Characters / Dragon Age: Inquisition – Non-Playable Characters

Dragon Age Character Index
Dragon Age: Inquisition: The Inquisitor | The Inner Circle (Warriors | Mages | Rogues) | Multiplayer | Non-Playable Characters (The Inquisition | Antagonists | DLC Characters)
Dragon Age: Origins | Dragon Age II

---

The Chantry

Divine Justinia V

Divine Justinia V

Appears in: Leliana's Song | Asunder | Inquisition

Voiced by: Kath Soucie (Dragon Age: Origins - Leliana's Song), Ève Karpf (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

The head of the Chantry. She had been investigating the treatment of mages and possible alternatives prior to the rebellion, but traditions were too ingrained for her to make real change. She managed to convince both the mages and the Templars to attend a conclave at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, which was subsequently destroyed at the start of the third game.

---

• Anti-Hero: Leliana's personal quest, if you encourage her to be merciful, paints her in a more exploitative light, since she took advantage of both Leliana's skills as a bard and her Undying Loyalty to her personally to get her back into a line of work (spying, assassination) that she was desperately trying to escape. On the other hand, Justinia wanted her Left Hand to lay down her burdens once she had died. She wanted Leliana to move on.
• Ascended Extra: Originally, she was just a Chantry mother who freed Leliana from her cell in Leliana's Song. In Inquisition, she was Divine, the highest rank of the Chantry, and her death kicks off much of the conflict in the game, as well as serving as the focal point of Leliana's character arc.
• Cool Old Lady: The high priest of the Chantry, an advocate for mages' rights, and a fan of Varric's adventure serials. In The Last Court, it's revealed she's quite fond of Celestine Black wine, and drinks it liberally.
• Crazy-Prepared: The Inquisition was her backup plan should the Conclave fail. She had all the writs properly signed, and briefed her Hands on the contingency, in case she perished for whatever reason.
• Damsel in Distress: An old lady, but certainly a lady in peril.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Knocking the Orb out of Corypheus's hand probably saved Thedas right then and there. She gets another one where she leads the Herald out of the Fade and sacrifices herself to hold off the demons.
  • If the being you meet in the Fade really is her, instead of a spirit, she gets a third by blasting the Nightmare demon long enough to help you escape.
• Fangirl: According to party banter, the real reason Cassandra was bringing Varric to the Conclave to meet her was so that he could sign her copy of Hard in Hightown.
• Foil: To Marjolaine. Both women are central figures to Leliana's life who exploit her abilities and feelings in order to achieve their personal agenda. The difference is that Justinia taught Leliana that there was a life beyond violent revelry such as the Game. She also feared that she won't be any different from Marjolaine and thus wanted Leliana to move forward from the burdens of being her Left Hand. Meanwhile, Marjolaine taught Leliana the dangerous art of being a bard and clearly showed no regrets about her actions against her when confronted.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She and the Inquisitor escaped into the Fade, but when they found a rift out, there were nightmares approaching. She sacrificed herself so the Inquisitor could escape.
• Human Sacrifice: Corypheus tried to use her as a sacrifice as part of his plan to merge the Fade and the material world. When the future Inquisitor haplessly barges in on the ritual, Justinia seizes the moment and knocks the Orb from Coreypheus, and the ensuing mayhem causes the breach..
• Parental Substitute: There are pretty strong mother-daughter undertones in her relationship with Leliana, especially since she was the one who saved Leliana's life in Leliana's Song, and then mentored her in her life as a Sister in the Chantry. Leliana, in turn, shows total devotion to her. The spirit who impersonates her in the Nightmare's realm gives you one last message for Leliana: "I'm sorry; I failed you, too."
• Posthumous Character: The event that kills Divine Justinia is shown before the Inquisition even starts, so it stands to reason that she only appears in flashbacks. However, the flashbacks show that it wasn't the explosion itself that killed her; it just sent her to the Fade where she performed a Heroic Sacrifice to save the Inquisitor.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She is extremely sympathetic to the mage plight, but at the same time knows that full mage freedom could end up with a second Tevinter Imperium if not done carefully.
• Riddle for the Ages: Was it Justinia that the Inquisitor encounters in the Fade, or a Spirit of Faith? Or both?
• Silk Hiding Steel: She's the highest priest in the Andrastian Chantry, and beyond loving and caring. She'll sacrifice herself without hesitation to save the Herald, someone she doesn't even know, and wants Leliana to lay down her burdens. But she's also a political genius and a master of the Grand Game of Orlais.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She barely appears in Dragon Age: Inquisition, but aside from providing the divine writ authorizing the Inquisition's formation if not for her knocking the orb out of Corypheus's hand, he likely would have won then and there.

Chancellor Roderick Asignon

Chancellor Roderick Asignon

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Christopher Godwin

A man from the Chantry who came to the Conclave with the Seekers and the Divine. He dislikes the Inquisitor, and believes them responsible for the Breach.

---

• Big Damn Heroes: During the invasion of Haven, he attempts to save a villager from Red Templars or Venatori and is mortally wounded in the process; despite this, he still leads the denizens of Haven to safety via a secret passage after Corypheus attacks. It's likely that the number of casualties would have been far higher without his assistance.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has massive bushy eyebrows in comparison to other characters.
• Chekhov's Gun: He invokes this in dialogue about taking the Summer Pilgrimage. Everyone else who knew about the path he discovered died in the Conclave.
  Roderick: She must have shown me... Andraste must have shown me... so I could show you.
• Deadpan Snarker: Rare, but he does show the capacity for it.
  Cole: He tried to stop a Templar. The blade went deep. He is going to die.
  Roderick: What a... charming boy.
• Death Equals Redemption: After consistently antagonizing the Inquisition, he offers assistance when Haven comes under attack by the Elder One's forces, being mortally wounded in the process. He uses the last of his strength to direct the survivors to escape through a lost pilgrimage path that only he knows how to find (as the rest of those who knew died in the Conclave explosion). The coincidence of this makes him wonder if there really are divine forces aiding the Herald.
• Disaster Democracy: Despite the need for investigation and action now, he obstinately insists that everything gets held up until the Grand Clergy (what's left of it) can elect a new Divine.
• Harmless Villain: For all his bluster, he and the rest of the Chantry are incapable of impeding the Inquisition beyond a brief PR barrier.
• Hate Sink: He's designed to showcase the bad parts of the Chantry. He does gain redemption in the end.
• Irony: The man who is initially one of the most hostile and disbelieving people to the Inquisition and the Herald ultimately saves them all in their time of need.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cassandra insists that he isn't a bad person, per se, just absolutely terrified and woefully out of his depth due to everyone higher-ranking than him in the entire Chantry ending up dead. He's in a bad state of You Are in Command Now and doesn't know what to do - and there's no one he can ask - so he blusters a lot to try to bolster his own courage.
• Jerkass: Most of his dialogue is either blaming the Inquisitor for the Conclave explosion or belittling the very notion of the Inquisition existing.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While he undeniably acts like a complete dick, most of his objections regarding the Inquisitor and the Rift, at least early in the game, do make a certain amount of sense.
• My God, What Have I Done?: According to Cole, his last thoughts were regrets for how he treated the Herald, and wondering if his last act was enough to make up for it.
• Non-Action Guy: When compared to Cassandra and Leliana. He still picks up a sword and fights off either a Venatori or Red Templar, though he's mortally wounded in the process.
• Not Worth Killing: Cullen points out that his running at the mouth is insufficient reason to make him a martyr.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: His hat. When confronted with the fact that the Inquisitor saved many people, he still wants the Inquistor executed.
• Peaceful in Death: According to Cole, hearing "The Dawn Will Come" filled his heart with faith as he passed on. His only regret was that he did not support the Inquisition from the beginning.
• Pet the Dog: He engages in a bit of this during the last days of his life. He tells the Herald that he realizes that he might have been wrong about them, and adds that he will pray for them. According to Cole, he also at one point calls the spirit boy "a fine young man."
• You Are in Command Now: Everyone above him in the Chantry leadership died at the Conclave, leaving him as the highest ranking member alive. He's left distraught and unsure of his own authority, especially since the Chantry is explicitly matriarchal - meaning that he can't actually be in charge of it even if he wanted to be. He copes by trying to assert himself and by trying to get everyone to stick to established succession protocols, making him appear unreasonably obstructive to the Inquisition and the Inquisitor-to-be. Perceptive players may pick up on this by listening to his dialogue; he's never openly derisive or malacious towards the Inquisitor regardless of which race you choose, merely antagonistic, and his initial suspicion of the Inquisitor is not unwarranted, given that he wasn't there to witness the Inquisitor stabilizing the Breach. Overall, his attitude is more like that of an exasperated bureaucrat, desperately trying to restore order to a behaded organization and attain some semblance of stability before the entire thing falls apart, and doing it with extremely limited experience in the matter; his anger at the Inquisition isn't because they are defying his authority, but because he sees the Inquisition's formation as a sign of further schisms within the Chantry.

Mother Giselle

Mother Giselle

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Sara Powell

A Revered Mother from Orlais who came with the Divine, but did not go to the Conclave. After the explosion, she started tending to wounded refugees in the Hinterlands, not far from Redcliffe, and joins with the Inquisition to help gain some Chantry support in Val Royeaux.

---

• Armor-Piercing Question: When she confronts Dorian over "rumors" regarding his prescence in the Inquisition, one of the ways the Inquisitor can make her realize the hypocrisy of her actions is to ask one of these, through asking about the rumors themselves. To which she replies by saying she "[dares] not repeat them."
  Inquisitor: Repeat them? So you've shared them before?
  Giselle: I...see.
• Badass Pacifist: Giselle does not fight and has neither magic nor martial training. But she knows how to motivate and rally people, and managed to defy the entire Chantry in her backstory when Jader was overrun with refugees. However, she does note that the First Inquisition was rightfully brutal — which was fine with her because the Inquisition immediately disbanded after the crisis.
• Cincinnatus: She expects the Inquisitor to be one. In fact, she seems dismayed when a non-faithful Inquisitor reveals the truth behind the events at Haven as it validates their claim that what happened was merely coincidence and not a result of divine aid. Both of them can even go into a debate about logic and religious faith (see Logical Fallacies below), showing that in spite of the truth she still wants the Inquisitor to claim that they're the Maker's chosen.
  Inquisitor: ... And Andraste didn't send me: the figure everyone saw was Divine Justinia.
  Giselle: So it is as you have always maintained. You must feel quite vindicated.
  Inquisitor: Too many people look to the Maker to solve their problems. It’s never that easy.
  Giselle: You do a disservice to their faith, Inquisitor. Those who looked to the Maker never asked for a literal hand to stretch out of the Fade to protect them. They wanted a sign that in this harsh and unforgiving world, there existed some reason to hope. And they found that in you.
  Inquisitor: That’s a generous interpretation of things, Revered Mother. Do you think the world shares it? "Oh s/he wasn't literally sent by Andraste, but s/he's still the Herald metaphorically."
• Friend to All Living Things: Giselle shows little of the Fantastic Racism that permeates Thedas (except towards Tevinter, which is not unwarranted), and believes in welcoming elves, dwarves, and even the Qunari under the Chant. She's also quite pro-magic (for healing purposes at least) for a Chantry Member.
• Godwin's Law: At one point, she will even accuse an Inquisitor who refuses to accept the validity of faith-based interpretations (in favor of their own evidence-based beliefs) of being on par with Corypheus. (This is technically true, except the Inquisitor isn't wantonly murdering innocent people who disagree with them.)
• Good Counterpart: To Chancellor Roderick. Whereas he is (mostly) an ass, Giselle shows the nurturing and warm side of the Chantry that cares for people.
• Good Shepherd: A kindly priest who does nothing but tend to wounded refugees. This was true even in her backstory, as when she was given supplies from the Chantry to feed a refugee population, she was told to prioritize the clerics and Orlesians over Fereldans and elves. She instead had her priests fast while feeding all those in need.
• Hope Bringer: She almost single-handedly restores the people's faith in the Inquisition after Haven. We say "almost" because Solas then helps nurture the spark she created by leading you to Skyhold.
• Logical Fallacies: When debating religion with the Inquisitor, she will often employ these. The Inquisitor, at one point, can call her out on it and she will state that this is the problem with trying to explain faith to logical people. Justified, because her job and goal is to provide hope and guidance for people in the Darkest Hour, not further academia or study theology. Thus, whatever the person needs to hear at that moment is what she'll tell them.
• Moral Myopia: If a Dalish Inquisitor brings up the Exalted March against the Dales, Mother Giselle softens what the Chantry did by stating that by the time the Exalted March was called, the Elves had taken Montsimmard and sacked Val Royeaux, so "they were not innocent victims." She declines to mention the Dales and Orlais had been at war for years by that point, and Orlesian soldiers had done their own share of damage to the Dales. Of course, she also follows up with implying even then she does not approve of the March against the Dales, noting that the March was almost exclusively Orlesian in origin (though, granted, Orlais was pretty much most of the continent at that point in history) and that the will of the Maker should be spread "by example, not force."
• Ms. Exposition: After being recruited, she'll give history on the Chantry and the first Inquisition.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: She's very quick to point out how the Chantry's bigotry regarding elves, dwarves and men is simply political propaganda, not the truth of Andraste. She also asserts that Andraste's tenet, "Magic is to serve man, not rule him," certainly does not justify the Chantry's more draconian attitudes/actions towards mages.
  Giselle: We do not teach that magic is evil. We teach that pride is evil...and corrupts more than just mages.
• Nice Guy: About the only flaws the good Mother seems to possess are a slight disapproval of Dorian, for his libertine ways and Tevinter heritage, and some awkward attitudes regarding the Dalish. Her anti-Dorian sentiments doesn't get further than a few tame arguments and concerns about "rumors." In Trespasser, she even admits to being mistaken about him and wants to issue a public apology (because he would want an audience to see his reaction). Her attitude towards the Dalish is likely a factor of her profession - someone who's pledged her life to an expansionist religion is hardly going to start condemning her predecessors in the faith. To her credit, however, she does show subtle (if decidedly neutral — see Moral Myopia above) disapproval of the Exalted March against the Dales — the campaign that robbed the Dalish of their homeland of Halamshiral — with some not-so-subtle implications that she believes the entire affair was a political move orchestrated by Orlais, not a true religious crusade against heresy.
• Noble Bigot: Despite her otherwise broad tolerance for all other races and minorities, she is very suspicious of Tevinter (not unwarranted) and may even attempt to get you to kick out Dorian, though she only does this because she's afraid Dorian's presence in the Inquisition is feeding rumors that Tevinter is trying to exert some sort of influence on the Inquisitor through him (rather than, as might be assumed, because she disapproves of him being homosexual). She eventually apologizes for her assumptions.
  • It's impossible to find out unless the Inquisitor is Dalish and chooses a rather obscure dialogue option; but Mother Giselle's opinion of the Exalted March on the Dales is more neutral than one might hope, couching it as purely political despite its religious trappings and failing to denounce what came afterwards when she brings it up at all. The harshest criticism she offers is that it was controversial. Granted, it can be taken either way — while downplaying the damage it inflicted upon the Elves overall and being maddeningly neutral over the affair, she still seems disapproving of the idea that Orlais used the Exalted March as a political tool to take the Dalish homeland rather than a purely religious calling, and she notes that the word of the Maker is better spread by example rather than through force.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Much like Cassandra, the normally benevolent and open-minded Mother Giselle can become suddenly unsympathetic once elves come up. If the Dalish Inquisitor mentions that they wish more moderate voices like hers were around when the Chantry declared an Exalted March against the Dales, Giselle replies that by the time said Exalted March was held, the elves had sacked Val Royeaux. Furthermore, only Orlesian forces had responded to the call, so "it was not as bad as it might have been."
• Small Role, Big Impact: Her role in the main plot ends when you get to Skyhold, but her actions before then make everything afterward possible. She effectively sets up the Herald to be named Inquisitor, and seeing the survivors of the fall of Haven join her in song is what convinces Solas to lead the Inquisition to Skyhold.
• Small Steps Hero: When asked why she didn't try to change the Chantry, since she questions everything about it, she says that she thought it was more important to save lives.
• Song of Courage: After the destruction of Haven, Giselle rallies the hopes of the despondent Inquisition by singing a slow hymn. She sings the first verse by herself, but then Leliana, Cullen, and the rest of the Inquisition members gather, bowing to the Herald of Andraste.
• Team Mom: Revered Mother Giselle is the highest ranking Chantry priest serving in the Inquisition that actually carries out the typical duties of "tending the flock". When the Inquisition's advisers are arguing following the destruction of Haven, she is the one who smooths over tensions.
• Villains Never Lie: Discussed and defied. After reaching Skyhold, the Inquisitor can point out that what Corypheus says about entering the Black City and what the Chant of Light says are similar, but do not match completely. Giselle will remark that, while the Chantry is a tool of men and might have erred in speaking of it, that doesn't mean Corypheus is right and truthful. He might well be choosing to remember things in a manner more flattering to himself, or have confused memories after being sealed away for a thousand years.
• Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: If a Dalish Inquisitor brings up the Exalted March against the Dales, much like the rest of the Chantry, Mother Giselle responds that only Orlesian forces responded to the call, so "it was not as bad as it might have been." Cold comfort to a Dalish elf whose people are still homeless and face racial discrimination and religious persecution due to said March.
• Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": If an Elven Inquisitor claims they wish more moderate voices like hers were around during the Exalted March against the Dales, Mother Giselle harshly rebukes this, claiming that by the time the Exalted March was called, Orlais and the Dales had been at war for years, and the elves had sacked Val Royeaux. Plus only Orlais responded to the call, so it's not like they were "helpless victims," and "it was not as bad as it might have been."
• You Know I'm Black, Right?: While very accepting and open-minded, nearly everything she says is to preach Chantry rhetoric and Andrastian faith, even to non-human Inquisitors. A Dwarf, Vashoth, and even Dalish Inquisitor can frequently point out that they're not human/ Andrastian. Lavellan in particular can repeatedly tell her, "You know I worship elven gods, right?"

The Grey Wardens

Warden-Commander Clarel de Chanson

Warden-Commander Clarel de Chanson

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Katherine Pageon

"I stand against the Blight, and no man, no Inquisitor, and no magister will get in my way."

The Warden-Commander of Orlais who appears in the Adamant Fortress missions.

---

• Anti-Villain: She truly believes that the ritual is the only way to stop all future Blights. By the time she learns differently, dozens of Wardens have been killed. Her rage at Erimond is something to behold, worse because - as he points out - he barely needed to convince her.
• The Archmage: She was once an Enchanter in the Circle, and as a Grey Warden she has grown tremendously powerful, being capable of defeating Erimond with zero effort. Erimond also implies that she is the only one strong enough to bring Nightmare through the Fade rift.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: One does not become a Warden-Commander without being badass. She hands Erimond his ass in their fight.
• Badass Creed: She repeats the Grey Wardens' motto as she prepares to blast an Archdemon with lightning, despite being mortally wounded.
• Bald Mystic: Clarel is completely bald and was once an Enchanter in the Circle, a organization for mages to hone their skills.
• Bald of Authority: Clarel de Chanson is the bald Warden-Commander of Orlais who appears in the Adamant Fortress missions in Dragon Age: Inquisition. She's a deconstruction of The Unfettered nature of most Wardens, with a single-minded determination to oppose the Blight, even if that means sacrificing her subordinates to summon demons to fight them.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: She No Sells everything Erimond throws at her and beats him so badly he has to summon an Archdemon to save his ass.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Grey Wardens' infamous Unfettered mindset. Clarel's actions when she and her Wardens heard the False Calling showcases her choosing to go with the most extreme route instead of thinking things through or even questioning the very nature of how all Wardens in Orlais are hearing the Calling at the same time despite the numbers of darkspawns topside are not enough to be declare that a Blight is coming. As a result, Clarel can nearly lead the Wardens into serving the plans of the Elder One, her actions indirectly lead to the deaths of the dissident Warden (Alistair, Stroud, Loghain) or the Champion of Kirkwall, and if the player so chooses, leads to the entire branch getting banished and denounced the entire Order across southern Thedas.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Clarel can be seen using Stone Fist in her duel with Erimond.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: She blasts said Archdemon with lightning to allow the Inquisitor time to get away. After nearly being bitten in half by the thing.
• Heel Realization: Once she realizes that Erimond is using the Grey Wardens to help Corypheus (i.e. one of the original darkspawn) she and the remaining Wardens immediately attack him.
• Horrible Judge of Character: She's working with Erimond, a Tevinter blood mage, and is trying to capture and imprison the more cautious Stroud (or Alistair or Loghain, if they are still Grey Wardens).
• Last Stand: Her primary reason for everything she does - she believes the false Calling and is desperately searching for a way to end the Blights forever before the Order is extinguished.
• Made of Iron: What with how the Archdemon bit her upper body and threw her through the air, it's amazing that she was still in one piece, let alone alive.
• Meaningful Name: 'Chanson' coming from the French word for 'song'. It's The Elder One's false Calling, which many Grey Wardens describe as a creepy, unearthly and yet beautiful song, that pushes her into taking drastic action and her part in the story.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When she realizes just how badly she was fooled, she kills herself to collapse part of Fort Adamant to drive off the "Archdemon".
• Never My Fault: When she accuses Erimond of destroying the Wardens through mind control, he counters that all he gave were suggestions. They agreed to his plans of their own free will. Cole can clarify later that her decisions were made from a place of pure fear, no magical compulsion necessary.
• No-Sell: She brushes aside absolutely everything that Erimond throws at her as if it were a tiny nuisance. The only thing that stops her from taking the finishing blow is when the "Archdemon" closes its jaws on her and tosses her into the air.
• Shock and Awe: She seems to have an affinity for lightning magic.
• Too Dumb to Live: Trusting a Tevinter magister to aid the Wardens was bad enough, but using Blood Magic was even worse.
• The Unfettered: Her one and only goal is to oppose the Blight. No measure is too extreme so long as it serves this goal. This is why Erimond summoning an Archdemon was a bad idea on his part, because it immediately and indisputably clued her in that Erimond had a different goal.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Erimond and his master, Corypheus.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She truly believed that sacrificing the lives of her subordinates and summoning demon armies was the only way to stop the Blights when it seemed that all the Wardens were dying at once. And many of them agreed.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Like every other Warden in the game, she has begun to hear the Calling. It is not real.

Ser Jean-Marc Stroud

Ser Jean-Marc Stroud

Appears in: Dragon Age II | Inquisition

Voiced by: Stephane Cornicard

"Being a Grey Warden is not a cure. It is a calling."

Jean-Marc Stroud is a high ranking member of the Orlesian Grey Wardens. He's first encountered in Dragon Age II, and can help save Hawke's sibling from the Blight if they get Tainted in the Deep Roads, and possibly during the Qunari invasion of Kirkwall. If Loghain is dead and Alistair is dead or no longer a Warden, he will return in Inquisition. He is one of the few Grey Wardens who were not corrupted, though he does hear Corypheus's false Calling.

---

• Ascended Extra: He was a relatively insignificant character in Dragon Age II who might not have even appeared depending on your decisions. Inquisition gives him a much bigger supporting role, should he be the Warden ally.
• The Atoner: He wants to make up for the Wardens' mistakes, so much that he's willing to die to do so.
• Blue Blood: He is the youngest son of a minor Orlesian noble family who were killed because of the Great Game.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Can stay in the Fade to Hold the Line against the Nightmare Demon.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Grey Wardens have the ability to sense darkspawn, but Stroud is first and foremost a fighter.
• Guest-Star Party Member: He's Hawke's Warden ally if Alistair is King and Loghain is dead. During the first meeting with Erimond and during the Siege of Adamant Fortress, he is a non-controllable tagalong to the usual four-man player team.
• Heroic Sacrifice: If he's chosen to stay behind in the Fade, he presumably dies to cover the Inquisitor and Hawke's escape. Varric is upset by his death, especially if he saved Bethany or Carver.
• It Has Been an Honor: Verbatim, whether he lives or dies, although the context is different, obviously.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Stroud was a Chevalier before he became a Warden, and unlike many of them, he acts according to their expressed ideals without abusing his position.
• Makes Us Even: If Anders persuades him to take Bethany or Carver. Why he owed Anders a favour in the first place is never explained.
• Master Swordsman: His Chevalier training plus decades of experience as a Warden has made him one of the finest swordsmen in the entire order, skills which he is entrusted to pass on to all new recruits to the Orlesian Wardens.
• Neutral No Longer: In Inquisition, though he does apologize for being unable to help with the Qunari when they attacked Kirkwall.
• Nice Guy: A little abrasive at times, but he's overall a good guy, not forcing Anders to return and willingly taking Hawke's sibling solely on Anders' word that they're a good candidate.
• Noodle Incident: We never learn how he and Anders know each other, or what Anders did for him that Stroud repays by taking on Bethany/Carver.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He's the only Warden to question Warden-Commander Clarel's plan to summon a demon army to end future Blights when they hear the premature Calling. He's forced to go into hiding for his troubles.
• You Are in Command Now: If Stroud survives, he becomes the unofficial leader of the Wardens, since he's the highest ranking member left in Orlais.

Ser Ruth

Ser Ruth

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Jennifer Hale

"I can't use the greater good to justify my crimes, as if it would create a future I could be a part of!"

An Orlesian senior Warden. Following the Siege of Adamant, she willingly allows herself to be tried by the Inquisition. If the Inquisitor so chooses, she can be pardoned and end up joining the Chantry, where her efforts support the Inquisition.

---

• Anti-Villain: As with Commander Clarel, she was doing what she thought was right to stop any future Blights. When she realized what had really happened, she turned herself over.
• The Atoner: If allowed to live, she dedicates her life to supporting the Inquisition and doing good deeds in general.
• Death Seeker: Out of guilt for her parts in the Wardens' blood rituals, she asks not only for death, but for public humiliation so she can serve as an example and warning to the other Grey Wardens. She's not very happy with the traditional way of dying in the Deep Roads though, since she feels she has to be used as an example of what the Wardens should not do; dying in the Deep Roads wouldn't accomplish this, since her she would be Killed Offscreen where no one could see it.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Grey Wardens' I Did What I Had to Do mindset. Specifically, she calls out the actions of those who invoke said trope as a defense, seeing it as a form of Karma Houdini when the Wardens should be held accountable for their actions.
• Go and Sin No More: An Andrastian Inquisitor can invoke this on her, simply telling her that "the Herald of Andraste forgives you in Her name," and urging her to go and atone through good works. Doing so ends up being the best choice for her, since she has a Heel–Faith Turn and ends up convincing people to support the Inquisition.
• Heel Realization: What compelled her to turn herself in.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Defied. Ruth refuses to use this in her defense, believing that the Wardens should not hide behind this since it makes them Easily Forgiven and that, after how horribly they acted, they need to answer for their crimes.
• Irony: Ser Ruth is the only person that the Inquisitor puts on trial by their own choice and believes her punishment should be death. Yet none of the choices for her include you executing her. The only choice that gives her the death she thinks she deserves is the one that nobody would see.
• Karma Houdini: Defied. Josephine all but states she could make herself one if she wanted, and it's clear that she was never a villain either so doing so would have been justified, but Ruth refuses to play this straight. Should you pardon her or give her to the Wardens, she'll be concerned whether that was the best choice.
• Make an Example of Them: Invokes this on herself. She believes she must serve as a example of how Wardens should not use the I Did What I Had to Do mindset for everything in order to justify their actions. The only judgment the Inquisitor can make to which she will object is being sent to the Deep Roads, mainly because nobody will learn from her example.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When she realized the truth of what Erimond was doing, and that it was all a lie, she had a understandable reaction.
• Oh, Crap!: If you choose to send her to the Deep Roads, her reaction is more or less this - not because she'll die, but because she feels the punishment doesn't send a message.
• Saved From Their Own Honor: She turns herself in to the Inquisition after the Inquisitor stops the Wardens from making the disastrous decision of raising a demon army to fight Darkspawn. She begs the Inquisitor to execute her or render some other form of harsh punishment to make an example to send the message that even Grey Wardens are not above judgment. The Inquisitor can instead choose from an extensive list of relatively light sentences (such as releasing her back into custody of her fellow Wardens or even completely absolving her). If her punishment is too normal or unremarkable for a Warden (such has sentencing her to fight in the Deep Roads), she will be upset because no one will learn from it. If the player absolves her completely, she dedicates her life to spreading word of The Maker and telling others of the Inquisitor's kindness. She sends the Inquisition a letter requesting aid in spreading her message in hostile areas, which many of your advisors believe is just another roundabout attempt at self-sacrifice. The player can, again, deny her outright or misdirect her to a different route (both of which lead to her survival) or send her equipment and let her do as she wants (in which case, she is never heard from again).
• Suicide Mission: One fate for her is to go to the Deep Roads. She knows that she would not come back alive if so. She also tries one if you pardon her. Picking the right advisor on the War Table can talk her out of it.
• Uncertain Doom: If she becomes a missionary for the Inquisition, she eventually leaves for hostile territory to try and gain as many converts as she can. Unless you take the necessary measures, you stop hearing any news about her after she ventures near suspected Venatori hideouts, leaving her final fate unknown. This can be prevented by misdirecting her on Leliana's advice or rebuking her on Josephine's advice.

Orlais

Empress Celene Valmont I

Empress Celene Valmont I

Appears in: The Masked Empire | Inquisition

Voiced by: Katherine Pageon

The Empress of Orlais, Celene ascended to the throne at the age of 16 after overthrowing her uncle, Emperor Florian. She has grand ambitions for her empire, but her political power has greatly weakened in the wake of the Fifth Blight and the mage revolution. Many of these tropes are only known if the player has read The Masked Empire, as she doesn't have enough screen time in Dragon Age: Inquisition to reveal them all.

---

• All Take and No Give: As Empress, Celene has her elven handmaiden wait on her hand and foot, serve her tea, warm her bed, spy on her rivals, assassinate her enemies, and obey her every whim since Briala has no choice. Celene, in turn, does the bare minimum to help elves to keep her elven lover complacent, massacred an entire city full of elves when Bria wasn't there to talk her out of it, and refuses to ever give a true apology.
• All There in the Manual: Unfortunately, due to her limited screen time in DAI, many of these tropes are known only to readers of The Masked Empire. Reconciling her with Briala seems like a purely progressive choice otherwise.
• Armor-Piercing Question: In The Masked Empire, Celene tries to woo Briala back by promising that this time she'll help the elves. When Briala (at Felassan's urging) demands to know how she intends to do this, Celene falters and evades the question. This finally convinces Briala that Celene has no intention of helping her people, and leaves for good. The question also pierces through Celene's armor of political preservation - the next time she had the opportunity to help the elves, she did so openly by crowning Briala Marquise of the Dales, symbolically giving the Dales back to the elves.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Celene is trained as a bard and has some enchanted rings which give her an edge in combat. She actually spends most of The Masked Empire fighting alongside Michel de Chevin rather than governing Orlais.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The signs are there, if the Inquisitor digs deep enough, that she and Briala still have feelings for each other, but there's too much pride, pain and too many politics in the way for them to reconcile. You can help them overcome this if you wish, though the Epilogue makes it clear that there's still a long way to go. Publicly crowning Briala Marquise of the Dales is at least a start, finally risking Celene's standing with the racist members of her court to help the elves and hand them power.
• Bad Samaritan:
  • Any assistance given by Orlais to another country should always be met with suspicion, so some see every plan to aid Ferelden (fighting the Blight, marrying Cailan, etc.) that Celene cooked up as just a soft-power way to bring the country back under the Orlesian yoke.
  • A War Table operation has her extend "reconciliation" toward Michel de Chevin. Leliana, however, doesn't buy it and suggests that this is a front for the Empress to be in both Michel and the Inquisition's good graces while at the same time publicly disavowing him. If Leliana demands that Michel deserves better than friendship behind closed doors, the Empress never pursues the matter further.
• Believing Their Own Lies: In the novel, she continually promises Briala she'll help the elves, and continually disappoints her. At times it seems she honestly believes herself when she makes these promises, but when the going gets tough Celene always chooses to protect her own power. Realizing this is what gives Briala the strength to finally leave her. The incident also causes Celene to do some soul-searching, and contributes to her finally giving the Dales an elven leader - Marquise Briala. However, given that in The Masked Empire Celene also helped elves get into the University of Orlais only to turn on them the second it threatened her power, we'll see how long this lasts.
• Berserk Button: Outing her relationship with Briala.
  • In The Masked Empire, Gaspard mocked Celene for being "soft with elves" in a play, and also indirectly outed her relationship with her elven handmaiden by making a satirical play where "Andraste" (clearly Celene) was too busy with her elven lover "Shartan" (Briala) to lead her armed forces (Orlais) and almost brought the rebellion against Tevinter to ruin as a result. Celene is so heated that she instantly leaves the theatre to massacre an entire alienage to save face.
  • In Dragon Age: Inquisition, the only time Celene loses her cool or looks momentarily angry in the entire Winter Palace quest is if the Inquisitor discovers Briala's locket, since public discovery would out her feelings for an elf and ruin her.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Zig-zagged. She's quite a piece of work in the novel, as the rest of these entries show. But in the game, she is always polite to the Inquisitor and there are hints that she's legitimately remorseful for the horrible things she's done. In particular, she kept Briala's locket, even though its discovery might well ruin her, because she still cares for Briala. She still does not allow sentimentality to curb her ruthlessness.
• Byronic Hero: A rare female version. Celene wants to bring peace and prosperity to the world, but she's willing to make a mountain of corpses to see it happen. Mostly elven corpses. Her actions in pursuit of her goal are specifically what led to the Orlesian Civil War.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Briala has been Celene's handmaid since they were children.
• Cycle of Revenge: She lost both of her parents in one of these not long after she became Empress. After Celene successfully took the throne, Gaspard's wife Calienne orchestrated the murder of Celene's mother. Celene's father retaliated and murdered Calienne, but died himself due to a wound from her poisoned blade. It's noted that Celene's mother's cousin, Duke Prosper, became something of a father figure to her after this as a result.
• Damsel in Distress: Leliana and Josephine point out that Celene's life is usually in danger because she's an Empress, but Grand Duchess Florianne can get close and hold her at knifepoint. If it gets that far, Celene dies.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Near the end of the novel, Briala is able to distract Celene with a passionate kiss before stealing something of hers and fleeing. If the Inquisitor reunites the two, the reason given for them not turning up in Trespasser is that the two are often too busy having sex to attend to less pressing political matters.
• Double Standard: Celene refuses to do more than the bare minimum to help elves since she feels she cannot put "some of her citizens" (elven) before the good of her whole empire, but sees no such contradiction with throwing her elven subjects under the carriage to benefit (or at least appease) her human subjects.
• Easily Forgiven: All it takes is for the Inquisitor to find a locket to convince Briala to forgive all the horrible things Celene did to her and her people in The Masked Empire: She flung racial slurs against Briala when they were children, had Briala's family slaughtered in a fake assassination attempt on herself to gain the nobles' sympathy for the throne, allowed Briala to think someone else did it for decades to keep her unwittingly as a lover, trivialized and dismissed Briala's repeated requests that she use her influence as Empress to help the elves, and then shortly after promising to help them she personally butchered and burned over 3,000 elves alive just to show the nobles she "wasn't soft with elves," then tried to have Briala placed under house arrest on trumped-up charges to keep her under her control. Celene never even gives a verbal apology or offers to make amends before receiving it; she simply makes puppy eyes at Briala and all is forgiven. Granted, Celene then openly makes Briala Marquise of the Dales, symbolically giving the elves their land back. However, Celene also helped elves get into the University of Orlais, which got her mocked with said play and caused her to massacre the elves the second her support for them became a liability.
• Fantastic Racism: In childhood, Celene threw racial insults at Briala for her elven heritage and "horse dung-brown" skin/hair colour. As an adult, she fetishizes the typically elven facets of Briala's physique, and kills 3,000 elves while refusing to ever give a true apology, showing how expendable she considers them.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: A mixture of this and The High Queen. Celene is a regal and benevolent Empress who genuinely wants the best for her people. That said, she doesn't consider her elven people worth helping and is willing to do whatever it takes to secure her own power, even if it means murdering over 3,000 of her elven citizens to Make an Example of Them.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Tries to justify her response to the elven rebellion of Halamshiral and the murder of her servants (including Briala's parents) with this.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Celene makes it clear she doesn't think highly of any elves that aren't Briala, and even then... This attitude is part of why Briala becomes disillusioned with Celene and with Orlais's nobility and decides to leave her. If the Inquisitor helps the two reconcile, Celene finally putting herself out there by openly allying with Briala and the elves is a huge part of why the two are able to reforge their relationship.
• Informed Attribute: If the Inquisitor tries to reconcile Celene and Briala DAI, Celene is presented as sufficiently contrite for her role in their breakup leading to a happy and hopeful reunion... except she still refuses to verbally acknowledge what she did wrong, and still half-excuses her actions by claiming that she cannot put some of her subjects (elves) before the good of her whole empire (humans), leaving her supposed contrition doubtful and dedication to change a tentative gesture at best.
• In-Series Nickname: Not seen in the games, but many people in the book call her "The Lioness."
• The Insomniac: Celene has trouble sleeping due to the stress of running the empire. Her caffeine addiction isn't helping matters either.
• Interspecies Romance: Her relationship with Briala.
• Karma Houdini: Played with regarding the Halamshiral Alienage. Yes, Celene's purge costs her relationship with her elven girlfriend and helped escalate the Civil War, but if the Inquisitor reunites Celene with Briala at the Winter Palace, then in the long run it helps Celene come out on top; it gets her rival eliminated and her elven girlfriend back under her thumb at zero personal cost to Celene. It never even affects her politically since Orlesian nobles don't care about elves and the Inquisitor can only ever use it as blackmail material against Briala, since the two were in a relationship at the time.
• Killed Off for Real: If the Inquisitor so chooses.
• Lineage Comes from the Father: One of the reasons she was able to take the throne, or at least the reason Gaspard himself blames in conversation with the Inquisitor. Celene is a Valmont, and is a granddaughter of Judicael I through her father, Prince Reynaud; Gaspard, on the other hand, is Judicael's only surviving grandson, but traces his descent through his mother, Princess Melisande.
• Love Cannot Overcome: Her feelings for Briala don't curb her ruthless ambition, nor prevent her callous slaughter of Briala's family or people, nor spur her to ever give a true apology. Even if the two are reunited. If the Inquisitor doesn't do the work of bringing them together, they can remain on bad terms and one can outlive the other.
• Loved I Not Honor More: Well, "Honor" may be a stretch. Celene has grand ambitions to restore the Empire, and she's willing to share her vision with her elven handmaiden and lover Briala... provided Bria is useful to her plans. Celene had Briala's family murdered in a fake assassination attempt on herself to seize the throne, lied about it for decades to keep her as a lover and spymaster, and manipulated her into doing her dirty work on the vague promise that she'll eventually return the favor to help elves. However, the second Celene's love for Briala and support for her elven subjects becomes a liability, she never hesitates to throw both under the carriage to save her own power and vision for the Empire. See What You Are in the Dark.
• Love Is a Weakness: And one that Gaspard exploited, since he mocked Celene for being "soft with elves" in a play, turned her into a laughingstock and indirectly outed her relationship with her elven handmaiden since he depicted "Andraste" (clearly Celene) as neglecting her forces in favor of screwing her elven lover "Shartan" (clearly Briala) and leading "her forces" (Orlais) to ruin. Celene is so embarrassed and enraged that she goes straight to Halamshiral Alienage to put down a rebellion by having her Chevaliers butcher and burn every elf alive to save face.
• Make an Example of Them: After her cousin Gaspard mocked her for being soft with elves in a play, Celene doesn't hesitate to quell an elven rebellion to prove she's "not soft with elves." More specifically, she has her chevaliers burn the entire alienage to the ground and slaughter every elf trying to escape the flames, successfully butchering and burning over three thousand elves alive in one night to show how expendable they are.
• Manipulative Bitch:
  • Celene is a master of manipulating people or using them to get what she wants. For example, her crown came to her as a result of gaining favor with the Council of Heralds (at sixteen years old); she romantically courted the married King Cailan of Ferelden in an attempt to unify the two countries (and would have succeeded had Loghain not betrayed the king to his death); and in Inquisition, she sexually seduces a captain of Gaspard's Chevaliers to learn of his plans.
  • Celene also manipulated her lover Briala into staying by her side and using her bard skills to do her dirty work for decades by lying about who murdered Briala's family and promising she would eventually help Briala's people in return. When Briala learns the depths of Celene's deceptions and manipulations against her, it helps her find the strength to leave.
• Masochism Tango: Has shades of this with Briala in The Masked Empire, given Celene's contempt for elves and Briala's increasing discontent over it. It's more overt after Briala discovers Celene's massacre of the alienage and murder of her family, yet the two still harbor feelings for each other. Dragon Age: Inquisition doesn't fill the player in on this backstory.
• Must Have Caffeine: Celene sleeps poorly due to the stress of running the empire. She has multiple cups of tea to get started in the morning, and has servants following her with a teapot enchanted to keep her tea warm at all times. She even mentions she gets headaches only alleviated by her afternoon tea - one of the hallmarks of a caffeine addiction.
• Out-Gambitted:
  • Gaspard catches her off-guard in The Masked Empire by anticipating her reaction to the elven rebellion, and gets very close to taking the throne through one simple battle.
  • She was well aware of Gaspard's plans to invade the Winter Palace, and had already made moves to counter it. She didn't, however, know anything about Gaspard's Fereldan mercenaries, nor Florianne's far more dangerous assassination plot.
• Questionable Consent: After arranging Briala's family's slaughter when they were teens, Celene allowed Briala to think someone else did it for decades to keep her as her personal lover and spymaster. Given that Briala is so horrified that she leaves for good after discovering the truth, it's doubtful Bria would have consented to sleeping with Celene all those years had she known the truth.
• Rule of Symbolism: Reuniting Celene with Briala is framed as an unambiguously happy outcome: An example of humans and elves ending The Chain of Harm for a brighter future. However, given the harm in question involved Celene murdering Briala's family and people while manipulating her into doing her dirty work for years, less charitable players might note it's less a case of both sides putting aside past hurts and more a case of elves forgiving countless travesties humans committed against them and accepting whatever scraps humans throw them.
• Shoot the Dog: Celene does a lot of nasty things for the sake of the Empire:
  • She burns down the elven slums of Halamshiral, killing 3,000 elves, to put down an elven rebellion so Gaspard can't use it to start a civil war.
  • She is also responsible for the deaths of Briala's parents and the other servants. She did this so the nobles would be outraged that the Emperor tried to assassinate a child (as noted, she was sixteen at the time) and rally behind her, so she could become Empress and make the Empire a better place. (At least for humans. She doesn't care about the elves.)
• Slave to PR: Since her grip on the throne relies on the Decadent Court throwing their support behind her over Gaspard (who has a greater claim), Celene keeps her relationship with Briala a tight secret. She won't do more than the bare minimum to help her elven subjects, and tries to justify her more brutal actions against them by claiming that she has to act like she's not soft with elves to keep the racist nobles from shifting their support to Gaspard. Briala eventually realizes she's not "acting" like she doesn't care about elves, and leaves. If the Inquisitor discovers Briala's locket, Celene is half-furious, half-terrified since public discovery would ruin her.
• Stockholm Syndrome: In The Masked Empire, Celene tries to invoke this to keep Briala under her thumb by arranging to have Briala arrested for killing the abusive noble they privately agreed should die since he was the main cause of the Halamshiral rebellions, after Celene broke her word and violently quelled the alienage anyway. The context makes it clear that Celene intended to keep Briala under house arrest until the latter eventually calmed down and forgave her. Thankfully, Briala escaped and Celene was too busy being routed by Gaspard's forces for it to take effect.
• Straight Gay: She is a lesbian. Her prospective relationship with King Cailan was purely political, although it's unlikely that he knew it.
• Succession Crisis: Mentioned in passing by a few NPCs in Inquisition; Celene has no children, so even though she and Gaspard are at war with one another, he remains her heir apparent simply because there are so few members of the royal family left.
• Tough Leader Façade: Like Anora before her, Celene tries to convince her lover Briala that her aloof attitude toward her elven subjects and ruthless political tactics are a necessary front to survive the Grand Game and run the Orlesian Empire. It takes most of The Masked Empire for Briala to realize this isn't a mask, but who Celene really is. When Briala learns that Celene arranged Briala's family's slaughter even before she became Empress, this is her final push to leave.
• Unequal Pairing: Her relationship with Briala. While they're both gifted bards in The Game, Celene is still the Empress of an Empire steeped in Fantastic Racism, and thus has the final say in both their relationship and how the Empire is run. When she uses her power as Empress to massacre the alienage and have Briala arrested on trumped-up charges, this convinces Briala to leave.
• The Vamp: She uses her looks and sexuality for the purpose of manipulation. Briala is the only one she loves, and even then...
• Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: During The Masked Empire, Celene does the bare minimum of helping elves by arranging to have a few elven students admitted into the University of Orlais per year, and scorns her elven handmaiden suggesting she should dare to do more. During her purge of Halamshiral, Celene mentally congratulates herself for not letting her chevaliers rape or loot the elves like they normally would, instead ordering them to stay on task... which is burning and butchering the elves with ruthless efficiency.
• What You Are in the Dark:
  • When Celene's cousin Gaspard mocked her in a play for being "too soft with elves" during an elven uprising, Celene immediately purges the Halamshiral Alienage without a shred of hesitation or mercy, all because her elven girlfriend wasn't there to talk her out of it.
  • Later in the novel, Briala gives it her all while fighting a dragon because she believes Celene will have her back. However, Celene doesn't take an opening to attack because she sees no way to jump in without endangering herself, and Briala is injured as a result. This once again shows that while Celene may talk big about loving Briala, she will always throw Briala under the carriage to save herself.
• Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": Celene's purge of Halamshiral is barely touched on in the game, even though she had her chevaliers burn the entire alienage to the ground and butcher any elves trying to escape the flames to protect her own power. In the game, she delicately tip-toes around it by claiming she "should have dared more" but "cannot put a few subjects before the good of [her] whole empire," in lieu of admitting that she personally butchered and burned over three thousand of her subjects in one night to appease the rest of her subjects.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: Celene catches herself thinking this of Briala for being an elf multiple times, and feels ashamed each time.
• Youngest Child Wins: She was the youngest of Emperor Judicael I's six grandchildren, and was born several years after three of the others had already died. She used her political savvy to bypass her surviving cousins to take the throne.

Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons

Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons

Appears in: The Masked Empire | Inquisition

Voiced by: Anthony Howell

Gaspard is an exceptionally skilled and chivalrous Chevalier and one of the most powerful nobles in Orlais. He was the presumptive heir to his uncle, Emperor Florian Valmont, but the political machinations of his cousin, Celene Valmont, denied him the imperial throne. Gaspard believes that Celene's cooperation with the Divine and Ferelden is a sign of weakness and seeks to install himself as Emperor.

---

• Affably Evil: Gaspard is described as "fiendishly charming" by the Empress's ladies-in-waiting, and he treats the Inquisitor with nothing less than utter politeness, even flat-out explaining the truth of his goals for the Empire. However, those goals include war-mongering, expansionism, and ruling through force rather than diplomacy. He sees this as the only "honorable" way to rule. Politics are too muddy and gray; in war, you either win or you die.
• All There in the Manual: As with Celene, the player knows a lot more about him if they read The Masked Empire, since his time in the game is limited.
• Altar Diplomacy: Attempted. Early in The Last Empire, Gaspard offers Celene his hand in marriage in a last bid to settle their feud over the throne, as a compromise since they'd both have power. Celene refuses, and the plot gets underway.
• At Least I Admit It: Gaspard is every bit as ruthless and cutthroat as the rest of the Orlesian Court, but he's more upfront about being an ambitious warmonger. He also looks down on elves and finds them expendable like Celene, but at least he's open about it.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Gaspard is an exceptionally skilled Chevalier. Subverted in The Masked Empire's epilogue, when Gaspard tells Michel that the wound he received during their duel will likely mean that his fighting days are over.
• Badass Normal: No magic powers, no enchanted items, but he is one of the most physically skilled characters in the book.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Should the Inquisitor decide to let Celene die and place Briala on the throne through Gaspard, he's elated that you got rid of Celene for him and allowed him to become Emperor... for about two seconds, until the Inquisitor and Briala reveal that he's Emperor in name only.
• Better the Devil You Know: Some companions and advisers suggest siding with Gaspard on the grounds that the entire Orlesian Court is a den of vipers, but at least Gaspard is honest about his intentions, and his Chevalier's Code compels him to keep his word to aid the Inquisition. By contrast, Celene and Briala have their own hidden agendas and a long history of political backbiting (including with each other), and might be flaky allies.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In the game, Gaspard acts like a coarse but friendly straight-shooter who has no patience for Orlais's political games. The Masked Empire reveals this is all an act. Gaspard is just as scheming and manipulative as the nobles he claims to despise, and has his own share of atrocities. Acting like he hates the Game is his mask in the Game... one that a few companions can pick up on.
  Sera: I thought Gaspard was tired of that Game, but he settled in real easy.
• Career-Ending Injury: His duel with Michel de Chevin put an end to his days as a personal combatant.
• Cycle of Revenge: He lost his wife, Grand Duchess Calienne, in one of these several years earlier. After Celene successfully took the throne, Calienne orchestrated the murder of Celene's mother. Celene's father retaliated and murdered Calienne, but died himself due to a wound from her poisoned blade.
• The Dreaded: Or the usurper. He has few fans at Celene's ball.
• False Dichotomy: In a darkly hilarious example of just how the Orlesian nobility views the elves of Orlais, Gaspard expresses his belief in The Masked Empire that the elves will never be happy in Orlais's slums or in their forests, and so Celene should stop relying on their allegiance, because the idea of elves being equal citizens and living anywhere other the slums or the forests is beyond the comprehension of most human nobles.
• Fantastic Racism: Seemingly a requirement for the Orlesian nobility; you have to hate or at least look down on elves. We don't see much of this in the game, but The Masked Empire makes it clear that while Celene may certainly be condescending towards the elves and views them as expendable, Gaspard cares for them even less. He may outright call Briala a "rabbit" (Orlesian slur for elves) to her face.
  • He also sponsors scholars to write academic papers about how elves' pointed ears makes them biologically closer to rabbits than humans, and thus a relationship between a human and elf is akin to bestiality. He also wants to make elf-hunting legal. And, as a Chevalier, he's an elven murderer by default because of their "initiation ritual" of slaughtering random alienage elves at night to "test their blades."
• A Father to His Men: His army definitely loves him. Some of the Inquisitors' more militaristic companions (mainly the warrior companions except for Blackwall, who has personal reasons not to like Gaspard) and advisers approve of him for this reason.
• Four-Star Badass: Say what you will about him, he's a genuinely competent general and a highly skilled fighter.
• Friendly Enemy: Gaspard treats Celene and her followers with complete respect. Part of it is the Game, other parts are the Chevalier's code.
• Honor Before Reason: Downplayed; Gaspard believes strongly that honor does not preclude tactics and is skilled at interpreting the Chevalier's code to his advantage, but there are some situations where the code forces him to do the disadvantageous thing. In those cases, Gaspard will always choose the code over victory.
• I Gave My Word: Gaspard promises the Inquisition that they will have his support should they help him ascend the throne. If that happens, he lives up to that no matter what, while Celene may betray the Inquisitor.
• Kick the Dog: He tried to antagonize Teagan Guerrin (who was an ambassador for Ferelden at the time) by saying that they took Rebel Queen Moira's sword from her corpse and used it to kill rats. Empress Celene defused the situation when she decreed the obligatory honor duel that Teagan would have to call to be fought with... chevalier's helmet plumage feathers.
• Kissing Cousins: In The Masked Empire, he makes one final bid to take the throne peacefully by asking Celene to marry him. When she refuses, he draws his sword on her, but they are found by other nobles before it can turn too bloody, and she declines to have him arrested for fear of rebellion.
• Lineage Comes from the Father: One of the reasons Celene was able to take the throne, or at least the reason Gaspard himself blames in conversation with the Inquisitor. Celene is a Valmont, and is a granddaughter of Judicael I through her father, Prince Reynaud; Gaspard, on the other hand, is Judicael's only surviving grandson, but traces his descent through his mother, Princess Melisande.
• Manipulative Bastard: Commissioned a play to not-so-subtly mock Celene for being "soft with elves" to force her either remain a laughing stock by remaining lenient with the rebelling elves, or crack down on them to save face. When she predictably did the latter, Gaspard ambushed and routed Celene's exhausted troops, and almost killed her as well. This eliminated her forces, forced her to go on the run, and cost her relationship with her elven lover/spy/assassin. Either way, he knew her well and played her like a fiddle.
• Mirror Character: Celene and Gaspard both seek the throne to restore Orlais to what they perceive as former glory, just in different ways: Celene hopes to champion education and the arts and unite Orlais through guile and diplomacy, while Gaspard is a ruthless warmonger who wants to expand their borders through military conquest.
• Noble Demon: Gaspard may be an ambitious warmonger, but he is a strong believer in the Chevalier's code. He will not torture prisoners, he treats his enemies with respect, and he will honor truces. He even goes so far as to kill Duke Remarche, his most politically powerful ally, for attempting to kill Celene during a truce.
• Old Soldier: Retains much of his martial skill even though, at the time of Inquisition, he is sixty-seven years old.
• One Degree of Separation: It's not mentioned in the game, but he has a connection to the Inquisition. Vivienne's lover, Duke Bastien, is Gaspard's father-in-law.
• Practically Different Generations: Gaspard is thirteen years older than his only sibling Florianne.
• Puppet King: If Briala is put in power, Gaspard becomes the Emperor, but one under her control.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Should the Inquisitor allow Celene to die and then help Briala blackmail Gaspard into being her puppet king. He gets the throne like he wanted, but not on his own terms.
• Rightful King Returns: How his supporters view him. He was technically Emperor Florian's heir, and spent much of his youth as a royal prince. It was the machinations of Celene's aunt that put her ahead of Gaspard.
• Spare to the Throne: He spent the first few years of his life as this, as his uncle Judicael II's sons were older than he was and the throne was expected to pass to Crown Prince Etienne. However, Etienne, his twin brother Prince Leopold, and their cousin Princess Evangeline all died in the Hundred Days' Cough of 8:77 Blessed. This left three-year-old Gaspard as the only surviving royal grandchild and vaulted him into the position of heir apparent. He was then raised with the expectation that he would eventually become Emperor, only to be outfoxed by his much younger cousin Celene; he then became her heir apparent.
• Xanatos Gambit: Pulls a minor one against the Inquisition if made Emperor, at least as Leliana assesses it. If Michel de Chevin is recruited, Gaspard sends him an invitation to return to the Orlesian court, noting that he personally has never had any reason to want Michel exiled; whether the offer is accepted or refused, it benefits Gaspard one way or the other (either he gets a powerful Chevalier or a spy within the Inquisition).
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Helped whip up discontent among Orlesian elves to get them to rebell against Empress Celene, to force Celene to either lose face with other racist nobles by being lenient with them or save face with by cracking down on them (and weaken her relationship with her elven handmaiden and personal spy/assassin). Either way, once he got what he wanted he abandoned the elves to their fate.

"Ambassador" Briala

"Ambassador" Briala

Appears in: The Masked Empire | Inquisition

Voiced by: Siobhan Hewlett

The leader of the elven rebellion and Orlais and a (rumored) jilted lover of Celene.

---

• All for Nothing: In The Masked Empire, decades of serving Celene loyally and putting aside her own desire to help elves amounted to nothing when she finally realized that Celene had no intention of helping her people.
• All There in the Manual: In the same vein as Celene and Gaspard, many of these tropes are only apparent to readers of The Masked Empire.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Should Briala become Marquise of the Dales, she fights side by side with the Inquisitor during the battle at the Arbor Wilds. Her newfound title does little to diminish her skill at combat.
• Badass Normal: She has no magical powers or enchanted items, but she is a very skilled archer.
• Broken Bird: Her many traumas, betrayals, and broken pedestals in The Masked Empire catch up with her by Dragon Age: Inquisition. By the time the Inquisitor meets her, she comes across as much more rude, cynical, and bitter than she did in the novel. Helping her softens her a bit, and she is genuinely grateful to the Inquisitor for helping her people.
• Broken Pedestal: In the book, she is disheartened to learn that the proud and noble Dalish of whom she dreamed as a child are just as bigoted and narrow-minded as the humans she serves. Celene also becomes this after Briala realizes that Celene will never help the elves. As soon as the nobles complain, Celene will drop the elves by the wayside in order to keep her power base.
• Brought Down to Normal: In Trespasser, it's revealed that Solas managed to take away her control of the Eluvians.
• Canon Immigrant: She originated from the book The Masked Empire, which focused on the start of the civil war.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Celene and Gaspard both committed travesties for decades in their fight over the throne, and this is largely shrugged off as a political necessity for surviving the Grand Game. Meanwhile, Briala only ever supported her lover Celene. However, Briala forcing Michel to forfeit his duel with Gaspard after learning how Celene murdered her family at the end of The Masked Empire is very much held against her in DAI, with pretty much all companions and advisers (save a few) condemning her as a "jilted lover" and power-hungry wanna-be despot.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Briala has been Celene's handmaid since they were children, and has used her position to subtly help elves throughout Orlais. The long-standing nature of their relationship is likely a large part of why it takes her the entire novel to find the strength to leave, since being with Celene is practically all she has ever known.
• Deuteragonist: Of The Masked Empire. While Celene may be the center of all the action, a good deal of the novel is focused on Briala's character development.
• Distracted by the Sexy: In Trespasser, if Briala and Celene are reunited then it's noted that the two were unable to attend, and rarely get any work done, because they're too busy having sex.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In The Masked Empire, Briala shows signs of being in an emotionally imbalanced or codependent relationship, with Celene as the "victim/taker" and Briala as the "caretaker/giver." Even outside their literal roles as empress and handmaiden, Briala often suppresses her own desires to support Celene's, who barely if ever returns the favor. Even after Celene massacres an entire city full of elves, Briala's thoughts remain all for her. This is lampshaded by her Trickster Mentor Felassan, who points out how twisted and unhealthy it is that Briala remains obsessed with and ready to take back the woman who committed literal genocide against her people. It also takes Felassan urging Briala to demand that Celene explain ''how'' she intends to help her people this time in order for Briala to find the strength not to run back into her arms, and the ensuing revelations eventually convinces Briala to leave for good. Briala's Story Arc in the book basically resemble a woman finding the mental strength to leave a toxic and codependent relationship.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Briala is unhappy when she realizes that her efforts to better the lives of elves in Orlais will never be acknowledged. Other city elves look down on her as a class traitor for working for nobility. Dalish elves dismiss her as a flat-ear that is beyond saving.
• Et Tu, Brute?: As an Orlesian elf, Briala is accustomed to Fantastic Racism from most human nobles. She's even used to receiving racist insults and blithe dismissals of her people from her lover Celene. But when she learns Celene butchered a whole alienage, and had Briala's parents murdered, Briala feels so hurt and betrayed that even she can't forgive her.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: From an elven handmaiden to the master of a vast elven spy network armed with their own network of Eluvians, whose mastery of The Game allows her to become one of the three biggest players in the outcome of the Civil War.
• Gilded Cage: Her relationship with Celene. She enjoys more privileges and luxuries than most of her people could ever hope for... as long as she obeys Celene's whims. She can suggest otherwise, but ultimately Celene wields all the power as empress, and can revoke her favor to keep Briala in line any time. When Celene butchers the alienage and has Briala arrested on a trumped-up charge because she changed her mind about the noble they both agreed should be killed, she does just that.
• Greater Need Than Mine: Briala knows that she could be sitting pretty as the lover of the Empress if she just stopped caring about other elves and focused on herself. However, she can't enjoy all the special privileges knowing her people still suffer and starve under human oppression, and she willingly gives up her Gilded Cage to help her people instead.
• Guilt by Association: Celene's purge of the Halamshiral Alienage is only ever held against Briala in Wicked Eyes (by the Inquisitor, Sera, and the elven servant in the palace) because she was in a relationship with Celene at the time.
• Hope Bringer: To the elves of Orlais, should the Inquisitor help her in "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts."
  Briala: The elves of Orlais have a future. For the first time in centuries.
  
  Morrigan: [after the party] The elves raise glasses in your honor while the newly crowned emperor glowers.
• I Gave My Word: Should the Inquisitor help Briala cement an alliance of power for the elves, she will use her skill to help the Inquisition. While there might be a bit of tension, she always works with them.
• Internalized Categorism: Thanks to Celene's racist abuse when they were children, young Briala grows to hate her "horse dung-brown" skin and hair, and feels deeply ashamed of being an elf; it reaches the point that she asks her mother about wearing her hair to hide her ears so she can "pass" as human. Her mother helps her overcome her shame for being an elf, though she remains self-conscious about her skin, hair, and freckles.
• Interspecies Romance: Her relationship with Celene.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While rude and abrasive to the Inquisitor (regardless of race), at the end of the night Briala just wants to help the most brutalized and hopelessly impoverished population of Orlais. And considering all the hell she had been through back at The Masked Empire, one couldn't really blame her for acting like that. If you truly provide help to support her cause, she is deeply grateful if the Inquisitor helps her - not for herself, but for her people.
  Briala: The elves of Orlais have a future. For the first time in centuries... My people will find a way to repay you, I promise you.
• Jerkass Ball: Depending on where she's first encountered at Halamshiral and which race has been selected for the Inquisitor, Briala may pick this up with her initial dialogue with them. For instance, if Trevelyan meets her for the first time after killing a group of Venatori, Briala comments about being surprised that "they got you sobered up" for the occasion. There is no explanation offered for why she feels the need to be insulting to someone she's just met, nor any opportunity to ask.
• Killed Off for Real: If Gaspard becomes Emperor but isn't blackmailed into giving Briala control, he makes it clear that she's going to be executed in the very near future.
• Love Cannot Overcome: Her feelings for Celene cannot push her to abandon her people, nor overlook how Celene arranged the slaughter of Briala's family when they were teens to take the throne in the first place. If the Inquisitor doesn't do the work of exposing Celene's lingering feelings for her, they remain on bad terms in DAI.
• Love Martyr: Downplayed. Briala spent decades supporting Celene's vision for the Empire by waiting on her hand and foot, spying on her rivals, and assassinating her enemies. Briala also swallowed her discontent over Celene's racist comments against her when they were children, and dismissive attitude toward helping her people as adults. Briala also makes endless excuses for Celene's more selfish and ruthless actions, such as Celene's literal genocide against her people, which Briala blamed herself for since she wasn't there to talk her out of it. It takes Felassan urging Briala to ask Celene how she intends to help the elves to stop Bria from rushing back into her arms, and learning that Celene was the one who arranged her family's murder for Briala to finally find the strength to leave. Even then, Briala still harbors feelings for the woman who slaughtered her family and people, and then lied to and used her for years.
• The Man Behind the Man: Should Gaspard become Emperor of Orlais and Briala is not dealt with, the epilogue makes it clear that Briala is the one who really pulls the strings.
• Masochism Tango: Has shades of this with Celene in The Masked Empire, given Celene's open contempt for elves despite having one as a lover, and Briala's increasing discontent over it. It becomes more overt after Briala discovers Celene's purge of the Halamshiral Alienage and murder of Briala's entire family years ago, yet the two still harbor feelings for each other. Dragon Age: Inquisition glosses over this, however.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: She says that if she is killed for murdering Celene's and Gaspard's ambassadors and forging documents, the elves will revolt.
• Open Secret: Should the Inquisitor help Briala blackmail Gaspard into being her puppet king, comments from ambassadors in Trespasser suggest that pretty much everyone knows Briala keeps the Orlesian Emperor on a tight leash, but no one objects too strongly. Considering that the Emperor is a warmonger who wants to relieve Orlais' expansionist days, most nations will find this arrangement a relief.
  Arl Teagan: I'm sure whenever Gaspard complains, Lady Briala gives a quick tug on his leash.
• The Scapegoat: In Inquisition, when Celene's burning of Halamshiral comes up, it's used as blackmail material against Briala because they were in a relationship at the time (and it was one of the many things that led to the end of the relationship). Justified, to an extent, because the Inquisitor has no way of knowing that the burning partially caused the breakup; the elf who shares this intelligence with them probably doesn't know it either, nor does Briala offer it as any sort of defense.
• Sherlock Scan: Briala can figure out a person's secrets and plots just by looking at them.
• Spanner in the Works: Her entire role in the Orlesian Civil War.
• The Spymaster: Briala is very skilled at learning the secret plans of nobles and also commands a network of servants who can provide her with a wealth of information. Gaspard also calls her such at Halamshiral.
• Start My Own: Her ending in The Masked Empire amounts to this. Briala supported Celene's ambitions for the Empire for decades because she believed Celene would eventually extend her internal reformism to benefit the elves. After becoming disillusioned with that, Briala then hoped to join the Dalish in restoring the wonder and glory of ancient Arlathan. When she became disillusioned again, Briala eventually realized that both sides sucked and her only hope to raise her people up would be to seize the Eluvian network for herself, lead her own city elven uprising, and strive for her own brand of political reform.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: She acts much more bitter, cynical, and rude in the game compared to her book counterpart. This is probably to make her seem no different from Gaspard and Celene, rather than A Lighter Shade of Grey like she is in the novel.
• Unequal Pairing:
  • Her relationship with Celene in The Masked Empire. While Briala can lend her ear and make suggestions, being the elven handmaiden of an human empress in an Empire steeped in Fantastic Racism leaves Briala with little bargaining power in the relationship or royal plans. Realizing the extent of this after Celene uses her influence as Empress to massacre her people and have her arrested on a trumped up charge is part of what convinces Briala to leave.
  • That said, you'd be hard-pressed to find any characters who acknowledge this in DAI. Every character (even fellow city elves) take it for granted that of course their relationship was fully consensual and Briala on board with every part of it, despite many human nobles in the setting taking elves to bed against their will (like Vaughan Kendells to Shianni, Comte Dorian to Fiona, Danarius to Fenris, etc.). What's more, Celene's purge of the Halamshiral Alienage is only ever held against Briala since they were together at the time, despite the obvious rebuttal that an elven servant might not have had full say against the wishes of a human empress.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Or rather, "a better future for Orlais's elves" justifies the means. Briala uses her eluvian and elven spy networks to prolong Celene's and Gaspard's Civil War from the shadows and has an elf who threatened to out her as Celene's lover killed at the Winter Palace, all with the end goal of improving conditions for her people.
• Woman Scorned: Briala is described as a "jilted lover" who uses her eluvians and elven spies to perpetuate the civil war out of a personal vendetta against her ex-lover Celene, and Sera makes spiteful comments about Briala in the same vein if the Inquisitor helped Briala. She isn't, but players would have to have read The Masked Empire to know this.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: Receives this sentiment a lot from Orlesian humans, particularly Celene, which troubles her.
• You Know I'm Black, Right?: Briala's attempts to convince Celene to help elves since she's an elf fall on deaf ears.

Duke Bastien de Ghislain

Duke Bastien de Ghislain

Appears in: Inquisition

Head of the powerful de Ghislain family, father-in-law of Duke Gaspard, and the leader of the Council of Heralds. Duke Bastien is also the lover of Madame Vivienne.

---

• All There in the Manual: Most of his backstory is only provided in The World of Thedas Vol 2.
• Battle Couple: With Vivienne in his younger days, killing the assassins sent to murder them.
• Former Teen Rebel: He was a troublemaker as a young man, abandoning court life in favor of becoming a bard and outlaw who trained under the legendary Black Fox. Bastien eventually left that life behind and was considered a respectable noble, although his relationship with Vivienne showed that his rebellious streak never faded entirely.
• Good Parents: If his son's grief at his passing is any indication, Bastien was a loving and beloved father.
• May–December Romance: He is at least a couple decades older than Vivienne.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His daughter Calienne fell victim to the Great Game, dying in a Mutual Kill with Reynaud Valmont, who sought to murder her for killing his wife.
• Retired Badass: Left his days as a bard and outlaw behind him when he became a Duke. However, those skills did not fade and came in handy when Bastien and Vivienne were targeted by other nobles scandalized by their relationship and had bards sent to assassinate them.
• Spare to the Throne: His sister Marissa was originally the head of the family, but she died of disease with no heirs, forcing Bastien to give up his life as an adventurer to return home and take up the title of Duke.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The Inquisitor only meets him on his deathbed, with nothing to be done that will save him.

Mages

Morrigan

The Witch of the Wilds, who accompanied the Warden during the Fifth Blight and disappeared soon thereafter, now returns with motives of her own.

---

For more info, see this page.

Grand Enchanter Fiona

Grand Enchanter Fiona

Appears in: The Calling | Asunder | Inquisition

Voiced by: Ève Karpf

"I came to the Circle from the Grey Wardens because I saw something had to be done. In the Wardens, we learn to watch for our moment and seize it— and that moment is now."

Former Grey Warden and Grand Enchanter of the disbanded College of Magi. After the events of Asunder she and her fellow mages took shelter in Redcliffe.

---

• Action Girl: In her youth, she kicked plenty of ass. And she's still got it. If you side with the Templars, she's the final boss in Haven. If you side with the Mages, you can find her fighting Red Templars at the final blockade in the Arbor Wilds with her compatriots.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: She's described as dark-eyed in The Calling but has light blue eyes in-game.
• All There in the Manual: If the player hasn't read The Calling, many of these tropes will likely come as a surprise.
• The Archmage: Was a Grey Warden, then First Enchanter of Montsimmard before becoming Grand Enchanter.
• Big Good: She's seen as such by the free mages.
• Body Horror: When possessed by the Demon and as the darkspawn corruption spreads. In Alexius' bad future, you find her with red lyrium growing out of her body in such a way that it effectively pins her to the wall with one arm over her head.
• Canon Immigrant: She was a major character in several of the books before making her appearance in the series in Inquisition.
• Character Development: As an older woman in Inquisition, she's much calmer than in The Calling, while holding fast to her principles.
• Combat Medic: Fiona is a trained Spirit Healer that is also well-versed in combat magic.
• Cool Old Lady: In Inquisition, if you save the mages, you can talk to her about her time as a Grey Warden, her time with the mage rebels, her relationship with King Maric, possibly being the mother of the current King of Ferelden, and being cured of the Blight. It becomes very clear that she's led a very interesting life.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: In the books, she's this to Maric when she realizes he is not like the Count.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: In Redcliffe, she's upset when Alexius lets slip that her mages would be conscripted into the Tevinter army, something she never wanted.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: For her, and for all southern mages. If Leliana becomes Divine and the mages are saved, Fiona achieves her dream of leading a free College of Magi.
• Elite Mook: If the Inquisitor sides with the Templars, Fiona is met during the Battle of Haven as the final boss. She has a lot of health, but fights like any other Venatori mage.
• Everyone Has Standards: A rare free mage who isn't The Unfettered or a blood mage. She follows procedure to the letter when trying to declare independence, beginning the rebellion only once she won a vote. While Vivienne may grumble about being forced into rebelling, Fiona was able to convince even the moderate Aequitarians to support her and never forced them to do anything. In Inquisition, she is disillusioned with Alexius's "help" once he lets slip that he considers her mages cannon fodder for Tevinter's army. Unlike the Tevinters, she genuinely cares for her charges, and only entered into an alliance with them to save the mages' lives.
• Expansion Pack Past: She's been a Sex Slave to an Orlesian nobleman, a Circle mage, a Grey Warden, the Grand Enchanter of the Circle of Magi, and a Rebel Leader.
• Fantastic Racism: As a city elf, she was abused by humans from an early age, and made a sex slave by a human lord until she came into her magic and was moved to a Circle. As a mage, she was a victim of this as "normal" people are highly distrustful of mages.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Gets to be on both ends. She's the Farmer to Magister Alexius's Viper, as he took advantage of her willingness to trust him and allow him into Redcliffe Castle to essentially enslave the mages to the Venatori. But this decision also made her the Viper to Alistair/Anora's Farmer, because they gave her Redcliffe Castle on good faith, and she then turned around and allowed a Tevinter Magister to infiltrate the country and almost handed him an army on a silver platter.
• Fatal Flaw: Inquisition reveals it to actually be paranoia. If she wasn't so afraid of the Templars (who were in no position to attack her mages anyway), a lot of the Redcliffe questline wouldn't have happened.
• Foil: To Vivienne. Both are Orlesian mages who were First Enchanters of Montsimmard, but while Fiona is brash, fiercely revolutionary, and a Self-Made Woman, Vivienne is an Ice Queen, utterly conservative, and one step away from nobility. Unsurprisingly, she and Vivienne are very cool to each other.
• Game Changer: Subverted. The end of The Calling implies and Inquisition confirms that Fiona is permanently cured of and immune to the darkspawn taint. Once thought an incurable death sentence to all living beings who come into contact with it (microbacteria, bugs, plants, animals, humans), this could reverse centuries of ecological damage and revolutionize how the Grey Wardens combat the Blight... And yet the Grey Wardens don't show any interest in researching Fiona's immunity further, and the Inquisitor barely reacts when Fiona tells them about it. It's treated as an interesting anomaly, nothing more. However, the Hero of Ferelden's lover (either Leliana, Morrigan, or Alistair) implies that The Warden took an interest in her inmunity.
• Give Him a Normal Life: Fiona gave up Alistair as a baby because she didn't want him to live with the Fantastic Racism associated with elves that she had experienced, and asked Maric to tell him his mother was a human who died giving birth to him. (Not that she could have kept him as a Grey Warden anyway.)
• Horrible Judge of Character: Downplayed. Yes, trusting a Tevinter Magister is widely known to be a bad idea. But Alexius didn't just walk up to her and suggest she and her mages join the Venatori, like Erimond did with the Grey Wardens. He carefully isolated her from any other potential allies and made sure to plant Venatori agents among the Rebel Mages to trick her into thinking that the alliance was something her people wanted. Not to mention that with his time magic, he had as many tries as he needed to figure out how best to manipulate her; she might have actually repeatedly rejected his offer, only for him to rewind until he finally got her to agree in the timeline that the player sees.
• Hot-Blooded: She has a tendency to let her temper get the better of her all the bloody time. This is presumably the reason why Duncan named an axe after her, according to one of the item packs from Dragon Age II.
• The Immune: It's hinted at the end of The Calling that after having her premature Calling reversed, she might not have to go through it in the future. In Inquisition, she can explain that not only is she cured of the taint, she's completely immune to it now; the Wardens tried to put her through the Joining again and it didn't work or kill her.
• Magnetic Hero: Manages to get most of the Circle mages to rebel along with her, bridging a lot of philosophical and political divides and leaving the Loyalists with a small rump of the College led by Vivienne.
• Missing Mom: In The Calling, she reveals to Maric that she has given birth to his illegitimate son, and makes him promise to tell the boy that his mother was a human woman who died when he was born. That child was Alistair.
• A Mother to Her Men: She cares deeply for her mages, and was devastated when several of her closest friends died at the Breach, having gone to the Conclave to negotiate on her behalf. She allies with Tevinter specifically to keep them safe, and is not at all pleased when she is shut out of negotiations by Alexius, nor when he lets slip that he views her mages as Cannon Fodder for the Tevinter army. Vivienne later comments that she coddled her subordinates too much to be effective at her position.
• My Greatest Failure: Allying with Tevinter in a knee-jerk attempt to stave off the Templars. She comes to regret it, and is genuinely contrite for the first time in the series. If Alistair is king, then she also makes it clear that she ruined her only chance of getting closer to her son.
• Not What I Signed Up For: She may have made a desperate alliance with Tevinter, but she is horrified when Alexius reveals his true allegiance to the Elder One and the fact her fellow rebels will be merely cannon fodder for the Venatori, and wants no more part in it.
• Older and Wiser: She's mellowed a bit with age, though still famously blunt-spoken.
• Older Than They Look: In Inquisition, she looks quite a bit younger than she really is.
• One Degree of Separation: She knows or knew Wynne, Vivienne, Empress Celene, Lord Seeker Lucius, King Maric, Loghain, and Duncan personally, and she's Alistair's mother. If Alistair did the dark ritual with Morrigan in Origins, that means she's also Kieran's grandmother, though none of them are aware of it.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Potentially. This only happens if Alistair is still an active Warden and you leave him behind in the Fade. Fiona will take some solace in knowing that he had "a hero's death"... and then vanish from Skyhold altogether.
  • It may also have happened already if Alistair was executed at the Landsmeet or sacrificed himself to kill the Archdemon back in Origins.
• Precision F-Strike: Drops the first F-bomb of the series during the Conclave in Asunder; when it's pointed out to her that the Divine is willing to help the mages, her response is emphatic: "Fuck the Divine!"
• Rape as Backstory: Only it's actually relevant. She was the sex slave of an Orlesian noble from ages seven to fourteen, and assumed that all noblemen, if not all humans, were like that.
• Rebel Leader: She becomes one for the mages in Asunder. If offered an alliance and anyone but Leliana becomes Divine, she becomes this again, forming the College of Magi in opposition to the Circle.
• Replacement Goldfish: In The Calling, Maric isn't convinced he isn't using her as a replacement for Katriel.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Downplayed. The Inquisitor remembers their original meeting, but Fiona does not. She does get a "strange" feeling when the Inquisitor mentions it.
• The Rival: Once upon a time, to Wynne. Later, Vivienne portrays herself as this, as Fiona's opposite number in the Loyalists.
• Second Love: Or rather third, for King Maric, who had previously been with the elf Katriel and his wife Queen Rowan, both of whom he is indicated to have loved. Alistair is Maric and Fiona's son.
• Self-Made Woman: She started out as an abused city elf, working her way through the Circle and the Grey Wardens, became Grand Enchanter, led the mage rebellion, and may finally realize her wish of leading the free mages of southern Thedas.
• Shock and Awe: If she's fought in Haven, she uses lightning spells.
• Skippable Boss: If fought in Haven, she can be ignored entirely, as the battle ends when the trebuchet is calibrated.
• Taken for Granite: Taken for red lyrium, with a dash of Human Resources. In the Bad Future, she was imprisoned in a cell with red lyrium growing in it, so that her body could turn into the stuff and the Venatori could mine it.
• Take This Job and Shove It: Fiona resigned from the Grey Wardens because she'd been cured of the Calling and trying to put her through the Joining again didn't work. This led to...
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Fiona says that her former fellow Grey Wardens came to resent her for being cured of the taint, feeling as if she somehow "cheated" death while they were still doomed to succumb to their Calling.
• Took a Level in Kindness: To the point where it's difficult to imagine the foul-tempered character from the books is the same as the woman you meet in Inquisition.
• Tsundere: The novels depict her as being one of these, though Inquisition doesn't portray her as such, suggesting that she has mellowed at least somewhat.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Despite Fiona being the first person in known history to be rid of the darkspawn taint, a once thought incurable death sentence to all who contract it, the Grey Wardens just became miffed that Fiona became cured while they didn't and sent her on her way, showing little to no interest in figuring out how she became both cured of immune to the taint, or how to replicate it for others. It's implied, however, that the Hero of Ferelden is interested in this.^note The Warden's lover (Leliana, Morrigan, or Alistair) mention Fiona's inmunity to the Taint along with Avernus' investigation, when they inform the Inquisitor about the Warden's mission of curing the Calling.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Magister Alexius. Because of his time magic, Alexius is able to send Venatori agents to infest and undermine the already delicate position of the Redcliffe rebel mages immediately after the Breach. He then appears shortly afterwards, and gives them a tantalizing offer of Tevinter help in resisting the renewed Templar offensive before they have the chance to meet any other potential allies. Because Fiona retroactively never met with the Herald of Andraste, and therefore has no idea such an individual exists, she takes him up on the offer because she thinks she has no other choice.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: When she took Alexius's offer of help, she thought she was saving her mages from being killed by Templars.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • The monarch of Ferelden is outraged that she took advantage of their hospitality by bringing a Tevinter magister into the country, and evicting Arl Teagan. She admits when confronted about it that she was desperate after the Breach, and feared that the Templars were coming, but she really should not have alienated the only monarch in Thedas openly supportive of her cause. And even if the templars are truly coming (which is unlikely given how they are currently divided right now), Arl Teagan wouldn't allow them to set foot on Redcliffe, probably out of respect to the monarch's wishes and also due of his nephew being a mage. And if that monarch happens to be her only child, it's so much the worse for her personally.
  • After Here Lies the Abyss, she expresses dismay over how the Orlesian Grey Wardens (the very branch she was a former member with) sunk so low. If the Grey Wardens are allowed to stay in Orlais, she hopes that they won't squander the Inquisition's alliance with them.

Magister Halward Pavus

Magister Halward Pavus

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: David Schofield

Dorian's father, Lord of Asariel, and a well-respected member of the Magisterium. He is mentioned often by his estranged son, and appears in Dorian's personal quest, "The Last Resort of Good Men."

---

• Anti-Villain: Compared to most Magisters. His feud with Dorian shows how good men can be brought low by prejudice and valuing the power of the family name over the happiness of its members. The associated quest where you meet him, "Last Resort of Good Men," reflects this.
• The Archmage: He is a sitting member of the Magisterium.
• Arranged Marriage: He married Dorian's mother only for the social alliances and to produce an heir. They completely hate each other.
  Dorian: My mother was chosen for my father because magical power ran strongly in her bloodline, never mind the fact they loathed each other.
• Blue Blood: A nobleman from a long family line.
• Broken Pedestal: To his son, who revered him and admired everything he once represented. Then he resorted to Blood Magic... Dorian even says to Cole that he still loves his father; that's what makes his betrayal the most painful of all.
• Character Development: If you reconcile him and his son. He doesn't care anymore that Dorian is gay; he's desperately sorry that he betrayed his son's trust, still loves him, and wants only to be forgiven.
• Everyone Has Standards: Once upon a time, he told Dorian that Blood Magic was the weapon of the weak and the cowardly. It didn't stop him from working up a plan to use it on Dorian, to rewire his brain to make him heterosexual; this violation of his own standards was arguably one of the deepest-cutting wounds for Dorian, that his father would willingly cross that line just for the chance of continuing the Pavus family tree.
• Heteronormative Crusader: He was planning to use Blood Magic on his own son to turn him straight. Unlike most examples in media, however, it wasn't out of religious fervor or believing homosexuality to be "evil", but because nobility in Tevinter puts immense pressure on its magisters to continue and cultivate their bloodlines, for the purpose of breeding "better mages"; naturally, Dorian prefering mens' company puts a damper in this plan, resulting in the bad blood between the two.
• I Have No Son!: When he finds out Dorian is gay. It's a memory that Cole finds in Dorian's mind. According to Cole, he wished that he didn't mean it.
• It's All About Me: Dorian accuses Halward of being more concerned about his "fucking legacy" than his son's well-being. By the time Halward requests to meet Dorian again, he desperately regrets having held onto this mindset and just wants to apologize to his son.
• Killed Offscreen: In Trespasser, Dorian says that Halward was assassinated while he campaigned for his son to be named Tevinter's ambassador to the Exalted Council.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When discovering the plan for his Blood Magic spell resulted in Dorian leaving his family for Thedas just to get away from him, he has a massive Heel Realization of what his self-absorbed crusade cost him.
  Halward: Once I had a son who trusted me, a trust I betrayed. I only wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice, to... ask him to forgive me.
• So Proud of You: When Dorian became an enchanter. It's a happy memory that Cole encounters when he reads Dorian's mind.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Looks like his son, plus about twenty years and with a less prominent mustache, though for whatever reason he has an Orlesian (French) accent.
• Token Good Teammate: One of a scant two actual Magisters to be portrayed mostly sympathetically. He has scruples that Dorian respects, and always looked down on blood magic. Even when he ended up resorting to it, it was out of prejudice and desperation, not a bid for power. There's no talk of actual sacrifices and he eventually regrets it.
• Unexplained Accent: He's the only Tevinter mage with a French (Orlesian?) accent. Not even his son has any trace of it.
• Unwanted Spouse: Halward and his wife, Aquinea Thalrassian, mutually hate each other and only did the bare minimum to preserve their status in Tevinter. Thus, they had no other children to fall back on when their heir proved unwilling to play the game.

Felix Alexius

Felix Alexius

Appears in: Inquisition

"There are worse things than dying, Dorian."

Felix is the only child and heir of Magister Gereon Alexius. His mother died in a darkspawn attack en route to Hossberg and Felix caught the Blight from the attack, resulting in him suffering a slow death.

---

• Calling the Old Man Out: Both Felix and Dorian do this when Alexius goes on a lengthy rant about how the Elder One will restore Tevinter to glory.
  Felix: Father, listen to yourself! Don't you realise what you sound like?!
  Dorian: He sounds exactly like the sort of villainous cliché everyone always expects us to.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He's from Tevinter, but he's a Nice Guy.
• Delicate and Sickly: He's suffering from the Blight. After his father is defeated, he returns to Tevinter to tell them what happened. Shortly afterwards, his illness catches up with him and he dies. If the Inquisition sides with the Templars, the Venatori execute him before it gets that far.
• Everyone Has Standards: He may love his father, but Felix is appalled by what Alexius is doing as part of the Venatori.
  'Herald: Alexius is your father. Why are you working against him?
  Felix: For the same reason Dorian works against him. I love my father and I love my country, but this- cults, time magic? What he's involved in now is madness. Please, for his own sake, you have to stop him.
• Face Death with Dignity: Ultimately stops his father's plans by, when Alexius protests that he is going to die, pointing out that "Everyone dies."
• Missing Mom: As noted above, he lost his mother in the same darkspawn attack which left him infected with the Blight.
• Morality Pet: Inverted. Felix possesses all of the traits of a standard Morality Pet, being ill and a good person for whom a less good person cares deeply. But it is precisely these traits that cause his father to slip into forbidden magic and abandon the concept of reforming Tevinter in favor of trying to save Felix's life.
• Muggle Born of Mages: Downplayed. Felix is born with magic. However, his magic is so weak by Tevinter standards that he might as well as to be labeled as soporati. This is normally seen as a bad thing, but the World of Thedas books note that Felix had the happy experience of being born to parents who truly did not mind his lack of magic, and raised him with love and kindness. So much that when his paternal grandfather had him assassinated, his mother put a halt on it by killing him without any objection from Alexius.
• My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: He loves his father and country, but joining cults and using time magic are taking things too far in his opinion.
• Not Afraid to Die: He comments that there are worse things than dying.
• The Not-Love Interest: To Dorian. Dorian remarks that he had better things to do than get in trouble for seducing his mentor's son, and they're just good friends. He fondly recalls how young Felix used to sneak him treats while he was studying.
• Nice Guy: He's not only Dorian's best friend, but he's unfailingly polite to everyone, even his father when he's Calling the Old Man Out.
• Only-Child Syndrome: Felix is an only child, which is how Dorian explains why Alexius fusses over him so much, and is so desperate to keep him from dying.
• The Pig-Pen: Dorian mentions that Felix occasionally neglected to bathe.
• The Mole: He's Dorian's inside man in the Venatori. If the player sides with the Templars, the Venatori find out about this and kill Felix.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: No matter what happens, he dies, and Dorian laments the loss of one of the best people he's ever known. (Should he and the Inquisitor be on good terms, he adds that he's grateful that "Felix wasn't the only decent sort kicking around Thedas.")
• The Undead: In the Bad Future, Felix becomes a ghoul because his father won't allow him to die.

Magister Erasthenes

Magister Erasthenes

Appears in: Paying The Ferryman | Inquisition

Calpernia's former master and a scholar of the Old Gods, Corypheus bound him with a ritual that tortures him to answer every question truthfully. This was in preparation for Calpernia once she drinks from the Well of Sorrows, so that Corypheus could bind her with a perfected version of the same ritual.

---

• Absent-Minded Professor: Prior to to his capture by Corypheus, he was entirely absorbed by his magical studies. His focus kept him from being actively villainous or cruel, though Calpernia sometimes found his absent-mindedness more frustrating than outright malice.
  If he had viciously beaten or humiliated her, Calpernia would have had somewhere to direct what burned inside her. But Erasthenes wanted only to potter about his relics or study with Anodatus, oblivious to everything else.
• All There in the Manual: More information about him is found in the short story "Paying the Ferryman".
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He and his friends were accused of this by Calpernia when she saw them chatting idly when they should've used their position and skills for Tevinter’s benefit.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: You can choose to keep him alive so the Inquisition can question him.
• The Darkness Before Death: If the Inquisitor chooses to kill him, Erasthenes will use his last words to complain about everything going dark and pitifully call for Calpernia to light him a lamp.
• Fate Worse than Death:
  • Corypheus turned him into an undying vessel of knowledge tortured to answer every question truthfully. He asks the Inquisitor for death when encountered.
  • He can even be made Tranquil if a mage Inquisitor so chooses. Subverted when he actually thanks for tranquility, preferring it over his previous predicament.
• Men Can't Keep House: His mansion was described as littered with books and ancient relics.
• Mercy Kill: He asks the Inquisitor to end Corypheus's binding ritual, which would kill him in the process.
• Pet the Dog: He forgives Calpernia for destroying one of his tomes, teaching her how to control her magic outbursts instead of punishing her, and refuses to send her to the circles even though it would increase his influence. Not that Calpernia cares much, as she's still resentful over being enslaved and denied actual magical training.
• Sympathetic Slave Owner: Downplayed. He did not necessarily treat his slaves well, but Paying the Ferryman portrays him as a relatively temperate and mild-mannered master. He shows some consideration for Calpernia, if nothing else, teaching her how to control her powers and admonishing his fellow magister for harassing the girl.
• What the Hell, Hero?: If you choose to keep him alive as a source of information, he retorts that you're doing to him what Corypheus plans to do to Calpernia. If you choose to kill him, Leliana will chide you for destroying valuable information.

Abelas

Abelas

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Matthew Gravelle

"We awaken only when called, and each time find the world more foreign than before. It is meaningless. We endure."

One of the Ancient Elves guarding the Well of Sorrows in the Arbor Wilds, he awakens from dormancy only to defend the Well from potential defilers.

---

• Abusive Precursors: In a very literal sense of "abusive," if a Dalish Inquisitor attempts to appeal to racial sympathy from him.
  Inquisitor Lavellan: Our people have lost everything. They need you. They could learn from you!
  Abelas: Our people? The ones we see in the forest, shadows wearing vallaslin? You are not my people. And you have invaded our sanctum as readily as the shemlen.
• The Archmage: Immensely powerful with magic.
• Enemy Mine: He'll work with an Inquisitor (of any race) to defend the Well, even though the Inquisitor is technically an intruder, provided the Inquisitor first shows homage to Mythal.
  Abelas: If these invaders are enemies of yours, we will aid you in destroying them.
• Facial Markings: Abelas and his fellows all wear Mythal's vallaslin.
• Fantastic Racism: He doesn't like anyone who aren't ancient elves, but he really doesn't like humans. That said, he is (mostly) polite to a human Inquisitor who has performed the rites of petition.
  Abelas: You would not know truth. Shemlen history is as short as the pool of your years.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Toyed with. When asked why he doesn't tell the truth of elven history, Abelas replies that the elves of the present day likely wouldn't believe the truth, and even if they did, the knowledge would potentially do more harm than good.
  Abelas: Would the elves of your time even believe the truth?
  Dorian: They might. Would it hurt to try?
  Abelas: Perhaps more than you know, shemlen.
• Hold the Line: Though aware that the culture they knew is long extinct, Abelas and the Sentinels are compelled by their duty to defend the Well until the last of them falls.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His view on being willing to destroy the Well of Sorrows, believing that to be better than potentially allowing its power to fall into the wrong hands.
  Abelas: The Vir'Abelasan will not be despoiled... even if I must destroy it myself.
• Living Relic: Alongside his fellows, he is a survivor from at least as early as just around the self-wrought fall of Arlathan, almost two thousand years ago. He's painfully aware that the culture he swore his life to defend is long gone.
  Solas: [regarding Abelas] He clings to all that remains of his world because he lacks the power to restore it.
• Meaningful Name: Abelas means "sorrow" in elven. At the end of the mission, Solas can comment something to Abelas in ancient elven, translating it for the Inquisitor's sake as telling Abelas that he hopes he finds a new name.
• Pride: He has little but contempt for the Dalish.
• Really 700 Years Old: He's from a time when elves were still immortal. How old he truly is can't be said, or if age is even relevant to him.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's the leader of the Sentinels, and will work with the party provided they performed the rituals, even though they're trespassing. He's ultimately willing to give the Inquisitor control of the Well, regardless of their race, observing that "there is a righteousness in you I cannot deny."
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: He can live through eternity, only to be stabbed in the back by Morrigan.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: One of the features that sets him apart from modern elves. Notably, Abelas and his followers are the only people with such eyes other than Flemeth and her daughters. There is a connection.
• The Time of Myths: When he's from.
• Walking the Earth: After the Arbor Wilds is over, he leaves in order to help his other people - if he's not killed, of course.
• Wham Line: He gets two, in fact. The first: "The shemlen did not destroy Arlathan. We elvhen warred amongst ourselves." The second: "'Elven' legend is wrong. The Dread Wolf had nothing to do with [Mythal's] murder."
• What the Hell, Hero?: Chews out Morrigan because she wants to steal the Well for herself.
  Morrigan: Fool! You'd let your people's legacy rot in the shadows?!
  Abelas: To keep it from your grasping hands! Better it be lost forever than bestowed upon the unworthy!

Kirkwall

Hawke

The Champion of Kirkwall, who disappeared some time after the Annulment of the Kirkwall Circle.

---

For more info, see this page.

Bianca Davri

Bianca Davri

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Laura Bailey

The original Bianca, a surface dwarf mechanic and member of the Dwarven Merchants' Guild. She's a contact of Varric's who may have had something going on with him in the past.

---

• Amicable Exes: The game is really vague on what exactly caused the split, but implies that they're still on good terms. Her appearance with him in the Dragon Age comics from Dark Horse suggests that it took a while before they got to this point, however.
• Arranged Marriage: Her parents set her up with someone from the smith caste. She eventually went along with it, though she still may have something going with Varric.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: To the point that during an argument, the Inquisitor can tell her and Varric to "Get a Room!"
• Brainy Brunette: The Dragon Age comics and Heroes of Dragon Age spinoff game both show her to be a brunette, and the brainy aspect is implied by her Gadgeteer Genius status.
• Deadpan Snarker: Much like Varric.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • Not in appearance, but she's mentioned in Dragon Age II in party banter between Varric and Merrill. She asks about the crossbow and why he won't talk about it, and he explains that "There was a girl, and I made a promise. It's the one story I can never tell." The girl in question was, of course, Bianca.
  • She has an actual Early-Bird Cameo appearance in Until We Sleep^note which was published over a year before Inquisition was released, where Varric encounters her (or rather, her likeness). The way she behaves toward him is what tips him off that he's actually in the Fade.
• Fantasy Gun Control: When asked by Solas why the dwarves don't mass-produce more Automatic Crossbows, Varric states that Bianca (the person) does not want to make dwarven warfare even bloodier.
• Foreshadowing: She's the one who drops the bomb on the player that red lyrium is simply lyrium with the Blight, and by extension, lyrium is in fact alive. This revelation comes full circle in The Descent DLC, when it's revealed that lyrium is the blood of the Titans.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Bianca, Thedas's only auto-crossbow, came from the hands of Bianca the dwarf.
• In the Hood: Skulks around, befitting her roguish past, and wears a hood which completely obscures her hair. (This may be at least in part due to the fact that she's not supposed to be anywhere near Varric, and the only times she's seen in the game, she is; she could well be in disguise.)
• Must Make Amends: What her entire quest is about.
• My God, What Have I Done?: The whole reason for her mission is that she wants to right her well-intentioned wrongs.
• Never My Fault: Though she apologizes and tries to undo her mistake, confronting her about her letting Corypheus get access to a supply of red lyrium causes her to become defensive and act like her bringing the Inquisitor and Varric along somehow totally washes away her role in events that happened. Varric gets really angry at her treating it like she thinks its the same as repairing a broken machine, when the situation is not as simple as that.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Accidentally gives Corypheus information about where he can acquire a large supply of red lyrium. Her quest revolves around setting this right, as much as possible.
• Non-Answer:
  • If the Inquisitor asks Bianca if she is the person for whom Varric named his weapon, her only response is that half of the females in the Dwarven Merchants' Guild have the same name.
  • Likewise, when asked how the smugglers found out about the thaig, Bianca immediately states that it doesn't matter. Because she was the leak.
• The One That Got Away: She's this for Varric; his official profile for the Dragon Age tabletop RPG notes that he will always have a soft spot for her.
• Runaway Bride: The Dragon Age comics make it pretty clear that she and Varric were going to elope and she backed out at the last minute, instead going through with the marriage her parents arranged. He only hints at this in the game in one line.
  Varric: I heard the wedding was lovely. The one she actually showed up for, anyway.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Averted. In party banter, Iron Bull explicitly refers to Bianca as Varric's girlfriend; Varric does not contradict him.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: The romance between her and Varric was so controversial that they were forced to separate by the Dwarven Merchants' Guild for almost starting a clan war.
  Varric: If we're seen together, the Guild would freeze my assets and kill me. Not necessarily in that order.
• The Tease: Towards Varric.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: As the creator of Varric's crossbow, she's a blacksmith of considerable talent. She brags that she's ten times the smith that Branka (a Paragon) ever was. A large number of dwarves are petitioning for her to be named Paragon herself, though she's well aware a surface dwarf will never gain that honor.
• The Unreveal: It's explained, as noted above, that her romance with Varric almost caused a clan war and they are explicitly forbidden to so much as be in the same city (not that this stops them). What has yet to be explained, however, is why the romance was such a problem.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: She tells the Inquisitor in no uncertain terms that if Varric is killed, she will feed the Inquisitor their own eyeballs.
• Wrench Wench: A genius mechanic.
  Iron Bull: So... your girlfriend is a smith.
  Varric: Yes.
  Iron Bull: So that means she makes weapons. With her own hands.
  Varric: (confused) Among other things.
  Iron Bull: That's hot.

Bull's Chargers

In General

The mercenary company led by The Iron Bull, following him if hired by the Inquisition.

---

• Action Girl: Dalish and Skinner, the only girls on the team, are just as capable in combat as their male teammates.
• Badass Creed: "Horns pointing up!"
• Blatant Lies: Dalish uses a "bow" that has a crystal at the tip "for aiming." She's not a mage!
• Bow and Sword in Accord: Skinner is stated to prefer knives to a worrying degree, but she is also seen using a bow when the situation calls for it.
• Bragging Theme Tune: They have one of their own that they sing a capella.
  No man can beat the Chargers, 'cause we hit you where it hurts,
  Unless you know a tavern with loose cards and looser skirts!
  For every bloody battlefield, we'll gladly raise a cup.
  No matter what tomorrow holds, our horns be pointing up!
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: They are a very odd bunch, and many of them were rejected by other mercenary companies for it. They are also very good at what they do.
• Call-Back/Mythology Gag: The healing "potion" Stitches makes tastes terrible because it's actually a poultice and not meant to be swallowed.
• Combat Medic: Stitches, who mentions having picked up a sword when the Blight hit, and never put it down.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mostly Krem, though all of them (except for Grim) get in on it.
• Demolitions Expert: Rocky is an explosives expert who thinks that he's close to discovering Gaatlok, to which Bull states that he's not even close.
• Due to the Dead: If they die, Bull says a prayer while spreading the ashes in the wind. The Inquisitor can promise to honor their sacrifice.
• The Exile: Rocky was exiled from Orzammar due to "stupid noble crap" and "accidentally blowing up a bit of the Shaperate." Dalish, as well: Her clan had too many mages in it, and since having too many of them in one clan can attract trouble, Dalish set off. Skinner's also on the run for killing some Orlesian Chevaliers who thought testing their new swords on the elves in her Alienage was a good idea.
• Facial Markings: Dalish, as a Dalish elf, has vallaslin.
• Fantastic Racism: Skinner hates shems (humans) for testing swords on her people, but it's not a pure racism and it's more likely that she only specifically despises humans who look down on elves, as she's perfectly fine with Krem, Stitches, and Grim, and has no quarrel with a human Inquisitor.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Rocky sports an impressive set of scars that one would normally expect to see on a criminal, but he's pretty nice.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: The two elves. Dalish is blonde and the nicer of the two, while Skinner is a borderline Ax-Crazy brunette.
• Hero of Another Story: If asked, Krem will provide missions that the Chargers can go on at the War Table, including destroying Adamant Fortress, buying up mercenary contracts for the jilted party in Orlais after Halamshiral, killing the Envy Demon if the Inquisitor recruits the mages, and discovering Venatori infiltrators in the Bannorn if the Inquisitor recruits the Templars. He can also be asked to tell the Inquisitor about some of their past exploits.
• Implausible Deniability: Dalish is a mage, but insists she's merely an archer. The gem at the end of the staff is an old Elven aiming technique and not magical focus at all. In Trespasser, a note from a nobleman marvels at how Dalish's arrows can create walls of ice.
• Insistent Terminology: Dalish is an "archer" who uses a "bow."
  • Leads to a very funny Call-Back in supplemental material: When the Chargers appear in the Magekiller comic, Dalish's mage staff is finally seen. It actually is shaped like a bow.
• Irony: Dalish's vallaslin venerates Dirthamen, Keeper of Secrets; the fact that she is a mage is the worst-kept secret in the Chargers.
• King Incognito: Bull suspects that Grim might be a long-lost authority figure.
• Morality Pet: Collectively. This isn't revealed until Trespasser, however.
• Nice Guy/Nice Girl: To varying degrees, but they all have at least a little of this. In Haven, overheard dialogue between two Chantry sisters has one of them commenting on how "polite and respectful" the Chargers are, and how she didn't expect such good manners from a mercenary band.
• Noodle Incident: Rocky somehow blew up part of the Shaperate by accident.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: If the Inquisitor did not visit Therinfal Redoubt, and so did not encounter the Envy demon, Bull's Chargers will be sent to hunt and kill it instead through a War Table mission.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Each member of the Chargers goes by a short nickname. Averted with Krem, whose full name (Cremisius Aclassi) is known, and used with formal reports to the War Table.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Dalish is quite adamant that she is an "archer"; the glowing crystal on the tip of her "bow" is just an elven aiming trick. The rest of the company cheerfully mocks her for this.
• The Quiet One: Grim "doesn't talk much" and communicates in short grunts. Interestingly, before Grim is met, Iron Bull passes the Inquisitor off as Grim to meet with some rank-and-file Inquisition soldiers and get their perspective on the war. Bull tells the Inquisitor to act in that same way.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: An exiled dwarf sapper, a Dalish mage/"archer", a Fereldan healer and Fifth Blight veteran, a shem-killing Alienage elf, a quiet man who's suspected of being some kind of long-lost royal, and a transgender man from Tevinter, plus their Blood Knight Qunari reaver leader. Bull mentions that pretty much all of them were rejected by other mercenary companies for their idiosyncrasies.
• Sadistic Choice: At one point you have to choose between a Total Party Kill except for Bull, or letting the Qunari Dreadnought get blasted by Tevinters. Bull can either keep his people safe and get branded Tal-Vashoth, or get the Inquisition an alliance with the Qunari.
• The Smart Guy: Stitches as The Medic, Rocky as the explosives expert, and Dalish as the mage.
• True Companions: They are intensely loyal to one another.
• Two Girls to a Team: Dalish and Skinner.
• Undying Loyalty: To The Iron Bull. If you let them die, Cole reveals that this loyalty truly was undying; their last thoughts weren't of despair or betrayal. Rather, it was the desperate hope that the Bull hadn't left them to die, and "Horns pointing up."
• The Unintelligible: Grim communicates primarily in grunts.
• Vitriolic Best Buds
  • Mostly Krem and Bull, but to a lesser extent, this is the case with the rest of them. Well, except Grim, at least out loud.
    Krem: The Chargers might give Bull more lip than you might expect, but every one of us would lay down our lives for the big ass.
  • Also seen with Dalish. For all that the other Chargers mock her attempts to hide her magic, the fact remains that she hasn't been taken by the Templars.

Lieutenant Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi

Lieutenant Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi

Appears in: Inquisition | Magekiller

Voiced by: Jennifer Hale

Second-in-command of the Chargers, Krem is a warrior from Tevinter.

---

• Ascended Glitch: He's apparently incapable of using chairs properly. In Trespasser, it turns out he's been standing up to better admire Maryden as she sings.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Cole implies that meeting Bull was the first time in his life that Krem had been accepted by anyone.
• Berserk Button: Annoyed Button in this case, but calling him a woman is a good way to set off Krem himself, his fellow Chargers, and/or Bull.
• Easy Sex Change: Subverted. Using magic to physically change one's sex isn't out of the question in Thedas. The problem is, magic is heavily stigmatized in Thedas outside of the Tevinter Imperium; and even there, non-magical Tevinter citizens like Krem are often wary of it. As such, Krem says he would never let any gender-affirming magic go anywhere near his body.^note Given Dorian's justifiably horrified reaction to his father trying to forcefully change his sexuality via a blood magic ritual, and the risk of magical lobotomization that the ritual came with, it's likely such invasive forms of magic in either case carry a very high chance of going horribly wrong and likely permanently disfiguring if not killing the subject outright, which makes Krem's refusal much more understandable.
• The Exile: He has shades of this. Women are allowed to fight in Tevinter, but they are in sex-segregated units. While being transgender isn't a problem in Tevinter, Krem didn't disclose it when recruited, so Krem deserted before punishment (either a massive fine or slavery) could occur after he was discovered.
• The Face: Krem is the usual point of contact for contractors, since he's the most level-headed of the bunch (even over Bull himself).
• Good Parents: Krem can mention that when he was younger, he liked to pretend to shave alongside his father. His father would quietly adjust the mirror so Krem could see themselves and continue shaving. Krem can add that his father probably knew about him being transgender but didn't really care.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Krem was on the receiving end of one in childhood. His father was a tailor who went bankrupt because a Magister gave clothes away to the poor for free. In order to guarantee his wife and son could stay free, Krem's father sold himself into slavery.
  • When Krem was arrested for desertion at a tavern on the Tevinter/Nevarra border, Iron Bull tried to put an end to the beating the soldiers were inflicting on Krem. When one of the soldiers tried to kill Krem, Bull put himself in the way of the blow, costing him an eye in the process, killed the guards then offered Krem a job.
• The Lancer: As second-in-command, Krem is this to Iron Bull.
• Nice Guy: Krem is a sweetheart, being unfailingly polite to the Inquisitor. This also factors into why he is The Face for the Chargers, as he has the manners and demeanor to interact with people from all walks of life.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Was on the receiving end of this. A magister in Krem's hometown tried to be charitable by having his slaves churn out clothes and practically give them away. It may have kept the poor from freezing to death, but the flooded market ruined Krem's father's tailoring business.
• Number Two: He is Bull's lieutenant, and handles leading the Chargers while Bull is busy providing the Inquisitor a personal protection detail. He also is probably the only one with enough professional demeanor to handle client interactions (even over Iron Bull himself).
• Odd Friendship: With Bull, who is a Qunari. Krem is from Tevinter. The "Vints" and the Qunari have been at war for decades and have very different societal approaches towards magic, but these two are devoted pals.
• Only Sane Employee: Krem acts the most professional of the group, which is why Bull sends him to meet with the Inquisitor, and why he organizes all of the missions. Stitches and Dalish are considerably calmer and friendlier than the rest, but as Dalish is an "archer" with a magic staff and Stitches almost never puts his sword down, Krem handles the diplomacy.
• Recruitment by Rescue: How Krem and Bull met, with Bull saving Krem and losing his eye to a flail in the process.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Not blatantly, but the more professional Krem is the blue to the significantly wilder Iron Bull's red.
• Supernaturally-Validated Trans Person: Cole sees him as a man and only a man, which surprises even Iron Bull.
• Talk to the Fist: Did this to a bigoted Tevinter medic who tried to blackmail Krem by threatening to expose his transgender status to Krem's superiors.
• Trangst: Played with. While he's not upset over the fact he's transgender, lying that he was born male got him in trouble, along with the fact that his father sold himself to slavery. When Iron Bull explains the concept of an "Aqun-Athlok" to the Inquisitor, Krem asks with concern if they're treated like proper men. Iron Bull assures him that they are "real men," just like Krem.
• Twice Shy: Krem had long harboured a crush on Maryden, but hadn't made a move on her due to nerves. When they start talking and the idea of a date comes up, Maryden is also awkward about her interest in Krem. If Cole is human, Maryden will hook up with him instead.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: While Krem and Bull love to toss racial and cultural insults at one another, it's all in good fun and the two are fiercely loyal to one another.

Other

Ser Delrin Barris

Ser Delrin Barris

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Mark Healy

A Templar who serves at Therinfal Redoubt. He marshals a defense of the remaining Templars to save themselves from their corrupted brethren and pet demons.

---

• Authority Equals Asskicking: He earns his way into this role at Therinfal.
• Bald of Authority: After Therinfal, he runs what's left of the Templars, so he becomes this.
• Big Good: Potentially towards the Templars.
• Blue Blood: He's the second son of a Fereldan bann. Though it matters very little for some nobles.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: If you recruit the Templars and complete all of his War Table missions, Barris becomes the new Knight-Commander of the Templar Order.
• Fantastic Drug: Like all Templars, addicted to lyrium. A plot point, because that was how Corypheus controlled them.
• Go Through Me: He refuses to back down from Knight-Captain Denam.
• Guest-Star Party Member: He will travel through the first half of Therinfal with the Inquisitor. Barris is a guardian-type with a tower shield and fights exactly like one.
• Hero of Another Story: Like the Chargers, he can go off on Templar missions from the War Table if he survives Therinfal.
• Hold the Line: He organizes one of these missions, having the Templars fight horrors in the hall while the Inquisitor secures lyrium and finds uncorrupted high ranking Templars. If their strength falls, the game fails.
• Killed Off for Real: Barris can get killed off if the strength of the barrier falls below 25%.
• Killed Offscreen: Given that, if the player sides with the mages, he doesn't appear again - even as an enemy, like Fiona - it's implied that his Only Sane Man nature got him killed, either by the Envy demon or the Red Templars in general.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Holds the ideals of the Templars of old, wanting to protect the mundane and mages alike from demons. If the Templars are recruited, he leads a series of War Table missions potentially ending in him getting promoted to Knight-Vigilant of the new order. Even Solas, who greatly dislikes the Templars, respects the man.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: In combat, Ser Barris wields a tower shield nearly as tall as he is. He's quite badass with it as well.
• Nerves of Steel: Doesn't bat an eyelash when dealing with demons, horrors, or poncy nobles.
• Noodle Incident: His first routine assignment involved looking into some rumors of apostasy. It ended up involving blood mages, a pride demon, an entire Dalish clan, two Seekers of Truth, and Brainwashed and Crazy Tal-Vashoth.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Most of his war table missions are this - especially if the right advisor is picked, so that he not only does the stuff below but does so while saving countless lives:
  • Leads a group of Templars to route a Venatori strike force.
  • Stops an army of demons roaming through a town - the town wants to build a statue in his honor. If Cullen is picked, he saves the whole town and the ruling countess.
  • Single-handedly saves a boy, who has just developed magical powers and is falsely accused of being an abomination, from being lynched by an Angry Mob without drawing his sword.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Even before he gained his authority. He's a voice of reason among the Templars, and even questions the Envy Demon posing as Lord Seeker Lucius back in Val Royeaux.

Kieran

Kieran

Appears in: Inquisition

Voiced by: Odin Black

"People fear the next age if it comes too soon."

Should she have been romanced in Dragon Age: Origins and/or have performed the Dark Ritual, Morrigan's son Kieran will join her when she arrives at Skyhold.

---

• Alternate Timeline Ancestry: He is conceived and looks exactly the same no matter who his father was. He is even the same if he was raised by the player's original Gray Warden in a loving relationship with Morrigan. He does have some creepy, otherworldly abilities if he has the Old God inside him, but even that is relatively minor and otherwise, he is a perfectly well-behaved and pleasant child.
• Casting Gag: He is voiced by Claudia Black's actual son.
• Child Mage: Regardless of whether or not he is Urthemiel's vessel, he is implied to have inherited Morrigan's magic.
• Child Prodigy: If he has Urthemiel's soul, he can do feats like opening Eluvians and physically walking through the Fade unharmed. He's ten years old.
• Curious as a Monkey: Morrigan notes that he's a very curious boy and often wanders away from her.
• Foreshadowing: Kieran mention the Titans to a Dwarven Inquisitor, long before The Descent DLC was released.
• Good Parents: He's lucky enough to have at least one of these; Morrigan adores her son. If his father actively romanced Morrigan and is still alive, he helped raise Kieran to this point. Morrigan notes that he is an excellent father and that "Kieran misses him greatly."
• Half-Human Hybrid: Possibly, if the Warden is an elf or a dwarf. If his father is Alistair, that makes Kieran one-fourth elf, although nobody is aware of it.
• Height Angst: Instead of mentioning the titans, Human Kieran will express his own desire to be taller toward a sarcastic Dwarven Inquisitor who jokes about trying so hard to be taller. With the boy claiming he “knows how you feel.”
• Last of His Kind: If his father is Alistair and if Alistair is lost to the Fade, he is the last living descendant of King Calenhad.
• Meaningful Name: His name is of Irish origin and means "little dark one".
• Morality Pet: For his mother Morrigan; the scene where he goes into the Fade suggests that he could also be something like this for his grandmother Flemeth.
• Multiple-Choice Past: His mother is always Morrigan. His father could be Male Warden, Alistair, or Loghain, or he may not even exist. He also may or may not have have the soul of a Tevinter Old God riding along with his own.
• Past Experience Nightmare: If he has Urthemiel's soul, he suffers from nightmares. These nightmares are never described, but they're implied to be memories of what he did as an Old God and Archdemon.
• The Quiet One: According to Morrigan, he's "a quiet, well-spoken lad." He only speaks directly to the Inquisitor when you first meet him.
• Reincarnation: Potentially of Urthemiel.
• Royal Blood: No matter which of these situations apply (if any), the implications of it never come up at any point in the story. However, there are several scenarios in which Kieran is royalty/nobility:
  • If he is Alistair's son, he's technically this, even if Alistair doesn't become king.
  • He is also this if his father is a Dwarf Noble Warden, since this makes him King Endrin's grandson.
  • If his father was a Dwarf Commoner Warden and Bhelen is the king of Orzammar, that makes him the king's nephew as Bhelen marries Rica, the Warden's older sister.
  • Alternately, if his father is a Human Noble Warden or a Human Mage Warden, he's a Blue Blood since he's either Teyrn Cousland's grandson or a descendant of the Amell family in Kirkwall.
  • He's also a Blue Blood if he's Loghain's son, since in this case he's the son of the Teyrn of Gwaren and Queen Anora's half-brother. Technically, if he's a result of the Dark Ritual with a male Hero of Ferelden rather than just a romance with Morrigan, he's also the son of the Arl of Amaranthine.
• Sharing a Body: It's implied that this is the case if he has Urthemiel's soul. Rather than being a straight reincarnation, he's merely Urthemiel's host. When Flemeth removes the Old God's essence, he expresses relief that the nightmares will end, but later remarks that he feels lonely without it.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Because of the multiple possibilities for his father's identity, the devs made Kieran strongly resemble his mother so that his appearance wouldn't need to change for different world states.
• Wise Beyond His Years: Considering whom he has for parents, it's not surprising. Especially if he's partly Urthemiel.

Lord Adorno Ciel Otranto

Lord Adorno Ciel Otranto

Appears in: Inquisition

A lord from Antiva. If the Inquisitor decides to romance Josephine, she finds out she has been engaged to Lord Otranto. The Inquisitor must deal with him in order to complete her romance.

---

• Act of True Love: When Josephine breaks up the duel, the Inquisitor declares that the duel was this in front of the crowd. Otranto politely steps aside once he witnesses this, as he thought the relationship between Josephine and the Inquisitor was just one of passion.
• Arranged Marriage: He and Josephine have never even met each other; the match is made by their parents. While he's perfectly content with it, she is not.
• Boisterous Bruiser: A keen fighter and a lively man, his herald mentions that his duel with the Inquisitor is just one of the many he has planned for the upcoming season.
• Cutscene Boss: Even if the quest has him and the Inquisitor duel, it's played out in a cutscene only and you don't actually fight him.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Regardless of whether or not the Inquisitor stays with Josephine, Otranto is out of luck. Ironically, if the Inquisitor doesn't romance Josephine, the betrothal - which could have worked in that situation - never takes place. (Or if it does, she never thinks to mention it to the Inquisitor, possibly because it's not a problem for her.)
• Friendly Enemy: He has nothing but respect for the Inquisition, and for what the Inquisitor is doing. He just must address the fact that he is betrothed to Josephine.
• Graceful Loser: He's okay with losing once he sees the Act of True Love the Inquisitor makes. Even if the Inquisitor and Josephine call off their relationship, Otranto declares the duel a draw. If the Inquisitor still wants to fight, the two of them can continue with no prize at all.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: On his side, at least. He's perfectly okay with marrying Josephine.
• Royal Rapier: Befitting his lordly heritage and his dueling. It gives him an advantage, since it seems that the Inquisitor is completely unfamiliar with fencing sabers.
• Shipper on Deck: Once he sees how much the Inquisitor loves Josephine, Otranto is all too happy to support them.

Gatt

Gatt

Appears in: Inquisition | Tevinter Nights

"I like my place and knowing it's the right place."

A Ben-Hassrath agent and friend of the Iron Bull. He is sent to help coordinate the alliance between the Inquisition and the Qunari against the Venatori.

---

• Brutal Honesty: When Bull tries to tiptoe around what his name Hissrad actually means, Gatt simply tells everyone that it means "Liar."
• Expy: An elven slave with anger issues, mistreated by his Tevinter master, who ended up fighting in Seheron: Gatt is what Fenris would have become if he had joined the Qun instead of ending up in Kirkwall.
• Graceful Loser: While he's not pleased about it, he is very polite when informing the Inquisitor there will be no alliance if the Chargers are saved, and does not try to kill Bull, even though the Qun probably demands he should.
• Hot-Blooded: Gatt's name comes from gaatlok, Qunari gunpowder. Gatt only displays it in-game if you save the Chargers.
• Internal Reformist: While he admits that there are aspects to the Qun which he dislikes, Gatt chooses not to leave it because he feels that he could do more good trying to promote changes to it from within.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Unlike the Qunari encountered in previous games, Gatt outright admits there are parts of the Qun that are wrong. He settles on fixing it from within, rather than leaving.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The only time he seems genuinely unnerved by a party member is with Cole, who reads Gatt's "inner pain" and unintentionally brings up a memory from the elf's past as a Magister's slave, which has some very disturbing implications.^note And keep in mind that Gatt was eight when the Iron Bull freed him from the Magister. Eugh. While most Qunari would rather kill on sight than confer with Spirits/Demons, Gatt just tells Cole to stop, and the Iron Bull quickly steps in to keep Cole from pushing the issue.
• Rape as Backstory: Implied. Gatt says that his master brought him to Seheron that last time for "company" (when he was eight), and that he originally stayed with the Qunari willingly because they killed the magister who hurt him. Cole confirms it when he reads Gatt's pain, unintentionally bringing up some rather...disturbing memories from Gatt's past that has the usually hard-nosed Qunari elf almost begging for the spirit to stop.
• Slave Liberation: He was a slave to a Tevinter magister who was en route to Seheron when Iron Bull and his men attacked the magister's ship and killed him, liberating Gatt.
• We Used to Be Friends: His friendship with Iron Bull is completely destroyed if the dreadnought is not saved from the Venatori.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He is furious if Iron Bull chooses to save the Chargers over the Qunari dreadnought, believing that he has violated the Qun and become Tal-Vashoth. This is particularly upsetting for Gatt, since he has been defending Iron Bull for years to the rest of the Ben-Hassrath, who have become very suspicious of Iron Bull's loyalty to the Qun.
  • He's on the receiving end of this from Solas, if he's brought along for Bull's loyalty mission; Solas tells Gatt that he traded slavery for something far worse.
  • Dorian makes similar remarks about the Qun being worse than slavery. But unlike the example above, this falls flat considering that Dorian himself is a Tevinter aristocrat who benefited from elven oppression...

Maddox

Maddox

Appears in: Paper And Steel | Inquisition

Voiced by: James Daniel Wilson

A Tranquil mage from Kirkwall, Maddox was acquainted with Samson and joined him when Samson founded the Red Templars.

---

• Because You Were Nice to Me: His reason for joining Samson, who took him in while most other Tranquil were abandoned to their fate when the mages rebelled.
• Brought Down to Normal: Like all Tranquil.
• Creepy Monotone: Tranquil do not inflect or emote, but Maddox's is especially eerie since he's poisoned himself and in great agony before he was found.
• Desperately Seeking A Purpose In Life: Samson gave him one, even before the Red Templars. This is why Maddox was so grateful to him.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He was the recipient of it. For the crime of having a Templar pass love letters, Maddox was made Tranquil.
• Emotionless Boy: Tranquil have no emotions, and Maddox is no exception.
• Empty Shell: Subverted. Since Tranquil have no emotions, most people assume they're complete automatons. Maddox surprises everyone by displaying selfless loyalty to Samson because the latter had been kind to him.
• Foreshadowing: Most characters are surprised by Maddox's strong loyalty to Samson, since they assumed all Tranquil were just empty shells. This becomes significant in Trespasser, where Solas reveals he didn't see most modern Thedosians as "people" when he first woke from his millennia-long nap, as he felt a world cut off from the Fade was like being in a world of Tranquil. Like Maddox, most Thedosians are capable of more wisdom and emotion than Solas gave them credit for.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Maddox cannot love because, as a Tranquil, he has no emotions. Even before that, he liked women. But he and Samson are very close and very loyal to each other. Maddox refuses to betray Samson, and Samson is saddened when he learns Maddox is dead.
• Hidden Depths: Whoever knew a Tranquil would feel so much gratitude and loyalty to a person who was nice to them?
• Insistent Terminology: Addresses Cullen as "Knight-Captain," even though that hasn't been Cullen's title for a few years at this point.
• Morality Pet: Serves as one to Samson, as Samson took care of him purely out of kindness and treats him well, and is genuinely saddened when he learns Maddox died.
• Power Tattoo: Inverted; like all Tranquil from Kirkwall, the sunburst on his forehead is a symbol that he has been stripped of magic.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Even with his suicide, Cullen and Dagna find a way to destroy Samson's armor.
• Undying Loyalty: He believes in Samson and would not betray him, even committing suicide to prevent spilling his secrets.

---