History YMMV / DragonAgeII

** Anders' personal story arc is kicked off by having to MercyKill an old friend and lover who's been made Tranquil. In the following game, we learn [[spoiler:that the Rite of Tranquility can be ''permanently'' reversed]].

** [[BadBoss Danarius]] is a powerful magister of Tevinter and noted to be among the worst of them all. A consummate {{sadist}} who abuses his slaves and even murders them for sport and BloodMagic rituals, Danarius frequently abused [[Characters/DragonAgeFenris Fenris]], then named Leto, in all ways, from sexual to psychological. Having Fenris take part in an agonizing Lyrium experiment to make him a weapon, Danarius later had him massacre his own rescuers. Upon hunting Fenris down, if Danarius is successful in taking Fenris back, he [[MindRape destroys his mind]] to make him a wholly obedient slave.
** [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Ser Otto Alrik]] is a high-ranking Templar who is infamous for his habit of illegally conducting the Rite of Tranquility on unwilling mages. Forever cut off from the spirit world, known as the Fade, Tranquil mages have undergone the spiritual equivalent of a lobotomy and are left as {{Empty Shell}}s for the rest of their lives. Not content with the way things currently are, Alrik's dream is to initiate the [[FinalSolution Tranquil Solution]], a plan where every mage is forcibly made Tranquil, regardless of age or ability. When this plan was turned down by [[KnightTemplar Knight-Commander Meredith]] for [[EvenEvilHasStandards being too extreme]], Alrik began taking steps to carry out his plan in secret, turning mages Tranquil such as he did with [[Characters/DragonAgeAnders Anders]]'s first love, Karl. Also, in the mission "Dissent", while pursuing a female teenage apostate named Ella, Alrik heavily implies that he'll use the Rite of Tranquility to turn her into his willing SexSlave, with the added implication that he frequently does this. This is proven in an overheard conversation between a newly made Tranquil mage and her former lover. In response to her lover trying to break through to her, the Tranquil mage emotionlessly responds, "I am Ser Alrik's now."

** Corypheus of ''Legacy'' proves to be much tougher than either of the others. ''Legacy'' also has [[spoiler: the secret BonusBoss Malvernis, who switches between summoning dozens of skeletal archers, using high-damage blood magic, and eventually turning into a dragon.]]

** Anders himself. While widely considered TheScrappy for many on release, he's since become a a far more divisive companion, with many fans praising how complex and developed he is as well as the interesting themes and dynamics into which his story arc is tied to the main theme. This is '''especially''' in the wake of the third game's dull and generic main antagonist.

* MemeticLoser: Hawke, believe it or not. The game frames Hawke as this [[WorldsStrongestMan amazing badass who single-handedly changed the fate of Thedas]]; but in-game, aside from successfully finding treasure in the Deep Roads at the end of Act 1 and [[spoiler:defeating the Arishok]] at the end of Act 2, Hawke fails at pretty much ''everything'' they try to do. [[note]]They fail to save their first sibling from the Ogre in the Prologue, fail to keep their second sibling [[spoiler:safe at home]] at the end of Act 1, fail to [[spoiler:save their mother from a Serial Killer]] late in Act 2, get knocked around by the Arishok unless they're a dedicated Shield & Sword Tank at the end of Act 2, fail to [[spoiler:prevent Anders from blowing up the Chantry]], and fail to [[spoiler: prevent the Mage/Templar conflict from spiralling into a world war]] at the end of the game. They also fail to save many [=NPC=]s in late game side quests since everyone turns out to be a blood mage, abomination, or just [[WretchedHive evil and crazy]].[[/note]] That said, most fans joke about this with [[CoolLoser obvious fondness]] since Hawke is a popular protagonist, and players find these traits relatable. Still, the trope is so present that an antagonist in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition the next game]] points out Hawke's many failures as part of a HannibalLecture ReasonYouSuckSpeech.

*** [[spoiler: Anders himself]] deserves a special mention. While widely considered TheScrappy for many on release, [[spoiler: he's]] since become a a far more divisive companion, with many fans praising how complex and developed [[spoiler: he]] is as well as the interesting themes and dynamics into which [[spoiler: his]] story arc is tied. This is '''especially''' in the wake of the third game's dull and generic main antagonist.
*** Merrill. When the game first launched, she was almost universally derided as a naïve [[TooDumbToLive idiot]] for thinking she could safely work with a demon, blood magic, or eluvian. However, some revelations in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition,'' such as [[spoiler:Solas and Cole revealing that spirits and demons are separate, some spirits can be safe to work with if they're not corrupted into a demon by the negative emotions or expectations of mortals, and Merrill's Eluvian (if not shattered) being seen in the Fade along with dozens of other Eluvians, including Morrigan's successfully restored one]] have left her vindicated in the eyes of many players, with some even hoping that [[spoiler:her Eluvian knowledge can come in handy against Fen'Harel and his own Eluvian network in future games]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: During "The Final Straw", Anders delivers his MotiveRant to Orsino and Meredith, stopping them from interrupting by repeatedly slamming his staff on the ground, like a judge's gavel.

* DesignatedVillain: InvokedTrope. It's funny how Hawke starts out as the bad guy to Cassandra, no matter how heroic the player chooses to play them. As a result, this trope may ensue. Of course, there's also the option of playing an absolute {{Jerkass}} instead...

* DracoInLeatherPants: Depending on one's opinions of the Mage/Templar situation, the characters on one side will often tend to have their flaws ignored or justified while the other side is [[RonTheDeathEater utterly demonized]].

** Although this, like the infamous ''{{VideoGame/Spore}}'' debacle, should be taken with a grain of salt - the PC version of this title was Origin-exclusive, which would garner negative reviews based on ''that'' more than the game itself.

** Aveline is supposed to be a likable, moral woman trying to do in her best to bring order and safety to a corrupt city, and who's sometimes in a tough spot between law and order vs justice and friendship. However, sometimes her actions don't line up with this. For example, when she acts like [[spoiler:two elves who murdered a guardsman for raping their sister are somehow huge villains and the Qunari sheltering them is the worst thing ever, despite the brothers pointing out that they tried to report the incident through the proper channels, yet got turned away due the Guard deciding to close ranks rather than investigate one of their own, which Aveline [[NonAnswer doesn't deny]] before condemning the ''elven brothers'' for their actions]]. Or during the quest "Prime Suspect", about Emeric's investigations, Aveline will ask Hawke to keep him quiet because he's "embarrassing" the city guard by pursuing the disappearances, which makes it seem like she cares more about her organization's reputation than the missing women. She's also shown to put her guards' safety over civilians in other cases, such as keeping her patrols away from particularly dangerous alleyways, which begs the question of how safe she thinks those same alleyways are for regular civilians, and what the guards are even for if not to protect civilians? Some also take issue with her blocking Carver's effort to join the City Guard; there are those who see her as making the right call, while others accuse her of being a HolierThanThou {{Hypocrite}} since they served in the same Ferelden Army and arrived on the same refugee boat (and she later shielded a guard accused of much worse) -- not to mention [[UngratefulBastard ingratitude]] since she wouldn't have gotten into the city ''at all'' without him and his family. Her VitriolicBestBuds dynamic with Isabela can also sometimes go too far -- it's clearly meant to be the funny kind of mean and Isabela always gives as good as she gets, but sometimes there's just too much SlutShaming and it crosses the line into just regular mean, which can be tough to hear.

* TierInducedScrappy: Anders is a de facto party member in any game where Hawke isn't a mage. Since he's the only healer besides Bethany, who becomes unavailable after the first act, and more effective by far, he's too useful not to have around in most cases.

*** There's a pretty significant hatedom that perceives Merrill as a clueless, arrogant, ditzy, stubborn idiot who excels at screwing up (particularly how she handles [[spoiler:the Eluvian, which can ultimately lead to her ''entire clan dying'' for what is, essentially, reclaiming tradition for tradition's sake)]]. Her attitude towards blood magic and ''especially'' demons fuels this side's hatred even more. On the flip side, her fans tend to find her more clueless and ditzy moments [[TheCutie sweet, funny, and endearing]], and believe that acting ditzy doesn't make her any [[GeniusDitz less intelligent]] or [[BunnyEarsLawyer capable]] at [[BadassBookworm what she does]]. And while most would agree Merrill can be too prideful for her own good, her fans believe that she has a strong grasp on the dangers of [[spoiler: the Eluvian]], blood magic, and demons, and what trips her up is other characters constantly undermining and sabotaging her efforts and then blaming her for them not working out ([[spoiler:particularly Marethari ''choosing'' to let the demon possess her behind Merrill's back, and then Merrill getting blamed for said choice]]). A few even point out that nothing bad ever came from her blood magic and dealing with demons, but because of Marethari's interference and disregarding her duties as a keeper. She may have too much confidence in her abilities, but her issue stems from other characters not having enough confidence in her abilities.

*** There's a pretty significant hatedom that perceives Merrill as a clueless, arrogant, ditzy, stubborn idiot who excels at screwing up (particularly how she handles [[spoiler:the Eluvian, which can ultimately lead to her ''entire clan dying'' for what is, essentially, reclaiming tradition for tradition's sake)]]. Her attitude towards blood magic and ''especially'' demons fuels this side's hatred even more. On the flip side, her fans tend to find her more clueless and ditzy moments [[TheCutie sweet, funny, and endearing]], and believe that acting ditzy doesn't make her any [[GeniusDitz less intelligent]] or [[BunnyEarsLawyer capable]] at [[BadassBookworm what she does]]. And while most would agree Merrill can be too prideful for her own good, her fans believe that she has a strong grasp on the dangers of [[spoiler: the Eluvian]], blood magic, and demons, and what trips her up is other characters constantly undermining and sabotaging her efforts and then blaming her for them not working out ([[spoiler:particularly Marethari ''choosing'' to let the demon possess her behind Merrill's back, and then Merrill getting blamed for said choice]]). A few even point out that nothing bad ever came from her blood magic and dealing with demons, but because of Marethari's inference and disregarding her duties as a keeper. She may have too much confidence in her abilities, but her issue stems from other characters not having enough confidence in her abilities.

*** There's a pretty significant hatedom that perceives Merrill as a clueless, arrogant, ditzy, stubborn idiot who excels at screwing up (particularly how she handles [[spoiler:the Eluvian, which can ultimately lead to her ''entire clan dying'' for what is, essentially, reclaiming tradition for tradition's sake)]]. Her attitude towards blood magic and ''especially'' demons fuels this side's hatred even more. On the flip side, her fans tend to find her more clueless and ditzy moments [[TheCutie sweet, funny, and endearing]], and believe that acting ditzy doesn't make her any [[GeniusDitz less intelligent]] or [[BunnyEarsLawyer capable]] at [[BadassBookworm what she does]]. And while most would agree Merrill can be too prideful for her own good, her fans believe that she has a strong grasp on the dangers of [[spoiler: the Eluvian]], blood magic, and demons, and what trips her up is other characters constantly undermining and sabotaging her efforts and then blaming her for them not working out ([[spoiler:particularly Marethari ''choosing'' to let the demon possess her behind Merrill's back, and then Merrill getting blamed for said choice]]). A few even point out that nothing bad ever came from her blood magic and dealing demons, but because of Marethari's inference and disregarding her duties as a keeper. She may have too much confidence in her abilities, but her issue stems from other characters not having enough confidence in her abilities.

*** There's a pretty significant hatedom that perceives Merrill as a clueless, arrogant, ditzy, stubborn idiot who excels at screwing up (particularly how she handles [[spoiler:the Eluvian, which can ultimately lead to her ''entire clan dying'' for what is, essentially, reclaiming tradition for tradition's sake)]]. Her attitude towards blood magic and ''especially'' demons fuels this side's hatred even more. On the flip side, her fans tend to find her more clueless and ditzy moments [[TheCutie sweet, funny, and endearing]], and believe that acting ditzy doesn't make her any [[GeniusDitz less intelligent]] or [[BunnyEarsLawyer capable]] at [[BadassBookworm what she does]]. And while most would agree Merrill can be too prideful for her own good, her fans believe that she has a strong grasp on the dangers of [[spoiler: the Eluvian]], blood magic, and demons, and what trips her up is other characters constantly undermining and sabotaging her efforts and then blaming her for them not working out ([[spoiler:particularly Marethari ''choosing'' to let the demon possess her behind Merrill's back, and then Merrill getting blamed for said choice]]); she may have too much confidence in her abilities, but her issue stems from other characters not having enough confidence in her abilities.

** As a subset of this, Grand Cleric Elthina is clearly supposed to come across as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure desperately trying to keep things together and failing despite valiant efforts; but her constant talk about compromise while both sides pile up the atrocities, without her ever really specifying exactly what "compromise" would entail, makes her behavior come off as HeadInTheSandManagement that borders on being StupidNeutral at worst. Now, to be fair to Elthina, the Templars have an outsized amount of power in Kirkwall -- despite Elthina outranking Meredith, it's strongly suggested that she can't actually control her or her men. However, Elthina's behavior doesn't look like trying and failing in the face of a stronger and more ruthless opponent, but rather like not trying at all.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: This game is a poster child for this mentality, and many feel that the writing veered into overdone melodrama.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** Those who don't romance Merrill usually pair her with Carver, who flirts with her during the game.
** Plenty of fans ignore the fact that Varric isn't a romance option and pair him with their Hawke.
*** Many non-mage players alternately ship him with Bethany, with whom he is shown to have considerable ShipTease.

*** More people disliked the later revelation in ''ComicBook/ThoseWhoSpeak'' that [[spoiler:she threw slaves overboard to drown in order to save herself]], considering it a MoralEventHorizon that casts UnfortunateImplications on her potential relationship with Fenris. Others argue that plenty of other party members have done horrible things and that the particular dislike of Isabela is based on her being "competition" for Fenris.

** Some also call the Elven Fanatic in "Blackpowder Courtesy" 'Mara,' after the story of Naomi who was driven to bitterness after losing her family, since she's driven to fanaticism from losing her family to the Qun. (WordOfGod is that Thedosian city elves are based on Medieval Jews.)

** [[spoiler: Orsino]] is either a good man who did horrible things out of desperation, or a BitchInSheepsClothing. Further complicated by him acting differently depending on which ending you take. Then there's his involvement with [[spoiler: Quentin]].

** Even Snarky Hawke falls prey to this. Are they just an unambiguously [[BigGood heroic]] figure that had no desire for power, or a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob whose continued refusal to take a position of authority meant they were content to sit back and watch while Meredith practically turned Kirkwall into a police-state?

** Aveline is supposed to be a likable, moral woman trying to do in her best to bring order and safety to a corrupt city, and who's sometimes in a tough spot between law and order vs justice and friendship. However, sometimes her actions don't line up with this. For example, when she acts like [[spoiler:two elves who murdered a guardsman for raping their sister are somehow huge villains and the Qunari sheltering them is the worst thing ever, despite the brothers pointing out that they tried to report the incident yet got turned away, which Aveline [[NonAnswer doesn't deny]] before condemning the ''elven brothers'' for their actions]]. Or during the quest "Prime Suspect", about Emeric's investigations, Aveline will ask Hawke to keep him quiet because he's "embarrassing" the city guard by pursuing the disappearances, which makes it seem like she cares more about her organization's reputation than the missing women. She's also shown to put her guards' safety over civilians in other cases, such as keeping her patrols away from particularly dangerous alleyways, which begs the question of how safe she thinks those same alleyways are for regular civilians, and what the guards are even for if not to protect civilians? Some also take issue with her blocking Carver's effort to join the City Guard; there are those who see her as making the right call, while others accuse her of being a HolierThanThou {{Hypocrite}} since they served in the same Ferelden Army and arrived on the same refugee boat (and she later shielded a guard accused of much worse) -- not to mention [[UngratefulBastard ingratitude]] since she wouldn't have gotten into the city ''at all'' without him and his family. Her VitriolicBestBuds dynamic with Isabela can also sometimes go too far -- it's clearly meant to be the funny kind of mean and Isabela always gives as good as she gets, but sometimes there's just too much SlutShaming and it crosses the line into just regular mean, which can be tough to hear.