Dragon Age II / Tropes M to R

M

• MacGuffin Super-Person: Hawke and their surviving sibling become this in Legacy, since they're the only ones who can free Corypheus.
• Made of Explodium:
  • Don't give Sandal any salamanders. That's where the "boom" comes from, Bodahn thinks.^note Salamanders are the elemental creature for fire.
  • See also Ludicrous Gibs on the previous page.
• Magic Knight: While the Hawke in the Destiny trailer exaggerates the martial prowess of mages in this game (magical prowess too, for that matter), mages later in the game can equip some form of armor, and also use their staves to physically attack. On the plus side, Mages now have blades on the other end of their staves, which definitely is a welcome change from Origins where, unless you were an Arcane Warrior, you'd have a hectic time in close-quarters combat. On the warrior side, two of the three specs involve magic of some sort: Templar and Reaver, meaning pretty much all Warrior Hawkes will have at least a little touch of magic to them (it helps that Templars are less situational here than in Origins, since mages are more frequent as enemies). Fenris is probably the purest example, since his particular lyrium powers allow him to unleash spirit pulses and magically buff himself.
• Malevolent Architecture: In a very literal sense during the final battle. The final boss brings the Gallows statues to life to combat you.
• Master of Unlocking: Again, the rogue class is generally used for unlocking chests, and can increase their skills in doing so.
• Matriarchy: Behind the scenes, outsiders might think Qunari society is this - the breeders (Tamassrans), administrators, financiers, builders, merchants, food distributors, bureaucrats, and much of the priesthood are all women. This is played with, as according to the codex, neither the men nor the women of the Qun see it this way. "The brain can be said to rule the body, but so does the heart, the arms, and the stomach. It is a part of the whole." The Tamassrans have their purpose and fulfill that, as do everyone else. Moreover, only the Arigena (head of the craftswomen) is explicitly female. The Arishok (head of the military) is always male. The Ariqun (high priest of the Qun) apparently can be either. The Ariqun isn't necessarily their leader, but rather one third of a Triumvirate.
• Meaningful Background Event:
  • During the Deep Roads expedition, if the surviving twin has been brought in the party, one of these will happen following one of the many skirmishes with darkspawn. If you watch carefully, you will see them in the background briefly stumbling and clutching their face. Later, after the fight with the Ancient Rock Wraith, it will be revealed that they have contracted the Blight.
  • In Legacy, just before Hawke delivers the killing blow to Corypheus, his eyes briefly change colour and Janeka or Larius in the background is seen to briefly stumble, clutching at their head... a clear sign that Corypheus is now possessing them.
• Meaningful Echo: Carver can tell Hawke he's with them once in Act 1 and once in Act 3, with radically different meanings each time.
• Meaningful Name:
  • During the showdown with Bartrand in the second act, the manservant who saw the events that led up to the current situation and informs the party is called Hugin, one of a pair of ravens that watched the events of the world and told Odin what was happening.
  • A letter for an Act 3 quest comes from a Reginald Thaddeus Spincter, concerning his daughter. Hmmmm...
  • Kirkwall, which literally means "church wall," is (as noted above) a stronghold for the Templars, the military wing of the Chantry.
• Mercy Kill: This is a possible outcome for many quests dealing with people getting possessed by demons or corrupted. The most notable example (and the first to occur in the story) is Aveline or Hawke being forced to kill Wesley in the prologue, to spare him from suffering a drawn out, painful death from the darkspawn taint.
• Meta Guy:
  • The talkative man in the Hanged Man.
  • Varric, being the narrator, occasionally has moments of this.
• Metaphorgotten: A Deadpan Snarker Hawke on the Fade-imprint of their father left at the Grey Warden prison.
  Hawke: He'll live on in what he taught us... and in these bizarre magical contraptions.
• A Million Is a Statistic: Invoked by Varric in party dialogue. When Anders is feeling guilty about killing or almost killing a girl in the quest "Dissent," Varric points out that he's killed at least a thousand people by that point in the game, and the only significant difference between this case and all the others is that Anders feels bad about this one.
• Misery Poker: Anders and Fenris frequently argue over who has it worse: Tevinter slaves or Andrastian Circle mages. Both men claim that their side has it worse than the other, and the other side doesn't deserve as much pity as a result.
  Fenris: Considering what magic has done to my homeland and my race, I weep for your predicament.
• Misplaced Sorrow: Merrill misses the Qunari after they commit a massacre in Kirkwall and leave, just because they "were easy on the eyes."
• Missing Steps Plan:
  Isabela: Step one, we go to Velasco. Step two... something exciting happens. Step three, profit.
• Missing White Woman Syndrome: Thrice.
  • In Act 1, elven children are kidnapped and murdered by a known serial killer. No one (except maybe Hawke) cares.^note However, this is not helped by the serial killer being a magistrate's son, with said magistrate using his power and influence to see that his son isn't brought to justice. Still, it's a little chilling that most of Hawke's companions - even Aveline, the Captain of the Kirkwall guard - aren't overly bothered to learn this. Fenris is the only one who seems particularly distressed, to the extent that he volunteers to kill the killer in Hawke's place, although a few of the others will gain friendship points for Kelder's death.
  • In Act 2, noblewomen start disappearing. This time, the Kirkwall guard start investigating immediately. This trope is also played straight within the second case. When Lowtown women were disappearing it was treated as a mild concern, but as soon as Hightown women started going missing (including Hawke's mother), suddenly the case became urgent.
  • Also in Act 2, a member of the city guard rapes an elven woman, and isn't punished in any way beyond vague promises of it being "looked into". When the brothers of the victim get fed up with waiting and kill the guard, Aveline immediately storms off to arrest and punish the lot of them. This is the very last straw for the Arishok, since the elves have converted to the Qun.
• Money Multiplier: The Rune of Fortune, available only with the Black Emporium DLC, is an armor rune which causes enemies to drop more coin. The Emporium only sells one, and only during Act 1; however, if Hawke purchases the design 'recipe' as well, they can make as many Runes of Fortune as desired once they have the components. These can be added to any armor piece with a rune slot, and they stack - meaning that the more Runes of Fortune are embedded in Hawke's armor, the more money they can earn in a short period of time. (There is a limit in that you can only put one in each armor piece even if a piece has more than one rune slot; still, that's four runes.) The rune only works on Hawke's armor, but other party members can be equipped with rings or amulets which also cause enemies to drop more coin and/or better equipment. This makes it extremely easy to leave for the Deep Roads with more than 100 gold in Hawke's pocket - even after contributing 50 gold to Bartrand's expedition.
• Money Spider: Arachnids carry enough coin to finance their own Deep Roads expeditions.
• Monument of Humiliation and Defeat: In the third act, the people of Kirkwall build a statue of Hawke beheading the Arishok.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • During Act 2, you may have an Optional Sexual Encounter with your love interest. Depending on how you've handled this Act, this may very well occur right before the quest "All That Remains," especially if you're not following any particular guide and just quest until you've no choice but to return home, and since they both take place in your own home one will lead directly into the next. Particularly jarring if your LI is Isabela, due to what she may say at the end of the encounter - essentially, that love is messy.
  • Going from said "All That Remains" quest to the extra-silly "help Aveline get her romance going" quest (or vice versa) is just as jarring.
  • Sometimes the jarring comparisons can pack comedy value. It's possible to trigger "Offered and Lost" and said silly Matchmaker Quest ("The Long Road") at the same time... which will lead to Aveline intimidating a corrupt guard by calling him a drunken mabari bitch at the top of her lungs in a crowded bar... and then vanishing out of sheer embarrassment a second later once Hawke tries to drag her over for drinks with Donnic.
  • Even within several individual quests, things may suddenly shift, especially with a Sarcastic Hawke cracking decent jokes at very bad times.
  • This happens a lot with your companions, sometimes due to the Friendship and Rivalry system. (It can be especially obvious in party banter and talks with some companions, like Fenris, that they see you as a friend or a rival; others will just use default phrases and sayings no matter what.) However, a particularly off-putting example is with Merrill; if you don't let her fix the mirror and are a rival, she will yell at you that she never wants to see you again. She has lost everything to fix the mirror, now she can't even do that, she hates your guts and it really comes across the way she is basically holding back the tears as she shouts at you... you can then immediately have her back in your party and the naive and amusing banter continues...
  • The rival romances can veer into this during the cutscenes. Conversations that start out as arguments can turn into tender romantic interludes, and vice versa - it can be jarring to say the least, especially to Origins players who are used to that game's very friendship-oriented romances.
  • The "On the Loose" sidequest that deals with three escaped mages in Act 3 is the epitome of this. Dealing with Emile de Launcet is a fairly lighthearted and hilarious little affair. Dealing with Huon (a Blood Mage who murders his own wife to summon demons) and Evelina (an abomination whom you have to kill in front of her adopted children) is horrifying and heartwrenching. And you can deal with them in any order.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: This game takes it even further than Origins, to the point that there is no Big Bad responsible for everything going wrong. Every major faction in the game is sympathetic to some degree and all of them are partially responsible for the Downer Ending. There are a few truly heroic people (and a couple who are truly monstrous - we're looking at you, Ser Otto Alrik), but they have surprisingly little impact on the setting as a whole.
• Mordor:
  • The Blightlands.
  • The Deep Roads aren't far off, though of course, they're more Moria.
• More than Mind Control:
  • During an optional quest, demons will try this tactic on your party members to get them to turn on you. It works frightfully well, and the only one it doesn't work on is Anders due to his unique circumstances. Afterwards, the party members are apologetic, and you can decide to forgive them if you want.
  • The lyrium idol brings out the worst personality traits of those who fall under its influence.
  • Played straight with Anders if you bring him along in Legacy, where his Warden blood causes him to fall briefly under the sway of Corypheus, forcing Hawke and their companions to subdue Justice in order for Anders to reassert control.
• Mugging the Monster:
  • Merrill (a Blood Mage) lives in a bad neighborhood but is too naive to realize it. Varric takes steps to avert this.
    Varric: Daisy, for my sake, please quit cutting through the alleys in Lowtown at night.
    Merrill: Nothing ever happens. I'm perfectly safe, Varric.
    Varric: Yes, I know. And that nothing is costing me a fortune.
  • Despite you being famous and armed to the teeth, bandits never decide against attacking you. Worse, some of the characters will acknowledge in conversations that they know who you are and what you're capable of... and then attack you anyway.
• Multinational Team: Varric is the only party member who grew up in Kirkwall. Aveline and Anders spent most of their lives in Ferelden, but their families are from Orlais and the Anderfels, respectively. Rivain, Starkhaven, and Tevinter are also represented.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Twins Bethany and Carver are mutually exclusive at the beginning of the game, after one gets shot down by Schrödinger's Gun. At the end, Anders and Sebastian become mutually exclusive if you have the Exiled Prince DLC.
• My Eyes Are Up Here:
  • Varric says this, word for word, to Isabela in a random piece of party banter.
  • A variation occurs during the "Get Back to Work" quest with a female Hawke. One of the workers tells his friend, "Eyes on her face, you lush!"
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • On Varric's personal quest, Bartrand says this if you bring Anders and he temporarily dispels his madness.
  • Anders, during "Dissent," when he murders/almost murders an innocent mage due to Vengeance/Justice. Hawke can call him out on it.
  • Hawke can have one when they realize that they enabled Anders to create and plant the bomb that destroys the Chantry.
• Mysterious Employer: The "Friends of Red Jenny" are simply that. Whether they know who Red Jenny is themselves, or if there is one, is left just as mysterious... until the next game.
• Mystery Meat: One of the loading screens advises people to never order the stew in the Hanged Man, since nobody knows for sure what kind of meat they use to make it.
• Mystical City Planning: The City of Kirkwall is revealed in the Enigma of Kirkwall to form one of these: "In the oldest parts of the city, one can make out the outlines of glyphs in the very streets! What manner of magic is this?"
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Armor of the Fallen set is a Call-Back to the "Warden's Calling" trailer for Origins. You can tell for three reasons: First, it has an armor set bonus, which is vanishingly rare in this game. Second, it looks identical to the armor in the trailer. And third, when you put on the complete set, your eyes glow.
  • If you bring Aveline along for Mark of the Assassin, you get a side quest called "The Du Lac Sign," which is one big reference to the Black Vials in Origins.

N

• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Discussed.
  Varric: Who would deliberately go to a place called the Blackmarsh?
• Nature Equals Plants: Nature damage is done using plants and was supposed to be done with Earth if not for a bug.
• Neck Snap:
  • Fenris disposes of one of Danarius's minions this way.
  • A Qunari also kills a Kirkwall noble this way during the takeover of Kirkwall.
• Nerf: Mages got hit hard by this, at least in Nightmare Mode when the only role they can consistently fill without causing a Total Party Kill due to friendly fire and the close quarters most fights take place in is healing. Conversely, two-handed warriors are now very powerful when correctly built.
• Nested Story: There are a few parts of the game where Varric tells a story to Hawke or another character. This means that Varric is telling the Seeker the story of how he once told a story.
• Newbie Immunity: When gameplay first begins, Hawke is massively overpowered, able to tear through the oncoming waves of enemies with barely a second thought, and cannot die no matter how much damage they take. This gives the player some understanding of how to control the character and a couple of the special abilities Hawke will have due to their chosen class. This only lasts for the first few minutes of gameplay, however, after which the view flips back to the Framing Device and the player learns that Varric is overselling Hawke's awesomeness to his interrogator.
• Nice Day, Deadly Night: There are two separate sets of levels for the city of Kirkwall by day and by night: while the day levels are not completely free of violence, it is very uncommon to be mugged out in the open. Night levels, meanwhile, feature multiple gangs roaming the streets who attack passers-by without provocation.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Many of the From Bad to Worse moments in the game can be directly or indirectly blamed on the player and their party. The most notable examples are recovering the lyrium idol and providing Anders with the opportunity to destroy the Chantry.
  • Let us not forget that the entire Qunari attack, which led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people and the power vacuum of Act 3 itself, was a direct result of Isabela feeling snatchy one day.
  • If Hawke helps Isabela before going to the Qunari compound, then their interference prevents the Arishok's forces from recovering the artifact, making them partly responsible.
  • In Legacy, Hawke unwittingly allows Corypheus to inhabit one of the Grey Wardens after defeating him. Of course, they had no way of knowing this would happen, nor of preventing it, but the ramifications are immense - as the third game reveals.
• No Mere Windmill: The Templars come across as Windmill Crusaders to an immigrant Hawke, who has mage sympathies for one reason (Bethany) or another (themselves). But mages repeatedly reveal mastery of forbidden magics to the point that Meredith begins to look almost reasonable for her anger at Orsino's denials. Conversely, and in keeping with the game's grayness, many of Anders's suspicions about the Templars are justified and they really do become excessively dictatorial. For example, the Tranquil Solution. In Act 2, both Meredith and the Divine reject Alrik's proposal. By Act 3, Meredith goes through with it, Tranquilizing Harrowed mages left and right, despite this being illegal by the laws of the Chantry.
• No Name Given: While pretty much every human, dwarf, and mage NPC is given a name no matter how minor or brief their appearance (see Grace the mage), the elves in quests relating to city elves joining the Qunari en masse to escape discrimination in human society (which become significant to the climax of Act 2, and the Trespasser DLC in Dragon Age: Inquisition are only called "Elven Fanatic" in the Blackpowder Courtesy quest, and "Elven Brothers" in Demands of the Qun.
• No-Sell: Hawke can pull this off towards Idunna, the "Apostitute" working at the Blooming Rose, shaking off her use of Blood Magic.
  Hawke: I will... NOT be... toyed with!
• Non-Lethal K.O.: Teammates who run out of hit points will get back up after combat. However, they will require the use of injury kits and/or healing potions to recover from their battle wounds.
• Non-Standard Skill Learning: Reaching either end of the Friendship/Rivalry scale of a party member makes it lock there permanently and unlocks that character's unique permanent bonus.
• Noodle Incident:
  • What happened in Hawke's first year in Kirkwall working with either the Red Iron or Athenril's smugglers. This includes a few Noodle Acquaintances, such as Lady Elegant, Tomwise, and Worthy, all of whom apparently worked with Hawke and are on friendly terms with them at the beginning of Act 1. While Varric omits parts of the tale that are neither relevant or interesting, this particular omission is due in part to the fact that Varric himself only meets Hawke at the beginning of Act 1, and thus isn't privy to firsthand knowledge of this period of Hawke's life. (He of course isn't privy to firsthand knowledge about the events of the prologue, either, but since that's a much shorter period of time, it makes sense that Hawke would have told him at least the basics of the events.)
  • Isabela apparently once spent over a fortnight in Aveline's brig for causing a brawl that led to 20 people fighting in the street.
  • The last time that Isabela went digging for a stash she was certain contained the relic:
    Hawke: Yes, that turned out to contain several badly written poems and an old boot.
  • If Hawke is in a romance with anyone (other than Sebastian), there's a cutscene in which Hawke visits Varric at the Hanged Man and Varric offers some gently concerned counsel about the relationship. However, Hawke actually goes to visit Varric for a completely different reason, beginning the conversation by asking Varric if he has a minute to spare. Varric is the one who changes the subject, and the player never finds out what it was that Hawke wanted to discuss in the first place.
  • There's a nameless, easily-missed NPC who hangs around either outside the clinic or at the Docks at night. There's nothing to differentiate him from the random civilians except an unusual number of lines, all of which revolve around some mysterious illness that no one, not even Anders, can seem to cure. No one in Lowtown will let him near the market, and apparently people stare at him as though he's Blighted. What the heck does this guy have?
  • In Mark of the Assassin, the background between Leliana and Tallis. Their awkward reaction to each other upon meeting hints at a past neither is willing to acknowledge.
  • Another one in Mark of the Assassin, if done in Act 2 or 3 with the surviving sibling as one of the companions. Hawke will arrive at Duke Prosper's estate with only Tallis and the other companion; during the course of greeting the Duke, he will mention the presence of another Hawke, and Bethany/Carver will then join the group. At no time is it ever explained why the sibling is there, or why Duke Prosper invited them independently of Hawke.^note Bethany/Carver being invited may be due to the same reason given for Hawke's invitation if the DLC is done in Act 1 - that Duke Prosper is unaware of the Amell family's misfortunes and invites them under the mistaken belief that they're still part of Kirkwall's nobility. However, it's never addressed in the game; the closest we get is Templar Carver saying that his presence is "Meredith's idea of diplomacy," but he doesn't elaborate.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • It is seemingly no coincidence that "Fenris's Theme" and "Mage Pride" are nearly identical, symbolising both the anti-mage and pro-mage backdrop of this game.
  • Merrill will mention to Anders that she'll give up on her mirror just as soon as he forgets all about the plight of mages.
  • Paragon/Snarky Hawke and the Qunari, which is frequently lampshaded:
    • In Act 1, the Saarebas "Ketojan" notes that by hunting Tal-Vashoth and acting in the role of a guardian to mages, Hawke is bas-arvaraad, the Qunari equivalent to a Templar.
    • The Arishok notes in Act 2 that Hawke is what the Qunari would be without the guidance of the Qun to give them principles, ultimately deeming Hawke to be bas-alitan, an outsider worthy of respect.
    • Finally, in Act 3, upon retrieving lost blades for the Qunari Taarbas, he declares Hawke to be Ben-Hassrath and hands Hawke a Qunari weapon. It should be noted that to the Qunari, one's sword has the symbolic value of one's own soul, and as we later learn that the Ben-Hassrath act as the defenders of the Qunari faith, this heavily implies that they deem Hawke to be an honorary Qunari.
    • Mark of the Assassin also has Tallis state that the goal to which the Qunari aspire is to make the world a better place, which is exactly what Hawke earlier said they wanted for Kirkwall.
  • The Qunari and the Chantry extremists who want to destroy the "heathens." This is never better shown than in the Escort Mission for the freed Saarebas in Act 2: if the Sten sent to intercept them discovers that any member of Hawke's party is a mage, he will immediately try to kill them all to prevent their "evil" from "infecting" him.
• Not So Stoic:
  • The Qunari, despite appearing to rarely show emotion, can be seen as having a deadpan sense of humour, particularly in their interaction with a snarky Hawke.
  • The Arishok, whose veneer of being cool, calm, and collected at all times finally crumbles at the end of Act 2, and he unleashes the full might of the Qunari ire against Kirkwall - first verbally, then for real.
• Nothing Is Scarier: The Primeval Thaig where you find the Red Lyrium Idol. Empty save for Rockwraiths and the occasional demon, and no sign of Darkspawn. Lore notes state that the Thaig was once the center of Lyrium production, but one day it was simply closed off from the rest of the world, with even Paragons being refused entry. When the doors opened again, there was no one there, and no signs of what happened to them aside from the presence of the red lyrium idol. The king at the time then ordered the thaig sealed away and removed from the Memories in hope that it would remain lost to history.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: The game's story ends with the reveal that mage Circles the world over are rising up in rebellion and the Templars have abandoned the Chantry, with talks of political tensions also rising considerably in Orlais.
• Notice This: Most loot-supplying containers and objects will have sparkles coming out of them. The ones that don't can still be highlighted by pressing a particular button or, on PC, holding down a specific key. Without a mod that turns it into a toggle, this game can be the cause of sore pinkies for many a PC player.

O

• Obfuscating Stupidity: The hallmark of most of Hawke's Deadpan Snarker dialogue, often seemingly used to lure enemies into a false sense of security.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Hawke and most of their companions.
  • Even Flemeth, of all people, freely admits that she really is fond of Hawke.
    Flemeth: Kirkwall? My, but that is quite the voyage you plan. So far, simply to flee the darkspawn.
    Hawke: Any better suggestions? I hear the Deep Roads are vacant now.
    Flemeth: [laughs] Oh, you I like!
  • Fenris is remarkably cordial with Bethany, which stands out given his hostility toward pretty much all other mages in a warrior or rogue Hawke playthrough. He even goes so far in Act 3 as to state, in party banter with Anders, that he considers her a strong enough mage that she could live outside of a Circle with no ill effects.
  • Aveline and Isabela, who are about as different as it's possible to be, eventually develop one of these.
• Offhand Backhand: Zevran does this with a throwing knife into an assassin's eye, if you help him kill the Crows sent after him.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Idunna, the blood mage working in the Blooming Rose, has this reaction if Hawke or a mage companion breaks her control over Hawke.
    Idunna: How did you... Oh shit!
  • This is also the reaction of Orwald the Braggart if Hawke offers Aveline the opportunity to "have a word with your man," causing him to realize that he just admitted to taking a bribe in front of the Captain of the Guard.
  • The reaction of the Templars when they realise that the red statue in front of Hawke is actually Meredith, frozen mid-scream with a look of complete horror on her face. And then again when they notice that now Hawke is glaring at them too. Cue all the Templars surrounding you beginning to back away... very slowly.
  • And the Grey Warden Janeka, when she finds out that controlling Corypheus is not as easy as she expected.
• Oh, My Gods!:
  • A new one: "Flames," referring to Andraste's burning at the stake.
  • "To the Void" enters the lexicon as well, referring to the void that all souls must walk if they are not called to the Maker's side. If Hawke falls in battle, Varric may react by saying, "Void take us all!"
  • Bartrand once gives us the one-off "Andraste's tits!". Given that he was raised in Orzammar, he may well venerate the Ancestors (unlike Varric, who is surface-born and Andrastian), so this could be a Dwarven slur to disparage Human religion.
  • Varric himself offers "Andraste's dimpled buttcheeks." He also, in response to one question from Bethany, replies, "Great Ancestors, no!"
  • If Hawke lets Fenris do the interrogation in one optional quest, a slaver yells, "Andraste's great flaming arse!" Since Fenris has just stuck his hand in the guy's chest and rearranged his internal organs, this is understandable.
  • During the Haunted House mission, if Anders is brought along, when a vase flies across the screen: "Andraste's flaming knickers!"
  • In Mark of the Assassin, Isabela gives us "Andraste's Granny-panties."
• Old Save Bonus: Saves from the previous game can be carried over to influence events in this one. Otherwise, the player chooses from three different builds: The Hero of Ferelden (Male human Warden kills the Archdemon, survives, and makes Alistair king); The Martyr (Dalish Warden who sacrifices herself and leaves the kingdom to Alistair and Anora jointly); and No Compromises (Dwarven Warden-Commander who exiles Alistair, sacrifices Loghain to the Archdemon, and makes Anora queen). Completing Dragon Age II with a save imported from Origins also grants the "Epic" achievement/trophy, which normally requires two playthroughs to be earned.
• Ominously Open Door: How the investigation of the Harriman estate in Sebastian's companion quest begins. You find the inhabitants inside out of touch with reality in varying ways, culminating in the discovery of a demon below the mansion.
• One-Hit Kill/One-Hit Polykill:
  • Archers can instakill weaker opponents with a shot that overpenetrates, Punishing Lance. The skill is dramatically illustrated in Varric's cutscene.
  • Rogues taking the Assassin spec can also OHK most enemies using the Assassinate skill, especially with both upgrades applied. (Unfortunately, it takes almost a full minute to recharge.)
• One-Man Army: Every single party member. Varric offhandedly mentions at one point (less than halfway through the game) that Anders alone has killed 262 women, 583 men, assorted monsters and beasts, and at least two demons. And he's generally the healer of the group. Of course, Varric is an Unreliable Narrator, so he could just be inventing numbers off the top of his head.
  • Varric gets his own more traditional example in the exaggerated version of the storming of his brother's home.
• Only Sane Man:
  • In the endgame, Sebastian is the only who points out that debating the Rite of Annulment as 'justice' is pointless when the culprit for the Chantry bombing is right there in front of them. Unfortunately, this - like all of his other commentary in the scene - is entirely ignored by the other characters.^note This is due to his status as a DLC-only companion; the scene had to be constructed to run properly with or without him, and it does, but with the side effect of making it look like no one hears a word he says.
  • If she's made a Circle Mage, Bethany ended the game being pretty much the only sane mage in the entire Kirkwall.
• Open Secret:
  • Maleficarum in the Gallows. The secret goes to the top.
  • Apostate mages are more common in Kirkwall than they ever were in Ferelden, and at least one (Anders) is using healing magic openly in the poorer quarters. This is deconstructed. They exist because Meredith is actually fairly reasonable early in the game and has bigger fish to fry; when she loses her mind, the Underground is almost completely wiped out.
  • By Act 3, everyone knows mage Hawke is an apostate, and if you get too snarky with her, Meredith reminds you that her leniency goes only so far. The only reason you haven't been imprisoned is your position in the nobility; it would hurt the Templars' standing with the people of Kirkwall if they threw "The Champion" in the Gallows. This protection (whether Hawke is a mage or not) also extends to Anders and Merrill, who are frequently seen in Hawke's company with magic staves on their backs. (It's also very probable that Meredith doesn't want to tangle with Hawke and friends because, even if she won, her losses would be tremendous.)
• Optional Sexual Encounter: This is a Bioware RPG, so there are several.
• Optional Stealth: The Mark of the Assassin DLC gives you an achievement for sneaking undetected past all the guards up until a certain point.
• Organized Crime Sidequest: Early in the game, Hawke and their surviving sibling will sign on with a criminal group willing to pay their entrance fee to Kirkwall in exchange for a year of service - either Athenril's gang, or Meeran's Red Iron mercenary company. By the events of Act I, Hawke has parted ways with the group, but they still offer a purely optional secondary mission: Athenril needs a shipment of goods retrieved, while Meeran wants a nobleman assassinated. Both missions have hidden moral twists ^note a street urchin desperately needs the goods to care for his sister, the nobleman is being targeted by bigots because he sent humanitarian aid to Ferelden during the Blight and you have the option of doing the right thing - or doing the profitable thing. Either way, it doesn't impact the Deep Roads Expedition or any of the other central quests of the game.
• Orichalcum: It appears as a crafting resource; this is the only game thus far to include it, as it's not seen either in Origins or Inquisition.
• Our Dragons Are Different: In addition to importing the dragon lore established in Origins, Mark of the Assassin adds wyverns, a closely related species which does not get along with their cousins at all. Wyverns don't get anywhere near as big, alpha males being the size of the average drake, and they cannot breathe fire or fly, though they can jump huge distances. They breed like rats, however, and can spit a deadly venom (which is also used in a popular cocktail).
• Overdrawn at the Blood Bank: This carries over from Origins.

P

• Parental Marriage Veto: Hawke's parents. This is only briefly touched on in the game and given more focus in the second World of Thedas book, but Leandra's parents were eventually made aware that she was pregnant by a man who was not her betrothed and was planning to elope with him. They offered to let her out of her betrothal and accept her child as a full family member if she would just drop the elopement plot, and when she refused, they disowned her.
• Part-Time Hero: Sarcastic Hawke. Their rousing speech effectively equates to "Wake up. Save the world. Go to the pub!"
• Party of Representatives: Hawke's companions represent different parts of Thedas (though several of them have some history in Ferelden) and different stances on the central Mage/Templar conflict.
  • Bethany is an apostate who simply wishes to remain with her family and not be carted off to live the rest of her life trapped in the Circle of mages.
  • Carver loves his mage sibling(s), but hates having to live on the run to avoid the Templars and believes things would be better if they didn't have their abilities.
  • Aveline has no love for the Templars (apart from her late husband), who frequently abuse their power, and acknowledges that there are many good mages. However, she still agrees that mages in general are a danger and must be kept under watch for the safety of everyone.
  • Anders despises the fear and hatred mages suffer simply for being born with magic, as well as the endless cruelties they suffer at the hands of the Chantry and its corrupt Templars.
  • Having lived as the slave and plaything of a Tevinter Magister, Fenris has seen firsthand what mages can do when their power goes unchecked. His is a purely anti-mage stance, though he makes exceptions for Bethany or mage Hawke.
  • Merrill grew up among her people and is unaware of the Templar-Mage conflict that exists in human cities. She is largely uninformed and has little opinion on the matter, but leans toward support of the mages.
  • Varric and Isabela, meanwhile, maintain a neutral stance, with no strong feelings one way or the other. Varric's only comment in the endgame is to say that "I'm sick of mages and Templars."
• Pass the Popcorn: Anders will tell a Mage Hawke that the mages in Kirkwall all look up to them for the hope of a better life, and that Hawke should lead them. Hawke can reply that they don't want to lead, just watch. With snacks.
• Paying It Forward: If you rescue Lia from the serial killer Kelder and then kill him in Act 1, then in Act 3, go for a walk in the Alienage with Aveline. Lia will appear and proudly introduce herself as one of the newest recruits to the City Guard, citing Hawke as her inspiration.
• Permanently Missable Content: Most items and quests are exclusive to a specific act. Once you move on, there's no getting them back. In terms of items, this is particularly true of companion gifts, backpacks, and armor upgrades. It's also true of three companions:
  • If Hawke does not answer the letter to trigger the quest "Bait and Switch" before ending Act 1, the player will miss out on the chance to recruit Fenris.
  • If Hawke does not enter the Hanged Man after recruiting Anders in Act 1, there will be no opportunity to recruit Isabela.^note Anders must be recruited first, as he is required for the plot. They cannot be recruited concurrently because both recruitment quests involve visiting the Chantry at night; the game is structured to keep the two quests from overlapping.
  • If you have the Exiled Prince DLC but head for the Deep Roads in Act 1 without completing Sebastian's quest, he remains unavailable as a companion; his Act 2 quests require the Act 1 quest to be done first.
• Pet the Dog:
  • The Black Emporium DLC adds a mabari hound, for the same purpose as the one in Origins: to give everyone a literal dog-petting moment in their own idiom. Not only that, but several of your companions can also do this literally in dialogue at Hawke's home. Apparently, people come over just to visit Hawke's dog. Varric actually plays cards with him on occasion!
  • In a non-literal sense, Flemeth has a moment of this sort in the prologue with Aveline, to whom she demonstrates genuine sympathy for the loss of her beloved husband. When she appears again later on Sundermount, she has a few similar exchanges with Hawke and Merrill.
    Flemeth: You have my thanks... and my sympathies.
• Pietà Plagiarism: Two examples in Act 2 - Hawke cradling Leandra and Viscount Dumar cradling his son Saemus.
• Pirate:
  • The Raiders of the Waking Sea.
  • Isabela, of course, is a grounded pirate captain and her specialization tree is full of pirate and nautical references. Clicking on her when she's in the active party sometimes results in her making comments about the sea.
• Pixel Hunting: A bit of a problem in the PC port on higher resolutions; lots of enemies and interactable objects have surprisingly small selection boxes (and the enemies move fast).
• Platonic Declaration of Love: Potentially happens a few times between the members of the Hawke family.
• Please, I Will Do Anything!: Said word-for-word by the young mage encountered during Anders's Act 2 companion quest. She's pleading with Ser Alrik, a Templar, to not perform what is essentially a magical lobotomy on her. His response: "That's right. Once you're Tranquil, you'll do anything I want." Cue Vengeance-flavored ass-kicking.
• Point-and-Click Map: An interesting variant, in that there are three maps and you can jump from any of them to either of the others. One is Kirkwall by day; one is Kirkwall by night; and one is Sundermount and the surrounding countryside. As noted under Fast-Forward Mechanic, the day and night maps feature loot, enemies, and (some) quests independently of one another, forcing a thorough search of both in each act.
• Point of No Return: Three of them, each one before the climactic ending of an act. The first two are clearly marked, with Bartrand or Aveline warning you to wrap up any other business you might have. The third isn't quite as obvious.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • A lot of trouble could have been avoided if only the Arishok had actually told the Viscount why he was staying in Kirkwall. The reason he doesn't is because the Qun's rigid caste structure means that warriors cannot even act like diplomats. So when a boat full of warriors chases their objective to Kirkwall, and the bureaucratic tape prevents them from requesting backup while their duty prevents them from leaving, they end up spending their time taking in refugees and punching the shit out of anyone who claims they're breaking the law, instead of forming trade relations or negotiating a truce. Things get ugly.
  • Presumably, Hawke prefers not to tell Leandra the gruesome details of the incidents he or she gets involved with on a daily basis; but a great deal of heartache could have been avoided if, at some point over a period of six years, Hawke had thought to tell her to be wary of a "suitor" giving gifts of white lilies. Granted, it's entirely possible that Hawke had simply forgotten that specific detail by the time it became an issue, but having kept that knowledge from the person who could have used it will almost certainly factor into their It's All My Fault feelings.
  • Charade's attempt to attract the attention of her father Gamlen.
  • The alliance of mages and Templars against Meredith could have avoided being wiped out if they had approached Orsino or a mage-aligned Hawke, instead of trying to threaten them into compliance without revealing their goals or identities. It's especially glaring in playthroughs where Hawke is on good terms with Ser Thrask; it makes absolutely no sense (unless you factor in the possibility that Grace used blood magic) for him to kidnap the sibling/love interest of someone with whom he has a cordial relationship, and even less sense for him to kidnap that person and hope that Hawke wouldn't come after them.
  • While it's understandable why you'd keep it quiet, Malcolm, you could have prepared Hawke for Legacy by warning them that you were once were coerced by the Grey Wardens into reinforcing the seals that locked away an ancient darkspawn and that now your family's blood is the key to unlocking that prison. Possibly justified by his death a few years before the start of the game; he may have intended to tell his children once they were older, and never got the chance. (He may also have thought that, as his family was in Ferelden with no intention of returning to the Free Marches, it was unlikely to ever become an issue.)
• Portal Statue Pairs: The entrance to Kirkwall is flanked by two giant bronze statues of weeping slaves.
• Pottery Barn Poor: As noted above under Informed Poverty. The Hawke family talk about Gamlen's hut as though it's a filthy little hovel, yet it's shown to be rather spacious, fairly clean, and even with multiple rooms. When Merrill moves into the Alienage, she and other characters talk like she just moved into a rathole, with her even apologizing for the mess on their first visit; yet her home is also very spacious and immaculately clean.
• Practical Taunt: It's part of the Warmonger talent tree and has an even better effect than in the first game, transferring all aggro towards other party members to the tank.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • Flemeth invokes this trope to refute Aveline's claim that she steals children. As if she didn't have better things to do!
  • Hawke sarcastically jokes about this when Anders asks for a favour in exchange for the Deep Roads maps.
    Hawke: Let's be more specific. I don't do anything involving children or animals.
• Pre-Character Customization Gameplay: You start by selecting Hawke's sex and class, but not appearance. You then begin the intro scene, with the default/iconic version of Hawke effortlessly slaughtering waves of bad guys. The game then cuts to its Framing Device, where it's revealed that this is a Tall Tale being told by one of your future party members while under interrogation, and his interrogator suspects he's making it up. He admits he's exaggerating to play up to the legend that Hawke has become, and the scene restarts, this time allowing you to select what Hawke 'really' looks like.
• Pregnant Hostage: In Legacy it's revealed that the Grey Wardens used Hawke's mother (who was pregnant with Hawke at the time) as this to force her husband Malcolm to reinforce the wards on Corypheus's prison to keep the Darkspawn Magister from escaping. The Grey Wardens kept their word and left Leandra unharmed; The World of Thedas, vol. 2 notes that they also helped Malcolm collect Leandra from her family's estate and escape to Ferelden. Even so, Hawke is understandably furious that they threatened both their mother's life and their own, so much so that the Grey Wardens using Blood Magic again in Dragon Age: Inquisition becomes a Berserk Button for the Champion no matter what Hawke's personality is.
• Prestige Class: Simplified compared to the first game - each class has three possible specializations available from the start, but can only pick two (one at level 7, the other at 14). Each full-time companion has their own unique skill tree, and your sibling also gets a specialization (Templar for Carver, Force Mage for Bethany) if they live past Act 1.
• Primal Stance: The new hurlocks and genlocks invoke this trope.
  • The Qunari as well, when they're relaxed. They do stand up straight when they want to be imposing, however.
  • Fenris is a less pronounced example. Compare his posture to, say, Merrill's. It often gets more pronounced in combat, however, on account of him being pretty lean and swinging around a BFS.
• Properly Paranoid:
  • As you play the game, you see that the Templars' harsh methods are somewhat justified since blood mages really are extremely dangerous, but said paranoia also contributes to the Vicious Cycle.
  • While he quickly goes off the deep end, Anders is partially justified in his paranoia about the Templars. They might not all be the brutal fascists that he claims they are, but there are many instances where they can act wantonly and chillingly brutal.
• Protectorate:
  • In Mark of the Assassin, Hawke explicitly states that Kirkwall is under their protection.
  • It's implied in Act 1 that the Hawke family is this to Aveline. Even after she joins the City Guard and lives in the barracks instead of at Gamlen's house with them, Hawke mentions that she sometimes sleeps on their doorstep in order to keep anyone from disturbing them.
• Proud Warrior Race: The Qunari.
• Psychic-Assisted Suicide: Idunna, an "apostitute" at the Blooming Rose, tries to do this to Hawke but fails.
• Pun:
  • A belt you get after killing the ghost of a golem (figure that one out) is called the "Rock Band." Heh.
  • There's a belt called the Seven Deadly Cinch.
  • There's a sidequest involving a gang of female rogues called "Ladies' Lights Out." The group in question is called the Invisible Sisters. Get it?
  • Even Corypheus gets in on it during the end of Legacy. "Is there a chill in here?"
  • In Act 3, there's a gang of Tevinter slavers infesting the docks that goes by the name of the Reining Men.
• Putting on the Reich: Lacking the visual elements, but the Templars under Meredith (especially Ser Alrik) have significant thematic parallels with Nazi Germany.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The endgame. Regardless of which side you take, the Mages are all but wiped out, the Templars take massive losses, and the city of Kirkwall is left in shambles. Neither side can claim a moral victory, as the leaders of both sides succumb to insanity and evil. And the incident acts as the trigger for a world war between Mages and Templars, ultimately wiping out anything that could be described as a "gain". As far as the individual endings are concerned:
  • The Mage ending has Hawke kill the insane Meredith, become a heroic icon to mages everywhere, and get out of Kirkwall alive. However, Hawke is now a fugitive and has lost everything that they worked so hard to build over the last ten years.
  • In comparison, the Templar Ending has Hawke become the Viscount(ess) of Kirkwall. However, Hawke is now ruling over a city in ruins thanks to the final conflict, and they become a symbol of hatred and oppression to mages worldwide. Hawke's gains are ultimately undone by the ensuing war between the Mages and the Templars, and again, they are now a fugitive who has lost just about everything.

Q-R

• The Queen's Latin:
  • The Free Marches are a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Germany before it was a unified state, but everyone has an American or English accent, with the exception of the Irish-accented Dalish (and Merrill's Welsh accent). Similarly, Isabela is from Rivain, which seems influenced by Spain or Portugal, and Fenris is from the Byzantium-based Tevinter Imperium; both sound English. Orlesians and Antivans are the exception, as they all sound French/Spanish (although Antiva is more Italian).
  • Possibly subverted with Starkhaven, as they appear to have a Scottish accent, although application of this in-game is patchy at best.
  • Everyone seen from the Tevinter Imperium speaks with refined English accents, even though their names are always Latin.
• Race Lift: There are a couple of mods that make Isabela white (even giving her blue eyes and blonde hair). Heated arguments have gone over to the moral integrity of such mods, with some believing it is a harmless cosmetic change or that she was actually a white woman who has been tanned by the sun, and others feeling it is insensitive and immoral. It also contradicts canon; Isabela is from Rivain, which is one of the few places in Thedas where the population is consistently darker hued.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Your companions, in accordance with tradition. One of Hawke's lines even identifies the group as a "merry band of misfits".
• Random Encounter:
  • Going outside of the city (to Sundermount and the Wounded Coast area) will sometimes spawn these. Unlike most of the ones in Origins, these are usually related to the plot. In fact, Fenris's personal quest progression hinges on you bringing him outside of Kirkwall and getting one of these.
  • Within the city itself, you will frequently bump into improbably large hordes of thugs while wandering around the various sections of Kirkwall, especially at night. Clearing out the streets forms a side quest in each Act, culminating with the option to finish them and their leaders off at their base. Each act has one gang in each of three sections of the city (Hightown, Lowtown, and the Docks), and getting rid of all the gang members is a great way to pick up extra coin and XP; wiping out all nine gangs, and reporting to a certain woman at the Hanged Man after each one, nets even more rewards. This is different from Random Encounters, but those do occur, outside of Kirkwall.
• Randomly Generated Loot: Resulting in regular random weapon drops routinely out-performing unique named weaponry that you have to gain through arduous side quests. This is stark contrast to Origins, where only the most basic loot was randomized and all the high-level equipment was predefined and obtained under specific circumstances.
• Rape and Revenge: In Demands of the Qun, Hawke is made aware that a group of unnamed elven brothers killed one of Aveline's guards after they tried to report that he raped their sister, and were laughed away each time. Aveline wants to arrest them because they "took still took the law into their own hands," but since they converted to the Qun shortly after said murder, the Arishok won't release them since they are now under the Qunari's protection, and he's sympathetic to their plight. Regardless of how Hawke feels about the situation, the confrontation provides the catalyst for the climax in Act 2.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • If the Aggressive option is chosen, Hawke can give a short one to Carver at the conclusion of the "Birthright" quest.
    Hawke: The "second child" act is getting pretty stale, Brother.
    Carver: Try it from this side, always running after you. [...] That was a waste, huh? Could have found my fortune if Bethany was going to die on your watch anyway.
    Hawke: Do you feel better getting that off your chest?
    Carver: I... I suppose.
    Hawke: (coldly) Good. Because I carry every death with me. If you want that weight, be sure you're ready to take it.
  • In "Demands of the Qun," the Arishok tells Aveline (and, by extension, all of Kirkwall) how much they suck for their Fantastic Racism and systemic inequality.
    The Arishok: Their actions are mere symptoms. Your society is the disease. They have chosen. The viddathari will submit to the Qun and find a path your way has denied them.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The Viscount and Grand Cleric Elthina both try to maintain the fragile peace between mages, Templars, and the Qunari in Kirkwall. Ser Thrask and Knight-Captain Cullen, while holding opposite views on the Templar and mage problem, both work with Hawke to curb excesses in their order (such as Ser Alrik and eventually Meredith).
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Hawke twins, during the prologue. Carver is red, Bethany is blue. The game itself seems to call attention to it with their icons; the background of Carver's is a reddish color, while Bethany's background is a vivid blue.
• Redemption Demotion: Inverted with Merrill. Normally, she has only a small amount of HP, but if she opposes you in the Fade, she suddenly has more than many bosses.
• Relationship Values: Upgraded from Origins. You can no longer gift-spam to make people like you, as gifts are unique items of special importance to certain characters. They can only be given to that character, and come with an accompanying conversation. In addition, negative approval is no longer disadvantageous to the player; companions with negative approval form a Rivalry with Hawke, which grants a different ability from a Friendship. Word of God states that Rivalries are not inherently bad, either. The bond of companionship is just as strong, the only difference being that Hawke and the companion have opposing viewpoints. In certain cases where the companion is misguided, it could be argued that the most moral thing Hawke can do is to oppose them for their own good.
• Rescue Romance: If you let Feynriel go to Tevinter, he will at one point save a noblewoman by mentally forcing her attackers to kill each other. Said noblewoman calls him “her love” and asks you to take her to him, so she can thank him properly.'
• Resource Reimbursement: This is how Item Crafting works mechanically. You keep your resources and only pay the monetary price for each potion you procure. In-story, this is justified by explaining that you find not resources per se, but infinite taps thereof, and the money you pay is for the merchants to go out and collect them. But gameplay-wise, this is effectively an immediate 100% resource refund, with higher-potency consumables requiring larger and larger stockpiles to craft them (e.g. a basic elfroot potion requires a single elfroot tap, while a Life Ward potion takes 4 stocks of elfroot and 3 spindleweeds).
• Retcon:
  • Anders is alive and well, even if you imported a save where he died at the end of Awakening. In a conversation with Nathaniel, Anders claims that the wrong body was identified (Awakening left no such ambiguity). However, this doesn't account for the possibility of you handing him over to the Circle without ever recruiting him properly, in which case he didn't do half the things he claims to have done, and never even met Justice. Gaider has said that the folks at BioWare liked Anders and the plot he was involved in too much to leave him dead.
  • Leliana will always be alive, even if she died in Origins. If The Exiled Prince DLC is installed and you speak to her, Leliana can be asked point-blank how she's alive when it's known (as part of the Warden's tale) that she died. She doesn't give an entirely straight answer, but implies that it may have been divine intervention. (This one does at least get some clarification eventually, but not until very late in the next game.)
  • Justice was bound to the body of the deceased Warden Kristoff and served for many years in the Grey Warden ranks, post-Awakening, before presumably departing back into the Fade. By Act 1 of Dragon Age II, set a mere six months after the events of Awakening, Justice is not only bound to Anders, but has been for quite a while.
  • Merrill is quite different from her Origins version, both in her personality and her appearance. In the first game she was a reasonable and serious girl, but in the sequel she was changed into a Cloudcuckoo Lander. Appearance-wise, there's of course the new elf design, but her facial markings are also different and she is not as tanned anymore. One thing that hasn't changed, though: her interest in the history of her people and ways of reclaiming it, a core aspect of her character in Dragon Age II, were already there in Origins.
  • If the Hero of Ferelden was a Dalish elf, the Sabrae clan is said in the epilogue to be offered the Hinterlands in which to settle, with Marethari declaring that they will be "a shining example of how elves and humans should co-exist". That doesn't happen, and instead they end up outside of Kirkwall. A throwaway line by Alistair in Act 3 suggests that it didn't work out. Furthermore, Merrill acts as though the land was given after they left for Kirkwall.
• Revenge via Storytelling: Invoked by the Flavor Text of Varric's special ability "Unauthorized Biographer", which is unlocked by maxing out his Rivalry score. Varric is the Character Narrator of the whole game, so if you do that, the world will primarily learn about Hawke from someone whom you've gone out of your way to antagonize^note which is the only way to unlock that particular ability - Varric is the easiest companion in the game to befriend, apart from Hawke's sister, and conversely is the most difficult with whom to get into a rivalry.
  One of these days, Varric will tell your story. Whether you like it or not.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: The game does a very good job of making you realize both why people are scared of mages, and why mages are scared of Templars.
• Right Man in the Wrong Place: The game explains exactly how Hawke managed to become one of the most (in)famous people in Thedosian history, entirely unintentionally.
• Rivals Team Up: Rivalry can be as effective as friendship for getting someone to support Hawke instead of going with their principles. There are also a number of rivalries between the companions themselves, resulting in Teeth-Clenched Teamwork as they maintain a tenuous peace due to their loyalty to Hawke.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue:
  • Hawke and friends in Act 2, during the quest "All That Remains." Unsuccessfully.
  • Hawke and friends again in Act 3, during the quest "Best Served Cold." This time they succeed.
• Rock Monster: The rock wraiths, a.k.a. profanes, found in the Primeval Thaig.
• Romance Sidequest: It's Bioware.
• Route Boss: Subverted. Dragon Age II was supposed to have included a version of this trope during the final battle. Regardless of whether Hawke decides to support the mages or the Templars, they will have to fight both Knight-Commander Meredith and Grand Enchanter Orsino. The former was meant to be the Final Boss regardless of choice, but the latter was supposed to only be an Optional Boss if the Templars were supported; however, the producers insisted on adding the fight to both story paths. Given that the cut-scene preceding the battle consists of Orsino going One-Winged Angel as the mages are killed, it winds up making no sense if you supported the mages, since few if any of them will die in that event. It winds up appearing that Orsino simply goes insane for no reason.
• Rule of Cool / Rule of Fun: The new combat system is supposed to use these.
• Rule of Perception: Among the fanbase and in-universe characters, the Kirkwall mages have an Always Chaotic Evil reputation. In the latter case, this is because of a Freudian Excuse or because of simple prejudice. In the former case, it is because the number of named benevolent mages in the game can be counted on one hand. This is despite the argument that the mages are not all evil or extremists being uttered constantly. David Gaider and other members of the DA team apparently addressed this, saying that they wished they had included more mages who were not extreme or villainous.
• Rule 34:
  • There had to be someone who stared at the statues of Andraste and thought, "Boy, I'd like to see her naked." The nude sculpture inspired is, due to Chantry censorship, Unrevealed at the Black Emporium. Exaggerated because the Chantry could not bring themselves to destroy so perfect an image of Andraste, even if they found her nudity taboo, and therefore they simply rendered the sculpture invisible. So now people "study" it by touch.
  • Andraste has also been given the Rule 34 treatment in a smutty Romance Novel Isabela shows Bethany. It even has pictures! (Bethany: "Isabela, this is a vulgar thing!")
  • Isabela apparently invokes this about Aveline and Donnic with "friend-fiction." Aveline is not amused, though Varric finds it hilarious.
• Running Gag:
  • Finding copies of the manifesto Anders wrote... all over your Hightown estate. He even hides them inside other books.
  • Mark of the Assassin has Tallis going into a private room with someone to attempt to seduce them for a key. Hawke waits outside, making small talk with the other guests, and Tallis comes out having failed for some reason or another.
  • In the same DLC, avoid Orlesian ham at all costs. It tastes like despair.
  • Merrill expressing her desire to own a baby griffon called "Feathers" in party banter, only for someone to remind her that they are extinct.^note Arguably doubles as foreshadowing, since the tie-in novel Last Flight reveals the discovery of an intact clutch of griffon eggs in 9:42 Dragon.
  • Varric having loaned Merrill a ball of twine to help find her way, due to her atrocious sense of direction.
  • Merrill's not understanding innuendo, and Isabela's very... active sex life.
  • Isabela's fascination with Varric's chest hair.
  • Goats are becoming one. Unlike in Origins, they are not just bleating while you're exploring. There is Ser Conrad ("he sacrificed a goat to the Great Demon")^note  "How to Frame a Templar" , Aveline ("three goats and a sheaf of wheat")^note  "The Long Road" and Isabela ("I didn't ask for the goat")^note  banter in Legacy .
• Running on All Fours: The re-designed genlocks do this.

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