because of humankind's crimes, and that only their extreme penitence can make Him come back. Consequently, quite a few people in Ferelden are atheist or agnostic.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: In-engine cutscenes show the characters in their currently equipped gear, except for their helmets. Not for all cutscenes, however. Generally, if the scene is the prelude to the appearance of some monster, the helmet stays on. And, of course, helmets are generally removed for conversations, but this only makes sense.

* HeroesLoveDogs: No matter what kind of character you're playing, you can always count on the unquestioning love and loyalty of the Mabari Hound. Human Noble Wardens start with one, and Wardens of other backgrounds can get one by completing an easy-to-finish sidequest at Ostagar. Once Dog has joined you, it's not possible to make him leave, even if you deliberately try to drive everyone else from your side; his approval starts at maximum, and without a silly bit of DLC, you cannot lower it for any reason. You may engage the Hound in dialogue to literally PetTheDog.

* HiddenDepths: Behind the deadpan snarking, party banter between Morrigan and Leliana actually makes her raise some highly intelligent philosophical questions, pointing out to Leliana (who compares belief in Magic to belief in the Maker) that it's not the same, as she can ''see'' magic and ''uses'' magic, whereas there is no proof for the Maker at all. She also theorises that if the Maker does exist, he may have simply moved onto another creation entirely, which, given her later discovering that [[spoiler:the Eluvian leads to an entirely different realm altogether, may not be too far from the truth.]]

** Oghren, the smelly, drunk, womanizing, ever belching dwarf looks like quite a superficial person. But take him to talk to [[spoiler: the Guardian of Andraste's Sacred Ashes]] and...
* HiddenElfVillage: One of the reasons suggested why the Dalish kingdom was invaded and destroyed is they kept watching their neighbors getting beaten to a pulp... so the neighbors got pissed and now there is no more Elven kingdom.

** The other definition of high fantasy fits too, the world is way bigger than the immediate events in the game, and characters and events are quite deep and differentiated.
* HighPressureBlood: Defeated enemies sometimes lose parts, resulting in a pretty blood fountain. Arguably applies to all melee combat, considering how much gore characters get on them. (It even goes on their back!)

* HopelessBossFight: Bioware probably ''intended'' the (optional) fight with Ser Cauthrien in the Arl of Denerim's estate to be this, though they also probably realized that they had to provide a possibility for someone to beat Cauthrien or else it would feel like a cop-out if she suddenly turned invincible and wiped the party at 1 hp. You have the option to surrender without fighting, and if you fight and get killed (very likely) you're "captured" instead of getting a game-over. Cauthrien ''is'' beatable; just very, very hard. Possibly the hardest boss of the game, level to level. ''Definitely'' the hardest if you don't draw her out of the room with all her lackeys (the two warriors will follow you as well, but the horde of archers and the mage will stay put). Even then, she can still kill even a tank with only one or two hits. Inexplicably becomes a DegradedBoss when you meet her again at the Landsmeet if you took the "go to prison route" (and is in fact a SkippableBoss if your persuasion skills are strong enough).

* HumanoidsAreWhite: The number of dark-skinned characters you meet can be counted on one hand, including one black ''elf''. (Gets especially jarring if the player gives the Grey Warden a very dark skin tone - in the origins with the Grey Warden's parents, like the human noble origin, said parents are very fair-skinned in contrast to their son/daughter. No one in the game mentions the Grey Warden's skin tone as being in any way unusual if this is done.) However, the Dalish elves are somewhat tannish. (They seem to be a little like Romanis/Gypsies).

** They're called the ''Grey'' Wardens for a ''reason''. They don't care about ''anything'' but defeating the Archdemon and protecting the world from darkspawn, so long as you get the job done. [[MassEffect Sounds a lot like a special task force in a certain science fiction game, no?]]

** The succession arc in Orzammar. Harrowmont is an honorable man but believes in preserving dwarven traditions, most notably the oppressive caste system. He also acquiesces too easily to the demands of Nobles (of which Oghren half-jokingly says "They've been trying to destroy Orzammar for years"). On the other hand, Bhelen may be a scheming bastard ([[spoiler:and if he wins, he immediately executes Harrowmont]]), but he wants to abolish the caste system and end Orzammar's policy of isolationism, and strong-arms the self-serving, traditionalist nobility into compliance. According to the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, [[spoiler:if Harrowmont becomes King, the dwarven kingdom becomes isolationist and cuts itself off from human contact (and keeps the caste system) and ends up assassinated, whereas if Bhelen becomes King, he becomes a benevolent dictator who does indeed curtail the caste system as well as open the kingdom up to the rest of the world.]]

** The succession arc in Orzammar. Harrowmont is an honorable man but believes in preserving dwarven traditions, most notably the oppressive caste system. On the other hand, Bhelen may be a scheming bastard ([[spoiler:and if he wins, he immediately executes Harrowmont]]), but he wants to abolish the caste system and end Orzammar's policy of isolationism. According to the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, [[spoiler:if Harrowmont becomes King, the dwarven kingdom becomes isolationist and cuts itself off from human contact (and keeps the caste system), whereas if Bhelen becomes King, he becomes a benevolent dictator who does indeed end the caste system as well as open the kingdom up to the rest of the world.]]
*** Bhelen is actually following in his Paragon ancestor's footsteps. When the Deshyrs bickered amongst themselves on whose Thaigs to save in the First Blight, Aeducan seized control, cut off Orzammar from the other dwarven settlements, and was Paragon'd for saving the dwarves. It's entirely likely that the Deshyr were livid with him though.
*** If they were, they wisely kept it to themselves. When a single Deshyr ''objected'' to him being declared a Paragon, the Shaperate records indicate that the Assembly descended upon him and promptly ''ripped him limb-from-limb''.

** Also, seemingly innocuous actions can have severe consequences. For instance, attempting to enter Arl Eamon's bedroom for the first time leads to [[spoiler:Conner's death]], and choosing Alistair as your champion at the [[spoiler:Landsmeet leads to him executing Loghain immediately after the duel, thus preventing you from recruiting Loghain and/or marrying Anora to Alistair]].

* GoldenSnitch: Regardless of [[spoiler:how many votes you get at the Landsmeet, it always ends with a duel between the PC or a champion and Loghain, with the winner choosing the new king]].

* FromBadToWorse: Redcliffe Village is ''beyond'' screwed in general, what with the entire populace almost wiped out by undead which attack every night, dragging away the living to be devoured and turned, but the Warden has a few chances for finishing sidequests here which adds a few extra helpings of salt to the wounds. These include: informing one wife that her husband has died in the army and another that both her husband and son were killed in the Wilds; letting one of the few survivors of the massacre know that he was drafted by a mercenary company he'd signed up with (or inform him before the attack goes down, resulting in one less defender); and taking one of the party members' weapons back from a dwarf who'd purchased it fair and square.

** Arguably, the Grey Warden if you started as a Elf or Dwarf Commoner, or a Mage -- this is how you appear to your enemies. The sheer number of assassins they send after ''you'' is a indicator of how much you're putting the fear of the Maker into them.

* {{Gargle Blaster}}: Just read the description of any of the heavy liquor "gifts." And then picture Oghren chugging that stuff.

* GoldDigger: Noble-hunting -- practically a profession amongst the casteless dwarves, as children inherit the caste of the parent of the same sex. Such a child is a valuable commodity which benefits both parents. The casteless family is adopted into the noble house and the nobles receive another heir, which, due to low fertility rates and casualties from the darkspawn and political backstabbing, are in rather short supply.

** This applies to quite a few situations in the game - e.g., the conflicts between [[spoiler:the Dalish elves and the werewolves]] and the Templars and the mages, not to mention the motivations of primary antagonist [[spoiler:Loghain]]. That being said, there is usually an acceptable middle ground solution for most of the quests - but Orzammar isn't one of them, given the epilogue.

** Also, seemingly innocuous actions can have severe consequences, such as attempting to enter Arl Eamon's bedroom for the first time leading to [[spoiler:Conner's death]], and choosing Alistair as your champion at the [[spoiler:Landsmeet leads to him executing Loghain immediately after the duel, thus preventing you from recruiting Loghain and/or marrying Anora to Alistair]].

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The Warden, Alistair, or Loghain can have one by killing the Archdemon without performing the dark ritual.]]

*** A [[GameMod user mod]] restores a conversation that averts the trope, as it has Wynne confront a player who uses blood magic in a certain quest. This mod also explains why neither she nor other mages seem to take notice otherwise: she does not recognize the spells as being BloodMagic, and she can be [[BlatantLies persuaded]] to believe that they are actually special "Grey Warden" abilities.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: There are some mods that allow players to eviscerate Arl Howe because some players feel his death taking place in a cutscene let him get off ''too easy''. And most players are more than happy to reject Vaughn's offer in the City Elf origin so they can kill him themselves.

* GoldenSnitch: Regardless of [[spoiler:how many votes you get at the Landsmeet, it always ends with Loghain declaring a duel with you, and the winner chooses the new king]].

** Humans look down on elves. The Dalish are believed to be nothing but troublemakers, while the Alienage elves are treated as second-class citizens at ''best''.

** Humans look down on elves. The Dalish are believed to be nothing but gypsy troublemakers, while the Alienage elves are treated as second-class citizens at ''best''.

** Ironically Ser Cauthrien is so late in the game that she is an AnticlimacticBoss, because the player has more than enough damage and crowd control to handle the enemies. The fight against Jarvia and her cronies is way harder, because it happens way before, depending how the player tackles the game.

* HollywoodTactics: Played straight. The darkspawn rushing at the fortifications at Ostagar is somewhat plausible since they are mostly mindless beasts and have [[WeHaveReserves virtually unlimited troops]]. However, the Ferelden soldiers break their ranks and charge out of their defensive positions before the darkspawn have come even close. Even if Loghain had charged the darkspawn horde from the side, it wouldn't have helped the King and Duncan in any way, as they were already getting swamped by darkspawn at the other side of the battlefield. The supposed justification? King Cailan is an IdiotHero who was dead set on winning the battle in an epic, storybook-style fashion. Also, the main strategist, Loghain, [[spoiler:was a traitor trying to get King Cailan killed]]. But the notion that all the experienced commanders weren't able to make their king see reason, or that an inexperienced and weak king is acting commander is utterly ridiculus.

** Ferelden being fantasy medieval Britain, [[CaptainObvious the abundance of white people makes sense.]] This doesn't make up for the oddness of having differently-hued parents from oneself, however.
*** No, it doesn't. Medieval Europe was crowded with people of colour. The only apparent reason for this trope here would be that equivalents of Native America, Asia and Africa do not seem to exist in Thedas - but that raises even more questions when playing ''Dragon Age II'', where a whole country seems to be crowded with dark-skinned people and literally right next to the main settings.

* HollywoodTactics: Justified. The darkspawn rushing at the fortifications at Ostagar is somewhat plausible since they are mostly mindless beasts and have [[WeHaveReserves virtually unlimited troops]]. However, the Ferelden soldiers break their ranks and charge out of their defensive positions before the darkspawn have come even close. Even if Loghain had charged the darkspawn horde from the side, it wouldn't have helped the King and Duncan in any way, as they were already getting swamped by darkspawn at the other side of the battlefield. The justification? King Cailan is an IdiotHero who was dead set on winning the battle in an epic, storybook-style fashion. Also, the main strategist, Loghain, [[spoiler:was a traitor trying to get King Cailan killed]].

* KeepTheReward: An option for a few quests. Notable for the fact that it doesn't earn you karma or anything, since there ''is'' no karma. You just miss out on a reward when you do this. Instead, it's usually better to grub for rewards... and that's why it's so much more ''satisfying'' in ''DragonAge'' when you do refuse the reward.

* FantasticRankSystem: The Qunari have one; see the trope page for details.
* FantasyCharacterClasses: Warrior/Rogue/Mage.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture:
** Featuring fantasy counterpart ''personages'', too. Leliana –- a French-accented young cleric who firmly believes that [[CrystalDragonJesus The Maker]] told her to aid you. Can we say "Joan of Arc"? (Which is weird, given Andraste...)
*** Notable is that during one conversation with her, she will talk about her "unique" beliefs about the Maker: While most clerics of the Chantry believe that they are "chosen" by the Maker, and only they will achieve salvation, she thinks that the Maker loves ''everyone''. Sounds a lot like Martin Luther (no, [[CivilRightsMovement not that one]]) to me.
*** Or like Paul, on that note. "Pauline Christianity" is when the words, though not the spirit, of Mosaic law was retired and salvation was proclaimed to gentile and Jew alike. Before, the Messiah was commonly presumed to be for the benefit of only the nation of Israel. Paul re-interpreted Israel to mean "Christian" (and anyone can be baptized a Christian) rather than just "a son of Abraham" (a matter of lineage one can do nothing about). This "love all men" approach of course generated controversy in the early Church.
** Speaking of Andraste: she's the legendary saint who inspired the major religion of Ferelden, so she fits even better. Having been spoken to directly by The Maker, she raised an army and led a holy crusade against the Tevinter empire. In the end, she was captured, and burned at the stake.
*** Aside from being the Maker's prophet, Andraste was put to death by Rome -- err, the Tevinter Empire for her teachings. Her mortal remains (in this case, her ashes), are contained in [[HolyGrail an urn, which is a sacred relic rumored to have miraculous powers]]. Sound like anyone you know?
*** Also, Andraste is captured by the Empire thanks to her backstabbing husband, Maferath. Like Judas, Maferath's name has become synonymous with betrayal. [[http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_The_Canticle_of_Maferath There are also apocryphal holy books which imply that the Maker ''made'' Maferath betray her, and so he should be revered for enabling her transcendence, similar to the real world "Gospel of Judas".]]
*** She also seems to be a partial expy of Mohammed: a mortal chosen to reveal the teachings of the Maker and the only (or at least the final) person who will ever be spoken to, according to the Chantry; warrior prophet leading an outmatched army against a pagan Empire and picking up an army of converts; the Chant (in its origins, at least) is essentially a counterpart to the Qu'ran, and there is a similar impetus for it to be heard at all corners of the globe. Of course, the key difference that separates her from Mohammed is that she is worshipped, but, even then, excessive devotion to Andraste rather than The Maker is shown to be a bad thing.
** Orlais was originally going to be called Arles, which was the name of an actual city in France. Orleans is a French city associated with Joan of Arc.
** At one point, one of the Dalish refers to the Chantry's "Exalted Marches" as [[ShapedLikeItself crusades...]]
** Ferelden is basically "Scotland/Anglo-Saxon England" as a foil to the whole high medieval "Plantagenet England/France" thing Orlais has going. Ferelden also has Irish influences, mostly in the names.
** Redcliffe [[RedCliff is aptly named]].
** The Free Marches represent the mess of micro-states that Germany was until the 19th century. Kirkwall on the otherhand is more of a melting pot, giving us such things as Elfs in turbans.
** Somewhat confusingly, the Anderfels have German parallels as well, although more along the lines of the Teutonic Order and Prussia, with some Mongolian influences (their territory consists mainly of large, sparsely populated steppes) thrown in.
** The DragonAge [[WikiRule wiki]] says that Nevarra was originally just one of the larger Free Marches before becoming a major power. So... Austria?
*** The Pentaghast clan, who united the Free Marches under Nevarran leadership in a loose confederation, are very similar to the Habsburg dynasty, similarly suggesting that Nevarra is based on Austria.
** Antiva is "a fictionalized version of a medieval Italian city-state like Venice"... where everyone has a Spanish accent for some reason.
*** FridgeBrilliance: The Borgias, whose purported methods appears to be popular in Antiva, lived in Valencia, which was part of the Crown of Aragon and later of Spain itself, which at the time included many parts of Italy (like Naples).
** WordOfGod says that the Tevinter Imperium is based off the Byzantine Empire, complete with a schismatic version of the Chantry. (Ancient Tevinter was clearly Rome, without a doubt. Modern Tevinter is much smaller, and has converted to Andrastism, but is in religious schism with the other Andrastian nations, and thus...)
*** The schism itself takes on other flavors, too, with the White and Black Divines resembling rival popes in Catholic history.
** The Qunari philosophy resembles militant Confucianism; they have been described in WordOfGod as, socially, resembling "militant Islamic Borg".
*** The "Islamic" part is because they clearly play the role the Caliphates did in early medieval Europe: an expansionist, advanced civilization with an evangelical religion pressing on the borders of the Andrastian nations/Christian Europe, particularly Tevinter/Byzantium.
*** Their theme from [[DragonAgeII the sequel]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-WIX856EZ4 is deliberately Islamic-sounding]].
*** To the extent that they are a technologically advanced people who left their home continent for religious purposes and proceeded to attempt to conquer the indigenous folk of their new home, they could also be compared to the early English settlers of the Americas.
** The Chasind Wilders are clearly based on Celtic tribes from Pre-Roman Britain.
** The Dwarves, despite the fact that their armor, weapons, fighting style, and art style all have an Anglo-Saxon/Viking feel, ([[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame like most dwarves]]) have a social structure and political system that is actually quite Roman. The assembly, like the Roman Senate, isn't elected but inherited, and only the wealthy nobility can hold office. Their kings are elected by the assembly, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPTIGLj2LCE as was the case during the Pre-Rebublic era.]] The Caste system brings to mind the Patrician/Plebeian divide, the Paragons are similar to when the Roman Senate would vote to have men raised to the position of living god, and of course, they practice gladiatorial combat in the form of the provings. On the other hand, their buildings actually look [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_George Lalibela Ethiopian]], believe it or not. An understandable choice, as both carve their buildings directly out of stone rather then using brick.
** Dalish Elves as Gypsies, UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}, or UsefulNotes/IrishTravellers.
** City Elves are based on pre-World-War European Jewish culture. Once a powerful nation, they were overpowered, their homeland destroyed, and forced into slavery by the Tevinter imperium. (cf. Roman Empire). Eventually, they were freed, and built up a new culture, only to be again overpowered, this time by Fereldans and the Chantry. They now live in walled-off ghettos, try to keep up as many of their old customs as possible, can only find menial works among the humans, and are treated as second-class citizens. They have arranged marriages ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shidduch "Matchmaker, Matchmaker..."]]), and even the ambient [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbHdxflCgCU soundtrack]] for the elven "Alienage" (ghetto) has a distinct Klezmer/Schindler's List style, complete with mournful clarinet solo à la Giora Feidman.
*** The custom of having a great tree in the center of a village is a Basque tradition; for example, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gernikako_Arbola Oak of Guernica]].
*** Some inspiration might also be Native American, as they struggle to keep their old culture and language which is slipping away, and were the original people of Thedas before humans came.
*** City Elves also personify the anti-Irish sentiment that pervaded much of North America and Great Britain at the turn of the twentieth century. They were denied all but the most menial of jobs, had a reputation as boozers and mooches and were also forced to live in ghettos. In fact it would not be all that odd to hear the phrase [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Need_Not_Apply Elvish Need Not Apply.]]
*** Last but not least is the comparison with blacks in the United States, pre-Civil Rights but post-Civil War.
** The nation of Rivain is a place where the Qunari (Muslims) and the Elves (Jews) live in peace and general equality with the humans. Sounds a lot like Moorish Spain. The fact that the only person we ever meet from there is a pirate named Isabela makes this comparison even more apt. (Piracy being the other thing the Moors were known for after religious tolerance and being a center of learning.)
* FantasyGunControl: Dragon Age's society has the engineering capacity to produce smokeless coal or build entire cities underground, but only the Qunari have invented gunpowder. Dwarves know a little about explosives, but Qunari assassins have been known to hunt down and kill anyone who looks like they might give the secret of controlled explosions to those not of the Qun.
* FantasyKitchenSink: Averted, mostly. While there are plenty of standard fantasy creatures about, the writers did a decent job in coming up with [[OurOrcsAreDifferent alternate]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent backstories]] [[OurOrcsAreDifferent for]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent each]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent of]] [[OurGryphonsAreDifferent them]] that explain coherently how they can all exist in the same setting.

* FemmeFatalons: Desire Demons.

* FreudianExcuse: Invoked by Oghren in ''Awakening''.
-->"Hey, everyone needs daddy issues. Just trying to help."

* FunctionalMagic: A person has to be born with the ability to use magic. Magic is performed by drawing power from the Fade. Device magic is also present in enchanted items created by the Tranquil as well as most of the items you create with higher-tier poison-making and trap-making.
* FunWithAcronyms: The name of the game's world, Thedas, comes from the general working name "THE Dragon Age Setting."

** Anders (in ''Awakening'') makes his spectacular appearance spewing fire from his hands. He has no fire spells at the time, and won't unless the player chooses to develop them. (Though if you start ''Awakening'' higher than level 18 or so, you'll have at least one spell point to spend for him.) Later, Velanna is shown summoning sylvans and generally making the Wending Woods fight for her, but those abilities vanish once she joins the party.
*** Likewise, Wynne is first shown (if you don't talk to her at Ostagar) defeating a fire demon with a cold spell, but doesn't have any when she joins the party.

** In ''Awakening'', Oghren treats ''the Joining'' as this, being actually insulted that the Cup is ''too small''.

* {{God}}: The Maker has a lot of similarities with the Abrahamic God. Even comes with his own [[CrystalDragonJesus Jesus]], who also doubles as Mohammed.

* GoldenEnding: The endings to the main game are fairly ambiguous, but ''Awakening'' makes it possible to save both Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep provided you put enough effort in the Keep's....upkeep.

* HereThereWereDragons: Griffons have died off, the elves have been subjugated and lost their immortality and most of their cultural heritage, magic is rare, dragons were thought to be extinct until a very few were seen at the start of the age, the Tevinter Imperium fell in all but name long ago and its gods were turned into Archdemons, and perhaps the most fantastic thing is the advent of an apocalyptic horde led by said Archdemons and hellbent on destruction. Oh yeah, it's the sticks all right. Of course, main characters being what they are, they'll uncover plenty of special things that are still in the world.
** TheMagicComesBack: The game is actually called "Dragon Age" because that's the age the story takes place in. Each age is named at the end of the previous one based on portents and signs. It's called the Dragon Age because dragons just recently started reappearing after being nearly hunted to extinction. Hell, one of the endings has [[spoiler:Morrigan setting up an old god to be reborn, uncorrupted, as a human]]. However, [[spoiler:no griffons... yet]].

** There's a similar story in ''Awakening'' about the Casteless dwarves who fought and died defending Kal'Hirol. In that case, however, there is a sidequest allowing the PC to ensure that the story ''does'' eventually get told.
* GreenRocks: As if the green-blueish veins of Lyrium itself weren't enough, Dragon Age also has lifestones, a rare rock that has existed in close proximity to lyrium ore, and as such, they have absorbed some of its traits. Crushing a lifestone gives the user a small bonus to nature resistance for a short time -- reasonable enough. But in addition, lifestones enhance the natural properties of other materials used in item creation, and how! These magic rocks are used as natural property 'enhancers' in all sorts of antidotes, salves, poisons, and grease traps, of all things, conveniently making things more healing, more deadly, more acidic, or more greasy just by mere presence, it seems.

* GuideDangIt: Similar to ''MassEffect2'', [[spoiler:saving both Amaranthine ''and'' Vigil's Keep]] in ''Awakening'' requires a lot of work.

** In ''Awakening'', there is a sidequest involving a set of Tevinter standing stones in the Wending Woods. You will probably need the guide to even figure out what you're supposed to do with them, let alone how to do it. (Hint: [[spoiler:you need to connect every stone with a single, unbroken line]].) There's a similar puzzle in the Fade, but the desired solution there is a bit more obvious.

* HarmfulToTouch: Lyrium.

* TheHorde: The darkspawn. They especially like to leave people completely burned, hanging on display, or stuck in the ground with a large object lodged in the body.
* HornedHumanoid: Desire demons. The Qunari also have horns -- although the rare ones without horns are actually considered special in their society.
* HornyDevils: Desire demons, whose idle animations during conversation include acts such as feeling themselves up.

** ''Awakening'', the expansion, is less odd. A Warden importing his or her level-capped character will quickly face ordinary highwaymen so powerful a handful of them could have defeated the Archdemon and taken over the Tevinter Imperium. (Though even they probably couldn't have taken out Ser Cauthrien without a good strategy.) You'll also find the local militia in Amaranthine could wipe the floor with any group of adversaries in the original game. No wonder [[spoiler:Howe's men overcame Highever so easily!]] That being said, the Warden's own power will soon catapult into the stratosphere, to the point where you could probably beat the Archdemon by spitting on it if one showed up again.

** Vigilance in ''Awakening''. It's meant to be so powerful, it will even get mentioned in the [[WhereAreTheyNow epilogue]]... unfortunately, its actual statistics, while certainly good, are nothing to get too excited about compared to other end-game weapons.

* JerkassGods:
** The Chantry treats the Maker with absolute reverence and makes the quest for His forgiveness of mankind's sins its primary goal, even though their canon makes the Almighty sound like a fickle, rather short-fused deity with a penchant for DisproportionateRetribution, lack of any actual love (or even vague sense of parental responsibility) for His creations, and no problem playing favourites for a girl in ways even Zeus might have called out of line. The Chantry preaches that He is God, but doesn't really make a very good job of painting Him as a ''good'' god. Ironically, it's the less orthodox if not borderline-blasphemous interpretations like Leliana's that attempt to paint the Maker as a God who someone may actually want to revere.
** If the Old Gods of the Tevinter Imperium didn't fit this trope before, they definitely do after they become insane Archdemons that lead the darkspawn in a bid to kill everything.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Warden/Orlesian Warden in ''Awakening'' sometimes appears to be this to other characters, but justified as s/he is stuck being one making the tough decisions, barely keeping the lands of Amaranthine together, on top of dealing with his/her entire contingent of Wardens at Vigil's Keep being wiped out before s/he even arrived. Not to mention the fact that some of the nobles are plotting to kill him/her.
** Best exemplified in the utter disbelief if you recruit Nathaniel straight out of prison, who outright refuses and protests he would rather die. You then can point out that he ''may die anyway'' during the Joining. Although seeing as Nathaniel took four Grey Wardens to subdue him and sneaked into the Keep in the first place in order to ''kill you'', the Warden clearly recognises his value if he joins the Order, and is kindly offering him a chance at redemption for the disgrace his father brought on his family in ''Origins''. Nathaniel eventually cottons on to why you did this. (Note that this is not seen if he is released from prison and set free. If that happens, he shows up later and ''asks'' to become a Warden.)

* KillerRabbit: The fate of Mr. Wiggums, assuming Anders wasn't just BS-ing you. Apparently, a cat possessed by a rage demon can take out ''three Templars'' before being brought down.

* KnightTemplar: Unsurprisingly, the Templars themselves fit this trope perfectly. While they do hunt down bad mages, many of them have a hard time differentiating a bad mage from a perfectly good one, and are all too willing to completely purge the Circle if anything goes wrong. This has happened ''at least once per century'' for the last seven hundred years. According to the Codex, candidates for the order are chosen first and foremost for religious conviction and martial aptitude. They're administered lyrium in order to assist them in fighting evil mages -- but a conversation with Alistair implies that the entire purpose of the lyrium is to get them addicted, ensuring their loyalty. They track and destroy dangerous rogue mages -- but a conversation with Wynne implies that many mage-hunters take a sadistic pleasure in their work. Whether the Templars are ''necessary'' is a matter of debate in-game as well as among the fandom.