In spite of Morrigan otherwise looking pretty damn hot and the overall sexy factor, context makes the ritual (if you choose to go through with it) somewhat Squicky. It's also worse if you're a female character and are romancing Alistair, in which case, he has to do the ritual - and the game forces you to watch (well, until it blacks out).
Every Broodmother, up to and including The Mother, qualifies as in-universe disservice, as even the typically lecherous Oghren is Squicked out by her.
Fantastic Honorifics: Both the gender-neutral "ser" version and a few more unique variants among the elves and the qunari. Unfortunately, we don't have very much detail on the latter two.
Humans look down on elves. The Dalish are believed to be nothing but gypsy troublemakers, while the Alienage elves are treated as second-class citizens at best.
Subverted from the usual styles of the trope, however, in that most humans merely don't like elves and/or are ignorant of their ways. If told of the true plight of the elven Alienage, most humans react with utter horror at the conditions there. This comes to a head if the Warden reveals that Loghain's been selling elves into slavery — though this is partly due to Fereldan pride that they have abolished slavery in their nation — which leads to open outrage against him, and depending on player choices, they or another elf can even be raised to nobility.
It gets even worse. If you tell Anora you won't make her queen and need to play the Landsmeet perfectly to convince them to side with you, pointing out elven slavery is actually one of the weaker arguments you can make against Loghain, far less effective than pointing out the kidnapping of a noble heir.
Dalish elves themselves pity the Alienage elves and are mystified why they remain in the human cities. Meanwhile, the Alienage elves also look down on "flat-ears", elves who have left their walled ghettos and attempt to integrate themselves further within the human settlements, believing they are abandoning their community.
The higher castes of Orzammar treat the casteless as lower than dirt.
Dwarves also look down on humans and elves, considering themselves to be superior. And they also hate "surface dwarves", fellow dwarves who have left Orzammar for the surface world, who are officially considered casteless and exiles.
If the Warden is a Female Elf Mage, it creates some funny situations where people, who were just scorning you for being one of the three, learn that you are a Warden as well. Of course, it also means that, congratulations, you have created the most hated character in the game!
In Awakening, the Orlesian Warden is often on the receiving end of this, as many nobles don't trust that they're now swearing fealty of their lands to the Grey Warden order... and even least of all to an Orlesian.
You also get the trifecta in the scorn department if the Orlesian Warden also happens to be an Elf.
Fictionary: Played with. Dalish elves often seem to sprinkle their dialogue with "elvish" phrases, even when a scene consists of just elves (such as in the Dalish origin). This isn't just breaking Translation Convention, though, because the whole point is that the Dalish aren't speaking "elvish"; the elvish language has been all but forgotten. Many Dalish use as much gratuitous elvish as they can as a way to hold on to their heritage.
Finishing Move: Occasionally, a character will get one when killing an enemy, ranging from a simple beheading animation when killing a Mook to a more involved lunge and coup de grace when slaying an Ogre. The most elaborate (which actually pause the gameplay for as much as 20 seconds) come with the deaths of the High Dragon, the Broodmother, and the Archdemon.
You can Subvert this, correct class builds and specializations turn the first two into Lightning Bruisers and the third into Kung Fu Wizards.
Final Battle: What you spend most of the game preparing for.
Finish Him!: A choice the player can make after dueling Loghain.
Fireballs: A bread 'n butter spell for Mages. Does pretty hefty damage, has an area effect, does lingering damage, and bowls over any who fail a physical resistance check. Just don't shoot at your teammates.
Foreshadowing: Gameplay-wise. Jowan is one of only two Guest Star Party Members (in the PC version) with a colored background in his potrait. He was initially intended to be a permanent party member. Although the plan to make him a party member was scrapped, he still played a pretty important role in the plot, so...
Play the Human Noble origin a second time, then try not to cringe when Fergus assures Oren that he'll bring a nice sword home.
Fergus: Don't worry son, you'll get to see a sword up close real soon! Now, imagine how he feels when he learns of the attack on Highever, and realises that those were some of the last words he ever spoke to his boy...
Oghren can give you one if you cause him to leave the party through negative relationship: "I hope you succeed [in killing the Archdemon], Warden, but I hope it kills you!" Which it can, even if you do.
In Redcliffe, there is a codex titled "Cautionary tales for the Adventurous" which tells about evil spirits inhabiting campsites that drain the life force from those who rest there. Eventually, you'll find yourself in the Brecillian forest. You find yourself in a very inviting... campsite...
If you accept Morrigan's loophole to avoid killing the Archdemon also killing you, one of the dialogue options before you part is, "Just don't make me come after you." Guess what the plot of the Witch Hunt DLC revolves around?
Morrigan can also give one to Alistair in party banter, if the PC has romanced him. She points out that their relationship could create a problem if they ever have to choose between saving the world and being together. If you execute Loghain and don't go through Morrigan's ritual, this will essentially happen since one of the two Wardens has to die.
In the Mage's Origin story, it's possible to stumble upon a Statue of a Tevinter Mage who was turned to stone for prophecising the fall of Archon Valerius. She does surprisingly little... until she reappears in Witch Hunt with crucial information about the Eluvian.
Eleni Zinovia's prophecy in Witch Hunt makes very little sense at the time, until you realize she's referring to the events of the "Legacy" DLC quest in Dragon Age II: Corypheus, an Ancient Tevinter Magister turned darkspawn, is accidentally released from his millennia-long-incarceration in a Grey Warden Prison; he performs a Body Surf to a nearby Warden before Hawke delivers the killing blow, and then leaves inside his new host with no one the wiser.
Eleni: The prison is breached. I see the encroaching darkness. The... the shadow will consume all...
Forest Ranger: Subverted; not quite a Friend to All Living Things. Rangers are specialized Rogues described to "exploit every advantage of their environment". In this case, that includes summoning battle beasties, making a Ranger more of a Minion Master. Turn off the ability or call another creature and they die on the spot.
For Want of a Nail: The existence of a few other Origins player characters are alluded to in the game (or in some of the DLCs), suggesting that you're the main character only because Duncan was in the right place at the right time. And then there's the DLC quest Darkspawn Chronicles, where it shows to some extent what would have happened if the Grey Warden candidate from any of the origins never survived the Joining ritual.
Friendly Fireproof: With regard to spells that affect an area. On Easy, this trope is in operation. On the other difficulties, it isn't, although Normal dials down the damage inflicted.
It's the nature of all fire spells in particular to avert this. Avernus combines his aversion with Stop Helping Me!, as his assistance is highly likely to wipe out all your melee fighters.
Played jarringly straight in the Warden's Keep DLC, where Levi Dryden is curiously immune to the chaotic battles around him. Justified, as otherwise most of the DLC would be an Escort Mission.
Also not in effect during the 'Attack at Nightfall' section of the Redcliffe storyline, where the Militia can easily get wiped out by fire-spells or decide to run into the burning barricades.
Friends with Benefits: Both Morrigan and Zevran say that they want this relationship with the Warden if romanced, but Morrigan instantly becomes a Clingy Jealous Girl whenever the Warden shows a romantic or sexual interest in anyone else. (Zevran, being an Ethical Slut, is much more easygoing, even if he does eventually develop feelings for the Warden.)
From Bad to Worse: Redcliffe Village is beyond screwed in general, what with the entire populace almost wiped out by undead which attack every night, dragging away the living to be devoured and turned, but the Warden has a few chances for finishing sidequests here which adds a few extra helpings of salt to the wounds. These include: informing one wife that her husband has died in the army and another that both her husband and son were killed in the Wilds; letting one of the few survivors of the massacre know that he was drafted by a mercenary company he'd signed up with (or inform him before the attack goes down, resulting in one less defender); and taking one of the party members' weapons back from a dwarf who'd purchased it fair and square.
Played with in regards to Loghain, a commoner who ends up being a hero to Ferelden during the Orlesian Wars and later takes the throne. He clearly thinks he's this in regards to how he acts during Origins, threatening the Bannorn into inciting Civil War and believing he can outmaneuver the Darkspawn like he does more conventional enemies.
Arguably, the Grey Warden if you started as a Elf or Dwarf Commoner, or a Mage — this is how you appear to your enemies. The sheer number of assassins they send after you is a indicator of how much you're putting the fear of the Maker into them.
The Guard in the City Elf Origin lampshades this, in disbelief that the Arl's son lies in a river of blood that runs throughout the castle due to one Elf. When you step forward to take the blame, the Guardsman actually seems somewhat impressed.
Fur and Loathing: All mage robes manufactured by the Tevinter Imperium prominently feature fur (except for one from the Witch Hunt DLC).
Although Wynne strongly disapproves of Blood Magic like other Circle Mages, there is absolutely nothing preventing you from making Blood Mage her second specialization after unlocking it. If you are a Blood Mage, Wynne won't even bat an eyelash if you use Blood Magicright in front of her during battle. Likewise, there is nothing stopping you from making all-around good guy Alistair a Reaver.
Rangers can call wolves and bears in areas where there shouldn't be any to call on, like the Deep Roads.
Alistair comments that Zevran is no master of straight-up combat. When built right, he's the best melee fighter in the party, especially with the Duelist second specialization.
When Zevran asks to join your party, he claims he is good at lockpicking (besides other qualities, IYKWIM...). Yet, he doesn't come with any lockpicking talents at that point. Of course, he might just be lying.
Lyrium potions are supposed to have an addictive quality, but none of your characters will ever suffer that no matter how many bottles they chug.
And lyrium ore is supposed to be lethally toxic to non-dwarves, and potentially brain damaging even to experienced dwarvish miners. Non-dwarven characters can touch exposed veins of the substance to heal themselves, and dwarven characters receive no effects at all.
Darkspawn corruption. Darkspawn blood is toxic, and getting it inside the body, either through ingestion or through a wound, can lead to death or ghoulification, and is one of several reasons the Grey Wardens intentionally taint themselves. However, your non-Warden companions will never once have to worry about that as they cut a bloody swath through entire hordes of the fiends. (There was an early intent to make Grey Wardens out of the rest of your companions near the end of the game, but they had to abandon it. You can recruit most if not all of your companions in Awakening, however.)
Your dog deserves special mention, as you can ask him to "do something about this bloody mess" and have him lick the blood off your character, despite the fact that the kennel master worries about his dogs getting blood in their mouths during an attack and has you fetch medicinal flowers for the sick ones. Yes, you can intentionally make your dog drink tainted blood that sickens every other dog who gets a taste. So...can mabari be Grey Wardens? Because yours should be one by now.
The kennel master explicitly says that mabari that survive encounters with darkspawn blood become immune to the taint from then on.
Wynne is first shown (if you don't talk to her at Ostagar) defeating a fire demon with a cold spell, but doesn't have any when she joins the party.
Some of Alistair's dialogue at the Landsmeet assumes that he gets along with the Warden, regardless of the state of his approval meter. This is most apparent if you choose to spare Loghain.
Gargle Blaster: Just read the description of any of the heavy liquor "gifts." And then picture Oghren chugging that stuff.
Gender Bender: In the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, cornering Wade and Herren in an alley results in the latter transforming into a Desire Demon and teleporting the two of them away.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: In the Brecilian Ruins, the player can find "A Love Letter" to "Miss Ambrose" from a butcher, which mentions a three-pound sausage. Yikes.
Girl on Girl Is Hot/But Not Too Gay: Played straight and subverted. Origins is the first AAA game to really depict passionate male gay sex, on the same level as the lesbian sex.
In-game, of course, Oghren definitely believes the former. He remarks that he'd wish he'd known Branka preferred girls to him - just before stating he has A Date with Rosie Palms. If a female Warden has Oghren in the party when she visits the Pearl and requests a female prostitute, Oghren will walk in on them.
A female Warden romancing Alistair and Leliana will eventually have him force them to choose, though not before he drops this gem;
Alistair: I mean, I get it, HOT, but...
Give Me Your Inventory Item: Lots of these, actually. One sidequest for the Blackstone Irregulars is just the player giving them 20 health potions. The Mages Collective wants 10 Deep Mushrooms, 10 Lyrium potions. The Chantry wants 5-10 Corpse Galls, and the Interested Parties want Toxin Extracts and pieces of Garnet. Lothering villagers want potions, poisons, traps...
Golden Snitch: Regardless of how many votes you get at the Landsmeet, it always ends with a duel between the PC or a champion and Loghain, with the winner choosing the new king.
Gondor Calls for Aid: The majority of the game is spent securing help from the Dalish elves, the dwarves of Orzammar, the Circle of Magi, and Arl Eamon's knights.
Groin Attack: The "Below the Belt" talent is described as a "swift and unsportsmanlike kick" to the target, which causes normal damage and movement penalties, and if you're lucky can be a critical hit. This makes it entirely possible to finish off enemies with an especially potent kick to the jewels.
Guest Star Party Member: The PC gets one or more of these during the origin stories. They vary based on said origin.
Also, in the Arl of Redcliffe story, you can send to the Fade Jowan or even First Enchanter Irving.
At Ostagar, when the Warden and Alistair are making their way through the Tower of Ishal, they will pick up either one or two of these for the duration of the quest - a nameless Circle mage and a nameless soldier, or two nameless soldiers if the Warden is a mage. If the Warden is the Human Noble, Dog is already in the party and only the mage will attach himself to the group.
Going Through the Motions: It's not really noticeable unless you're really playing close attention, but if you watch long enough, you'll notice that a lot of characters use the same gestures, or tend to cross and uncross their arms a lot.
Gold Digger: Noble-hunting — practically a profession amongst the casteless dwarves, as children inherit the caste of the parent of the same sex. Such a child is a valuable commodity which benefits both parents. The casteless family is adopted into the noble house and the nobles receive another heir, which, due to low fertility rates and casualties from the darkspawn and political backstabbing, are in rather short supply.
The killing of Connor is shown off-screen. This is presumably because showing the deliberate murder of a young boy, even a possessed one, even in an M-rated game, would have upset the Media Watchdogs. The killing of Oren, the PC's young nephew, in the Human Noble origin is given the same treatment.
At the Landsmeet, Loghain's execution is given this treatment, sort of. As the sword is swung, the camera cuts away to Anora's face as his blood splatters her.
Grail In The Garbage: Far Song, generally considered one of if not the best bow in the game, has apparently spent decades sitting buried in the stockroom of a tiny podunk blacksmith shop in Redcliffe.
Grave Humor: In Haven, after you've gone through it the first time, you can return and will have access to the village cemetery. The stones are engraved with all sorts of developer humor. Since once you've completed your business at Andraste's tomb you have no plot-related reason to go back to the village, it's extremely easy to miss.
The Greatest Story Never Told: A series of Codex entries found in the Deep Roads gives the first-person accounts of a group of dwarven miners searching for treasure at the direction of their leader, who thought they were getting directions from the Stone itself. Instead of treasure, they found a darkspawn-dug tunnel that was about to break into Orzammar. The miners pulled a Heroic Sacrifice by collapsing the tunnel, and no one in Orzammar would ever know that they owed their continued existence to a small group that were considered losers and misfits when they were there.
The succession arc in Orzammar. Harrowmont is an honorable man but believes in preserving dwarven traditions, most notably the oppressive caste system. On the other hand, Bhelen may be a scheming bastard (and if he wins, he immediately executes Harrowmont), but he wants to abolish the caste system and end Orzammar's policy of isolationism. According to the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, if Harrowmont becomes King, the dwarven kingdom becomes isolationist and cuts itself off from human contact (and keeps the caste system), whereas if Bhelen becomes King, he becomes a benevolent dictator who does indeed end the caste system as well as open the kingdom up to the rest of the world.
Bhelen is actually following in his Paragon ancestor's footsteps. When the Deshyrs bickered amongst themselves on whose Thaigs to save in the First Blight, Aeducan seized control, cut off Orzammar from the other dwarven settlements, and was Paragon'd for saving the dwarves. It's entirely likely that the Deshyr were livid with him though.
If they were, they wisely kept it to themselves. When a single Deshyr objected to him being declared a Paragon, the Shaperate records indicate that the Assembly descended upon him and promptly ripped him limb-from-limb.
This applies to quite a few situations in the game - e.g., the conflicts between the Dalish elves and the werewolves and the Templars and the mages, not to mention the motivations of primary antagonist Loghain. That being said, there is usually an acceptable middle ground solution for most of the quests - but Orzammar isn't one of them, given the epilogue.
Origins also contains quests that don't appear in your journal.
The gifts you can give your party members can come off as very unintuitive and require a bit of poking around, a little moreso in Awakening because you have fewer opportunities to talk to the characters. But on the plus side, some are highly obvious.
Also, seemingly innocuous actions can have severe consequences, such as attempting to enter Arl Eamon's bedroom for the first time leading to Conner's death, and choosing Alistair as your champion at the Landsmeet leads to him executing Loghain immediately after the duel, thus preventing you from recruiting Loghain and/or marrying Anora to Alistair.
Guilt-Based Gaming: Oh boy. Yes, being a creep generally nets you a lot of goodies, but certain members of your party are not going to let you forget it. And just try breaking up with someone without feeling like a scumbag. (Hint: watch your dialogue choices, or you may end up with some hapless character on your romantic radar without meaning to.)
Have You Come to Gloat?: Loghain invokes this trope the first time the Warden speaks to him at camp. He'll ask whether the Warden is planning on insulting him or keeping him as a trophy. You have an array of dialogue options.
Have You Seen My God?: The existence of the Maker that the Chantry speaks of is never given irrefutable proof in-game. For that matter, the elven Creators aren't obviously real, either. The Chantry preaches that the Maker did, in fact, abandon Thedas because of humankind's crimes, and that only their extreme penitence can make Him come back. Consequently, quite a few people in Ferelden are atheist or agnostic.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: In-engine cutscenes show the characters in their currently equipped gear, except for their helmets. Not for all cutscenes, however. Generally, if the scene is the prelude to the appearance of some monster, the helmet stays on. And, of course, helmets are generally removed for conversations, but this only makes sense.
Plot-significant characters take their helmets off for cutscenes. People who don't have names (or who are going to die shortly) will not. In that way, the spirit of the trope still holds.
Heroic Sacrifice: The Warden, Alistair, or Loghain can have one by killing the Archdemon without performing the dark ritual.
Heroes Love Dogs: No matter what kind of character you're playing, you can always count on the unquestioning love and loyalty of the Mabari Hound. Human Noble Wardens start with one, and Wardens of other backgrounds can get one by completing an easy-to-finish sidequest at Ostagar. Once Dog has joined you, it's not possible to make him leave, even if you deliberately try to drive everyone else from your side; his approval starts at maximum, and without a silly bit of DLC, you cannot lower it for any reason. You may engage the Hound in dialogue to literally Pet the Dog.
Hidden Depths: Behind the deadpan snarking, party banter between Morrigan and Leliana actually makes her raise some highly intelligent philosophical questions, pointing out to Leliana (who compares belief in Magic to belief in the Maker) that it's not the same, as she can see magic and uses magic, whereas there is no proof for the Maker at all. She also theorises that if the Maker does exist, he may have simply moved onto another creation entirely, which, given her later discovering that the Eluvian leads to an entirely different realm altogether, may not be too far from the truth.
Zevran also demonstrates that he's not just the mere assassin he seems, seemingly picking up on Morrigan having plans for the Warden fairly early on.
Oghren, the smelly, drunk, womanizing, ever belching dwarf looks like quite a superficial person. But take him to talk to the Guardian of Andraste's Sacred Ashes and...
Hidden Elf Village: One of the reasons suggested why the Dalish kingdom was invaded and destroyed is they kept watching their neighbors getting beaten to a pulp... so the neighbors got pissed and now there is no more Elven kingdom.
High Fantasy: What the game wound up being. Sure, magic is restricted in this setting, but it's still everywhere.
The other definition of high fantasy fits too, the world is way bigger than the immediate events in the game, and characters and events are quite deep and differentiated.
High Pressure Blood: Defeated enemies sometimes lose parts, resulting in a pretty blood fountain. Arguably applies to all melee combat, considering how much gore characters get on them. (It even goes on their back!)
Hit Box Dissonance: The only thing keeping two-handed weapons and ogres from being a joke is that their attacks always hit if the target is within the hitbox when the attack animation starts. It doesn't matter if you're on the other side of the map - an attack that would hit you when the animation starts will hit you unless the user is stunned, knocked down or frozen.
Hollywood Tactics: Justified. The darkspawn rushing at the fortifications at Ostagar is somewhat plausible since they are mostly mindless beasts and have virtually unlimited troops. However, the Ferelden soldiers break their ranks and charge out of their defensive positions before the darkspawn have come even close. Even if Loghain had charged the darkspawn horde from the side, it wouldn't have helped the King and Duncan in any way, as they were already getting swamped by darkspawn at the other side of the battlefield. Justified because King Cailan is an Idiot Hero who was dead set on winning the battle in an epic, storybook-style fashion. Also, the main strategist, Loghain, was a traitor trying to get King Cailan killed.
Holy Hand Grenade: The Holy Smite ability for the Templar specialization. When combined with a sword that's been enchanted with silverite runes, it can potentially take out large groups of darkspawn from a distance with one hit.
Hopeless Boss Fight: Bioware probably intended the (optional) fight with Ser Cauthrien in the Arl of Denerim's estate to be this, though they also probably realized that they had to provide a possibility for someone to beat Cauthrien or else it would feel like a cop-out if she suddenly turned invincible and wiped the party at 1 hp. You have the option to surrender without fighting, and if you fight and get killed (very likely) you're "captured" instead of getting a game-over. Cauthrien is beatable; just very, very hard. Possibly the hardest boss of the game, level to level. Definitely the hardest if you don't draw her out of the room with all her lackeys (the two warriors will follow you as well, but the horde of archers and the mage will stay put). Even then, she can still kill even a tank with only one or two hits. Inexplicably becomes a Degraded Boss when you meet her again at the Landsmeet if you took the "go to prison route" (and is in fact a Skippable Boss if your persuasion skills are strong enough).
Humanoid Abomination: Anyone who gets possessed by a demon, but manages to maintain their human form counts. It helps that only the strongest demons seem to be able to possess someone without twisting their host's form beyond recognition.
Arguably, a Mage PC with Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage specialization is one. By the time everything is over you only partially exist in reality, are surrounded by layers of magical protection, are supernaturally strong, ungodly durable, cast spells using/can manipulate blood, and can control the minds of your victims. Only the Archdemon or similarly powerful enemies really stand much of a chance.
Humanoids Are White: The number of dark-skinned characters you meet can be counted on one hand, including one black elf. (Gets especially jarring if the player gives the Grey Warden a very dark skin tone - in the origins with the Grey Warden's parents, like the human noble origin, said parents are very fair-skinned in contrast to their son/daughter. No one in the game mentions the Grey Warden's skin tone as being in any way unusual if this is done.) However, the Dalish elves are somewhat tannish. (They seem to be a little like Romanis/Gypsies).
Medieval Europe was crowded with people of colour. The only apparent reason for this trope here would be that equivalents of Native America, Asia and Africa do not seem to exist in Thedas - but that raises even more questions when playing Dragon Age II, where a whole country seems to be crowded with dark-skinned people and literally right next to the main settings.
Human Resources: Golems are made using Dwarven lives. Also, Blood Magic drains the caster's (or others'...) blood and health points.
I Call It Vera: In the Witch Hunt DLC, Finn's default staff is literally called Vera.
I Did What I Had to Do: Will probably be inscribed on the Warden's tombstone. Can be invoked by name if the Warden kills Connor to eliminate the demon. Also claimed by Loghain, Avernus, and Zathrian.
I Drank What?: One can only wonder where Oghren's home-brewed ale comes from, as hinted by him and Zevran in their party banter.
Also, The Reveal about what the Joining actually entails, although this is more of a case of I Have To Drink What?.
I Got a Rock: A good thing, if done correctly. The Feastday Gifts DLC enables you to purchase a pet rock. If you give it to Shale, her approval rating for you jumps up fifty points.
Immortality: The Archdemon has Type IV, which is why it can only be killed by a Grey Warden. Flemeth has Type IX, but also seems to have a way back without Morrigan's involvement.
In an odd twist, many of the best-in-slot weapons and pieces of equipment can simply be bought from merchants. They each cost a small fortune, however, so unless you're extremely compulsive about hoarding treasure and running sidequests (or extorting NPCs for favors), odds are you won't be able to afford many such indulgences.
Some of the DLC equipment — whether pre-order, collector's edition, or achievement awards — also counts.
Worth mentioning is the Reaper's Cudgel in the Golems of Amgarrak DLC. Statwise, it's an impressive, but otherwise ordinary mace. Its real value comes when, as DLC content, it is spread to your inventory in every game you have on file, and can be sold for insanely high amounts of money, even from the start of a new game. The only drawback is that to get it, you have to defeat The Harvester, a creature that spawns Elite Mooks as Goddamned Bats and is far and away the hardest boss in the game, easily outstripping the Archdemon or The Mother. And you have to do it on Hard or Nightmare mode, for the entire battle (no changing the difficulty when he's down to a sliver of health for you).
Informed Attribute: Templars are said to be able to overpower magi that get out of control, but they never do anything other than get stomped by them. Even though blood magic is used, the magi shouldn't have been able to get as out of hand as they did if the templars are as tough as they make themselves sound.
Insistent Terminology: When Morrigan refers to Zathrian as a "sorcerer" instead of a "keeper," he flips out.
Insurmountable Waist High Fence/Invisible Wall: A veritable cornucopia of them. Rather egregiously, you can climb to just below the top of a hill but you have to walk around the peak.
Even unobstructed roads and trails can be impassible. A Wide-Open Sandbox this ain't.
Interspecies Romance: None of the love interests care what race the player is. Almost. Anora does, and Alistair cuts off a non-noble PC if he gets the throne unless you pass a difficult skill check; even if you do, you don't marry him, you just become his bit on the side, and then you'll have to have made him a bit more selfish through dialogue options in the game... but at least with him it's mainly politics.
Come, come, bonny Lynne; tell us, tell us where you've been
Were you up, were you down
Chasing rabbits 'round the town
Come, come, bonny Lynne; tell us, tell us where you've been
Come, come, bonny Lynne; we've a bed to put you in
It is soft, it is warm
It will shelter from the storm
Come, come, bonny Lynne; we've a bed to put you in
Dear, dear bonny Lynne sleeps the peaceful crib within
A mossy stone, a finger bone/No one knows but Lynne alone
Dear, dear bonny Lynne sleeps the peaceful crib within...
There's also a couple of which can be overheard in the Alienage orphanage.
Isn't It Ironic: Whoever decided Marilyn Manson's "This is the New Shit" was a good pick for the game's trailer either didn't listen to the lyrics at all or was intentionally satirizing it: The song mocks the use of sex, violence and blood as hype to cover up a complete lack of true innovation and creativity, and was used as backdrop in a trailer featuring... Sex, violence and blood used in an attempt to hype the game as innovative and creative.
It's Not You, It's Me: What you can say to Leliana to break up with her. She'll get mad and try to fight to save the relationship.
Justified Criminal: The casteless dwarves of Orzammar. Marked as outcasts and criminals from birth, they are not legally permitted to gain any legitimate work or housing. As such, they're forced into either begging or criminality for survival.
Karl Marx Hates Your Guts: With the sole exception of Gorim (but only if you play as a Dwarf Noble), every merchant in Ferelden sells their goods at the same price.
Karma Houdini: If Bhelen becomes the King of Orzammar when the PC is the Dwarf Noble. He gets away completely with his actions in the Origin, where he framed the Warden for the murder of their brother Trian, poisoned their father the King, and bribed the Assembly to unperson the Warden.
On the other hand, the Dwarf Noble has become a legendary Grey Warden (thus regaining their name in the Shaperate), defeated an Archdemon and even gets declared to be a Paragon. The only reason Bhelen even has his throne is because of the sibling he tried to kill. In that respect, it could be seen as a rather Pyrrhic Victory.
If you have Loghain become a Grey Warden and sacrifice himself, history is claimed to forget all the evil crimes he did and became a hero because he gave his life for Ferelden. These forgotten crimes include almost dooming all of Ferelden, attempted murder on Arl Eamon, allowing slavers to abduct elves from the alienage, branding the Grey Wardens - the only people who can stop a Blight - criminals and trying to kill them, allowing a king to die in battle despite having the ability to save him, allowing the kidnapping of his own daughter, and quite a few other things. It's understandable that he (at least partially) redeemed himself at the end, but come on.
There are numerous choices in the game that will usually result in some of your party members leaving you for good. However, if you have a master coercion you can easily lie/charm your way out. It’s also possible to avoid confrontation by simply not bringing a particular party member with you on the mission.
Karma Meter: Removed entirely, and replaced with a system of consequences for individual choices, along with personal reactions to various actions from your party members. Two characters actually can be "hardened", which makes them much less likely to complain about evil decisions (and more likely to accept a threesome or foursome).
Keep the Reward: An option for a few quests. Notable for the fact that it doesn't earn you karma or anything, since there is no karma. You just miss out on a reward when you do this. Instead, it's usually better to grub for rewards... and that's why it's so much more satisfying in Dragon Age: Origins when you do refuse the reward.
Kick the Son of a Bitch: There are some mods that allow players to eviscerate Arl Howe because some players feel his death taking place in a cutscene let him get off too easy. And most players are more than happy to reject Vaughn's offer in the City Elf origin so they can kill him themselves. You can literally tell him you will enjoy kicking his ass.
Kill 'em All: In the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, you can do this to a lot of named NPCs that would be in Denerim. Yes, including Alistair's sister. (Too bad you can't get Herren, though...)
Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: If you've been recruited and Refuse The Call, you're killed to maintain the Grey Wardens' secrets, especially the details of the unsavory Joining as well as the 30-year Dead Man Walking curse. Poor, poor, stupid Ser Jory...
You have this option with Brother Genitivi, who wants to show off Andraste's Ashes to the world.
Knight In Shining Armour: Averted. Nelaros from the Female City Elf Origin so desperately sees himself as this, attempting to protect you from Vaughn and later organising a rescue attempt with Soris to rescue his bride. What he doesn't realise is you are already planning your own escape, which luckily coincides with Soris arriving to slide you a sword, and within minutes you're heavily armed and taking down guards left, right, and centre. Sadly, you arrive too late to be able to rescue him.
