History YMMV / DragonAgeOrigins

* MemeticMutation: She disapproves of everything. ''Everything''. [Morrigan Disapproves -30]. BioWare made a shirt about it.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Leliana's musical number, pretty though it is, has only the pretext of having visited a Dalish camp, and the Warden cannot mention it after.

* TheWoobie: He [[AngstWhatAngst doesn't consider himself one]], but you are likely to have a different opinion on the matter after hearing his backstory.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: He is either an unforgivable traitor who deserves to die or a misguided and ultimately tragic figure. He was clearly plotting treason during the leadup to the battle at Ostagar, but the consequences were drastically out of proportion to his original plans. It's also possible he did not realize that his plan to take over as ruler of the country in order to protect it would have the results it did. He shows contempt for some of the actions his followers take, such as Howe hiring an assassin to deal with the main characters.

* DracoInLeatherPants: While there ''are'' a lot of indications that Loghain is a WellIntentionedExtremist who [[NecessarilyEvil did what he thought he had to]] in order to protect Ferelden, some of his fans refuse to believe he's a villain at all and insist that he is still a hero who never did anything wrong.
* TheUntwist: Of course he's a bad guy! Pale, with black hair, and ominous music? The only way he could have been more evil looking would have been if he was cackling, had a handlebar mustache, and his armor was black and spiky.

* [[spoiler:KickTheSonOfABitch: Even if you're not a Human Noble, killing him is still very satisfying. The City Elf gets a special mention as well, since it's their Alienage that gets culled at Howe's order.]]

* MemeticMutation: For some reason, Bann Teagan's interest in women who aren't human has Flanderized him in the eyes of the Fandom into an erotica collecting, AnythingThatMoves Captain Kirk-like figure.

* HesJustHiding: Reinforced by how [[NeverFoundTheBody his body is not present]] in ''Return To Ostagar.''

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: His reaction after he learns he's supposed to drink darkspawn blood and after he watches Daveth die horribly from doing so. Unfortunately for him, Duncan doesn't give him the option of walking away.

** The "Paragon of her Kind" questline in Orzammar gets a lot of flack for this. The gauntlet through the Deep Roads drags on for quite a long time, rivaling perhaps the entirety of the mage and elf questlines combined.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The Templars. They are either [[KnightTemplar fanatics]] [[ChurchMilitant who]] are mercilessly hunting down innocent mages or [[KnightInShiningArmor protectors]] of mages and non-mages alike. Interestingly enough, it's a combination of both of those. Some Templars are in the business because they don't trust magic or its users, and want to be within sword's reach if they so much as smell trouble, while others are genuinely looking out for the mages, serving more as a secret service for the Circle than anything else, and either might have the personality trait of "nice guy" or "religious nutjob". Additionally the inescapable Lyrium addiction that comes with being a Templar eventually causes paranoia and mild dementia, which doesn’t help those who are already bigoted or insane. Made even worse by Alistair’s mention that he’s not even sure the Lyrium is at all necessary and may be just the Chantry’s way of keeping them on a leash. There are perhaps fortunate implications for the Templars in that the reasonable members tend to be high ranking members, while the religious nutjobs tend to be low ranking members.

** Loghain. When you finally face him, he's actually not even a Boss, just an Elite. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] explanation for this is that [[spoiler:a Boss-ranked Loghain would be way overpowered if you recruited him into your party]], but it's still kind of jarring to discover that the most feared warrior in Ferelden is actually a weaker combatant than his Rogue sidekick.

** After going through so much hell to get your preferred candidate on the throne in Orzammar, the fight against his opponent is laughably easy; just a bunch of normal enemies, and you even have a lot of help.
* ArcFatigue: The "Paragon of her Kind" questline in Orzammar gets a lot of flack for this. The gauntlet through the Deep Roads drags on for quite a long time, rivaling perhaps the entirety of the mage and elf questlines combined.
* BaseBreaker: Jowan, Anora, and Loghain all have ardent supporters and detractors within the fandom.

** Leliana's musical number, pretty though it is.
** The {{random encounter}} that is essentially a medieval version of Franchise/{{Superman}}'s origin. (This is seen only in the ''Warden's Keep'' DLC.)

* DemonicSpiders:
** Almost a literal example with the spiders, who can web members of your party and attack you while you're helpless.
** Drakes are quite deadly, as they can stun the entire party by roaring, use an almost certainly fatal Overwhelm attack (and are very difficult to stun), and have large amounts of HP.
** Ogres can be this when they're not bosses, as they possess an area of effect knockdown ability and can grab people. They also have a charge ability that knocks down a single target, does massive damage and has almost no cooldown time. When an ogre starts spamming it at a single character, it can get rather frustrating.

** After [[spoiler:the Landsmeet]], the amount of bugs, some of them [[GameBreakingBug game breaking]], seems to skyrocket.
** The worst of these is probably the one that has Alistair acting like he is king, and everyone else thinking he is king, when he '''isn't'''. Thank goodness for bugfixing mods that remedy this, though. [[SarcasmMode Luckily, this isn't the case with ''Awakening'', which stays consistently buggy throughout the entire game.]]

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Finn and Ariane, the two companions from the ''Witch Hunt'' DLC, were incredibly well liked by players.

** Bann Teagan has many admirers in the fandom, chiefly because of the way he seems to flirt with female Wardens and especially a female Human Noble Warden. Doesn't hurt that he's a lot younger and hotter than his brother the Arl, either.

** Almost all DLC gear tends to be some sort of this.
*** The Power of Blood abilities from Warden's Keep even more so.
** Rogues can be quite deadly, as well. Sure, they may be set up as a FragileSpeedster or GlassCannon, but stuff enough points into dexterity, get the right equipment, outfit yourself with some Evasion and spell resistance runes, and you will be [[NighInvulnerable virtually invulnerable]]. You may solo ''[[BonusBoss The Harvester]]'' on Hard this way. ''Including'' his legion of EliteMooks.

** [[spoiler: In the final battle with [[BigBad the Archdemon]] there are a few ballistae nearby. Going up to them will aim them at the Archdemon if it's close enough. Mashing the ballista fire button does a small amount of damage to the Archdemon, but every time it is hit, it has to go through its hit animation. That means that due to the great firing rate of the ballistae, you can hit the Archdemon with it until it dies, slowly chipping away at its health as it can do nothing about it. If it flies away, just go to another ballista closer to it. The only real threat is the other darkspawn, but your other party members and your army can deal with them easily. The ballistae do jam up if you use them too many times, but can be repaired by a Rogue, as it becomes a "trap".]]

** It's possible to double your attribute point increases with the Fade Essence Fonts, improving the experience of what for many is a ScrappyLevel. One particular Essence of Cunning can yield a whopping 10 point increase with very rapid right-clicking. The fonts can all be abused in some manner, resulting in potentially twenty or more points... each. Apparently, one player has gotten [[UpToEleven up to a hundred]] off a single font.
** One sidequest leads your PC to an abandoned, haunted orphanage in the Elven Alienage. A rare glitch can lock you in a windowless room all by your lonesome, complete with blood on the floors and a corpse in the corner. To make matters worse, the background music for this area is made up of children screaming, a sound that persists even if the game is paused. You will have to reset to an earlier save, but your immersion will be amped {{up to eleven}}.

* HilariousInHindsight: The fact that a Dwarf Noble player warden can choose to support Bhelen [[spoiler:after he forcibly got the player exiled in the Origin story by pinning the death of their eldest brother on the player (or tricking the two into a death-duel)]] is incredibly awkward and downright ironic.

* InternetBackdraft: The Sex and Violence marketing campaign, the {{DLC}} and the fact that [[spoiler:Alistair and Leliana]] may be romantically involved in '' the [[AlternateUniverse Darkspawn Chronicles]].''

** Even the developers hated the line "Can I get you a ladder, so you can get off my back?", just because you hear it so often.

** Let's just say you'll most likely enjoy the thought at gutting Arl Howe and Bann Vaughnn like pigs when you get the chance, regardless of chosen Origin. The endgame is no picnic either, particularly for [[spoiler:non-human female [=PCs=] who are romancing Alistair.]]

* PortingDisaster: ''Edge Magazine'''s view on the console versions. Most other publications were less dramatic about the console versions being easier for a more casual audience (IGN even listed it as a plus in its video review). Other specific changes include each difficulty mode in the console versions being "bumped down" (ex. Normal on the console versions is equivalent to Easy on the PC version) and battles where enemies spawn in waves, such as the defense of Redcliffe, will have smaller waves in the console version (though this could be justified with how consoles have significantly less powerful hardware than [=PCs=]).
** Inverted with the sequel, though.
** The real PortingDisaster comes from the game's bugginess and how consoles get crappy, delayed patches while PC gamers get official patches soon enough and unofficial fixes almost the same day the bug is introduced. (Yes, Bioware's DAO patches often ''introduce'' bugs.)
* TheScrappy:
** Datlin. His sole purpose is to move the plot by being an arrogant idiot and doing exactly the wrong thing everyone knows he shouldn't do.

** The dwarf questline simply because it drags on for quite awhile.

*** Curse of Mortality; it WILL piss you off when you begin to wonder why a character in your party simply refuses to regain health, especially if you're new to the game. A party member gets hit with this continuous spell and for a certain amount of time they will be unable to regenerate, receive heals, or drink potions to regain health. Most of the time your forced to either continuously move the cursed member around the battlefield avoiding damage until the curse wears off...or you just let the character die, and either use revive on him or finish the fight with just the remaining party members.
*** Fireball, not only is it a powerful area of effect spell that takes out a chunk of your health if it hits, but it can possibly knock ALL your party members to the ground while receiving fire damage overtime after the initial impact of the Fireball spell; meaning your groups health will be gone almost instantly before you can even begin to react properly. The spell has been known to cause just as many group wipes as the Chain Lightning example above

** The Broodmother. Since she can't move away from her spot, you think she'd be easy as pie. Well, you're dead wrong. She'll make you die over and over again, unless you level yourself up with at least three levels.

** Nugs. Kind of like a cross between a rabbit, a pig, and mole, hairless and beady-eyed, and make these adorable little squeaks.

* UncannyValley: When mages activate combat magic with a certain talent equipped (the top tier talent for arcane warriors, meaning one you ''will'' use later on), the eyes and mouth are visible from the back of their head.

** Ruck.
* WoobieSpecies: After the elves had their homeland invaded, were enslaved, freed, had their homeland invaded again, and now are either second class citizens or living in the forest, with uneasy relations with humans, it's hard not to pity the elves.
** Though their descendants certainly suffer greatly, it is heavily implied that the attacks on the Dales were not unprovoked. We're talking kidnapping human villages for blood sacrifices here. But, as always, no one in Thedas knows the truth, no matter how much they insist otherwise.

* MemeticMutation: He is the ButtMonkey of the party and his liking of cheese has been built up to ridiculous levels - despite him only mentioning cheese perhaps three times within the game.
** NeverLiveItDown: David Gaider himself thinks the fans have kind of run away with the cheese jokes.
* TheScrappy: Alistair has a small but notable hatedom that is divided in its motivation; part of it comes from backdraft from his MrFanservice status from people who aren't ardent Alistair/[=FemWarden=] shippers. Part of it comes from him dumping the [=FemWarden=] if she makes him king and doesn't take the steps necessary for him to take her as his queen/mistress. Part of it comes from the opinion, justified or not, that he unfairly puts the weight of saving the world on your shoulders, expects you to do the job without complaining (whether you chose to be a Grey Warden or not, regardless of whatever personal tragedy you went through prior to Joining), and then decides to RageQuit if you opt to give Loghain a chance at redemption instead of taking his head off.
** In fact, right after you meet him he asks you if you wanted to be a Grey Warden. If you answer "No. I still don't want to be one," then it's -10 Disapproval. Any criticism of the Grey Wardens or Duncan will get him upset. Well, up until the Landsmeet, anyway; if Alistair's superior in the Grey Wardens, Riordan, backs your character on the decision to spare Loghain, then Alistair will completely flip his shit and tell Riordan how wrong he is. So from Alistair's point of view, ''you'' have no right to criticize the Wardens or complain, but ''he'' does.

* TheWoobie: An orphan, shipped off to the Chantry by his guardian because his wife was suspicious that the child was his bastard, has a sister he's never met [[spoiler:who turns out to be a total money-grubbing bitch that blames him for their mother's death]], has spent most of his life unhappily resigned to his fate as a Templar - to the point that he prayed Duncan would pick him to become a Grey Warden - and the only time he was actually happy since childhood were the past six months with the other Wardens. [[spoiler:Oh, and he happens to be the bastard son of King Maric, which has affected all his life, because people either coddled him or sneered at him. If not hardened, he really resents being put on the throne, which he never wanted, becoming a reluctant, though popular, king. If hardened and crowned, he comes to accept things and becomes a very good king.]] A big part of his incredible loyalty to the Warden stems from the fact that the Grey Wardens are truthfully the only family Alistair has ever had, and the Warden is the only other surviving member of the group.

* AngstWhatAngst: When you talk to him after completing the quest to locate his wife Branka, he's remarkably nonchalant about [[spoiler:having been forced to kill her after finding out she'd gone crazy and turned into monster willing to send friends and loved ones to AFateWorseThanDeath in pursuit of her ambitions]].
** When you first ask him if he misses Orzammar, he'll scoff at the notion, saying that he was treated like crap there and the surface has much more to offer him (such as better ale). When you ask him again after raising his affection level, he will admit that despite all that he is still a bit homesick. Still pretty cheerful though.
** Taking him to the Guardian, however, implies that he really isn't taking any of his problems as well as he outwardly shows.
* TheWoobie: Take him along to the Gauntlet when looking for the Urn of Sacred Ashes. His answer to the guardian should be proof enough of this trope. (Also one should note, in case you haven't picked up on it by now, that almost every character on this list is some combination of Woobie and DeadpanSnarker.)

[[WMG:'''Shale''']]

* AngstWhatAngst: [[spoiler:Was effectively ''tortured to death'' in order to be made into a golem. Despite the NightmareFuel inherent in being trapped in a stone construct while ''boiling liquid'' is poured on top of you, ''then'' being hammered into shape, Shale never mentions or complains about this fate - possibly because there's no memory of it. Still, you'd expect Shale to be ''angry'' about this upon learning it.]]
** Still, if you [[spoiler:decide not to destroy the Anvil of the Void, she will turn on you; she may not be tormented by what happened to her, but she feels strongly that it should not happen again]]
** [[spoiler: In fairness, Shale ''volunteered'' to be turned into a Golem, even knowing full well what the process involved. The fact she ''still'' went through with it is why Caridin calls her one of the bravest Dwarven women he has even known.]]

* MemeticMutation: Sten's stony expression found its way onto imageboards as a way to [[http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7614/stendisapproves.jpg express disapproval]].

* MemeticMutation: She disapproves of everything. ''Everything''.
** [Morrigan Disapproves -30]. BioWare made a shirt about it.
* TheScrappy: Also has a fairly sizable hatedom, comparable to Alistair's. Likewise, its motivation is varied, largely being based on her memetic disapproval and StupidEvil alignment, general bitchy attitude, and what not. On the other side, there's a camp that sees her and Flemeth as a SpotlightStealingSquad, taking up too much of a story they think should be focused on the Wardens fighting the darkspawn.
** Put it this way: People hate her so much that someone made a mod where you can slap her any time you want.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Her song.
** To be fair, she ''is'' a bard; it's not that out of place.

* LesYay: Listen to her talk about her past with Marjolaine and see for yourself. Also one exchange between her and Morrigan, which also doubles as a CrowningMomentOfFunny:
-->'''Leliana''': You are very beautiful, Morrigan.
-->'''Morrigan''': Tell me something I do not know.
-->'''Leliana''': But you always dress in such rags. It suits you, I suppose. A little tear here, a little rip there to show some skin. I understand.
-->'''Morrigan''': You understand I lived in a forest, I hope?
-->'''Leliana''': Maybe we could get you in a nice dress one day. Silk. No, maybe velvet. Velvet is heavier, better to guard against the cold in Ferelden. Dark red velvet, yes. With gold embroidery. It should be cut low in the front of course, [[BuxomIsBetter we don't want to hide your features]].
-->'''Morrigan''': [[LesYay Stop looking at my breasts like that. 'Tis most disturbing!]]
-->'''Leliana''': You don't think so? And if it's cut low in the front we must put your hair up to show off that lovely neck.
-->'''Morrigan''': You are ''insane''! I would sooner let ''Alistair'' dress me!
-->'''Leliana''': It'll be fun, I promise! We'll get some shoes too! Ah, shoes! We could go shopping together!

* AngstWhatAngst: His past is possibly the darkest of the companions, but he takes everything in stride and apparently lives for the day. [[spoiler:Arguably a subversion, however, in that deliberate levity may be his way of dealing with that past.]]
* MemeticMutation: [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya "My name is Zevran Arainai.]] [[YouKilledMyFather You stole my salsa. ]][[Film/ThePrincessBride Prepare to die."]]
** "We are '''ridiculously''' awesome."

* DracoInLeatherPants: While there ''are'' a lot of indications that Loghain is a WellIntentionedExtremist who [[NecessarilyEvil did what he thought he had to]] in order to protect Ferelden, some of his fans refuse to believe he's a villain at all and insist that he is ''still'' a hero who ''never'' did anything wrong. There are many who ship him with a female Cousland Warden. Y'know, the Couslands, whom Arl Howe murdered, and then Loghain ''promoted'' him after?

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[spoiler:The tidbits you find in the ''Return to Ostagar'' DLC reveal that Cailan was far more politically savvy than virtually anyone thought. His bravado and seemingly nonchalant attitude may well have been a front.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some see her as a strong queen determined to maintain her throne who was unwilling to believe that Loghain was truly evil because he's her father, and that she is ultimately determined to do what's best for Ferelden; she joins the Grey Warden on her own initiative, and her doubt in Alistair's ability to be a good king is quite frankly well justified, what with him being illegitimate, having no previously demonstrated leadership skills, and not even wanting the throne in the first place. Support her and let her father find redemption, and she's even willing to marry a male human noble Grey Warden.
** On the other hand, ''reject'' her and watch her abandon you at the Landsmeet and switch back to supporting her father, even at the exact moment that doing so would only risk prolonging Ferelden's civil war. Anora wants what's best for Ferelden so long as that still includes her being in power and no danger to herself.
*** Considering that she seems ''surprised'' [[spoiler:when she finally finds out Alistair isn't going to kill her after taking the throne, she may think she has a good reason for betraying the party if they refuse to support her.]]
* {{Narm}}: Her RousingSpeech. In contrast to Alistair's more steady diction, Anora uses a screeching, halting voice when rallying the troops at Denerim.
* TheScrappy: Besides the ChronicBackStabbingDisorder and UngratefulBastard tendencies, she threw the Warden (and Alistair, if he was there) under the bus by claiming they were there to kidnap her. When your remaining party members get back to the base with her, she only seems interested in rescuing ''you'', not Alistair (the only other real threat to her rule) and brushes off whoever attempts to call her out for betraying you with a "that's not important." It's almost like she was designed to be as irritating as possible to work with.

* [[spoiler:KickTheSonOfABitch: Even if you're not a Human Noble, killing him is still very satisfying. The City Elf gets a special mention as well, since it's ''his/her'' Alienage that gets culled at Howe's order.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: He appears to be a standard ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but it's also fairly clear that [[spoiler:he wants Alistair on the throne so he can have strong influence over a ruler.]] The ''Return to Ostagar'' DLC reveals that [[spoiler:he was pushing Cailan to dump his wife due to his fears that Anora is barren.]]

** There's also his reaction if the Warden manages to persuade [[spoiler: Alistair and Anora to marry]]. The Warden can point out that he doesn't seem pleased, to which he will say he's simply shocked that the Warden was able to do it. While he might be telling the truth about that, it also seems possible that he doesn't like the idea of [[spoiler: king Alistair having a strong, clever, politically experienced wife who would be fully capable of ruling Ferelden and advising Alistair without any assistance/influence from Eamon]].

* TheScrappy: To almost everyone, particularly due to her voice and the fact that she [[spoiler:not only plays a large role in what happened to Redcliffe, but does not acknowledge her mistakes]]. The fact that she's also something of a KarmaHoudini doesn't help. Usually, this is a toss-up between her and Anora.

** [[WordOfGod David Gaider confirmed that Duncan is dead.]] However, [[DeathOfTheAuthor no one cares]].

** In the sequel, importing a Dalish Warden has Merrill mention Duncan and his epic beard. She'd never seen human facial hair before and at first was under the impression [[CloudCuckooLander a squirrel was attacking his face]].

** In fact, right after you meet him he asks you if you wanted to be a Grey Warden. If you answer "No. I still don't want to be one," then it's -10 Disapproval. Any criticism of the Grey Wardens or Duncan will get him upset. Well, up until the Landsmeet, anyway; if Alistair's superior in the Grey Wardens, Riordan, backs your character on a certain decision, then Alistair will completely flip his shit and tell Riordan how wrong he is. So from Alistair's point of view, ''you'' have no right to criticize the Wardens, but ''he'' does.

* CompleteMonster: It even has [[Monster/DragonAge its own subpage.]]

** The Broodmother. Since she can't move away from her spot, you think she'd be easy as pie. Well, you're dead wrong. She'll make you die over and over unless you level yourself up at least three levels.

** The {{random encounter}} that is essentially a medieval version of {{Superman}}'s origin. (This is seen only in the ''Warden's Keep'' DLC.)

* MemeticMutation: Morrigan disapproves. [[hottip:source:Morrigan disapproves of a lot of things...including taking sidequests.]]
* MissedMomentOfAwesome: If you're playing the Human Noble origin. [[spoiler:Fergus Cousland showing up, alive and well, to find that his little brother or sister is not only alive but the Hero of Ferelden and possibly about to become Queen or Prince Consort]]? Anyone with siblings knows there should have been happy tears and lots of hugging.]]

** NPCS that screw the player over in their respective origin stories can usually get on a players nerves; wanting to kill them later on for their ill actions. The examples being:
*** Prince Bhelen [[spoiler:for ripping the Dwarf Noble player's whole family apart to take the throne for himself.]]
*** Rendon Howe [[spoiler:for catching the Cousland's off-guard; killing off everyone in the estate but the Human Noble player and the brother who was MIA at the time of the attack.]]
*** Vaughan Kendells [[spoiler:for being a spoiled woman abuser towards the elves of the Denerim Alienage; including a Female City Elf player.]]

* TheScrappy: Datlin. His sole purpose is to move the plot by being an arrogant idiot and doing exactly the wrong thing everyone knows he shouldn't do.

** In the sequel, importing a Dalish Warden has Merrill mention Duncan and his epic beard. She'd never seen human facial hair before and at first was under the impression [[CloudCuckooLander he'd trained a squirrel to hang from his chin]].

* MemeticBadass: Taking out a room full of ogres and darkspawn had such an impact on the fandom, it led to a somewhat similar case in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII.''

** Misdirection Hex, while entirely useful on enemies, is infuriating when on the player, as it causes all normal hits to be misses, and all critical hits to be normal hits.
** Chain Lightning which can be a [[TotalPartyWipe game-ender]] if your party members are standing close together.
** Crushing Prison which is likely to be an extremely slow-acting [[OneHitKill death sentence]] if it's targeted at a mage; especially if it's your group healer.
** Curse of Mortality; it WILL piss you off when you begin to wonder why a character in your party simply refuses to regain health, especially if you're new to the game. A party member gets hit with this continuous spell and for a certain amount of time they will be unable to regenerate, receive heals, or drink potions to regain health. Most of the time your forced to either continuously move the cursed member around the battlefield avoiding damage until the curse wears off...or you just let the character die, and either use revive on him or finish the fight with just the remaining party members.
** Fireball, not only is it a powerful area of effect spell that takes out a chunk of your health if it hits, but it can possibly knock ALL your party members to the ground while receiving fire damage overtime after the initial impact of the Fireball spell; meaning your groups health will be gone almost instantly before you can even begin to react properly. The spell has been known to cause just as many group wipes as the Chain Lightning example above

** The {{random encounter}} that turns out to be a medieval version of {{Superman}}'s origin. (This is seen only in the ''Warden's Keep'' DLC.)

* CriticalResearchFailure: Characters use health poultices by drinking them.

** The worst of these is probably the one that has Alistair acting like he is king, and everyone else thinking he is king, when he '''isn't'''. Thank goodness for bugfixing mods that remedy this, though. [[SarcasmMode Luckily this isn't the case with ''Awakening'', which stays consistently buggy throughout the entire game.]]
** The ''Witch Hunt'' DLC, which is considered the last part of the ''Origins'' storyline, gets flack for being this. Aside from the unique boss fight against the Varterral, it's a boring linear run through areas you should of already come across in past content; in addition to being forced to travel along with two random companions (and your dog). Finally, the Morrigan conversation at the end of the DLC ends up solving nothing and ends with even more questions unanswered.

** [[spoiler: In the final battle with [[BigBad the Archdemon]] there are a few ballistas nearby. Going up to them will aim them at the Archdemon if it's close enough. Mashing the ballista fire button does a small amount of damage to the Archdemon, but every time it is hit, it has to go through its hit animation. That means that due to the great firing rate of the ballista, you can hit the Archdemon with it until it dies, slowly chipping away at its health as it can do nothing about it. If it flies away, just go to another ballista closer to it. The only real threat is the other darkspawn, but your other party members and your army can deal with them easily. The ballista do jam up if you use them too many times, but can be repaired by a Rogue, as it becomes a "trap".]]

** One sidequest leads your PC to an abandoned, haunted orphanage in the Elven Alienage. A rare glitch can lock you in a windowless room all by your lonesome, complete with blood on the floors and a corpse in the corner. To make matters worse, the background music for this area is made up of children screaming, a sound that persists even if the game is paused. You will have to reset to an earlier save, but your immersion will be amped up to 11.

* HilariousInHindsight: The fact a Dwarf Noble player warden can choose to support Bhelen [[spoiler:after he forcibly got the player exiled in the Origin story by pinning the death of their eldest brother on the player (or tricking the two into a death-duel)]] is incredibly awkward and downright ironic.
** Ser Bryant in Lothering tells a mage Warden that he'd be a pretty lousy templar if he couldn't tell they were a mage. VideoGame/DragonAgeII rolls around, and it seems he somehow completely failed to notice his apostate neighbors Malcolm and Bethany Hawke.

** Wynne: Either defiling the Urn or killing the Circle of Magi (though you can side with the Templar after defeating Uldred and all except for her will be locked up in the tower).

* ThatOneBoss: T
** he Harvester. A FlunkyBoss...that summons other Boss-level enemies as his flunkies.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The Templars. They are either [[KnightTemplar fanatics]] [[ChurchMilitant who]] are mercilessly hunting down innocent mages or [[KnightInShiningArmor protectors]] of mages and non-mages alike. Interestingly enough, it's a combination of both of those. Some Templars are in the business because they don't trust magic or its users, and want to be within sword's reach if they so much as smell trouble, while others are genuinely looking out for the mages, serving more as a secret service for the Circle than anything else, and either might have the personality trait of "nice guy" or "religious nutjob".
** Additionally the inescapable Lyrium addiction that comes with being a Templar eventually causes paranoia and mild dementia, which doesn’t help those who are already bigoted or insane. Made even worse by Alistair’s mention that he’s not even sure the Lyrium is at all necessary and may be just the Chantry’s way of keeping them on a leash.
** There are perhaps fortunate implications for the Templars in that the reasonable members tend to be high ranking members, while the religious nutjobs tend to be low ranking members.
** The Architect brings the uncomfortable detail that [[TheHorde darkspawn]] are only AlwaysChaoticEvil because the taint doesn’t exactly give them a choice. Once awakened, they can be as morally varied as any other race (if with a somewhat higher predisposition towards insanity; being tainted and then awakened seems to be pretty hard on their mental stability). Following his argument, a good portion of the hordes slaughtered during every Blight could be perfectly decent people like the Messenger if they were just capable of choice, making them as much victims of the taint as anybody else.
* AngstWhatAngst: Sigrun is amazingly cheerful for someone from a caste called Legion of the Dead, and is promised to only pursue death for the rest of her life.

** After going through so much hell to get your preferred candidate on the throne in Orzamar, the fight against his opponent is laughably easy; just a bunch of normal enemies, and you even have a lot of help.
* ArcFatigue: The dwarf questline gets a lot of flack for this. The gauntlet through the Deep Roads drags on for quite a long time, rivaling perhaps the entirety of the mage and elf questlines combined.

* BrokenBase: ''Awakening'' either ruined Dragon Age forever, was a decent game that didn't have enough content for its $40 price tag, or was a great addition/conclusion to the story of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins.''
** The ''Witch Hunt'' DLC. Either it was a great ending to the ''Origins'' storyline, or it was a pointless DLC that not only solved nothing, but increased the amount of unanswered questions.

** Arl Rendon Howe, who is behind several mass murders and enjoys his ColdBloodedTorture enough to put his bedroom next to his torture chambers.
** Bann Vaughan, who makes up for his relatively short screen time by kidnapping everyone elf woman at a wedding to be raped for his own enjoyment.
** The Baroness from ''Awakening'', who bathed in the blood of the villagers' children, then cursed all of them to be trapped in the Fade after they burned her estate down, where they're constantly tormented and killed by demons only to be revived for more. And when the Warden confronts her about this, her response is to [[ItsAllAboutMe state that the villagers' lives were hers to do with as she pleased.]]

* DisappointingLastLevel: After [[spoiler:the Landsmeet]], the amount of bugs, some of them [[GameBreakingBug game breaking]], seems to skyrocket.

** In ''Awakening'' characters can choose a third specialization at level 22. This is unbelievably broken, given the fact that on the second playthrough...you can get two of the new (incredibly overpowered) specializations. (Even Keeper, which doesn't match up to Battlemage, the other new specialization, isn't bad when a player knows how to use it.)
*** The bonus specializations, gear, and abilities in ''Awakening'' themselves are usually unbelievable {{Game Breaker}}s. Accuracy, an archery talent, can make even magic seem slow to kill things. One example: you can buy a paint job for your shield with the emblem of the [[BadassArmy Legion of the Dead]]. Not particularly nice looking, but it gives a whopping +20 to all attributes. (This is apparently a bug that has remained unfixed except by unofficial mods, as every other heraldry adds only +3.) That's even more than it sounds. As a comparison, the Legion of the Dead heraldry adds a total of 120 ability points. If you max out your level at 35, you will get a total of 102 ability points from leveling up.

** It's possible to double your attribute point increases with the Fade Essence Fonts, improving the experience of what for many is a ScrappyLevel. One particular Essence of Cunning can yield a whopping 10 point increase with very rapid right-clicking.
*** Actually, it's even more broken than that. The fonts can all be abused in some manner, resulting in potentially twenty or more points... each. Apparently, one player has gotten [[UpToEleven up to a hundred]] off a single font.

** One bug in ''Awakening'' will allow you to max out your level before you even leave Vigil's Keep for the first time.
*** Another good bug in ''Awakening'': In the City of Amaranthine, the smuggler leader quest line can provide infinite gold. Perform the first two tasks, but refuse the third. Every time you go back, he'll repeat the conversation, Including the part where he gives you 15 gold.

* RecycledScript: ''Awakening''. Nathaniel's "Help me find my sister in that big city!" companion quest is similar to Alistair's, except it involves hugs, as opposed to bitterness and accusations.

** ReplacementScrappy: Many see Velanna as a replacement for Morrigan. Mostly for having the same hairstyle and "angry witch" demeanor. She has genuine [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] status without resembling Morrigan, anyway, for her utter hatred of humans, her willingness to kill any, innocent or no, that come across her path, but mostly for her tendency to treat anyone who treats her decently in spite of that like scum.
* ScrappyLevel: It's pretty much a universal agreement that no one likes doing the Fade puzzle during the Mage Tower quest after completing it the first time around. There's even been mods created to skip past this portion of the game entirely.

*** Misdirection Hex, while entirely useful on enemies, is infuriating when on the player, as it causes all normal hits to be misses, and all critical hits to be normal hits.
*** Chain Lightning which can be a [[TotalPartyWipe game-ender]] if your party members are standing close together.
*** Crushing Prison which is likely to be an extremely slow-acting [[OneHitKill death sentence]] if it's targeted at a mage; especially if it's your group healer.
*** Curse of Mortality; it WILL piss you off when you begin to wonder why a character in your party simply refuses to regain health, especially if you're new to the game. A party member gets hit with this continuous spell and for a certain amount of time they will be unable to regenerate, receive heals, or drink potions to regain health. Most of the time your forced to either continuously move the cursed member around the battlefield avoiding damage until the curse wears off...or you just let the character die, and either use revive on him or finish the fight with just the remaining party members.
*** Fireball, not only is it a powerful area of effect spell that takes out a chunk of your health if it hits, but it can possibly knock ALL your party members to the ground while receiving fire damage overtime after the initial impact of the Fireball spell; meaning your groups health will be gone almost instantly before you can even begin to react properly. The spell has been known to cause just as many group wipes as the Chain Lightning example above
* ThatOneBoss: The Harvester. A FlunkyBoss...that summons other Boss-level enemies as his flunkies.

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: There was a rumour (and rumour only) that if you do not [[spoiler: kill Flemeth]] in Morrigan's sidequest, the ending epilogue will state that [[spoiler: Morrigan was killed and possessed by Flemeth.]] Said rumor only ended when it was {{Jossed}} by the series' head writer.

* EvilIsSexy: Averted hard, an unusual case for a villain voiced by TimCurry.

* BribingYourWayToVictory: Many of the abilities and loot from the game's many add-ons are head-and-shoulders above all but the most elite gear from the base game. Examples include one of the strongest massive armors in the game (and surprisingly cheap), and a very effective mage-only nuke that [[CastFromHitPoints costs]] [[ScratchDamage a mere 20 hit points]] and no mana.

* CursedWithAwesome: If you're a Circle mage, and you survive the Harrowing, you're one of the most powerful and feared people in Thedas, able to alternately heal or slaughter people at will. Granted, there are some social [[MutantDraftBoard restrictions]], but they hardly compare to the PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER. Which is precisely why the Chantry employs an army of knights specifically trained and equipped to kill any mage who gets uppity about their near-slave status.
** Even worse for ''Qunari'' mages.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: So there's a gigantic church with a prophet betrayed by one of her closest disciples, of which the symbol of her death becomes the symbol of the religion, filled with Inquisitors and Templars, and in which only a specific sex can usually preside over church services.

* FanDisservice:
** [[spoiler:[[MsFanservice In spite of Morrigan otherwise looking pretty damn hot]] and the overall sexy factor, context makes the ritual (if you choose to go through with it) somewhat {{Squick}}y.]] It's also worse if you're [[spoiler:a female character and are romancing Alistair, in which case, ''he'' has to do the ritual - and the game forces you to watch (well, until it blacks out)]].
** Every Broodmother, up to and including ''The'' Mother, qualifies as in-universe disservice, as even the typically lecherous Oghren is {{Squick}}ed out by her.

* 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.

* MistakenForGay: Possibly for a female Warden. Gossips in ''Witch Hunt'' seem to think that the female Warden is gay/bisexual and something happened between her and Isabela, even if no such encounter took place and the Warden was played as completely straight or asexual.

* ThePornomancer: What many in the fandom believe him to be.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: He is polite, honorable, friendly, loyal, and trustworthy. And he is so prejudiced against the casteless you couldn't even call him a NobleBigotWithABadge.

* BrokenBase: ''Awakening'' either ruined Dragon Age forever, was a decent game that didn't have enough content for its $40 price tag, or was a great addition/conclusion to the story of ''DragonAge: Origins.''

* MemeticBadass: Taking out a room full of ogres and darkspawn had such an impact on the fandom, it led to a somewhat similar case in ''DragonAgeII.''

** Loghain. When you finally face him, he's actually not even a Boss, just an Elite. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] explanation for this is that [[spoiler:a Boss-ranked Loghain would be way overpowered if you recruited him into your party]], but it's still kind of jarring to discover that the most feared warrior in Ferelden is actually a weaker combatant than ** The Blood Mage Leader in "The Last Request." The quest itself is one of the hardest in the game, with room after room full of nothing but multiple mages partnered with multiple archers (the two toughest varieties of enemy in the game). Then you get to the end and it's just one mage and a couple of melee mooks (and the mage is easy enough to beat, since he's too stupid to stop [[CastFromHitPoints casting from hit points]] after you kill the guys he's using as HP batteries).

* AntiClimaxBoss: Loghain. When you finally face him, he's actually not even a Boss, just an Elite. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] explanation for this is that [[spoiler:a Boss-ranked Loghain would be way overpowered if you recruited him into your party]], but it's still kind of jarring to discover that the most feared warrior in Ferelden is actually a weaker combatant than his Rogue sidekick.