History Characters / DragonAgeRaces

* OneDropRule: Even though children of human and elven parents appear and ''are'' fully human, anti-elf racism is so strong in most areas that having elven blood is considered a source of great shame. More than one human noble and chevalier career has ended due to public discovery of their "elven blood".

* ForWantOfANail: Rather literally. Kal'Hirol is discovered to have fallen due to an incomplete gear mechanism for one of the massive doors used to seal the Deep Roads. If it had been completed before that section had been overrun by darkspawn, it's possible that Kal'Hirol could have survived much like Orzammar and Kal-Sharok.

** Also played straight by [[spoiler:the original seven Magisters-turned-Darkspawn, who retain their human intelligence.]]

** ''Inquisition'' moderates it a little, with Solas in particular arguing that most spirits are best thought of as mirrors of what already exists in human hearts. And part of the problem is that they find the material world just as alien and upsetting as most mortals find the Fade. Apparently many of the demons you fight at the rifts are previously-benign spirits driven mad by being pulled through.

* DishingOutDirt: The Sha-Brytol Earthshakers have ill-defined earth-manipulating powers. Or at least, their [[DropTheHammer maces]] do.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted, but barely. Tevinter is a brutal empire built on mage supremacy and slavery, and the only Tevinters we saw in the first game were quite bad. This has been overturned since, but even then Maevaris (comics), Marius (comics), Krem, Felix, Dorian, Calpernia, and Tassia (anime) are the only decent Tevinter humans we've met. The country itself is a useful boogeyman for anti-mage characters to use as a justification for imprisoning mages specifically because seemingly ''every'' Tevinter magister is evil with a capital E.

* OneDropRule: Even though children of human and elven parents appear and ''are'' fully human, anti-elf racism is so strong in most areas that having elven blood is considered a source of great shame. More than one human noble and chevalier career has ended due to public discovery of their elven blood.

* AsskickingLeadstoLeadership: This is expected of the nobility.

* AsskickingLeadstoLeadership:

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: This is expected of the nobility.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking:

* TheUnintelligible: Most darkspawn can only communicate in {{guttural growl|er}}s and roars. [[spoiler:The appearance of darkspawn that ''can'' talk is treated as incredibly dangerous, and indeed it is: the darkspawn are an exceptionally deadly threat when the Archdemon organizes them into a Blight, but they're generally easy to deal with otherwise. If the darkspawn can suddenly reason enough to lead themselves without an Archdemon, it would mean an unending Blight. Fortunately the Architect ''doesn't'' want to start a Blight.]]

* HidingBehindReligion: Emperor Drakon invented The Chantry, which he conveniently filled with expansionist teachings as an excuse to conquer and convert neighboring kingdoms; particularly Nevarra and the Dales. Eventually it became clear to everyone that Orlais was expanding out of greed rather than faith, though most of Southern Thedas are still ardent Chantry worshipers who enthusiastically preach its expansionist ideals. Even people conquered by Orlais fully believe [[http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_The_Exalted_March_of_the_Dales Orlais' borderline propaganda]] version of the war against the elven Dales. One of the reasons of why Ferelden supported the rebel mages and grant them asylum and why Arl Teagan wants the Inquisition (which is basically a Chantry creation, whether the Inquisitor wants it or not) to be disbanded.

* HidingBehindReligion: Emperor Drakon invented The Chantry, which he conveniently filled with expansionist teachings as an excuse to conquer and convert neighboring kingdoms; particularly Nevarra and the Dales. Eventually it became clear to everyone that Orlais was expanding out of greed rather than faith, though most of Southern Thedas are still ardent Chantry worshipers who enthusiastically preach its expansionist ideals. Even people conquered by Orlais fully believe [[http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_The_Exalted_March_of_the_Dales Orlais' borderline propaganda]] version of the war against the elven Dales.

* DemonOfHumanOrigin: It is extremely rare, but a mortal who is possessed of enough of a certain virtue or vice and holds magical power of their own may transform into a demon in the Fade after death. The resulting mortal/spirit hybrids tend to be far stronger, self-controlled, and cunning than other demons of their kind, partially because they can understand the mortal mind better than any "natural" spirit. One example of this is shown in ''Awakening'' where the Baroness of the Blackmarsh became a pride demon herself after magically banishing herself and her rebellious subjects' souls to the Fade. Other possible examples are the various Forbidden One superbosses in each of the first three games.

* HealingFactor: Ogres can apparently heal from grave wounds in a manner of minutes, pretending to be dead or unconscious the whole time. This is the main reason Grey Wardens try to [[KillItWithFire burn any ogres they manage to take down]].
** It's common in all darkspawn. The taint provides quick healing from wounds which also explains the absence of healing skills among the darkspawn. This healing even allows the recreation of lost body parts after some time, as seen with the Architect having both of his hands again in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'' after lost one in The Calling.

* EnslavedElves: Most their slave population is this. While the occasional elf can gain power and a number of their slaves are human, the ''vast majority'' of their slave population is still elven and vice-versa. (They ''were'' the ones who enslaved the entire elven race in the first place, after all.)

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Qunari are all over the map with this. Their status as a religious rival to mainland Thedas makes them very reminiscent of medieval Muslims. Their continued hold on the Spanish-based Rivain and general tolerance for religious freedom therein makes them very similar to the Moors who ruled most of Northern Africa and Spain, while their protracted conflict with the Byzantium-esque Tevinter is evocative of the Seljuks and Ottomans. Their religion, however, is very Taoist / Confucianist in philosophy, with its belief in the existence of a single universal "path" for all and its emphasis on knowing one's place in society.

* FantasticRacism: Even though an elf was one of their Prophetess' greatest generals, the Chantry officially removed all verses of him after conquering the elven kingdom of the Dales. Now that most of Thedas' elves have converted to Andrastianism, the Chantry still doesn't let them become priests. Elves are also low in secular society, being either slaves in societies that allow slavery or impoverished and second-class citizens in those which don't. Humans also typically throw race riots if elves so much as [[http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_Entry:_Alienage_Culture move into a human neighborhood]], never mind [[http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Epilogue_%28Origins%29 gain a title of minor nobility]]. Their treatment of dwarves and qunari aren’t much better, generally labeling the former as criminal exiles only useful for their ability to mine lyrium and enchant items, and the latter as violent heathens who force you into a role.

* TransNature: Or in their parlance, Aqun-Athlok, "born as one gender and living as another". Ironically, the acceptance of transgenderism in Qunari culture comes from their StayInTheKitchen attitude towards both men and women. Their concept of gender seems to consist ''entirely'' of gender roles, so it's actually easier for them to accept that a trans man doing a "man's job" is a man than that a woman doing a "man's job" is a woman.

* OutsideInsideSlur: The nomadic Dalish routinely call them "flat ears" -- essentially "elf inside, human outside." The Dalish hold city elves to be little different from the humans who rule them.

* WasOnceAMan: ''Trespasser'' codex reveals that Xebenkeck is one of the Forgotten Ones that discarded her original form to survive an ancient war. It is suggested that they are also the Forbidden Ones, which include {{Bonus Boss}}es Imshael and Gaxkang. Also the Baroness of Black Marsh seems to have become a Pride Demon after centuries in the Fade.

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: City elves are frequent targets of sexual abuse and asault by powerful humans who find them pleasing to look at, but less than worthy as people. They similarly attract the attention of more violent bigots (like [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Vaughan Kendells]] and [[SerialKiller Kelder Vanard]]) who outright kidnap and serial kill them because they are FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence.

* AdventureArchaeologist: They're nomadic hunter-scholars who wander the land, fighting off any beasts, monsters, and bigoted humans that attack them. They're also dedicated to recovering their forgotten history and culture, so they tend to explore and study every ancient elven ruin they stumble across. Often they do both at once, fighting off whatever giant spiders, undead, demons, darkspawn, and other beasties infesting the ruins they're trying to catalog.

* RatedMForManly: Thanks to their barbarian ancestry, Fereldan culture involves quite a bit of fighting with little effort placed into luxuries. Unlike Orlesians, who favour elaborate [[SilkHidingSteel silks]] and Antivans, who enjoy [[HellbentForLeather well-tanned leather]], Ferelden fashions seems to be based on whatever is the most [[BoringButPractical practical material]] on hand, lined with fur.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Since ''DAII'', footwraps that expose the heel and toe have become a pervasive but not all encompassing part of the Dalish. A line from Merrill though inplies that they're not above covering their feet for comfort and that they consider the footwraps shoes.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: While it may not be initially apparent, the Qunari fit the Blizzard orc archetype quite well. They get described as a horde at one point and get portrayed with such direness. They also tend to have a lot of ProudWarriorRace traits. They are somewhat of a subversion however, on account of a few things.

** Finally, they follow a religion which is more or less like a fantasy version of Taoism or Confucianism, as opposed to the more typical portrayal of orcs practicing shamanistic religions.

* DecadentCourt: Their nobles take pride in "the grand game". The chance of your party entertainment being a spy or hitman is considered a bonus, and a FantasticDrug brewed from wyvern poison is favored by the Empress herself. This is so endemic to Orlais that in ''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition'' [[spoiler:trying to reconcile all three of the major rivals for the throne and make them work together is the ''worst'' option. Shortly after the events of the game they will go right back to playing "The Game".]] Cassandra despises "The Game", seeing it as nothing more than a glorification of rampant murder and corruption.

* KnightInShiningArmor: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstucted]]. Chevaliers are supposed to be the idealized version of this on paper. In practice, quite a few of them turn out to be murderers and rapists trained from the ranks of Orlesian nobility. Sers Gaspard and Michel from [[Literature/TheMaskedEmpire The Masked Empire]] do believe in this trope whole-heartedly, "Death Before Dishonor" being their rule to live by, however they can't really be considered squeaky clean. Possibly [[PlayedStraight played straight]] with Benoit Du Lac, [[spoiler: Aveline's father]], who was exiled from Orlais for refusing to play The Grand Game and getting screwed over as a result.

* VestigialEmpire: They used to control the Free Marches, Ferelden, the Anderfels, and Nevarra in addition to their own land. All of these places won their independence. They're still quite powerful, but have lost territory to Nevarra in wars, and as of Literature/{{Asunder}}, are in the middle of a CivilWar.

* InSeriesNickname: "The City of Chains".

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted, but barely. Tevinter is a brutal empire built on mage supremacy and slavery, and the only Tevinters we saw in the first game were quite bad. This has been overturned since, but even then Maevaris (comics), Marius (comics), Krem, Felix, Dorian, Calpernia, and Tassia (anime) are the only decent Tevinter humans we've met. The country itself is a useful boogeyman for anti-mage characters to use as a justification for imprisoning mages specifically because seemingly ''every'' Tevinter magister is evil with a capital E.

* EnslavedElves: Most their slave population is this. While the occasional elf can gain power and a number of their slaves are human, the ''vast majority'' of their slave population is still elven and vice-versa. (They ''were'' the ones who enslaved the entire elven race in the first place, after all.)

* CultureChopSuey: Medieval Venice populated by [[LatinLover Latin Lovers]] with [[DashingHispanic Spanish accents]]. A few Antivans lean more on the Italian-accented side. Moreover, it's not a jarring combination. At various points in history, Italian and Spanish families controlled cities in both regions, most prominently the Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, who were under Spanish Kings of various dynasties for six hundred years.

** As Varric points out in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Inquisition]] while the traditional Orzammar dwarves may be dying out ''surface'' dwarves like him are thriving.

* MageSpecies: Elves claim that every member of their race had the ability to use magic before the fall of Elvhenan. The [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins DAO]] [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration game mechanics imply that there is some truth to this]], since elves get a stat boost in magic and willpower, even if you don't choose the mage class. [[spoiler:They are correct about this belief. Unbeknownst to the modern elves, the reason most of them lost this aspect was Fen'harel's creation of the Veil, an unintended side effect that Fen'harel himself compared to [[EmptyShell Tranquility]].]]

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: While elves as a race are all over the map, city elf culture specifically is most often compared to pre-WWII European Jews and pre-Civil Rights Movement African Americans. This is largely due to their history of being displaced from their homeland (Jerusalem for Jews, Africa for African Americans), a history of slavery and/or open second-class citizenry, and their urban segregation into [[FantasticGhetto Fantastic Ghettos]] (mirroring pre-WWII European Jewish ghettos and post-Industrial Revolution American ghettos). Their practice of elders arranging marriages for adolescents also mirrors Medieval Jewish culture.

* MarriageBeforeRomance: Due to the practice of [[ArrangedMarriage arranged marriages]] being so common, they tend to take this attitude about love.

** Isabela implies, and [[WordOfGod David Gaider]] confirms, that [=DA2's=] Fenris served as this, as well as his Tevinter register master Danarius' RightHandAttackDog.

* BadassCreed: The Oath of the Dales, as shown above. [[spoiler:''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition'' ''Trespasser'' ultimately reveals they were half-right about their legends, but ancient elves still endure, and Fen'Harel (the one who sealed their "gods" and accidentally sundered ancient elvhen society in the process) has awakened, and seeks to restore the ancient elven world at any cost.]]
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Since DAII, footwraps that expose the heel and toe have become a pervasive but not all encompassing part of the Dalish. A line from Merrill though inplies that they're not above covering their feet for comfort and that they consider the footwraps shoes.

** The Dalish Warden can be granted the Hinterlands as their royal boon for ending the Fifth Blight. However, this doesn't last. If Alistair is made king and encounters Merrill in his VideoGame/DragonAgeII cameo (six years after the Blight), he profusely apologizes for what happened, and promises to make it up to the Dalish. In DAI (ten years after the Blight), the Herald can explore every scrap of the Hinterlands, yet they encounter no Dalish, nor any mention that the Hinterlands should belong to them.

* CripplingOverspecialization: On an individual level. Each Qunari is given only one specific task, and ''will not'' learn anything else in his or her lifetime. Soldiers stranded on an island won't even ''try'' to build a ship, buy a ship, or negotiate passage on another ship, for the simple reason that they are ''soldiers'', not ship builders, merchants, or negotiators, and to do ''anything'' that is not their original purpose is alien to them. Nor will they attempt to be diplomatic about their plight, since they aren't diplomats, either. This presents problems for those who decide to leave. Defectors who used to be scientists, farmers, or artisans can find work outside the Qun, but soldiers are left with nothing but a sword and their skill at putting the business end of said sword in people. At best, they become mercenaries. At worst, they become [[DangerousDeserter Dangerous Deserters]], giving cause to the depiction of Tal-Vashoth being violent madmen. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard One of their greatest enemies is actually of their own making.]]

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Qunari who die during or after performing an exceptional service for their people may be proclaimed ''Qunoran Vehl'' (an exemplary cultural hero). No one is ever proclaimed such during life, as [[AquiredSituationalNarcissism it would make them too proud and they'd be insufferable]].

** There's also some [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/451652/chapters/774621 pretty]] [[http://dicecast.tumblr.com/post/131522940984/qunari-arent-confuciancommunistislamic good]] [[https://dragon-age.livejournal.com/563152.html arguments]] that the Qunari draw much more from the philosophy of ''Plato'' (specifically as outlined in ''[[Literature/TheRepublic The Republic]]'') rather than Confucianism or Taoism. While Confucianism is focused very strongly on the traditional family structure, the Qunari are raised by specialized guardians in creches (as Plato proposed), and while Taoism places a great emphasis on non-action and self-enlightenment, the Qunari believe in establishing an order ''ruled'' by the enlightened (again, like Plato's philosopher-kings).

** Their respect towards Saarebas is best displayed in the ''Dragon Age II'' quest ''Shepherding Wolves''. Should you choose to let the qunari have Ketojan, the Arvaarad speaks more respectfully towards Hawke, despite trying to kill them anyway.

* ArtEvolution: They've gone through a number of redesigns over the course of three games. In ''Origins'' they seemed like a different version of standard fantasy orcs, being muscular, vicious, and mindless, with green skin. The sequel game had them become thinner, with all of them looking more diseased and savage but at the same time more readily identifiable for the most part of coming from surface stock. The ''Legacy'' expansion for the latter had the genlocks actually be hulking examples of ShieldBearingMook. ''Inquisition'' had them looking somewhat more human-like, ''The Descent'' DLC added the genlocks, shrieks or ogres, with the first two look like VideoGame/DragonAgeII and the latter had an skeletical face.

** Even their Archdemon bosses have strong similarities to Tolkien mythos. The Old Gods tried to usurp Heaven and got cast out by The Maker, corrupted, and then they took leadership of the Darkspawn, their Taint creating them. Melkor, {{Big Bad}} of the entire Tolkien universe, tried to usurp Eru, God, and got cast out, after which he created the race of Orcs via corrupting and torturing Elves.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: All spirits, demon or otherwise, bind themselves to one ideal or aspect of the psyche and define themselves through it. If the spirit is destroyed, another of their kind may rise in the Fade if the idea was strong enough.

* TookALevelInKindness: The Grand Sylvan (aka the "[[IncrediblyLamePun Poet Tree]]"), as well as the Lady of the Forest. Despite the former likely being a Demon and the latter being a Spirit summoned by Blood Magic for revenge, both ended up becoming benevolent after spending several centuries in Thedas.

* DefectorFromDecadence: According to Fenris in Dragon Age II, the Mabari Warhounds were created by Tevinter magisters to help them with their conquest of the lands that would become Ferelden. After seeing the kindness of the native Alamarri (the ancestors of the Fereldan people), the Mabari decided to defect and chose to side with them instead. Since then, a contingent of Mabari has been a staple of their military forces.